No, I can't eat that, thank you for reminding me...again

[mmswm]

I hear you.  I'm allergic to bandaids.  It is fun when I go in for blood tests when I tell them to just give me the cotton ball and skip the adhesive.

OP, I wish I was your coworker.  I'm the baker in my office.  We've had a couple of people who were celiac.  I'd make something a couple times of year that were celiac safe.

I'm allergic to bandaids too. It came about the same time as the shellfish.If I use one I end up with the outline of the bandaid for days afterward as a rash on my skin.

Me too. It's weird tho, because I can use a band-aid for  a couple days on my leg or ankle before the rash shows up, but I recently put one on my neck and it started itching instantly. And I can use them on my fingers w/ no reaction.

I'm also allergic to the non-latex tape. So I don't think it's the latex in my case.

Bandaids are avoidable on the leg as I can wrap a piece of gauze under an ace bandage. But when I had a mole removed from my waist that was fun. The ace bandage thing didn't work. Ugh!

It may be the adhesive, not the latex/non-latex tape itself. I have sensitive skin and any sort of adhesive will cause me discomfort, though I'm not allergic.  I try to do without bandaids of any sort if I can get away with it.

[fluffy]

The gloaters might think that they're just joking around with you. To them, their comments are new and novel. To you, it's the same old, tired things that people have been saying all along. Do you laugh at them at all? Even if you're laughing uncomfortably at them, they might be taking it as a sign that you're joking along with them.

Whatever you say, I'd say it with a rather stony face. If they have any sense, they'll realize that you're not playing along and knock it off.

I have to admit, my sister is GF and we do tend to tease her about it. She always laughs along with us, so I haven't gotten the impression that it bugs her at all. But maybe I'll tone it back, just in case. In her case, she tends to be a bit of a joker herself. She often talks about her condition in a joking manner and I think we've all taken her lead.

I think I'd be tempted to say, "I don't normally feel deprived, but it's so kind of you to take an interest." In my iciest voice.

[bopper]

"More for you."

[ShadowLady]

Believe me, I sympathize with the celiacs, I am sort of in the same boat.  Sort of.  I have MS, and it is mostly triggered by foods.  The two biggest triggers are white rice, and white flour.  What we've figured is that it sets off my diabetes (sends blood sugar over 200) which causes the MS to flare up.  So I can't eat most breads, or things that are breaded.  Or things that rice is part of the dish.

I am very happy at all of the places that are giving people the choice of "carb-choice" -  aka lettuce wraps to the sandwiches they are selling.  And the number of places that are also allowing brown rice as an alternative to white rice.  Something about the extra fiber in the brown rice, so I don't react badly to it.


For those of you who are having a problem with bandaids and various tapes, try using "vet wrap" (or my mom calles it doggie wrap), a sort of wrap that vets use to keep a cotton ball on a dog's leg.  My mother gets some for herself to use, because she is allergic to bandaids, etc.  It works fairly well for her.

[mmswm]

I thought of this thread today when my mother and I went out for coffee and she went to order the fried green tomatoes, then realized what she was doing and fell over herself apologizing for her thoughtlessness.  I told her she was find and to order her tomatoes .

[PastryGoddess]

Believe me, I sympathize with the celiacs, I am sort of in the same boat.  Sort of.  I have MS, and it is mostly triggered by foods.  The two biggest triggers are white rice, and white flour.  What we've figured is that it sets off my diabetes (sends blood sugar over 200) which causes the MS to flare up.  So I can't eat most breads, or things that are breaded.  Or things that rice is part of the dish.

I am very happy at all of the places that are giving people the choice of "carb-choice" -  aka lettuce wraps to the sandwiches they are selling.  And the number of places that are also allowing brown rice as an alternative to white rice.  Something about the extra fiber in the brown rice, so I don't react badly to it.


For those of you who are having a problem with bandaids and various tapes, try using "vet wrap" (or my mom calles it doggie wrap), a sort of wrap that vets use to keep a cotton ball on a dog's leg.  My mother gets some for herself to use, because she is allergic to bandaids, etc.  It works fairly well for her.

It's also called co-elastic wrap. You can also get it from the drug store under the name gentle tape or non-adhesive tape.  It only sticks to itself, not to your skin or hair

[Bijou]

"If you really felt strongly about my deprivation you probably wouldn't be eating that right in my face and lamenting my inability to have some." 

No?  OK, too sassy.  How about this:
" There are many gluten free foods out there, and I really don't miss the foods that cause me so much grief."

[JacklynHyde]

I have found most people take it more seriously if you say you have celiac disease instead of saying you're gluten-free.  The former makes it clear that it's a medical condition and not a choice.  It's serious stuff and should be taken seriously.

My latex allergy is rarely taken seriously.  People make snarky jokes about my Scrabble life or ask why I'm wary of balloons.  A contact reaction will make my body discolor and scab over.  Don't ask what happens to my throat and lungs when someone pops a ton of balloons too close to me (this has happened and I had to miss work the next day).

[Drunken Housewife]

I have had this problem a number of times.  I'm not gluten-intolerant, I'm a vegetarian, and so many times I've run across gloaters ("oh, this bacon is SOOOO YUMMY.  It's so awful you can't have it.  Don't you wish you could have some?") or pitiers ("I feel so sorry for you that you can't eat it"). 

I actually cut back my volunteer hours at an animal rescue because one of the other volunteers, who was highly competitive with me, would bring in a big dish of meat every day and go on and on like this every single time.  It was clearly mean-spirited, and the rescue lost a lot of skilled man-hours due to this.  I decided I would no longer volunteer past lunch as I'd had my fill of that unpleasant behavior. 

Anyway, I have personally not done well at effectively and politely getting people to stop doing this to me.  My approach has been to silently seethe usually, which I suppose is polite enough but unpleasant for me personally, and to try to avoid people who do this. 

I had a giant falling out with a friend over this same behavior.  At every single meal we ate together, she'd bring up my vegetarianism and go on about how awful it was I couldn't eat this, I couldn't eat that... I resolved that the next time she did it, I would, as politely as I could, say, "So you've told me.  Let's talk about something else."  This caused a giant fight and an accusation from her that I had a rule that you could never discuss anything that you'd ever mentioned before and how she "couldn't live by [my] rules", etc...  Our friendship was never the same again (but it wasn't the most healthy friendship, either). 

[Drunken Housewife]

So incidentally I am following this thread with interest, and the suggestions which are not medically based (as my situation differs from the OP in that my dietary restrictions did not stem from a diagnosis) are things I will try to remember. 

Thanks, OP, for this thread!  I am having a moment of feeling less alone with this problem. 

[VorFemme]

"I don't miss the hours (days) of pain in the bathroom while XXX worked its way through my system" is one that could be used - graphic descriptions of the cramps, bloating, and such should be saved only for the really, really obnoxious who've been doing this for a long time and have been asked to quit already.

"I don't mind missing out on the ambulance rides to the ER" is another one.......

But there are people who are so thoroughly sure that the way they see life is the only way to see it - that a cluedozer followed by a twenty stampeding elephants couldn't get the message through to them.

[EllenS]

The gloaters are toddlers in big bodies and I would treat them as such.
"oh, WOW, really?  Yes, I can tell.  Wow, it looks like you're really enjoying that.  Good for you!"
Any negative reaction will encourage them, as they are trying to goad you.

The over-sympathizers I think deadpan is usually best.  "oh, really? You woudn't want to go on living?  That's really a big deal for you, eh?"

When people are so self-involved they just want a mirror, not a conversation - I give them one.  Saves me the trouble.

[edgypeanuts]

I have had this problem a number of times.  I'm not gluten-intolerant, I'm a vegetarian, and so many times I've run across gloaters ("oh, this bacon is SOOOO YUMMY.  It's so awful you can't have it.  Don't you wish you could have some?") or pitiers ("I feel so sorry for you that you can't eat it"). 

At every single meal we ate together, she'd bring up my vegetarianism and go on about how awful it was I couldn't eat this, I couldn't eat that.

I do not eat meat, but I try not to draw attention to it.  In a case like your 'friend' though, I would start explaining WHY I do not eat meat.  (for me, this involves how we handle and process our meat as well as whether or not the animals are killed humanely)  As part of my training, I had a class on meat inspection (it was being presented as a great job option) and I never ate meat again unless I knew who hunted it and how it was prepared.  So I would start explaining in great detail where her lunch came from- I rarely make it very far before I am asked to stop (esp if they are eating!) 

I have a brother who likes to ask if I am "allowed" to eat this or that and I frequently tell him that it is not a religion and I can eat what I want, I just choose not to eat some things as it is not worth it to me.

I do not understand why people feel the need to be so involved in what someone else is eating!  I will say though, that it would be a huge lifestyle change for me to go gluten-free and I am grateful I don't have to, but it still would never occur to me to pity or question someone who is, for whatever reason.

[bansidhe]

I have had this problem a number of times.  I'm not gluten-intolerant, I'm a vegetarian, and so many times I've run across gloaters ("oh, this bacon is SOOOO YUMMY.  It's so awful you can't have it.  Don't you wish you could have some?") or pitiers ("I feel so sorry for you that you can't eat it"). 

If you don't mind what might be a white lie, tell these people that you became a vegetarian because you don't like meat and therefore, you don't miss it one bit.  That's actually the truth in my case, though there are certainly moral and ethical reasons now, also. Saying you don't like meat takes the wind right out of their sails. 

[Danika]

I do not understand why people feel the need to be so involved in what someone else is eating!

POD! To me, it's being preachy. I don't like people preaching religion, politics, recycling, eating habits or anything else. I don't want to debate with them and I don't want to convince them. Nor do I want to hear their opinions on things I've heard a million times before.

I find people who are like this to be really unpleasant. I follow the saying "Don't engage the crazy." That's why, to people like this, I give short one word replies in a very monotone voice and either beandip or walk away.