My Journey to Free the Glutens

My journey started after waking up one morning with a rash on my right forearm and underneath my eyes. It soon spread to my cheeks and nose. Besides the rash, I had other symptoms as well.

• I was super tired- I would wake up at nine after getting a full eight hours of sleep and would be ready for a nap by 10 in the morning
• I also had severe migraines

Thinking the rash was being caused by my skin being irritated by something, I changed every item I used on my face to products with more natural ingredients. Changing everything didn't work.

I decided to make an appointment with my doctor. At the appointment, he determined the rash on my face was a "butterfly rash". He prescribed some ointment and a round of a steroid called Prednisone.

This started my lovely  (note the sarcasm) trip on steroids ... by far the WORST medication I have EVER been on. The side effects were terrible!

For five weeks my life looked like this:

• I constantly ate everything (and I mean everything) I would eat dinner and 15 minutes later I would be starving again
• I was also on a roller coaster of emotions; one moment happy, the next miserable, then happy again

The combo of ointment and steroids did make the rash go away, however, after finishing the steroids the rash came back. Back to my doctor I went. This time he prescribed a stronger ointment and a trip to a dermatologist. My dermatologist appointment wasn't until August, so I had a whole month with this rash all over my face.

My mother was the one who suggested looking into the gluten- free idea. She was watching a TV show called Anna and Kristina's Grocery Bag, in the episode they were testing a gluten-free cookbook. The one host, Kristina talked about how she went gluten-free and listed her symptoms.

And so my research began, I spent hours researching celiac symptoms and gluten sensitivity symptoms. After four days of research, I came to the conclusion that I needed to cut out gluten.

July 21 = The day my gluten-free lifestyle began

• It was very difficult, gluten is in everything!
• I was very restricted in the foods I could and could not eat.

After a week without gluten, the rash was almost gone!! During my Dermatologist appointment, he declared the rash on my arm was hair follicle eczema most likely caused by gluten sensitivity issues.


After consulting with my doctor and a nutritionist, it was determines that going gluten-free was something I was going to have to do. To this day, I continue to free the glutens from my diet.

My gluten-free diet;

• all vegetables
• all fruits
• all meats except lunch meat
• diary items
• rice

Instead of regular pasta, I eat rice pasta. Gravies and soy sauce are gluten-free.

The hardest part for me is eating lunch while at school. There are very few options for me and some options could still have gluten in it because I don't know what is in the sauce/dressing.

Would you ever consider going gluten-free? What would be the hardest gluten item to give up?