Gluten can cause real emotional suffering for those with celiac disease or a gluten allergy.\u00a0 The reasons are complex.\u00a0 Understanding them can ease or eliminate the pain.<\/p>\n

There are two main reasons, as I see it, for the emotional pain that comes with having a gluten sensitivity.<\/p>\n

First, there are the symptoms themselves.\u00a0 Some of them reduce your performance, which is very frustrating.\u00a0 Others cause depression, anxiety, brain-fog, and a host of similar symptoms that lead directly to emotional pain.<\/p>\n

Secondly, there is the day-to-day dealing with people.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some people may variously resent your special diet, not believe you have a problem, or have a problem caused by gluten, or contaminate your gluten-free food etc.\u00a0 Not to mention doctors who may have misdiagnosed you, or rejected the idea of non-classical celiac disease symptoms, or the idea of a gluten allergy etc.<\/p>\n

I think that the degree of emotional pain, and your ability to manage it in part depends on your make-up as a person, and how much support you have from your family.<\/p>\n

For myself, I don\u2019t concern myself too much with what other people think.\u00a0 If they find a gluten-free diet to be weird, that\u2019s their problem, not mine.\u00a0 Except when they\u2019re cooking for me of course.<\/p>\n

Eating at friends\u2019 places (especially if they don\u2019t know you that well) and worse, at restaurants is a stressful experience.\u00a0 I\u2019d don\u2019t really care what people think, but I really don\u2019t want to be a pain in the ass either.<\/p>\n

Years ago, when I started on my gluten free diet, most people found this strange.\u00a0 There was a lot of explaining to do.\u00a0 I found this wearing.\u00a0 My friends understood and frequently explained to waiters in restaurants for me \u2013 I was just bone-weary of explaining it all.<\/p>\n

These days, it is much easier, because there is so much more awareness about celiac disease and the gluten free diet.\u00a0 Still, you have to be sure that whoever is doing the cooking is careful and doesn\u2019t contaminate your food.<\/p>\n

Because eating is a very social activity, this can be difficult.\u00a0 We all think we\u2019re special, but we all want to fit in too.\u00a0 Having to eat something different from everyone else, especially when you have to bring your own food, is not socially comfortable.<\/p>\n

Turning down the generous offer of food is also uncomfortable.\u00a0 It feels ungracious, and corrodes the forces that draw us together.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s life on a strict gluten-free diet.\u00a0 Get used to it or suffer the emotional pain that comes with consuming gluten, and which stays with you long after friends, family and strangers have left for the evening.\u00a0 You\u2019re stuck with a fuzzy head, messed up guts, depression, insomnia and all the rest.\u00a0 Not to mention a much higher chance of cancer and many other diseases (if you\u2019re celiac, not so much for gluten allergies).<\/p>\n

The symptoms of consuming gluten are like a force from the outside, dissolving your insides and your brain.\u00a0 Both emotionally and medically, these are hard to deal with.<\/p>\n

Much better to train yourself to manage interpersonal relationships in a world contaminated with gluten.<\/p>\n

I know it\u2019s hard.\u00a0 I can count at least one relationship that didn\u2019t reach its potential because of my need to be gluten-free (not so much because of my girlfriend at the time, but her family).\u00a0 That sort of thing sucks, but then again it is a kind of a test.\u00a0 Who knows what other issues might have taken the place of gluten in that case.<\/p>\n

I know it\u2019s hard, but if you have celiac disease or a gluten allergy, stick to your gluten free diet.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth it!<\/p>\n

What are your experiences with the gluten free diet and emotions?\u00a0 Leave a comment with your thoughts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gluten can cause real emotional suffering for those with celiac disease or a gluten allergy.\u00a0 The reasons are complex.\u00a0 Understanding them can ease or eliminate the pain. There are two main reasons, as I see it, for the emotional pain that comes with having a gluten sensitivity. First, there are the symptoms themselves.\u00a0 Some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[11],"tags":[68,36,37],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":790,"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allergy-details.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}