I got glutened.

I got glutened this weekend.
I feel like crap. I will feel like crap for a week or sometimes longer.
I can't believe I did this to myself. I am so mad at myself.
I've been a known celiac for over 6 years now. I know better.
And no, I wasn't drinking. This was just stupidity and nothing more.

You remember that Rick can't eat red meat for a couple of months.
Well, he has been hankering for meatballs. He had my grandmother teach him how to make her famous meatballs before she passed away.

Because he can't have red meat he decided to use ground chicken and ground pork. Pork would be good to add some fat so I got that. He did everything else the same. He made them around lunchtime and instead of the oven he put the big pan on the grill. Great for not making the house hot. When they were done he brought them into the house - Oh my gosh did they ever smell good.
I asked him for a bite of the one he was eating while standing over the kitchen island. I took a good size bite. "Hey pretty darn good for chicken"
Then I asked for another bite, basically finishing it off.  He obliged.

Now I know better than to just eat anything I didn't make. Hell, I usually refuse to eat anything even if someone tells me it is GF because I don't trust anyone other than Rick who knows first hand how sick I get. But later that evening I began to be sick. (Okay I would trust my sister Jen 'cause she would not want me to get sick either)

We were watching a movie and I just blurted out, "OMG I ate the meatballs." He looked at as if to say, "DUH" Then his eyes got big and went, "That wasn't gluten free bread - oh my God I'm so sorry! You're getting sick aren't you?" He saw my puffy face, which I didn't know was puffy yet. I had been feeling sick and I was getting crampy and thought to myself, "Why is this going on now?" Then it hit me - the chicken meatballs!

It's not his fault one bit. I am the damn fool who just took a bite of something without asking, I know better. I was upstairs while he was making them and didn't see what he used. He normally makes everything GF so I can eat it too but he figured since I am not normally chicken's biggest fan these would be "his".

Stomach pains and running to the bathroom are the easy parts. The other issues and pain are on a whole other level. By bedtime, I was so sick I really couldn't sleep but was so damn tired. How did I deal with this for over 20 years before I knew what the hell this was?

My face was swollen as were my limbs beginning to swell and the pain is off the charts even though you wouldn't think that would be painful...I know!
I can't breathe well, I need to sit up. I was getting stuffy. I was in the bathroom so much that I thought I should just bring my pillow in there. I finally went downstairs and rocked. Cramps don't go away when you rock but for some reason, I do it anyway.

There is nothing I can do to deal with the pain in my body or in my tummy at this point. I was drinking water. Does it do anything? Hell if I know but sometimes I feel like I could flush it out of me. No logic or sense in that. I realize that, but I was doing anything to help myself.

Everyone always asks me if I ever cheat. This is why I don't. Today I feel like crap. Fatigue, brain fog, headache, I feel like I have the flu. A full body flu.
I feel so much pain in my body/joints today and I have a rash on my arms. I am stuffy like a head cold and my pants are tight as well as everything I am wearing from all the inflammation.  I look like I've gained 20lbs for heaven's sake.
No, I don't ever cheat. It's so not worth it. Besides I am doing far more danger to my insides than what I feel, so why do I want to "cheat" and take years off my life? A piece of cake or 2 bites of a meatball just aren't worth it to me and this so reminded me of that point. But I do wish secretly it had been cake over chicken.
I mean...

For me, this probably will be gone by Friday. The longest it ever took was 2 weeks. In the meantime, I want to hide, stay inside and if I could crawl into bed for a few days and not go to yoga,work and deal with cranky people, it would be helpful.

For all the jokes made on TV about we celiacs I wish they could feel this just once and tell me if they still think it's funny and joke worthy.
We have no medication to help us we only have a GF diet. It does not cure us, it only helps us feel better.  It does not go away. This dreadful shitty disease causes cancers and will affect all your organs in very bad ways along with all the ugly stuff you can see. You can't absorb nutrients and a plethora of fun stuff happens with that issue.  Oh well. I'll be fine and I have to remember I did this to myself.
That is the kicker for me. I did this to myself.  Damn Idiot.  It was nice summer Sunday afternoon of just relaxing and having fun...until I was sick.

I'll be back later in the week when things calm down a bit.
In the meantime, enjoy some pizza for me will ya?