As a writer, I'm constantly talking about how I never sleep. It's true. Writers barely get enough time alone in their heads to have a real conversation with a non-make believe person, especially in their sleep.
I wake up in the middle of the night with my characters poking my brain, telling me about why they had to kill someone in their book or how come they had to have big hips and not the perfect size six. It's true! I even keep a journal next to my bed to write down some of the things they say so I will remember it in the morning. Plus my husband snores, which is a double whammy for me!
I use to love this game show!
Anyways. . .last summer I took a road trip with my author friend Heather Webber (aka Heather Blake). She is gluten free for a variety of reasons, but some of her symptoms struck a chord with me. Migraines, aches, pains etc....
I don't get headaches, much less migraines, but my dear husband does! I wonder if he needed to be gluten free? He gets about three migraines a month. So the more I talked with Heather about it, the more I wanted to tell my husband. What did he have to lose?
So I got this big idea that I would put him on gluten free. Of course everyone and their brother thought my husband had this family disease (which he does not) and was so concerned that he went on gluten free to help with any symptoms of that. But we tried to tell people that he didn't have the disease, but they were still leery, or nosy, so we let them believe what they want.
After a couple months of gluten free living, the unthinkable happened! Not only did his migraines completely stop, HE STOPPED SNORING! I was in between novels, and my characters had settled down a little bit. I STARTED TO SLEEP MORE THAN FOUR HOURS A NIGHT!
I was waking up refreshed and more creative than ever! My husband may not be allergic to gluten, but being gluten free has helped my writing career.
Have you tried gluten free? What has been your experience?
(BTW....gluten free is NOT calorie free or low fat!)
I haven' t but my friends son has and he does well with it. I'm a whole wheat whole grain kind of girl which helps with my diabetes.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is great that there are so many different diets because not all work in everyone.
Jill, I don't think I can give up bread all the time. I eat whole grain and LOVE it!
DeleteMy daughter has Celiac Disease and was deathly ill before she went Gluten Free and what aa differnce it made in her life!! She was losing her hair, almost bed ridden with pain, migraines constantly and sick. She had depression so badly we were afraid to leave her home alone, she was 19 at the time. Now she will be 25 and doing awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing that Gluten can do that to you! I'm so glad your daughter is doing so well. Gluten Free also helps with children with autism. Amazing....
DeleteIn May of 2010 I began having severe stomach problems. Went to a gastro specialist and had scopes done, plus an ultra sound of my gall bladder.
ReplyDeleteMy celiac test was negative.
However, my daughter suggested I drop gluten because her bro-in-law had experienced nearly identical symptoms to mine and been fantastically improved by eliminating gluten.
I tried it.
Went from having about 74% of my days with significant stomach distress ... to roughly 13% of my days with significant stomach distress.
I've been (mostly) gluten free for about 460 days.
Of course, gluten is in nearly everyting,so a few bits sneak in there.
WOW! Jeff! I didn't know that!! You have a smart daughter! We were so surprised how much it has helped my husband allergies, snoring, and headaches. He is pretty healthy eater, but now....he's in the best shape of his life...AND he's so lean and has a six pack ;) YUM!
DeleteI haven't, but I know someone who is looking into it. The fact that your hubby's migraines are now gone makes me want to think about trying it myself. Hmmm....
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I do cook Gluten Free as much as I can with three teenage boys. They like the pancakes, brownies and cookies I make my hubby. Gluten is in EVERYTHING
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My mum is gluten free. She gets really bad stomach upsets and is horribly sick when she eats wheat. Found out she is gluten sensitive. Hasn't had had more upsets since she went gluten free.
ReplyDeleteWOW! See....who knew that gluten was so crazy for some people! My hubby isn't allergic to gluten, but he's gluten intolerant. Amazing.....just amazes me how we eat really does affect us.
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