When I made the choice to give up gluten in November, I had an inkling that it would be tough. I really didn’t know how tough it be be, but I am now happy with the change and content in what it means now.
Why gluten-free? I first made the change as a rather last-ditch effort to get rid of a long, long, long lasting bout of some eczema type rash. Pursuing the help of multiple dermatologists brought no relief, so I was pretty open to anything someone might suggest. And the suggestion to give up gluten kept coming my way…so I did it. And it worked!
Then I realized that my headaches were gone, and my sinus trouble was a thing of the past. I generally felt better every single day! So I decided that this was worth keeping up for a while, just to see what happened and if all these great changes lasted.
They lasted. And then I cheated…and suffered. And then I cheated again…and suffered. Since I am rather slow, It took a third episode of suffering to have it really sink in that this was bigger than the rash.
Accepting that I can’t handle gluten has been tough, at times very tough. I love bread and everything about it-eating it, smelling it, mixing it, kneading it, eating it…I love pizza, a culinary treat for me when I have the time is making croissants from scratch, and I can make an absolutely amazing loaf of artisan bread. I like rye; I like barley; I like wheat. Knowing that gluten will make me feel horrible right now it motivating, but it can be hard sometimes too.
A couple of things have made this change much more manageable: my family-their encouragement, support, special cooking, and some dear friends who know what this is like who have delighted me with their special gluten-free treats, gluten-free food at meals and lots of great tips and ideas.
Even though this has been tougher than I thought it would be when I started, I love living rash and headache free. I love the fact that I haven’t had a migraine. I love that I have more energy. I love not suffering from so much sinus trouble. And I love that I just had some pretty great pizza last night. I think I’ll survive. 
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