<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

This conversation is getting complex.....
I had to laugh when this suggestion was posted....

"I suggest that you say something like.....'think of it as being like
diabetes except that my body cannot process gluten.' On the whole people
understand diabetes and the havoc it causes in the body."

I'd like to explain that I have both diseases-- Sprue & Diabetes. DM can
be a companion disease to Sprue. From that side of the fence I have to
tell you there is much confusion about diabetes out there in the world
as well. People don't know there is a difference between types of
diabetes- insulin dependent & non-insulin dependent & that the latter is
not set in stone. Many don't know insulin is not available in pill form,
because it cannot endure the intestinal fluids.

Even though diabetes is more well known as a disease, it is not well
understood by the general population either.

If someone in my situation explained Sprue in comparison to diabetes,
how would I explain the diabetes?

I had posted to a friend that giving the simple explanation of having
an allergy - in the case you have tired of giving the full explanation
in a holiday gathering situation.

I have done the detailed explanation, only to have someone shortly
thereafter offer me (fill in the blank)-- obvious gluten item . If I
want to give the detailed explanation I can.... but I get tired of it, &
the allergy is the simplified explanation- more in the interest of
letting myself off the hook from yet another explanation. Also to reduce
the uncomfortablness of it, I may refuse gluten with a "No thanks"
rather than "I can't have that" to make it easier on MYSELF.

We all have to find ways to cope with this disease, and how to deal with
said situations is an individual choice. I'm not always in the mindset
to be a Celiac educator.....

I may just want to relax & enjoy.........
It's nice to have several options to choose from.

Fran
--

mailto:[log in to unmask]

"A circle of friends ~  you know how a circle never ends...."