Finding a solution

For most of Kayla Thompson’s life, she was always feeling sick and lost.

Now she has written a book about her experiences finding out she was allergic to gluten.

Thompson, a 30-year-old receptionist at Thorne Crest Retirement Community, said she had a lot of stomach problems when she was younger. She would go to the doctor to figure out what was going on, but they kept giving her different diagnoses — irritable bowel syndrome and gallbladder issues among others.

“No one was getting anywhere,” Thompson said. “I felt lost, like nobody understood what I was going through.”

Her family thought that she possibly had a lactose intolerance or something like that. After getting an allergy test done Thompson found out she had seasonal allergies but nothing more.

At this point, Thompson decided to let it go.

As she got older she was having more and more stomach problems, and eventually she reached a point where she had to do something.

Thompson said her mom went to an allergist in La Crosse, Wisconsin, who helped her with her seasonal allergies. Thinking they might be able to help her, she made the trip and had a blood test done.

The blood test came back saying Thompson was allergic to wheat, rye, barley — ultimately gluten.

This diagnosis was two years ago. Thompson said at first it was hard, because gluten is in a lot of things.

She said originally she thought she could cheat and just eat a small amount of gluten and it wouldn’t affect her, but it did.

As she’s been going along, however, it’s getting easier to stay away from things and say no.

Thompson said after she found out she was allergic to gluten she wanted to write down how she felt. It was a way for her to deal with everything she was going through and make sense of it all.

She also thought if someone was going through the same thing, it might help them realize they have a problem too.

Thompson’s book, “Gluten Free Changed My Life,” is available as an e-book on Amazon for $2.99. It was released Nov. 23, 2014, and Thompson said she’s already heard feedback on the book helping others.

One of her coworkers read the book and realized Thompson’s predicament was similar to what her son was going through now, and said she was going to get her son tested for gluten intolerance.

“It just makes me feel good that maybe I could be helping somebody,” Thompson said.

For Thompson, one of the more difficult things was finding a good, gluten-free pizza. She said she used to love ordering pizza and a few times she tried gluten-free crust, it tasted like cardboard.

However, she said Domino’s and Papa Murphy’s both have a good gluten-free crust, but the crusts always run the risk of gluten contamination. However, she said she’s had the crust a few times and hasn’t had any problems.

Initially Thompson said she went to the store and raided the gluten-free section, but she’s since realized there are a lot of foods that naturally don’t have gluten, such as fruits and vegetables.

She said since she’s stopped eating gluten, she feels like she’s started to eat healthier and better.

And Thompson said while most people complain about missing bread, she was never much of a bread person to begin with so she doesn’t miss it very much.

Thompson said for anyone dealing with stomach problems that they think might be gluten related, try removing gluten for a week or two.

“It’s gonna be hard at first,” she said, but stressed to give it a couple weeks to see if things change.

She also said if someone thinks they have a problem, the best thing to do is to ask a doctor.