I Was Doing So Well....what Happened

[bakingbarb]

Warning, I am rambling and switching topics all over the place, I am so frustrated and trying to work this out in my head so I ma just listing what I am thinking and the things that may be impacting it...

When I first stopped eating wheat and its counterparts I felt so much better. The gut pain that had been so intense for so long improved so much and I almost never get it anymore

But I keep getting the Big D and I am anemic again and my body aches and and and

Somewhere something is making me sick, I keep racking my brain and just don't know.

Can't go to the Dr right now, 90 days to new insurance with new job. 90 days can't go by fast enough!!!!

Can other food allergies and sensitivities cause similar problems? Honestly I don't know if I can figure this one out on my own. I am so sick and tired of the whole thing. I ask because all of my ingredients are gluten free and every time I bake something I can just tell something isn't right. Common baking ingredients are oil, butter, eggs, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and the numerous things we use to make flour blends. Can it be one of these things? I know others have other food issues but how did you find out what they are?

I bought all new bake ware as I finally got over the initial shock of the whole thing, realized people on here weren't crazy telling me that I would need new stuff. BUT I think new people might not be able to handle the whole truth, at least I couldn't! I bought new cooking utensils BUT my daughter

eats pasta almost daily and I can't help but wonder if somehow.....

Should I buy her a pan just for pasta?

Quite frankly I don't eat food cooked in the pans much and she doesn't use the plastic cooking utensils or wooden spoons, she uses a fork to stir and eat with. She should be going gluten free also but won't even think about it. Thats a whole nother issue.

Quite frankly I don't have the money to buy more new pans and such and I just am so sick of this whole thing. And I don't know what to do I am tired and I ache and the anemia is really too much again.

My family is leaning in the direction that it is another food that I am allergic too. I made them a bread only section on the counter so I feel better about that as they were getting really sloppy the last month or so. They are respecting the bread only area quite well. Although the step son hasn't eaten any bread that I can see since I did that. I think he thinks I blame him for it all....Blended families can be tough!

[jerseyangel]

Aw Barb,

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this....I can relate. I felt so much better after going gluten-free, but my symptoms began to come back after a few months.

I had developed additional food intolerances. Things like tapioca (which is in so many gluten-free baked goods and mixes), dairy, soy, coconut, legumes give me much the same reaction as gluten does.

As long as your dishes, cutlery and pans are clean, they should pose no risk. (wooden boards, utensils and collander are exceptions, as you know)

I would suggest a simple food log--bring your diet back to basics (meats, fruit, veggies, rice, etc.--no baked goods or processed foods) until you feel better. Then, add back foods one at a time with at least 4 days in between and jot down what you eat and how you feel each day.

A pattern should begin to emerge.

[bakingbarb]

Aw Barb,

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this....I can relate. I felt so much better after going gluten-free, but my symptoms began to come back after a few months.

I had developed additional food intolerances. Things like tapioca (which is in so many gluten-free baked goods and mixes), dairy, soy, coconut, legumes give me much the same reaction as gluten does.

As long as your dishes, cutlery and pans are clean, they should pose no risk. (wooden boards, utensils and collander are exceptions, as you know)

I would suggest a simple food log--bring your diet back to basics (meats, fruit, veggies, rice, etc.--no baked goods or processed foods) until you feel better. Then, add back foods one at a time with at least 4 days in between and jot down what you eat and how you feel each day.

A pattern should begin to emerge.

Patti, yes there is a new cutting board and I use no colander ever ever ever lol That would freak me out to touch the thing lol

It is in what I bake, that much I am sure of. But how do I pinpoint what? Thats where my confusion comes in. PLUS I get tired of not being able to eat anything other then baked spuds, meat and veggies and eggs. I am not that strong willed LOL I think thats a funny statement, we have to be strong willed to not eat a whole food group! I bake when I wish I were eating a candy bar or such. But it doesn't matter what I bake I know its in there somehwere, what ever it is. Is a test from the Dr the only way I will know?

btw I am pretty sure it isn't dairy as I pretty much stay away from it except butter and cheese but I don't really think its the issue....

[home-based-mom]

You are probably right about being something that you bake. Personally I can't handle rice bran. That eliminates (for me) a lot of the mixes and recipes because they are made with brown rice flour. I like brown rice but it doesn't like me.

Others have posted that they cannot handle tapioca or the bean flours or yeast.

Maybe you could post what the ingredients are in what you bake and let others chime in with suggestions?

Hope you feel better soon. That achy feeling is no fun.

[jerseyangel]

Barb--I know!! How can any of us consider ourselves weak! The good news is that you have already narrowed it down to something in your baked goods.

I figured out pretty quickly that tapioca was a problem for me because it was holiday time and I bought tapioca starch for the first time to make cookies. Unfortunately, this makes a lot of mixes off limits for me, but at the same time I've become pretty darn good at substituting in recipes.

The problem with the food intolerance testing is that once you have eaten a food, you make antibodies to it. This is why those tests tend to yield many false positives. Some find them useful, taking all of the positives and narrowing down from there.

My allergist/immunologist is the one who gave me this information and suggested the elimination diet. I'm wondering if you could start with using just white rice flour, potato and corn starch (assuming you are ok with these when eaten separately).

I've had good luck with the Gluten Free Pantry mixes that don't contain tapioca, dairy or soy. They are one brand that actually have a few that don't. I use their French Bread mix regularly. I also have had luck using those three flours/starches in a simple flour mix.

It's frustrating for sure!

[bakingbarb]

Potato

tapioca

cornstarch

millet

rice, white and brown

sorghum

quinoa

BUT I'm really thinking its chips!!!

I just read a post about tostitos corn chips and those are my mid day snack. I probably eat them every day. So maybe it isn't what I bake, maybe it the dang chips. OH CRUMB MUFFINS

Back to the drawing board! I'm so upset by this, all this time I thought chips manufactures were good about posting whats what. GAH I mean really I want to scream I have been racking my brain about whats in my baking that is making me sick and this whole darn time its my go to food. I posted that thread about using chips to sub for the whole food group I no longer eat. And thats probably what it is. Oh I am sure you can understand how angry I am right now

[Puddy]

Could it be eggs? I have a problem with them eaten alone, not in baked goods.

[lizard00]

I am so sorry you aren't feeling well. I have finally figured it out and gotten it down to no dairy, no eggs. I'm allergic to egg whites (that one actually showed up with testing). Dairy will sometimes give me a mild gluten reaction, sometimes not.... immediately anyway. But it catches up with me within 3 days. Basically, it irritates my GI tract, and EVERYTHING I eat makes me sick.

So, I bake with egg replacer, and use Vegan shortening or butter. Now that you know something else is bothering you, pay close attention to what you are eating. I bought a gluten-free Vegan cookbook and found this website: Open Original Shared Link

Most helpful!!

Try keeping a food journal. If you have the patience, which I regrettably do not. So, I just paid attention for a few days to what I ate and how I felt and now I'm here.

Hope you feel better soon!!!

[jerseyangel]

BUT I'm really thinking its chips!!!

I just read a post about tostitos corn chips and those are my mid day snack. I probably eat them every day. So maybe it isn't what I bake, maybe it the dang chips. OH CRUMB MUFFINS

Uh-oh....those chips could be the culprit! Even though they are made of gluten-free ingredients, it may be the cross contamination that is getting you. I can't eat many chips because of this.

Try Mission Corn Chips!!!!! They are so good and they process all the corn products separately. I eat them with no problem at all.

[home-based-mom]

BUT I'm really thinking its chips!!!

I just read a post about tostitos corn chips and those are my mid day snack. I probably eat them every day. So maybe it isn't what I bake, maybe it the dang chips. OH CRUMB MUFFINS

If that's all it really is, just buy plain old Mission brand tortilla chips. They are gluten free.

Looks like Patti and I were posting the same thing at the same time. Great minds think alike!

[ShayFL]

I just bought these and they are gluten-free:

Open Original Shared Link

I am going to challenge corn soon with these. I have not eaten corn in quite a few years. Hoping gluten was the main issue and corn will be o.k. now. I have to work up to it though. They expire Feb 09....so I have time.

[jerseyangel]

Looks like Patti and I were posting the same thing at the same time. Great minds think alike!

[bakingbarb]

Ok, so mission brand is alright then?

I still want to consider there might be something else because although mission isn't the brand we buy all the time, it is what is in the kitchen right now.

So just to be sure I will still keep any eye on foods that I bake with and good grief please don't let it be eggs or rice those are my other go to foods.

I made a carrot cake from my Grandmas recipe the other day, I used pecans,eggs, carrots, pineapple, millet, sorghum, tapioca, potato starch and rice flour and I think that was it. It gives me indigestion something fierce. But it isn't making me sick like a glutening would. I think it was the frosting buggin me, cream cheese!!!

I will lay off of everything processed and then go from there. This is so dang hard I want it to go away.

Thanks everyone

[Presto]

Oh dear. I'm new to all this, but I read cream cheese was not safe to eat. I don't remember where gluten figures into it, but harder and aged cheeses are supposed to be the way to go.

I miss cream cheese, but I"m not ready to challenge it and get sick again.

[RiceGuy]

To test the flours, you could use them one at a time for something, like to thicken a sauce, or make zucchini fritters or something breaded. Eventually you'll find it. But if you don't, then there's the other stuff - dairy, eggs, etc.

[Takala]

Ah, did you say millet?

I've read on this board somewhere that some types of that stuff is a big No- No.

If I were you I'd ditch the dairy and soy for now (and the millet) and see what happens. But I was so sick for so long I'm one of the freakish ones who doesn't miss regular food that much. I did a modified SCD (grainless) diet for several years.

Take a B- complex. Start taking blackstrap molasses for the anemia, but still sounds like you have some malabsorbtion issues going on.

Don't share pasta pans. Ick. Make her use her own.

[purple]

Have you ever read this thread about Tostitos???

Open Original Shared Link

[mftnchn]

Barb is the reaction common to all your baking or just the cake you mentioned? I wonder about switching out xanthan gum and guar gum. Do you eat eggs separately from baking withou problems? Maybe an easy way to test the various ingredients would be making pancakes?

[bakingbarb]

Barb is the reaction common to all your baking or just the cake you mentioned? I wonder about switching out xanthan gum and guar gum. Do you eat eggs separately from baking withou problems? Maybe an easy way to test the various ingredients would be making pancakes?

These are all very good points. It is everything I bake.

I do eat eggs with potatoes for breakfast often, that has been a go to food for me for years and I do well with it.

I think I will cut out baked goods and milk, I have always been able to handle yogurt, cheese, butter and buttermilk, but ice cream, milk, cream, sour cream and cream cheese I always wondered about. I am going to lay off of the milk and see what happens.

I thought maybe it was the bean flours because I had added them a month back but I didn't use them in this cake at all but I know some people cannot use them.

This is so much work. I thought once I figured out the gluten things would be good!!!! ARGH

[bakingbarb]

Ah, did you say millet?

I've read on this board somewhere that some types of that stuff is a big No- No.

If I were you I'd ditch the dairy and soy for now (and the millet) and see what happens. But I was so sick for so long I'm one of the freakish ones who doesn't miss regular food that much. I did a modified SCD (grainless) diet for several years.

Take a B- complex. Start taking blackstrap molasses for the anemia, but still sounds like you have some malabsorbtion issues going on.

Don't share pasta pans. Ick. Make her use her own.

Yes I am going to get her a pan for pasta only.

I agree on the malabsorption issues, we have an iron that is highly absorb-able so both my daughter and I take it.

I have a multi but I am bad about taking it, feels like a horse pill and ugh taste ugh!

Millet is healthy for us and I vaguely remember it is low Ph and is one of few foods that is so and it helps balance the acid in our gut.

[hollyhs]

Warning, I am rambling and switching topics all over the place, I am so frustrated and trying to work this out in my head so I ma just listing what I am thinking and the things that may be impacting it...

When I first stopped eating wheat and its counterparts I felt so much better. The gut pain that had been so intense for so long improved so much and I almost never get it anymore

But I keep getting the Big D and I am anemic again and my body aches and and and

Somewhere something is making me sick, I keep racking my brain and just don't know.

Can't go to the Dr right now, 90 days to new insurance with new job. 90 days can't go by fast enough!!!!

Can other food allergies and sensitivities cause similar problems? Honestly I don't know if I can figure this one out on my own. I am so sick and tired of the whole thing. I ask because all of my ingredients are gluten free and every time I bake something I can just tell something isn't right. Common baking ingredients are oil, butter, eggs, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and the numerous things we use to make flour blends. Can it be one of these things? I know others have other food issues but how did you find out what they are?

I bought all new bake ware as I finally got over the initial shock of the whole thing, realized people on here weren't crazy telling me that I would need new stuff. BUT I think new people might not be able to handle the whole truth, at least I couldn't! I bought new cooking utensils BUT my daughter

eats pasta almost daily and I can't help but wonder if somehow.....

Should I buy her a pan just for pasta?

Quite frankly I don't eat food cooked in the pans much and she doesn't use the plastic cooking utensils or wooden spoons, she uses a fork to stir and eat with. She should be going gluten free also but won't even think about it. Thats a whole nother issue.

Quite frankly I don't have the money to buy more new pans and such and I just am so sick of this whole thing. And I don't know what to do I am tired and I ache and the anemia is really too much again.

My family is leaning in the direction that it is another food that I am allergic too. I made them a bread only section on the counter so I feel better about that as they were getting really sloppy the last month or so. They are respecting the bread only area quite well. Although the step son hasn't eaten any bread that I can see since I did that. I think he thinks I blame him for it all....Blended families can be tough!

I'm sorry you are having such a hard time! For me the biggie was eggs, I kept thinking I was getting glutened but it was eggs! I have found "gluten-free" to be the easy part, it's all the other food allergies and sensitivities that are proving to be the most challenging! Good luck and hang in there, it will get better!

[Mango04]

Oh dear. I'm new to all this, but I read cream cheese was not safe to eat. I don't remember where gluten figures into it, but harder and aged cheeses are supposed to be the way to go.

I miss cream cheese, but I"m not ready to challenge it and get sick again.

Cream cheese should be safe from a gluten perspective. You were probably reading about someone who has a lactose issue (in which case, harder aged cheeses would be safer, as they contain less lactose).

[one more mile]

try elimination diet.

I think that is why I had such fast results.

The first week I only ate a few foods and only in their purest, closest to nature form. When I felt stable I added a few things. When I added soy and corn I got massive d. Lived with that till i found out that massive d leads to hemroids.

When I added rice I noticed that the odd ich I could never figure out was rice. So silly me ate alot of rice one day and

figured iched like crazy. Oddly I can eat rice cakes with no bad results. maybe it is because of the amount. Either way I eat very little rice now and do not miss the iching.

It takes time but by adding only one thing at a time to your diet you can figure out what bothers you.

I also have a peanut allergy and do keep separate silverware and bowel for people that eat them. You may want to make one pot just the pasta cooking pot. Some pasta tends to leave a coating on the pot and my kid and room mate seem incapable of washing an entire container. I have had to take over all dish washing because my health is more important then me risking eating out of what is not clean enough, we do not have a dish washer. I also put away dishes and always take a good look at them.

I have these clear glass plates from Walmart that make it easy to see if they are really clean or merely blessed by the wash cloth. The cost a 1.50 each and no peanuts have ever touched them. With all your allergies it may be a good idea to go buy one or two and make it moms plate only. Hide it under your bed if you have to. Graduly as you get more confidence in what to eat and not eat you will not need to be so extreem.

I am lucky the people I live with have seem me sick for years and are now so glad that they do not have to hear me complain that they are pretty helpfully. My house mate ever grabbed something from me yesterday and said "Wait I bought a differnt brand did you read the lable?" also my kid has had to run to get my inhaler as her mom gasped for breath so she knows deep down that mom needs to stay away from peanuts ( and anything that people bake due to cross contamination)

YOU CAN DO IT! Just get back to basics then slowly add new things. Never more then one at a time.

one more mile.

[bakingbarb]

No baked goods have touched my lips since I posted this! Today is the test because I am going to bake a coffee cake.

My son went shopping with me awhile back when we bought the gluten free flours. We had been talking over this trying to figure out what it could be....

We talked about every flour we bought and he pointed out that one of the flours was from a bulk bin and asked if that could be the issue. I would have never thought twice about buying from bulk bins before but now I am thinking I won't buy from them again. It was after buying all those flours that the issues started so that flour has got to go!

Today when I bake I am going to use a rice flour blend with nothing exotic lol and see what happens. IF I get sick then I am going to have to keep investigating.

Because none of the flours I use are things that have made me sick when used by themselves so it has to be a cc issue in them. At least that is what I am thinking, we will see if thats it or not.

Thanks again for talking me through this.

[one more mile]

As someone who worked in balk bins for a little I would bet that was part of the problem. People are always moving scopes from one bin to another. I had a few people decide they did not want something and put it back in a bin, maybe not the right one.

I had some kid think it was funny to put gum balls in the dog food.

Also the bins may have been emptied and switched from one white powdery thing to another. I would stay away from flour not sealed at the place that it is milled. To much of a chance for some cross contamination. Even it is marked gluten-free to many people are naive even if they are well meaning.

What about potato? If I eat those a few days in a row I feel really sluggish. Oddly it seems that the foods my parents fed me are the ones that are making me sickest. We had potato almost every night, that or rice, and rice makes me itch now. What is next broccoli?

Good luck with your baking.

One more mile