Autistic Artist

Autism and Daily Pain

I'm still not feeling well after my celiac attack of the past couple of days. I do feel better than yesterday and the night before. I still can't believe I spent most of my life feeling sick like that. Being sick daily was just something I'd gotten used to. No wonder I was always so tired and never seemed to get anything done!

No one can be expected to be at their best when they are in in pain. No parent, teacher, coworker or boss can expect an autistic individual to be the best child, student, coworker or employee when that individual is pain from any number of catalysts -- even if it is a catalyst that may not affect the neurotypical. And there are so many things that may cause us pain, much of which we can mitigate with a little help from our doctors and others around us.

Gluten Revisited

I'm really paying for my gluten fest yesterday. Through out the day I suffered from nausea, heartburn, gas, diarrhea, and extreme fatigue. Plus, I was hungry about an hour after each meal, as if I'd not really digested my food at all.

Last night I woke up several times feeling like my stomach was on fire.

Today I feel like falling asleep while enduring constant intestinal pain. What is so amazing is how sick I feel. Even more amazing is that I used to feel like this nearly every day when I was eating gluten.

And the donuts and pasta did not taste as good as I remember, either.

Goodbye gluten. And good riddance.

Gluten Redeux

I've been gluten-free for two months now and feeling much better than I have in my whole life.

The few times I've had digestive problems, during the past two months, was after going to restaurants where I cannot entirely control the preparation of my meals. Mostly, restaurants have not been a problem. Staff usually tries to accomodate me even though customer service varies greatly, even within a particular restaurant. And at few less expensive restaraunts, responsiveness doesn't even exist since the staff seems either not very bright, or apparently unconscious.

Another Gluten-Free Goodie

Asian food is my favorite, with Japanese holding the top spot followed closely by Chinese. In fact, I was eating my favorite childhood dish of fried rice with sweet and sour sauce before I could hold my own spoon.

Unfortunately most Chinese and Japanese restaurants here in my city use soy sauce made with wheat in almost everything. The staff at my favorite local Chinese restaurant has tried very hard, and very graciously, to leave the soy sauce out of my favorite dishes. But somehow my problem with gluten seems to be lost in translation. The chefs leave out other stuff too, like the egg in the fried rice that I love. The food just isn't the same.

So, to get a head start on cooking my own Asian food again, and to make Asian gluten-free frozen meals more palatable, I had to find myself a wheat free soy sauce.

Gluten Free Goodies

Living Gluten-Free for Dummies is Danna Korn's new book giving tips and techniques for those of us with celiac disease and other related conditions. Danna Korn is certainly the gluten-free cheerleader extraordinaire.