Joe’s Sleepless Nights

I love to hear other people’s stories about how they were diagnosed with celiac.  If you would like to share your story, please email me.

About a month ago @Switch2GF on Twitter asked people to share their, “going gluten-free” stories. For those of you who don’t know, I switched to a gluten-free lifestyle last August. So, why would I do something like this? It all started with me being tired one day and talking with a friend.

I don’t think there was anything particularly special about that day, other than my being exceptionally tired. My friend asked why and that launched a story of my horrific sleep patterns over the previous decade. Essentially, once I made it past those high school years where you can sleep thought anything, I started finding it incredibly difficult to go to sleep at night … for whatever reason, my body just wouldn’t shut down. Now, that in itself was rough, especially if I had to be some place the next morning, but, to make matters worse, if something woke me up in the middle of the night, I couldn’t get back to sleep … a challenge that became that much more life-intrusive once my son Robbie was born.

Hearing this, my friend told me about her experience with ongoing health issues that stemmed from a food insensitivity. From what I’ve picked up since then, the basic problem is that the body does well digesting some foods, but struggles to digest others. When foods aren’t easily digested, the body will deal with the struggle by doing things like furiously attacking the indigestible food (this is part of what was keeping me awake) or storing the food away as fat (which is why Anita went gluten free and dropped 50lbs in a short period of time). Anyway, she then suggested a holistic doctor who would not only help me figure out foods that I have issues with, but would then help me reboot my system and start a new diet.

It’s now five months since I began my cleanse and, while I’m still a late night person, I now have delightful experiences in the morning where I recall waking up in the middle of the night, rolling over, and going right back to sleep. I’m more rested, have a better energy balance during the day, and feel healthier. In the end, dropping the gluten (and a couple other things) has been one of the best health choices I’ve ever made.

Thank you Joe.  I had never confirmed my sleeping habits were a symptom of celiac until hearing from other people.  Great story and the best of luck to you!

You can visit Joe’s blog on “reactions to the world around me, thoughts on faith and life, teaching (both formal and quick reflections on Scripture), and news updates” HERE