I went 26 years of my life being poisoned, and had no clue. Then after an entire week of throwing up after every meal I decided I had enough.
I was the type of kid who came home every day after school to my grandma’s house and she’d make me a bowl of rice with butter and a half a sandwich on white or wheat bread as an afternoon snack. [just typing that made my stomach churn] I remember being made fun of as a kid for having stick arms and stick with this round belly, what is now coined as “wheat belly”. My parents just said, “I hadn’t gone through puberty yet, my baby fat would go away when I mature more”…and in comes my body dysmorphia issue. I was about 10 and was already being teased for being so pale they called me Casper, now I was Porky the Pig-man kids are jerks, but thanks for the thick skin-JERKS! 😉
My parents were right, when I turned 13 I started to develop other places and thinned out a bit but the gut was still there. One day in 8th grade a classmate had suggested that maybe I have ADD because she noticed I couldn’t sit still or pay attention for the life of me and that I acted a lot like her brother. I told my mom this, and it was like a light bulb went off in her mind. I had been in trouble many many times for talking during class and not paying attention and to her this was the reason why! Fast forward: I was diagnosed, and put on Dextroamphetamine at age 14, which is basically, legalized speed. From 14-26 I was on this and was a size 6, weighed an average of 135 lbs and was a “skinny fat girl” who never worked out a day in my life and was capable of eating whatever I wanted, thanks to that drug. At age 26 after my last trip (of several) to the ER I took myself off of that god-awful drug.
I had just came home to my apartment in LA after class in college, and reheated leftovers from the night before that my friend made-chicken alfredo pasta. I sat down on the couch, ate the pasta and immediately afterwards felt off, I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t think straight, I couldn’t sit up, half of my body was numb, I was talking like I was drunk, my head was pounding and I couldn’t stand up-I’d fall over. I had been through this before, all the symptoms of a stroke-yet every ER visit they had found no such thing. I called my mom because I didn’t want to go in an ambulance I just wanted her to take me to the doctor, she was 30 minutes away and freaking out because my speech was so slurred she couldn’t understand me at all, SHE called 911 anyway-ugh!
6 firefighters show up to my apartment, they are running vitals and all seems to be ok, they keep asking if I want to go to the hospital, I keep refusing saying I just want my mom to take me, until he does one last test on me and takes my blood pressure, he looks at me and over at his partner and says you’re going with us now. I get to Cedars Sainai in Los Angeles, I am told that my resting blood pressure was 160/80 when the FF took it. Keep in mind that is RESTING, after eating, and never working out a day in my life. The doctors run every test they possibly can, CAT scan MRI Ultra Sounds-nothing, not one thing comes back as to why this happened. The doctor said I may have had a severe migraine that can mimic a stroke. To me that still doesn’t explain the HPB but whatever I just wanted to go home and sleep I was in the ER for 6 hours, again, with no concrete answers, this is the 3rd time in 1.5 years that this had happened to me.
I had enough, I decided myself that it had to be that damn pill. I could have sworn I had an irregular heartbeat; I felt it skip a couple times, which landed me in a cardiologist office twice wearing a halter monitor from the age 25-which they found nothing! It was then I decided to stop taking that pill, I didn’t need it, I had been off of it before and did ok in school. After I got off of Dextroamphetamine I gained 40+lbs instantly, I started going to the gym but hated it, I’d go on the elliptical for an hour then go home and feast on crap. So about 3 months of not taking it things seemed better, no ER trips, no weird heart issues, however my anxiety however was through the roof so I turned to food. One week came around in I think it was July of 2011, I had just got home from the OC fair with my bf at the time and was puking everything I had eaten. I thought no big deal it was a bunch of fried stuff. I had corndogs, funnel cake, fried snickers you name it. Well every day that week I threw up after every meal (that had bread in it, I hadn’t realized this yet). I just figured I had food poisoning until the guy I was dating says casually, “well you’re off that pill so it’s not that, maybe you’re gluten intolerant?” In my mind I’m like “yeah whatever, you’re just a Chiropractor not a nutritional doctor!” until the next time I ate a subway sandwich and no sooner did I finish that last bite I was running for the bathroom to throw it up. I then thought, “well shi*… maybe he’s right.”
I decided to cut out all wheat, bread, grains, everything that had gluten in it and noticed the changes, no more throwing up, no more anxiety, I lost 20 lbs instantly, I slept better, my mood was better, life was better! I yo-yoed with gluten because at the beginning of this gluten free journey I felt better immediately and thought, great I’m cured I can eat it again….WRONG. Then that temptation for that donut in my mind was worth the pain, or what I call a “food hangover”. Not anymore, the last year or so I have really learned what I can and cant eat, and I can turn the cheek at those cupcakes in the staff room, and walk by the box of donuts, not because I don’t want to get fat, but because I can’t stand the feeling of being poisoned.
I now follow an 80/20 Paleo lifestyle. I have had 0 anxiety attacks since going gluten free. I have had 0 health complications after going gluten free. My life has made a complete 180. I have found Paleo to be a very easy transition from gluten free life, now on my cheat days I enjoy gfree pasta, gfree baked goodies, and occasional beer. I have found an AMAZING supplement; I keep it with me at all times in my purse. It is called GlutenEase. They do NOT endorse me at all I just want to spread the word for my gfree readers! Some say you can take it and eat a piece of bread and it wont bother you-I am NOT that brave to risk it but I believe it. I once ordered gfree pasta at a restaurant, and on the way home realized it was not gfree. I drove to Whole Foods and knew they had to have something natural for this, I was prepared to buy ginger in mass quantities to ease digestion but found this instead. It works instantly when you think you’ve been “glutened”!
Love, laugh, LIFT
Shila Jane
deadlifts and mascara 