On our post-diagnosis journey, after relief comes PANIC!

The second stage is Panic. Panic in OMG what the heck am I going to eat. All of my go to foods – spaghetti, pizza, beer, and sandwiches are all gone. Holy cow!! What about Christmas stuffing and Thanksgiving pumpkin pie? What on earth am I going to eat? What about vacations? We can’t travel because I won’t be able to eat anything. We can’t leave the house. I will be trapped for the rest of my sorry, sad gluten-less life. AAAAGGGGHHHH

The Panic Stage often involves tears in the grocery store. Standing in the weird nutrition foods aisle with unfamiliar brands and ingredients is overwhelming. Reading every label unsure if you are missing something that will set back your gluten free journey indefinitely. What was once a place where you could buy awesome foods becomes a minefield of undeclared gluten and things you can no longer enjoy.

Panic also involves joining all of the support groups online you can find. It opens a world of people telling you to eat this or not eat that. If you eat this or that it will kill you immediately because you accidentally consumed gluten.

Googling articles about celiac disease talk about how having additional autoimmune diseases is inevitable and celiac will cause your bones to rot and an early death.

We’ve all been there. I cried in the grocery store because I was so overwhelmed with what I couldn’t eat and couldn’t find safe foods. Many of you have told me you did the same.

Know that you will get through this phase. It will take a minute, but we all get there.

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