I don’t want to discourage anyone, but celiac disease is truly a difficult condition. It doesn’t go away, it doesn’t heal. It makes socializing difficult, leading to isolation. It doesn’t accept ‘just this once.’ It kills spontaneity. It turns your relationship with food upside down. The physical harms are well-known.

Yes, I can guess you’re saying to yourself, ‘Where are the positive sides?’ Okay, I’m starting to explain:

I’m someone who doesn’t like asking for help. The discomfort I feel when turning to someone for help, outweighs the benefit of getting what I want. I now realize that being able to live without telling my troubles or seeking support is a great luxury.

Solitude is a wonderful thing when it’s a choice. However, solitude is not so great when it’s an outcome. (I’m getting to the positive part, just a little more.) It’s hard to cope with celiac disease without people to support you. (A few more negative sentences. Hang in there.) Celiac disease offers you a unique opportunity to make a real assessment of the people around you. You’re among the lucky few who can get a realistic answer to ‘Who really cares about you?’

Because a significant portion of the people close to you won’t understand the difficulty you’re experiencing. We can categorize them as follows:

• Those who don’t know about celiac disease: Those who are unaware of cross-contamination and who code gluten-free eating as cutting out bread and pasta, thinking you’ll be much healthier after all. We can briefly call them the ‘Actually, we should all do this’ people. It’s natural for their lack of knowledge to turn into a lack of concern.
• Those who know but don’t really care: Those who somewhat downplay the difficulty you’re experiencing, even though you’ve tried to address their lack of knowledge as much as possible. We can call them the ‘Yes, it’s very difficult, but they’re exaggerating a bit’ crowd. You can be sure they won’t share this inner voice with you. But your B12 deficiency doesn’t prevent you from sensing it.

At the end of the day, this is good news. We have the chance to choose the people we’ll stand in solidarity with more quickly and accurately. When life gets tough, the ‘pretending’ act is off the table for everyone.

So, what will happen?

Heartwarming experiences will come and compensate for the mental fatigue of disappointments. You’ll feel the support of those who love you by your side. Sometimes, even a glance will give you strength. An acquaintance you’re not usually close to, a waiter at a place you happen to go to, people you don’t even speak the same language with and will never see again will surprise you (enough to put a smile on my face right now).

Life is not a straight line. Sometimes good things have bad consequences.

And sometimes, the opposite.