It’s All Fun and Games, Until Someone Winds up with a Rash
I was always one of those people who presumed that things wouldn’t ever happen to me. I have friends who are allergic to gluten and dairy and I just kept on doing whatever it was I was doing and never thought twice about it. While I was trying to maintain a healthy weight, I still on occasion indulged a little in some foods that I probably wasn’t supposed to be having, such as ice cream. Little did I know that my life was about to change.
In October 2016, I developed a rash across my stomach. Just started getting all itchy and uncomfortable all of a sudden. I thought it was because I was eating way too many pistachios and that was what triggered it. I decided to cut back on nuts for a while, however, I didn’t think about not cutting back on all the bread I was eating. I started putting all sorts of creams and lotions to ease the itching, but to no avail. Even if it seemed to be getting better, I had a flare up and I would scratch it like mad. Yes, I should have probably seen a doctor or a dermatologist, however, I didn’t. I just let it continue on like this until John, my fiancé, finally got me to agree to at least see his Wellness Practitioner about my problem; she would at least be able to determine what was going on internally and be able to help me. I did make that call, but it wouldn’t be until the end of May that I finally got to see her. When I finally saw the Wellness Practitioner, she did a scan and through her scan she informed me that I have an allergy to wheat and dairy. The news came as a bit of a shock, one of those “I can’t believe this is happening to me” moments. I got over it eventually, it was just a lot for me to process. The first thought that actually crossed my mind was that I could forget about getting my peanut butter sundae at C&C Dairy Land. Admittedly, there were a few missteps early on, it was just this huge adjustment. As a friend of mine pointed out, I had to relearn how to eat.
The Big problem
To be honest, I didn’t know I had a problem to begin with, other than the rash. Then again, this was the person who would make a grilled cheese sandwich, put a couple slices on the bread, eat a slice off the top of the stack, put more cheese on another slice of bread, eat another slice or two off the stack, and then stick it in the toaster oven to bake. Or, I would make eggs with shredded cheese, put some of the cheese into the eggs, take some out of the bag and stuff it in my mouth, maybe put some more in to the eggs, and then stuff more shredded cheese into my mouth. I would also take a couple slices of bread for a sandwich and then maybe eat another slice of bread just because I was hungry and needed to take a bit of the edge off. I liked ice cream and the occasional slice of cheesecake (with graham cracker crust), plus I thought that eating whole grain and pumpernickel bread was okay. Turned out that all these bad habits wound up to come back and bite me in the butt. I suppose I was in a bit of denial in the beginning when I was told I couldn’t eat those things anymore, but I don’t miss it. In the long run, I accept that I am better off without the wheat and dairy and I am determined to eat smarter and healthier. There are the pitfalls of the gluten free and non-dairy goodies and I need to do those, like everything else, in moderation. I’m just thankful, at this time, that I’m not allergic to eggs and nuts.
There are many of us out there with food allergies, whether the allergy is wheat/gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, and eggs. Whatever it may be, we are not as alone as we think in our respective journeys.
