Update #1 - Continued Improvement!

March 2019 //

I wanted to give an update since I created this site about a year ago. I am THRILLED to report that my health has done nothing but continue to improve as it relates to the symptoms above.

I have stuck to being gluten-free entirely and never have *cheat* days. If I ever ingest gluten it's because I did so accidentally. I have people ask me all the time how I'm able to be so disciplined. It's honestly because I remember how crappy my life was before and just how bad I felt. It really was life-altering and I never want to go back to that place. I just can't. It is no way to live. I was having a hard time caring for myself, let alone my three kids and running by business and taking care of the house. 

Back then I was starting to believe I was going to have to change my life so drastically in order to just stay afloat - like quit my job, hire help... anything, because on some days just showering would take it all out of me and I would have to dry off and lie on the bed until I could get up and finished getting dressed. On days when I did manage to get out with the kids (thinking maybe today was a rare "good" day), I would usually crash mid morning or most certainly by lunch time and it was everything I could do to muster up enough energy to get home so that I could lay down and close my eyes. To top this off, I often dealt with a "drunken dizziness" as well (again, I describe it as the post 2-3 glasses of wine feeling) in conjunction with all my other symptoms. Yes, all because of gluten. Crazy, right!?!

In addition to this, it affected not only my energy but my mood. Think about when you feel sick with the flu (no energy and body aches from head to toe) but you had to continue to do all of the normal things required of you and remain patient with three kids in the process. I was so sad that I couldn't be the mom they deserved but, again, I could barely take care of myself well. 

For FOUR YEARS I was either not taken seriously (by family and doctors alike) or mis-diagnosed when all along it was food related. This is so insane to me but it's my real life story. 

I hope it helps you in some way. Even if your diagnosis isn't the same as mine, hopefully it encourages you to persist even when it seems like everyone else isn't. It is YOUR life. YOUR health and I'm convinced that most of us know when things aren't right. Stay strong and continue to pursue answers because you deserve it!