Latest / Unbalanced with Cerys Davage / 74. The daily reality of being a Coeliac

Transcript

74. The daily reality of being a Coeliac · Unbalanced with Cerys Davage

0:10
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Unbalanced
0:13
with me, Kera Savage, and Happy New Year, happy 2026.
0:17
I hope you're all doing well. I hope you've all had a lovely
0:20
Christmas. Hope you've all had a lovely new
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year so far and I just can't believe we're in a new year.
0:26
Let's go 2026. My Christmas decorations are
0:29
still up because I am pre recording this and hopefully by
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the time I come back from being up north over Christmas spending
0:37
time with Tristan's family I will have gotten rid of these
0:41
decorations. But I thought I would pre
0:42
prepare this episode so that it's ready to go.
0:46
This episode is going to be about a topic that I've spoken
0:49
about before, but I haven't for a while and I have some new
0:52
thoughts on it all about being a celiac.
0:55
So I talk a lot about my limb good or muscular dystrophy, but
0:59
I also am a celiac and this condition tends to take the back
1:03
seat when it comes to just life in general because my LG MD
1:07
takes up so much more of my time.
1:11
It takes up some so much more anxiety.
1:13
And with celiac, I'd say that it's pretty straightforward
1:16
being that there is a treatment for celiac disease, which is
1:19
just to not eat gluten, but it's not as straightforward as that.
1:23
And there are a lot of things that go into being a celiac, and
1:28
there's a lot of things that I want to share about the reality
1:32
of being a celiac that maybe you wouldn't know if you're not a
1:35
celiac. And things that maybe are useful
1:38
to consider, you know, if you end up meeting someone with
1:41
celiac disease, if you know someone with celiac disease, but
1:44
also just having an autoimmune disease or some kind of allergy
1:47
or something like that. I think this will be a good
1:50
episode to educate yourself a little bit on.
1:52
I'd say I have got a coffee with me this morning that I'm going
1:56
to be sipping throughout this episode.
1:58
And I never thought I'd say this for this time of year, but it's
2:01
so sunny outside that I've had to actually close the curtains a
2:04
little bit because the sunlight was directly on to me and the
2:08
camera couldn't pick up a thing. I just looked like a ghost, so
2:12
I've had to close the curtains a little bit.
2:14
But honestly, I'm leaning back right now.
2:17
You can see the sun is like directly in my eyes.
2:20
And yeah, anyway, I thought it'd be nice if I could still be able
2:23
to see by the end of this episode.
2:25
I don't want this sun to blind me because I'm pre recording
2:28
this episode. I'm not going to do a life
2:30
update or anything like that. I'm just going to get straight
2:33
into this episode. I am very excited to talk about
2:36
this because I've wanted to talk about the reality of being a
2:39
celiac for a long time. And the more I put it off, the
2:43
more things that happened to me that I'm like, Oh my goodness, I
2:46
need to talk about this on the podcast.
2:49
So as you may know, recently I was glutened and this was about
2:54
the first time in about a year that I was glutened.
2:56
You never think it's going to happen when it actually does.
2:59
I think I always have that anxiety that I'm going to get
3:01
glutened, but it's always the time that I never have a doubt
3:05
that I'm going to be gluten, that I do end up getting gluten.
3:07
So that's typical. But I do want to start with myth
3:10
busting because I think we have come a long way in knowing what
3:15
celiac disease is. When I was diagnosed at 7 years
3:18
old back in 2008, people had no idea what celiac disease was.
3:23
People didn't know what gluten was.
3:25
And that was a tough time to try and educate people wherever we
3:28
went and to try and make sure that you know, they knew about
3:31
cross contamination and things like that.
3:33
More and more people are getting diagnosed, which is amazing, and
3:37
more and more people know about it even if they have no
3:39
connections to it themselves. But I think there's still a long
3:42
way to go when it comes to actually knowing what celiac
3:45
disease is. I think a lot of people still
3:48
connect it to either it being a choice or an allergy.
3:53
So an allergy is obviously very different.
3:55
An allergy you tend to have a reaction straight away.
3:58
Obviously in more severe cases like nut allergies, you know, it
4:02
can escalate really quickly and it can be really, really
4:05
dangerous. Whereas, you know, for maybe
4:07
other allergies you get like a rash or something like that, but
4:10
you just take an antihistamine and then it goes, unfortunately
4:13
celiac disease is not like that at all.
4:16
So it's not an allergy, it's an autoimmune disease, which means
4:20
that it may take more than just a few minutes to react to the
4:24
gluten. So the gluten needs to pass
4:27
through the actual small intestine first, and that's
4:30
where the antibodies will detect that there's gluten.
4:34
The sirens will go off and the body will try and get rid of the
4:38
gluten as soon as possible. But for me, the reaction doesn't
4:41
start until about two hours after I've eaten that food.
4:45
So for me, I always have like a mental clock of having a 2 hour
4:49
mark. Like if I've eaten something and
4:52
it's been 2 hours, after that I know I'm clear.
4:54
You know, if I'm not feeling sick after two hours, I'm good
4:57
to go. Another misconception is people
4:59
mix up celiac disease and just having a gluten intolerance.
5:03
Both are obviously severe. Both have their own side
5:06
effects, both have their own severities, but celiac disease
5:10
is a lot more strength than gluten intolerance.
5:13
You know, you often hear people with some kind of an intolerance
5:15
like lactose intolerance be like, oh, I can get away with
5:18
eating just a little bit as long as it's in moderation.
5:21
And that's not the case with celiac disease.
5:24
If you've got a gluten intolerance, my from what I
5:27
understand, you can get away with eating stuff that's been
5:30
cross contaminated. For example, if the chips are
5:33
gluten free, but they're fried in the same fryer as something
5:37
with gluten, they're still fine. Whereas for a celiac, A celiac
5:40
would not touch that because it's been cross contaminated.
5:44
I think with the celiac, 1 crumb can make someone sick, but if
5:48
you've got an intolerance, it's not so bad.
5:50
It's, you know, you can kind of get away with a little bit here
5:53
and there, but the symptoms aren't great.
5:55
So, you know, they tend to avoid it altogether.
5:58
But yeah, I guess nowadays celiac disease tends to be a bit
6:01
more of a trend or maybe not celiac itself.
6:04
I think just going gluten free is a trend right now.
6:08
People are saying that it's healthier, People saying, you
6:10
know, they don't, they want to cut down on carbs and stuff like
6:13
that because it's healthier. I just want to say that going
6:16
gluten free doesn't actually mean you're healthier.
6:18
Cutting down on carbs is a different thing than going
6:21
gluten free. And for me, as someone who can't
6:24
eat gluten and therefore can't eat a lot of carbs anyway, like
6:28
bread or brown pasta and things like that, I'm naturally fibre
6:33
deficient. I'm not eating as much fibre as
6:35
I should because there's natural fibre in a lot of things with
6:39
gluten in it. So you may cut gluten out of
6:42
your life to be healthier, but you're actually cutting a lot of
6:44
goodness as well. So yeah, that's kind of still a
6:48
bit of a slippery slope right now.
6:49
I think it's still being explored.
6:51
It's still being tested with, like I mentioned in my last
6:55
episode, Wellness is a huge thing.
6:56
So I think people assume that going gluten free is like a
6:59
Wellness thing. And I know a lot of people cut
7:03
down on gluten because they think that gluten is bad for
7:06
them. But I'm like, if gluten is bad
7:08
for you, that probably means that you've caught celiac
7:10
disease or you've got gluten intolerance.
7:13
So my advice is, you know, an official advice, but this is
7:16
actually official advice from Celiac UK and lots of other big
7:20
celiac charities, medical professionals.
7:22
If you think you have some kind of reaction to gluten when you
7:26
eat it, my advice would be don't go gluten free straight away.
7:30
Go and get tested first whilst you're still eating gluten so
7:34
that the test can actually detect the problem.
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So just going to put that out there right at the beginning of
7:39
the episode just in case. I think people are like, OK,
7:43
I'll, I'll go gluten free for a bit and see how I feel.
7:46
And then they feel better and then they don't want to go back
7:49
to eating gluten to get tested. So they end up just staying
7:52
gluten free without like an official diagnosis or anything.
7:56
I think there's still a bit of a misconception around that.
7:58
So I had to mention that. Another myth I'm going to bust
8:03
before we move on to the next kind of topic is that people
8:07
think like, oh, a little bit won't hurt.
8:09
Like, surely it's not that serious.
8:12
And I've had a lot of cases where, you know, I've eaten out
8:15
and people don't understand the severity of, you know, gluten
8:18
free and cross contamination. So they're like, well, you know,
8:23
if like I don't need to change my gloves, like it's fine.
8:26
And I'm like, no, no, no. I promise you, even if you can't
8:28
see the gluten, it's there and it is as serious as you think it
8:32
is. So yes, a little bit will hurt
8:36
and I have been sick and I'm a prime example of being sick from
8:41
cross contamination, like just a little crumb.
8:44
So yes, it is a real thing. The next thing I'm going to move
8:47
on to is something that I've been dying to talk about, which
8:50
is the mental load that celiac disease has.
8:55
You know, it affects us mentally so much.
8:57
And I'm not going as far as saying that it gives us mental
8:59
health condition or anything like that.
9:01
But I do have a lot of anxieties and trust issues when it comes
9:06
to eating out or just eating outside the comfort of my own
9:10
home. So wherever I go, I'm constantly
9:14
worried about everything I eat. Has this been prepared?
9:17
Has this been prepared with separate utensils on a separate
9:20
chopping board? Clean hands, clean utensils?
9:24
Has this been prepared in a celiac friendly way?
9:27
Or are they just advertising it as gluten free and it's actually
9:30
not being prepared with that kind of care?
9:33
And I haven't always had this kind of anxiety.
9:36
It's only because my trust has been broken time and time again
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that I feel like I just can't trust anyone now or anywhere,
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even if they reassure me that it is completely gluten free.
9:50
Absolutely. I promise.
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Like every care has been taken, like every precaution has been
9:56
made. I have still been gluten after
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being told that. So yes, I've put my trust in
10:02
people and restaurants and pubs and different places and they've
10:06
let me down. So it's so hard to gauge whether
10:11
you know whether something is gluten free or not because
10:14
unfortunately I can't just take someone's word for it.
10:17
And it could easily be, you know, something is and it could
10:20
be something as easy as like a mix up, you know, they have
10:23
actually done something gluten free.
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But when I'm being served, it's been switched with someone's
10:28
gluten meal, for example. So after my Truss has been
10:31
broken so many times, I have that severe anxiety of like,
10:37
like, is this really worth it? Like, am I really going to risk
10:40
like my body and we're going to risk this just for a nice meal?
10:45
And sometimes I've passed on stuff like if I'm going to an
10:48
event and they cater gluten free, I would just take my own
10:50
food because I don't want that extra mental load of having to
10:55
worry about that as well. I want to just be able to enjoy
10:58
my day without having to worry about this extra thing at the
11:01
back of my mind as well. So sometimes taking a packed
11:05
lunch is necessary. And I remember growing up, once
11:09
I had had my diagnosis, taking my packed lunch absolutely
11:13
everywhere. You know, every school trip,
11:16
every birthday party I went to, it was all kind of gluten free
11:20
packed lunch. And yeah, I would get made fun
11:23
of, but it's worth it for, you know, not having to risk being
11:27
sick. And my friends have seen, you
11:31
know, what it's like once I've been gluten, like they've
11:34
they've seen it, trust me. And it's just not pretty at all.
11:38
And it's never ever worth it. I think people are like, oh, you
11:41
know, if you just have like a little bit or if if an accident
11:43
happens, you get sick and then you move on.
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It's a lot more than that. It's not just the there.
11:49
And then when you're sick during that sickness, like I'm sorry if
11:51
you're eating right now or drinking, I'm literally drinking
11:53
my coffee at the same time, but it's literally the worst
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feeling. Like I would not wish that on
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anyone. It's horrible because it's
12:01
inevitable and it's out of your control and you know what's
12:04
about to happen. But also after that you know you
12:07
feel weak for ages. Your stomach feels just so out
12:12
of place. Every time you eat a meal or a
12:15
snack or something you can feel a bit dodgy.
12:18
And I've probably mentioned this before but it does take months
12:20
for a celiacs gut to heal after eating gluten so my gut is
12:25
probably in bits right now. I'm trying everything I can to,
12:29
you know, help, but the only way to nourish it is a gluten free
12:33
diet for me. You know, I have to just keep
12:35
on, keep on living, keep on eating and just let my body do
12:39
its job and repair the gut. And eventually in its time, my
12:43
lipstick is going to fade the more I drink this coffee.
12:46
Another thing I thought of about, you know, the mental toll
12:50
that having celiac disease can take is the decision fatigue.
12:54
So you want to organise a social event with a group of friends or
12:57
something. With work, people often let you
13:00
choose as the celiac because they're like, well, if you
13:03
choose some way, you know, they're guaranteed to do
13:05
something for everyone else, but as long as they have something
13:08
for you. But that is a lot of pressure on
13:10
me because, you know, I might choose some way that says they
13:13
do gluten free, but actually they don't.
13:15
Or I choose some way that I know is safe for me, but it's
13:18
actually not that great for everyone else.
13:20
So that that can be a bit stressful as well.
13:22
I'm not saying it's like a huge impact on my life, but it is
13:26
little things like that. And say you go to a restaurant
13:29
and they have pizza and pasta, both advertises gluten free.
13:32
You know, they have gluten free options.
13:34
Which one am I going to go for? That's the safest option.
13:37
I think a lot of restaurants nowadays, I think almost every
13:40
single one I go to, they now have to say, I think it must be
13:44
a new rule. They now have to say we can't
13:47
guarantee that there won't be any cross contamination.
13:50
And that's really annoying as a celiac because I don't know
13:54
whether they mean they genuinely can't guarantee the cross
13:57
contamination because they use the same utensils for
14:00
everything. They use the same baking trays,
14:02
they use the same cookers and fryers.
14:05
That means cross contamination. Absolutely.
14:08
Or are they saying that by we're trying the best we can, we're
14:11
using everything separately, but there will be gluten handled in
14:15
the kitchen as well, Which for me that sounds better because
14:19
I'm not expecting you to have a whole separate kitchen for
14:22
gluten free. I'm not expecting you to have a
14:25
separate kitchen for every single allergen and you know,
14:28
dietary need. That's just unrealistic.
14:31
But as long as you're taking the right precautions, you're
14:35
putting my pizza on a separate tray above the other pizzas in
14:38
the in the oven. The same oven as other gluten
14:41
pizzas is fine. And I don't know where this has
14:44
come from, but every time I go out for gluten free pizza, they
14:48
warn me that it's in the same oven as the gluten pizzas.
14:51
And I'm like, I know that's fine.
14:53
Like they're like, yeah, but you know, gluten is airborne and you
14:56
know, gluten will be flying around.
14:57
But I'm like, as long as it's on a separate tray, it's fine.
15:01
And I cook the same pizzas as my family in our oven at home and
15:05
that's fine. I just think restaurants and
15:08
dining places are trying to be so, so careful now with, you
15:12
know, the way they advertise their food is gluten free
15:15
because they're afraid of getting sued if someone does end
15:19
up having an accident and a cross contamination fiasco and
15:22
end up getting sick. But it's just so hard to gauge
15:26
whether they actually mean there is a risk of cross contamination
15:30
or whether they're just saying we can't guarantee just to cover
15:33
their backs. So that has been like an extra
15:37
new like frustration and causes so much anxiety when you go out.
15:41
I don't know if you're AC yet watching this.
15:43
I don't know whether you feel the same or whether you feel
15:46
safer, you know, because they're saying this.
15:48
But for me, it's really frustrating because when people
15:52
warn me as soon as I sit down in a restaurant, we can't guarantee
15:55
that things are gluten free. I have to go into an in depth
15:58
conversation with them about, OK, but how is it prepared?
16:02
How is it made? What utensils are you using?
16:04
Are you cleaning in between? You know, are you using separate
16:07
gloves? Are using separate boards just
16:10
things like that and usually they have to go, you know, check
16:13
with the chef in the back and that holds up the entire table
16:16
because I'm the problem I'm the one that needs to, you know,
16:19
triple check that things are gluten free and the way that
16:22
it's made. It's almost as if I need to be
16:24
in that kitchen to watch exactly how they make it because 1
16:27
little mistake and I'm screwed so that for me is like my
16:31
biggest anxiety at the moment when I go out as a celiac is
16:36
just knowing, you know I'm. I'm almost expecting restaurants
16:41
to say now like, oh, by the way, like we can't guarantee.
16:44
Have you read our allergen statement?
16:45
Have you read that, you know, if you do get gluten, then you
16:48
can't sue us kind of thing. But I'm like, OK, what does that
16:52
mean? What does it mean?
16:54
Anyway? Yeah, I needed to get that rat
16:57
out there because I don't think people realise the mental toll
17:01
that takes on a celiac. Because once they say that, they
17:05
can't guarantee, even if they say that they're doing
17:07
everything they can to make it celiac friendly whilst I'm
17:11
eating the food and for two hours afterwards, I'm going to
17:13
feel so nervous. And then sometimes that will
17:17
trigger like a placebo feeling sick effect in me, like Oh my
17:21
goodness, I've eaten gluten. Like convincing myself mentally
17:23
that I have because I'm just not sure.
17:26
And I just feel really, really nervous and my heart like is
17:30
beating fast and I'm like, oh, it's just not a nice feeling.
17:33
You know, already having a very limited menu is a celiac and
17:36
then having that worry on top of it that this might not actually
17:40
be gluten free. So that's the reality of being a
17:44
celiac. One thing I do love though, is
17:46
when you go to a restaurant and there's actually more than one
17:49
option on the menu, which is great because usually I'm like,
17:52
I can't be fussy. I just need to eat whatever's on
17:54
the menu that's gluten free. But actually there's quite a few
17:58
to choose from these days. Restaurants are getting much
18:00
better and so are supermarkets. Not every single supermarket
18:04
chain offers like a whole gluten free range.
18:07
So I still need to be careful and mindful.
18:09
I tend to stick to the same places because I know that they
18:11
do gluten free and I feel so much better just cooking at home
18:16
and buying things that are gluten free from supermarkets
18:19
that are separately packaged because I know that they've gone
18:23
through those procedures to ensure that they are safe for
18:26
celiacs. So I do love cooking at home.
18:30
I do love Tristan cooking at home for me, and he's really,
18:34
really good with being gluten free as well.
18:37
I think dating can be a problem. You know, I'm luckily kind of
18:41
wiped off almost, but I know that dating would be a huge
18:45
problem for celiacs as well because, you know, they not only
18:50
are trying to get to know someone, maybe for the first
18:52
time, they've got that mental anxiety kind of ticking in the
18:56
background of like, oh, am I going to make it out of this
18:58
date alive? You know, not getting glutened,
19:01
but also, you know, having to make decisions on places that
19:05
are gluten free or having to triple check with the waiter.
19:09
You know, how is this prepared in front of like a stranger that
19:12
you want to get to know? That can be a bit tough as well.
19:15
So I understand that having these awkward situations out
19:19
don't just affect us mentally. It can affect our relationships.
19:22
It can affect in fact, our friendships, our families and
19:25
just dating as well. And I'm very fortunate that I
19:28
have a fiance who is understanding of my gluten free
19:33
lifestyle. He completely gets it now.
19:36
You know, we have been together over six years.
19:38
So you think that he's gotten the hang of it, but he, you
19:41
know, would eat gluten free pasta with me and just to avoid
19:45
doing like a separate pan of like pasta, for example, you
19:48
know, we would have our own things, you know, if we if we
19:51
were to eat fajitas, he'd have his own wraps.
19:55
Because there are some things that you still have to draw a
19:57
line on, like gluten free bread is getting better.
20:00
Absolutely. I would never force a non celiac
20:03
to eat gluten free bread, you know, because I'm very well away
20:06
that gluten, that gluten bread is much nicer.
20:09
Normal bread is much, much nicer.
20:11
And so, you know, we have our compromises.
20:13
We have our separate, you know, air fryer drawers and things
20:16
like that. And I feel completely safe when
20:19
Tristan is cooking because, you know, we're used to that
20:22
lifestyle of. Doing things that are gluten
20:24
free. And to be honest, most of our
20:26
meals that we do is naturally gluten free anyway.
20:29
So yeah, I'm very fortunate in that sense.
20:32
I often feel very guilty if people go out of their way to
20:37
make sure that something is gluten free for me.
20:40
And I don't know why. Like I just have that guilt
20:42
like, oh, you really didn't have to.
20:44
Like I understand that I'm very, very difficult person because
20:47
I'm a celiac. You really didn't have to like
20:49
do that for me. But, you know, I know I would do
20:51
that for other people. I know I do that for my friends,
20:55
so I guess I need to just get over that.
20:58
But there's also that element of because I'm a people pleaser, I
21:02
feel terrible trying to explain to someone that no, you can't
21:06
just give me an ice cream straight from the same ice cream
21:10
that you've been serving everyone else that's cross
21:12
contaminated from the cones. You do have to get me a separate
21:15
tub of ice cream or you do have to get the ice cream from
21:18
somewhere clean. And I hate that.
21:21
Like I hate having to explain to waiters and, you know, servers
21:26
or whatever that I have to be picky.
21:28
I have to be fussy as a celiac because otherwise I'll get
21:31
really sick. And especially if people don't
21:34
take it seriously or if they don't understand the severity of
21:37
cross contamination or being a celiac and eating gluten free.
21:41
I hate being picky. I hate looking fussy, especially
21:45
if I'm like with other people as well.
21:47
Like the last thing I want is for people to judge me because
21:50
I'm like over explaining how celiac disease works.
21:53
And I know that, you know, most people will be really
21:56
understanding and want to learn, but I feel like it's just not my
21:59
job. Like I don't want to have to
22:00
explain celiac disease over and over again to different people
22:04
every time. Like, but I might look it up.
22:06
Do you know what I mean? Like I'm not here to educate
22:08
you. And it's the same with having a
22:09
disability. People love to overstep and ask
22:13
you really intrusive questions, but I think we need to remind
22:16
ourselves that it's not our job to educate people.
22:18
You know, if they really want to know the severities of being a
22:22
celiac or what happens when a celiac eats gluten, you can, you
22:27
can look that up. You don't need to know.
22:29
I don't need to explain that to you.
22:30
You could easily watch this episode and be like, why don't
22:33
you just eaten then? Why don't you just not go out to
22:36
eat? That's not fair, is it?
22:38
You know, if people have the freedom to be able to go out and
22:41
try new restaurants, try different foods that maybe they
22:44
wouldn't do at home or can't do at home and try new cuisines,
22:49
It's not fair to say to a celiac just don't go out.
22:51
It's just absurd. But I think we are quite good at
22:54
balancing eating in and going out.
22:57
Takeaways, on the other hand, I barely ever explore.
23:00
I just stick to what I know. I know Domino's do gluten free,
23:04
Honest Burger do gluten free, which is amazing.
23:07
And that's pretty much it. You know, like Chinese takeaway
23:11
I wouldn't really touch because I know that everything is kind
23:13
of fried and cooked and prepared together.
23:17
All the sauces have wheat in them.
23:18
So that's the kind of a no go. So I do already have to miss out
23:22
on a lot of, you know, luxuries that people without celiac
23:26
disease can enjoy. And I want to be able to go out
23:29
and enjoy going out for a meal with friends.
23:31
I don't want to have to miss out on social events just because
23:34
I'm too worried that I'll be fed gluten.
23:37
Like, I still want to be a part of that.
23:39
It's just something we need to get a bit better at, I think is
23:42
knowing which places are actually gluten free or not, or
23:44
which places are saying that they're fine, but they're not.
23:47
And some people are saying that they're not fine when they
23:49
actually are. I think a lot of people are
23:52
scared now and just want to cover their own backs.
23:54
But, you know, they're actually probably fine.
23:56
They're just overthinking it maybe.
23:58
But yeah, I do want to still enjoy, you know, going out and
24:01
eating and trying different foods.
24:03
So it's something I will continue to do, but it's just
24:06
unfortunate that I have to take so many extra precautions and
24:10
inconvenience maybe a lot of people.
24:12
But I'm hoping that by having to explain to people or
24:16
inconvenience people, I'm also educating them.
24:19
Even though, like I said, it's not really my job, but I'm happy
24:22
to do that so that they can understand, maybe see that
24:25
disease a little bit better for the next time they approach
24:28
someone with celiac disease. There's also that additional
24:30
cost as well of being a celiac. Like I know I'm very fortunate
24:34
living in Wales that I do get some gluten free things on
24:37
prescription. But personally I haven't had
24:40
gluten free things on prescription for a while because
24:42
it's just a lot of admin, you know, and maybe first of all
24:46
problems, whatever. It's not that big a deal.
24:48
It's doesn't take that much effort.
24:49
But as someone with a disability, it's already, you
24:53
know, energy consuming to have to go to the GP every time to
24:56
get a prescription, fill it out, go to the pharmacist to drop it
25:00
off, return in a week or two to collect everything.
25:04
And usually the boxes are so big that I can't carry them myself.
25:07
So I need someone else to come with me or I need to send
25:10
someone else to get them. That is a lot of work for me.
25:13
And it may not sound like that to you, but now that I'm living
25:15
independently it's so much easier.
25:18
Even though it's more expensive, it's just a lot less time and
25:22
energy consuming to just add a gluten free loaf of bread onto
25:26
the existing Tesco delivery shop that I'm going to get straight
25:29
to my door. That's just actually a lot
25:31
easier for me. And yes, I could go out of my
25:33
way to save that extra £2.50 per loaf of bread, but I guess I
25:38
just need to balance out, you know, my time and energy and
25:41
money as well. Yeah, it's just annoying because
25:44
it's not a choice and it's literally the only option I have
25:46
is to buy gluten free bread that's like 3 times more
25:49
expensive than a normal life of bread.
25:51
I'm going to wrap up this episode here.
25:53
I think we've learned a lot. Being a celiac essentially means
25:56
that I need to advocate for myself a lot everywhere I go,
26:01
because if I don't, I could harm myself by accidentally eating
26:05
gluten and getting really sick. So it does take a lot of energy,
26:11
it takes a lot of effort, and it's a very thorough job to be a
26:15
celiac because you need to kind of run a fine comb through
26:19
absolutely everything. Metaphorically, of course.
26:23
It's never worth it. Eating a crumb or two or just
26:26
trying a little bit. Never, ever, ever.
26:28
You could give me the best chocolate cake in the world or
26:31
like the biggest and most amazing meal and I would not
26:34
touch it because it's never worth it.
26:37
I'm not new to being a celiac, so this is just something I've
26:39
gotten used to over the years. It's just frustrating that it's
26:43
still happening that I'm still getting lutoned every now and
26:46
again and it's completely out of my control.
26:49
And it's frustrating that I do have trust issues now.
26:51
But I know it's not just me that's going through this, and
26:54
that's kind of why I wanted to talk about it today.
26:57
I know that there are other people that have the same
27:01
feelings and the same thoughts and the same experiences as me.
27:04
So I hope that this brings you some comfort a little bit that
27:09
you know you're not alone. It's not you.
27:11
It's never our fault, you know, if we're being served gluten and
27:14
then we're sick afterwards and we suffer the consequences, it's
27:17
never our fault. Please remember that.
27:21
But yeah, you're not alone and I hope I'm not either.
27:24
So if you can relate to anything I said today, please let me know
27:28
because that will actually help me out a lot, knowing that I'm
27:31
not the only one that's going through this.
27:33
And we'll get through it, You know, it'll be fine.
27:36
Life is still good. You know, we just need to take a
27:39
few extra steps. That's, that's all it is just to
27:42
make sure that we're still living a good life.
27:44
I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you learnt something.
27:47
If you can't relate to it, I hope you were educated and that
27:51
you can take this information just to be a bit more mindful
27:54
and to just help and be understanding of other celiacs.
28:00
It's not easy always and if you know a celiac then you know
28:04
exactly what it's like and how tough it can be.
28:07
So just keep being there for them.
28:09
That's my advice and never underestimate the power of
28:14
advocating for yourself and triple checking every meal.
28:17
It's annoying, but it's necessary.
28:19
You know, I want to talk more about being a celiac and living
28:23
a gluten free life on my social media.
28:25
So if you have any topics that you want me to talk about,
28:28
anything you want me to show any like meals that we prep, things
28:31
like that, please let me know. I want to branch out more into
28:35
the gluten free world online because I feel like I've, I've
28:38
done it with the disability side, but I know that there are
28:41
so many amazing gluten free creators out there that I want
28:45
to connect with and get tips from and get advice from.
28:49
Even though I'm not new to the celiac game at all, I'm very,
28:53
very used to it by now. I want to meet those other
28:55
celiacs and you know, gain more of a perspective on it because
28:59
I've got my routines now, but I want to branch out.
29:02
I want to be able to find more interesting things to do and
29:05
meals to cook and places to go that I know have been
29:08
recommended by other celiacs. I have actually done an episode
29:12
before with Laura from Celiac Sisters that I really recommend
29:15
you check out. She's an absolutely free queen
29:18
and we just the app about being celiacs together.
29:21
Also, both of my sisters are celiacs, so check out my episode
29:25
with them if you haven't. Thank you so much to kill LG and
29:28
D2I for sponsoring this podcast. I am very excited for this year
29:32
ahead. I have some amazing guests lined
29:34
up for you guys that I can't wait for you to get to know and
29:38
if you have any topics that you want me to discuss this year,
29:41
send me a message on Kerry Savage on Instagram or TikTok or
29:45
unbalanced podcast on Instagram or leave a comment below this
29:48
episode in the little Q and a box.
29:51
I would love to know what you want me to talk about, what you
29:54
want me to chat about, answer any questions and dilemmas, let
29:57
me know. I am here for you.
29:59
And this is exactly what the podcast is about is to bring
30:02
everyone together and to make sure that we're not alone in
30:05
this. So I can't wait to spend the
30:08
next year with you and the next year after that and the year
30:10
after that. And I will speak to you guys
30:12
very soon, but until then, have a lovely week.
30:15
Bye.