Wednesday, June 1, 2011

New month, new info, new diet

In May I hit an all time low of 5 posts in 1 month. I will partially blame Angie because she was visiting for two weeks, and I tried to keep my loafing-around-on-the-computer time to a minimum while she was here. (I promise a post about her visit is upcoming.) And Maureen is also to blame because an infant who wants my attention is a definite posting obstacle. But I have discovered another scapegoat: Hashimoto's disease.

I was diagnosed yesterday. It's an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and gradually destroys the thyroid gland. My doctor had me stop thyroid meds at the end of April, and May was sort of a blur of low energy and mood. So we'll see what the blood test says about my levels this time around.

Meanwhile, I am beginning the tricky process of going gluten free. Doctor's orders. Last night I attacked the pantry. Did you know that the food ingredients "natural flavors" and "caramel coloring" have gluten in them? Ug. Double ug. More on all of this as it is revealed.

4 comments:

Tmomma said...

hope you start feeling better and there are some wonderful gluten free items on the market now. when we get back next week i know a few people at work that are gluten free and can ask them what some of their favorite alternatives are. though we're not gluten free, you know we're free of a zillion other things; it's so overwhelming at first but you'll get used to it. and isn't your mom gluten free too? i hear it's trendy to be free of stuff now. anyway, hope it's an easy transition and it helps you feel better!

old dog said...

I am sorry to hear this. I have a dear friend Amy With Hashimoto's and it is so much more than gluten free. Let's hope yours is that simple. She cannot eat ANY grains. Think about that for a few minutes. But you learn to live in the parameters you must.
Keep us in the loop

Barb Mowery said...

No grains??! Let's hope it doesn't come to that. But I can understand how a problem with wheat gluten could lead to a problem with all grains, since they are often all milled in the same place and have major cross-contamination issues. For example, the bowl of oatmeal I'm eating right now. Oatmeal itself should not be problematic; its neighbors at the processing plant concern me.

I'm not trying to go cold turkey with the wheat gluten--too much food in the pantry and freezer for that. I am going to set a goal date and work toward gluten free.

Incidentally foods may bear the label "gluten free" in the US if they contain less than 20ppm. Regulations vary from country to country. Australia has the strictest regs worldwide at 5ppm.

Chere said...

Welcome to my world...I've had this for about 15 years now, and know with an auto immune disease your are more at Risk to other issues, i.e. diabetes (which is an auto immune disease), thru life. Ain't life grand. That's what happened to me.