antibiotics and anti-inflammatories: a story and a "pudding" recipe

Some of you may know that I have been battling an awful kidney infection since early December. I was lucky that the doctors diagnosed it so quickly when I finally broke down and went to the emergency room!

What followed, though, is what I find to be the biggest difficulty of living with non-top-8 food allergies, especially while being overseas. I needed an antibiotic  in order to heal, but everything the doctor tried to prescribe to me was full of either corn or gluten. Most of the time, the labels did not say "corn," so alerting the pharmacist and medical team that I had to avoid corn made no difference. The doctor gave up pretty quickly, so Ben and I had to spend hours after my appointment on a late Sunday night, researching the medications they had in stock at the pharmacy. Luckily, the pharmacist was patient and did not seem to mind taking out all the pill-based antibiotics there so we could examine the ingredient lists, check websites, and compare them to the very small database of possible "corn-safe" and "gluten-safe" medications others with my allergies have been able to tolerate. The few we did find were cross-reactive to penicillin, and I have a penicillin allergy in my file. (Later on, we did a lab test, since I had a bad allergic reaction last time I had penicillin. The penicillin  test came back negative a few weeks later, so I finally have confirmation that the previous reaction was due to the corn in the meds and not the penicillin itself!) We finally found one, and the pharmacist convinced the doctor to write out another prescription.

Because of the severity of my allergies, she suggested that I take the meds under a doctor's care, so I had to make a follow-up appointment with a family practice doctor before I could start my course of antibiotics. This appointment also took hours, but this time the doctor and pharmacists worked with me to try and find something that was effective and also safe! The issue is that we didn't yet have the penicillin results back, so I was limited by the food-allergies in addition to a possible penicillin allergy. I did have some minor allergic reactions, but after several hospital visits and hours of research, we finally found an antibiotic that was safe for me to take! Unfortunately, though, it was not the best antibiotic for getting rid of a kidney infection. We finally agreed that I would take the full course and then make a follow-up appointment in January if it didn't work.

Fast-forward two weeks, and the kidney infection that had started to go away was now back in full force. Luckily, I received the penicillin labs the same day as my doctor appointment (negative, yay!) and I was able to get a large (4 shot) injection of a strong antibiotic that I was assured should do the trick. The medical staff also recommended taking anti-inflammatory medication (which, of course, I can't take because of the allergies) and to use any home remedies for inflammation that I could find to help the antibiotics do their job.

So, here is the reason for this post! I did some research on several anti-inflammatory foods to help kidney functions, and then put a bunch of them together to create some new recipes. Below is my favorite - even once the infection is gone for good, I'll definitely be using this one. It makes a great, healthy breakfast or snack!

Anti-Inflammatory, Paleo-Friendly Pudding (it's not actually pudding...it's more the consistency of fro-yo or ice cream. I have no idea of what to call it! If any of you dear readers end up making it and can come up with a stellar name for it, let me know!)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup thick coconut milk (I use this one!)
- 1 frozen banana
- 10 frozen cherries
- 1/3 cup fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

**Optional:
- 1 tbsp flax meal (great anti-oxidant with lots of Omega-3's, and excellent for inflammation)
- 1/2 tsp D-Mannose (excellent for treating a UTI in case you ever have one)


Directions:

Simply place all of your ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth! If you want a thicker, fro-yo sort of texture, put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes before eating.

**Optional: Since I've been making this concoction every day for the last week or so, I've been experimenting with some ways to change it up a bit.

- Exchange 1/3 of the coconut milk for 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt, especially if you're taking antibiotics! That "good" bacteria is important!
- After blending, add some mix-ins! I like to add some crunch to mine, so I've added different combinations of the following: cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, granola, or even a few chocolate chips to satisfy a sweet tooth!

life as a celiac

There are many things I expected when I started this gluten free journey. I expected to not eat out any longer. I expected to have to find new recipes. I expected to have to give up many of the things I was used to eating. I even expected to have to explain to everyone why I couldn't go out with them to certain places or partake in food at parties or barbecues.

Then there are the things I didn't expect. I didn't expect the weird things you find gluten in (like soy sauce, many medications, and even the glue to seal envelopes). I didn't expect the excruciating pain and other side effects that happen every single time I accidentally ingest something that contains or has touched gluten. I didn't expect that even a crumb could make me sick. And most of all, I didn't expect apathy and even antagonism in response.

As I write this, I am awake three hours after "bed time" because I can't sleep due to what feels like crunching glass in my stomach, nausea that won't let me leave the house, and other side effects I never expected wheat to have on a person. This is the reason I feel I need to write this and to let others know what Celiac's can do to a person.

A few days ago, I went to the hospital. I felt faint and dizzy and went to the Urgent Care JUST in case there was something wrong. Typically, any time I've used the hospital on the base, I've had excellent experiences. In fact, I know some of the people who work there (it's impossible to be on such a small base and not know SOMEBODY who works there...) On that particular day, though, I experienced the type of person with whom all those with severe food allergies must come into contact with eventually.

She wanted to give me a medication to help me feel better. Because I learned the hard way that many medications have gluten in them, I explained my "allergy" to her and asked her if we could check the ingredients prior to taking it. I offered to do this myself, because I have an app that lists all gluten free medications and their ingredients. All I needed was the specific brand and name. She rolled her eyes at me and left the room for a minute. She came back and then tried to give it to me again. I explained that I have an allergy to anything with gluten and that I'd be sick for about a week if I took it and it had gluten. She argued with me and then said something to the effect of "a rash isn't that bad of a side effect" and that I should just take it. She was extremely perturbed that I refused the medication until finding out what was in it.

Now, I know it's possible she was having a bad day or is just used to difficult patients and that I shouldn't take it personally...but this isn't the first time I've encountered someone who was so out of the loop when it comes to a gluten allergy. I mean, if I had told her I had a severe peanut allergy there is no way she'd have given me something that had peanuts in it, but with Celiac it was "just a rash." Unfortunately, with all the celebrities touting the "gluten free diet" people unfamiliar with the disease (even in the medical community!) believe it's not actually a disease, but just a healthy lifestyle choice. Oh, how I wish.

So I want to describe to you how being a Celiac has affected me, so that you are aware. (Keep in mind that it affects everyone differently.)

If I have even a small amount of something that has gluten (or has touched something with gluten) I usually know about it within a few hours. The first sign of being "glutened" is a panic attack. I had NEVER had a panic attack until around the time I was diagnosed with Celiac. The panic attack simulates chest pain and a huge adrenaline rush, mixed with an urgent sense of anxiety that won't go away, sometimes for several hours.

The next symptom that arrives is brain fog. At first I didn't associate this with the gluten, but after researching it I have found that most of those with Celiac also experience this. It's like my brain has been shut off. I can't remember what I'm doing, and have no ability to focus. On anything.

That usually doesn't matter a whole lot, because after the brain fog comes extreme fatigue. Fatigue that often causes me to fall asleep right then and there. Last month, I fell asleep while in the middle of eating dinner.

Then comes the pain. Nausea. Searing pain. Migraine. Heartburn. Acne. Cramping. Joint pain. Muscle pain. Stomach pain that feels akin to crunching glass. This lasts for several days, depending on how much gluten I came into contact with. Again, I know other Celiacs who have different symptoms.



I know this was probably more information than you ever wanted to read, but you probably know someone with a food allergy, whether it's Celiac or something different. Luckily, I have some amazing friends who are tolerant of the difficulties we have to work around. They aren't offended when I bring my own food to their houses, or when we have to choose "safe" restaurants. They understand if I can't go out because I got sick (which, thankfully, doesn't occur too often anymore!) Some of them even go out of their way to point out anything at the grocery store they've seen that might be gluten free!

I hope that this will help you to sympathize next time you have trouble understanding those in your life who have these lifelong food allergies, or even the next time you have to go out of your way to accommodate them.