I don't know if it's celiac or not. I had a celiac panel done a few years ago and it came back negative, but the test is apparently not that great and false negatives happen quite a bit. At first I was also thinking "It CAN'T be celiac" because in trying to diagnose what was wrong with me I had a colonoscopy done, and they didn't see any damage - but you actually have to have an endoscopy done instead to see the damage from celiac. A colonoscopy doesn't go that far up to see the intestines. So it could certainly still be celiac and I haven't been firmly diagnosed... but gluten intolerance is a spectrum, and at this point I just know for sure I am somewhere on that spectrum. There are other things that have been wrong physiologically with me that have also gone away or improved since removing wheat, including things that are relatively rare to begin with and are often linked to people with gluten intolerance. To me it was like "You know, at some point, 2+2 has to equal 4." So yeah, gluten intolerance somewhere.
My mom suggested I just lie and tell them it IS celiac rather than get into the finer points of where I think I lay on the spectrum... but I've been telling them since Thanksgiving that I don't eat wheat anymore and that I haven't been sick as a result. And another problem is, my grandma is... well, we all think she's kind of declining recently... I could tell her this ten times and she won't remember it. That also means that every time I tell her, it opens up the argument again, and the rest of the family has to get their pot shots in as well. It shouldn't even be a bloody argument is what I really don't get. Why does it affect them if I don't eat wheat? I'm not telling them to not eat wheat anymore. I'm not telling them they have to switch to making all gluten free foods because *I* can't eat wheat. I'm not even telling them they have to make ANYTHING gluten free because I can't eat it. I'm not suggesting they change a **** thing... I'm just the one who has changed what she eats.
I really hate the idea of not going anymore but this is causing me so much stress EVERY time we have a family dinner, I just don't know want to do this anymore. My mom and I have been trying for years to take over the family dinners, and my grandma is being stubborn and refusing. If we were cooking and hosting it would resolve a lot of the problems. =/