If you are on this website there is a high chance you or someone in your family is struggling with food allergies. I know all to well how painful and crippling food allergies can be.
Here is a little more about me, how glutenfreeaussie.com came to be, and some other fun facts.
Confessions of an itchy bitch – My struggle with gluten and dairy.
Hi, My names Lucy. Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out my blog.
My Goal is the support others on their gluten free journey by sharing my experiences, struggles, tips and tricks to navigating a gluten free lifestyle.
My Story
Growing up I always had eczema and asthma, I remember allergies being set off by dairy products, cats, birch pollen, cigarette smoke. Happily this was something I grew out of once I left primary school until later in life.
After a bout of glandular fever during college I noticed my allergies and hypersensitivity kick in.
I struggled with:
- Eczema itching, flaking, weeping eczema.
- I would scratch during my sleep and wake up with blood stained sheets.
- Had scratch marks from my nails on my arms that looked like I cut marks.
- I was grumpy, tired, snappy and well… a bit of a itchy b*tch at times!
- My clothes constantly had flakes of white skin on them.
- Mineral deficiencies
- Burped ALOT when ever I had pasta, bread or beer.
- Ulcers
- Skin infections.
- Weight Gain
- Joint Pain
- I felt awful inside and out.
An all time low point was at a 21st celebration where a friend (who was only being helpful) decided to help me out and pulled a scale of skin off my face… Needless to say my self esteem levels plummeted.
How I tried to get diagnosed:
I visited the doctor during my 3rd year of college and asked for some skin prick tests as my eczema was getting our of control and I was convinced it was something I was eating or being exposed to after noticing some patterns. She basically told me I would have eczema for the rest of my life and to deal with it, gave me a prescription for some ant-acids and sent me on my way.
How I actually found out about my allergies
It wasn’t until moving to Melbourne that I uncovered exactly what was causing my allergies. My father (who is a pharmacist) came over to do a paper in ACNEM – The Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine where he learnt about food intolerances and mineral deficiencies.
I met them for dinner one night and he handed me a few pieces of paper and said “you have every symptom on that list”.
Food Intolerance Symptoms – From which I discovered I was gluten intolerance and possibly dairy intolerance.
The other was a Low Stress Diet – This was a food elimination diet that involved eating low stress foods for a few weeks then gradually adding in stress foods one at a time a few days apart in order to figure out which ones triggered my allergies.
Fast Forward 6 weeks down the track I was eating like a caveman, 10kgs lighter, springing out of bed in the mornings, sleeping like a baby and had glowing eczema free skin.
I had identified I was Intolerant to: gluten, dairy, rye grass, bitch pollen and dust mites and sensitive to sugar. If I eat gluten it tends to make me hypersensitive and develop allergies to other foods, animals, skincare products and pollens.
LEGAL: I have come along way since my original diagnosis and I am still learning everyday. This blog is a reflection of my personal experience and should in no way replace medical advice. It is for informational use only.