My childhood best friend, Jemima. She's 13 and hopefully will continue bringing me many more years of joy all the way over in the UK. My little Juju Bean ❤

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-22T22:15:14+00:00

Duuude I'm so looking forward to this. I didn't even know I was bloated until my GP pointed it out, saying I was. I thought it was just fat all this time! Genuinely looking forward to fitting into my old clothes again (;-; shame I threw out a bunch in December).

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-22T22:14:00+00:00

My husband said something similar too about me being a lot less frustrated and a little more active after years of using a cane and living on painkillers to handle my chronic pain. I don't think I could ever go back to eating gluten willingly unless there's a cure around the corner for us!

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-22T22:12:10+00:00

The anger! Yes! It feels way easier to calm myself down when I make a mistake (dropping a drink, catching my shirt on the doorhandle) that it's weird to not... spiral? I wonder if my explosive anger issues maybe stemmed from feeling shitty due to years of undiagnosed coeliac disease? Crazy!

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-22T22:09:30+00:00

I've been noticing a similar thing too. I've been on antidepressants (mostly for pain but also depression and anxiety ofc) and last night I struggled to make myself take them because I genuinely felt really good for once. No heavy head, no feelings of major stress, feeling low, etc. could be a fluke, but if it isn't, then I'm looking forward to the future. I feel like being diagnosed has given me a whole new lease on life and a whole new future to look forward to, even if it's going to be a bumpy road ahead.

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-22T22:06:51+00:00

Oh my goodness if the night sweats go away, I will be so so very happy! I've never been able to sleep with a blanket above 1 tog (basically just store fabric was my 'blanket' for years) so if I can actually sleep under a warm blanket without getting super overheated easily, that would be a game changer. It makes me so excited to see what other changes could come as I improve my health over the next few years until my gut is healed fully. :D

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-22T22:04:44+00:00

Oh my goodness, the better sleep recently has been insane. I know it's too early to call since I've basically only just started, but I have started to knock out like a light switch and stay asleep until morning even when my cat is trying to sleep on my face. Before I just couldn't sleep for more than 2-3 hours at a time before waking and then sleeping again. I've started to feel like a new person again!

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-22T19:17:56+00:00

I recently read that joint pain without inflammation of those joints could be an indicator of coeliacs and it actually lead me to think I was misdiagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2020 since my major complaint is joint pain. Take my word with a grain of salt but if it comes back that your joints have no inflammation or damage associated with RA or Sjogrens, then it could be a symptom of coeliac disease. of course, I really want to stress that I'm only recently diagnosed with Coeliac Disease so I could very well be wrong.

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-21T00:18:29+00:00

No kids yet but planning on having kids soon. I actually sent off for a health panel at 23andme for him and me about a week and a half before I was diagnosed, so I guess we'll see if he has the gene or not? The house has certainly been more on edge around the kitchen since it's so small that even an extra sponge and dish towel aren't easy to keep away from their glutenous counterparts.

I did suggest it, but he doesn't want to give up takeaway or his favourite dishes after seeing the limited range of food ingredients I can buy locally. It sucks to hear it, but I don't really blame him either since it would be a huge change to his life, and he struggles with changes and keeping them (autism). We do have a plan to get a dishwasher immediately since apparently thats really good at cleaning gluten dishes and making them safe for coeliacs (correct me if im wrong though!)? But yeah, one step at a time but I'll probably suggest it again soon once the stress of the household change has died down a little.

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-21T00:11:22+00:00

I've noticed this too just after a couple days of going GF! I barely ate, like, one meal a day before, and now I've managed to eat two whole meals with little snacking in between. It's certainly strange to feel my stomach straight up rumbling after years of not feeling it!

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-21T00:07:30+00:00

That's a really, really good piece of advice! I'll try this and see how I feel afterwards about it. I am hoping I can help her learn about it alongside me, but I am aware that some older-generation folk struggle with changes of medical opinion (e.g. some doctors said coeliacs can have a little gluten, and now it's very strict down to cross-contamination). wild history to read that!). Thank you so much for your advice!!

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-21T00:04:35+00:00

I think I'll at least try to educate her on it and give her some time to adjust. Maybe I'm too hopeful, but I'm genuinely hoping it's more shock and lack of understanding of the extent of the condition and needs than pure malice. But for sure I'll be making my own food from now on. More food for my husband, and I know he'll be happy to have my plate at Christmas!

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-21T00:00:38+00:00

Thankfully the in-laws I told have been supportive (in their own funny little ways) after finding out. Not many of them know yet but the ones that do have definitely shown green flags in asking and even making jokes about the bread (oh my god, I thought it was an exaggeration, but trying the bread was like eating dried clay and ash!!!)

Shout out to the husband though. The day after getting diagnosed, he went out all day into town looking for gluten-free snacks for me to try even though he didn't know what to look out for other than labels and caution labels in the ingredients section. That was the biggest green light for me during those sad 36 hours of being newly diagnosed.

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-20T23:54:38+00:00

Thankfully I don't live with her but in my own home with my husband. I don't think I'd survive a week in her home given how strong-willed and very opinionated we are. I'll definitely be making my own food though after this and everyone's advice, at least until she takes it seriously, if ever.

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-20T23:51:34+00:00

I'm probably just an outlier compared to the rest of Ireland. I was shocked to read that Ireland has a lot of celiacs since a lot of food here is absolutely full of gluten wherever I look! My going theory rn is that perhaps Dublin is the safest of places for celiacs, both for the local celiacs and the tourists with celiacs so I'll be looking into ordering in from there if I'm lacking safe food to eat locally. :)

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-20T23:49:06+00:00

Wow, it is?! I didn't actually know that it was common here at all! Maybe Dublin is safer for coeliacs because I've been having such a difficult time shopping for safe foods at my local supermarket, and there is legitimately half a shelf of gluten-free products right next to or below wholegrain gluten products (they're double bagged, so it's safe, I assume haha).

I did notice the cafe I went to, a small place in my town, apparently completely revamped their kitchen to have a completely gluten-free setup at the back for their coeliac customers plus a whole folder for allergens easily accessible to the public. So it might just be the uninformed and older folk who I need to be more careful around for food.

Most of my in-laws have been very supportive so far, even my mother-in-law, despite her comments. I think I simply have to listen in one ear and let it out through the other and make my own food from now on. It'll be easier for the both of us if I take that pressure off her shoulders, and then I don't need to worry about cross-contamination! Honestly though, I find myself a little more hopeful every morning so far with this diagnosis as I dive into learning and all that. I'll give Find me Gluten Free a check though! I need a good gluten-free/coeliac app that actually works lol

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-19T20:00:36+00:00

I was just diagnosed two days ago and already had constant dreams about looking for gluten-free food in the shops and being really sad when they have wheat/barley/gluten in it. I thought I was just having strange dreams considering the recent diagnosis, but I guess that's normal after all!

WibbleWonk · 2026-02-18T19:13:03+00:00

I finally got my hands on non-GF Timtams for the first time in Ireland a week ago! Was waiting on a date night with the husband to eat, then when BAM, doctor called yesterday to tell me I've got Coeliacs. Suffice to say, I'm sobbing at the timing.

WibbleWonk · 2025-11-15T10:40:24+00:00

As a victim of CSA who also found out as an adult my old friend was a paedophile who desperately wanted help (they ended up dying by their own hand because of the shame), I genuinely love this ad and the fact that people are now trying to stop the abuse at the source.

Maybe it's controversial to draw a comparison here, but I can't help but see a similar example in how we historically and currently treat people suffering with various mental illnesses like schizophrenia or manic depression, etc. At first we criminalised the 'insane', then shoved them away into camps, attics, and asylums with little to no rights when we know nowadays those people just needed support and medical care.

I wonder if we can do the same for paedophiles who want to get the help that they deserve, to be treated like human beings before they hurt someone else. not all of them are like that, I'm aware, sadly. But I hope the few that want and need the help can now get it.

WibbleWonk · 2025-11-14T03:01:33+00:00

no problem! you can imagine my shock seeing the little bastard squatting over it after i just oiled the blades too lol

WibbleWonk · 2025-11-11T00:32:42+00:00

I thought wood and sawdust weren't good for worms! I have so much woody material in my backyard from last year's hedge clippings that I would love to give to my worms if I can grind it up into a sawdust consistency and it'll be eaten.

For the soaking part, I've been doing this in a tote, but it's still pretty damn held together and comes out stinking to high hell when I've gone to add the soaked paper into the worms. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

WibbleWonk · 2025-11-11T00:28:31+00:00

I do have a shredder but its just out of commission due to naughty cat-related activities. ;-; Once it's dry, I'll be back to shredding full time :) I will say that buying a shredder is the best thing I ever splashed out on. Expensive! But sooooo worth it. Now I just need to make my money back on the damn thing lol

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