The Emotional Side of Going Gluten Free Ep. 186

Grieving the loss of gluten sounds like an unusual concept, but for those diagnosed with celiac disease, the emotional journey is all too real. Imagine suddenly having to give up foods that have been a staple in your life, and the whirlwind of emotions that follow. This episode takes you through the often-overlooked emotional stages that accompany a celiac diagnosis.

You can expect to gain a deeper understanding of the five stages of grief when it comes to your new gluten free lifestyle: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Life changes dramatically when you're told to eliminate gluten, and these stages highlight the complexity of adjusting.

This episode not only acknowledges these feelings but also provides comfort and encouragement, reminding you that whatever emotions you're experiencing are normal and part of a journey of healing and growth.


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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Welcome back to this week's episode of the show. I'm actually sharing an episode that I recorded two years ago. I want to re-release this episode because if you have been around for a long time and you've been listening to the show for a couple of years, you likely have already listened to this episode, and we're talking about the five different stages of grief, and it may just help you see how far you have come in your journey with celiac disease and to help you understand how much growth you have been through in your time since your diagnosis. Or if you're brand new to the show, then you probably haven't heard this episode, and I think it's really, really important for everyone to understand the various stages that many of us go through after getting a celiac disease diagnosis. So let's jump on into it, and I hope you enjoy this episode and gain some wonderful insights from what I share insights from what I share. Getting diagnosed with celiac disease makes us feel a whole heap of different emotions, but what I'm seeing time and time again is people are grieving gluten and they're going through these stages of grief and not understanding why. So today I wanted to talk about the five stages of grieving gluten and help you understand that it's completely normal and however you're feeling is completely valid, and I want you to understand that it gets easier. So we're going to talk about the five different stages of grieving gluten to help you get through it. So let's jump straight into it.

Speaker 1: 2:08

So the first stage that you might have felt when you were first diagnosed with celiac disease and found out that you could no longer eat gluten was probably denial. Not for everyone I'm not saying everyone has this stage, but this is generally the first stage. This would be, in particular, if you've never heard of celiac disease before your diagnosis. Or perhaps you had an asymptomatic version of celiac disease, where you don't actually have symptoms. So you might be just saying how is this happening to me? You might be having all of these overwhelming emotions and you don't want to believe that this is happening to you. So, complete denial. Don't want to accept it, don't want to basically face the fact that you now have to eat gluten-free and that you've got celiac disease and this is your new way of life. So that is the first stage.

Speaker 1: 3:07

The second stage can be anger, and it's basically because anger is the pain of loss of something. So if you think of a time where maybe you've lost a loved one. Anger is a big part of that, and it is no different when it comes to celiac disease and grieving gluten. So you may feel angry and paid off, that you can't eat the foods that you want to eat anymore, and that is completely valid. It is okay to have those feelings. It is okay to feel through those emotions and understand that it's completely normal and it's part of the healing process.

Speaker 1: 3:46

Then you move on from stage two into stage three and that's bargaining. And I see this more and more with people that don't get that many symptoms. They kind of bargain with themselves. They bargain with other people that have got celiac disease and they try to justify why it's probably okay for them to still have a little bit of gluten because they don't get side effects or you know what really are the long-term side effects that, hey, it's probably okay. And another thing that I see a lot of is people blaming their doctors for misdiagnosing them. Hey, perhaps my doctor didn't actually get it correct. Maybe I don't have celiac disease.

Speaker 1: 4:25

That is all part of bargaining and that is part of a stage of grief. That is part of you grieving your gluten and it can again be completely normal. You may not have had this yourself, but these are the stages that many people go through. So just know that it's perfectly normal.

Speaker 1: 4:44

If you're going through this at this point in time or you know that you've had these emotions no-transcript and many people get to this point because it's hard, it's a big change. It's something completely different for many, many people. It affects so many parts of your life, as far as the way that you eat, the way that you socialize, how you go about your day. It affects so many things. So it's almost normal to go into a depressed state, and it's perfectly okay to feel that life sucks and you don't want to get out of bed in the morning. Or you might even be thinking I don't want to eat because this is so depressing and I don't know what to eat. I don't know how to look after my body. I'm hungry all the time or I don't have the energy to do this. I don't want to think about it. It is just part of it, unfortunately.

Speaker 1: 5:47

And then we move on to number five, which is acceptance. And when you get to this stage, life can be very, very different. So the thing with acceptance is you can still feel that it's unfair. It can definitely still feel unfair. I have little twangs every now and again where I think, gee, I'd really love to eat a chocolate donut and it's not fair, because the chocolate donuts that I've had that are gluten free absolutely suck. I just want to eat a chocolate donut but I can't, so it sucks. Eat a chocolate donut but I can't, so it sucks. But I know that this is what my body needs to thrive. I need to eat gluten-free and it's just the way it is. And I'm kind of blessed that I've got this diagnosis, because now I can move on and I can eat well, I can nourish my body and I can be the best version of me.

Speaker 1: 6:38

So, even though we can still feel every now and again that it sucks and that we're missing out and all of these different emotions, having acceptance and really just accepting that this is just part of it and this is the way life is, now is the last stage of grieving gluten.

Speaker 1: 6:59

And once you get to that point which I'm sure you will some people take a little bit of time to get there and some people take years. We're all different and I don't know when you'll reach that point, but when you do, please believe me in that it gets better. It really does get better, and you'll enjoy your life so much more when you're at that point because once you've accepted your new way of eating, your new lifestyle, you'll be so much happier, you'll be so much healthier and you'll be able to go on and do all the wonderful things that you're here on this earth to do. So I hope that helps. Just a little pep talk for you today, and I'm sure, if you've made it this far through the episode, you needed to hear this message today. So thank you so much for listening and I look forward to being back with you here on the show again next week. Take care, bye.