ShayFL

Living in "constant fear" is not living healthy. I suspect that the "constant fear" is the most significant factor in your continuing symptoms. A real physical trigger "gluten" that started the fear....other symptoms....more fear....social settings....more fear.....relationships.....more fear. You are in a vicious cycle. The only way you will get well is to get some help for the fear. You can still work on your physical issues, but a good counselor can help you along the way and teach you techniques to get out of the fear mode. Yoga, meditation and acupuncture can also help. Having a yoga routine every morning can do miraculous things! I know all of this because I spent a good many years living in constant fear. They were the worse years of my life. I thought I was dying. I was a hermit. I lost friends. My family thought I was wacko. Eventually I got help from a wonderful therapist. I only needed her for about 6 months going every 2 weeks. But what a difference it made in my life and my body got better. Not perfect as I still had not discovered the gluten issue. But better. Getting rid of that "constant fear" was key. I also joined a yoga class at that time and practiced my own form of mediation (which I still do everyday to this day).

How Stress Impacts Digestion

Date updated: June 13, 2007

By Martin Rossman, M.D.

Content provided by Revolution Health Group

Have you ever had a stressful experience where, say, you break up with a boyfriend or have a raging fight with your boss, and then feel it

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG)

Total Serum IgA

It could very well be. Hang tight and dont eat gluten-free yet. If the blood comes back POS, your Doc. will likely want a biopsy. You MUST be eating gluten for it to be accurate. So keep your regular diet, wait for the blood results and if you get a biopsy, start gluten-free as soon as the procedure is done.

I sure hope they find an answer soon. It is no fun to be a prisoner to your home.

Honestly if he wants to a general multi-vit-min that is fine (Make sure it is gluten-free). But he should get tested for deficiencies before supplementing. Some are perfectly safe even in high doses, but others can cause problems if he takes too much. Also vits/mins are synergistic meaning they must work in balance with each other. If you suddenly add massive amounts of calcium without the right balance of magnesium/Vitamin D/Boron etc. you can actually make things worse.

He should be tested for:

Ferritin

Iron

Vit B12

Folic Acid

Calcium

Magnesium

Vitamin D

These are very important. Also, he should have a complete Thyroid panel run.

First welcome.

It is common to have ups and downs in the beginning as the body detoxes from the gluten. I didnt start to really feel good at all until about 6 weeks. I just had to hold on and believe everyone in here when they told me it would get better. It finally did and I continue to heal, but I am not completely well yet. It can take time.

If only it were as simple as eat gluten-free and immediately all better. The problem is that the body is "injured" and like all injuries it take time to heal (as long as you dont keep irritating it).

NOW TO CLARIFY A FEW THINGS FOR YOU. He MUST be eating gluten and plenty of it for the tests to have any chance of being accurate. If you keep him on a gluten-free diet, the tests can be a FALSE NEG and you will not get your answer. I know it is hard to keep him sick by eating gluten on purpose, but if you want the tests to be accurate you MUST. If you dont care about a diagnosis (Dx) then you can simply stay the course with the diet. But understand when he does get the tests if they come up NEG you cannot trust that result. He could still have Celiac. And you dont want to assume he DOESNT because the consequences of untreated Celiac can be grave.

NOW to the gluten-free diet. There are many reasons for ups and downs. Could be the natural healing cycle and withdrawal (gluten fits the opiate receptors in our brains and is an addictive substance). Or it could be CC (cross contamination). CC can be from marinades. Spice mixes. Sauces. Salad Dressing. Croutons of course. Gluten is EVERYWHERE and you MUST read labels, call companies or ask in here to see if something is gluten-free if you are uncertain. CC can also be from residue on the grill from previous gluten grillings. Scratched Teflon pans can harbor gluten. You need new cutting boards, wooden spoons and scratched plastic for the kitchen. A new toaster/toaster oven.

Need to make sure his toothpaste, shaving cream, chapstick, etc. is gluten free. Anything that can get into the mouth.

No Wheat, Barley, Rye or Oats (or their derivatives).

I know at first it is all overwhelming, and no one wants to do it. But if he is Celiac, this is the cure.

Also if you eat gluten and then kiss him (french kiss) he can get contaminated that way too.

In a month's time on the diet, your experience sounds similar to many on here. You are on the right track. Stay the course and over time hopefully you will not even remember what those "bad days" were like.

The hemp isnt agreeing with me either right now. I have 2 canisters of it in the freezer. Hoping someday........

In general, most replace: scratched teflon pans and anything with that surface that is scratched, cutting boards, wooden spoons, wooden bowls (anything porous). Some even replace plastic wear that is scratched.

Stainless steel, aluminum, glass, ceramic should all be fine.

I sure hope you really did get your toaster clean.

I did read a review of the noodles that said that they do not taste/nor have the texture of gluten noodles and that many are disappointed by this. If you can accept them for their own uniqueness and use them in stir fry and such then they are fine.

Sometimes the diet and challenge yield the only answer. You have yours.

There are also varying reasons to intolerance. In your vegetarian friend example, it could be that the reason he got so violently ill is that with being vegetarian for so long his stomach does not produce enough HCL (acid) to digest meat. He would have to start out eating only a bit or two and build up slowly over time so his body could start producing HCL again. I know the pain of low HCL and eating meat. Awful!! I was like him.....vegetarian and could not tolerate meat. I eat a meat diet now with no problems. I took HCL tabs for a few months and weened off of them so that my body could re-learn how to digest proteins properly.

Some people become vegetarian because they say meat no longer agrees with them. They feel better vegetarian and erroneously assume that vegetarian is a BETTER diet. Not true. They had a defective stomach before vegetarian. Instead of fixing the problem, they found a crutch. Later when they try meat again, they still react badly because the problem was never addressed.

So sorry it is worse for you right now. Keep in mind there is a "de-tox" period from gluten (and casein). The proteins in these foods fit into the "opiate" receptors in our brains. Which means they are addictive. He is going through withdrawal and it can last a week or 2. It was about 2 weeks for me. I didnt notice improvements in the BM's for 6 weeks. So hang in there!!!

Meanwhile make double sure nothing he eats has GLUTEN. And if cutting the dairy too...you have to be very diligent.

It does get better. Promise.

That sounds good Rachelle!!

Back when I was actively seeing clients in nutritional consulting, I had a women come to me to lose weight. I had read information about gluten intolerance (though I never related it to myself ) and after going over her diet, decided cutting out wheat might help her. She seemed addicted to it. She came back 2 weeks later with the biggest smile on her face. She had not lost much weight, but her substantial acne on her face was nearly gone!! We were both floored. She said that she didnt even care about the extra weight anymore because her skin was so beautiful.

I dont know if she was Celiac. In all my studies, Celiac was just written off as a "rare genetic disease". But I did know about gluten sensitivity. I tried wheat free many times, but now is the first time completely gluten-free. It has really helped me.

Whereabouts you from? My family is mostly in Douglas, but my parents live in Quitman.

1 cup white rice flour

1/2 sorghum flour

1/2 cup potato starch

3 tablespoons sweet rice flour

3 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon strong cinnamon (I use Saigon cinnamon from World Spice Merchants)

8 tablespooons (or, one stick) cold butter

1 large egg

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 ice-cold water, or enough to make the dough stick together

Mix together all the dry ingredients, including the sugar and cinnamon. Cut the butter into little pieces, about 1/2-inch thick and drop the pieces into the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or fork, meld the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter has crumbled into pea-sized pieces.

Make a well in the dry ingredients. Drop the egg and apple cider vinegar in, then stir them in, gently, with a fork, stirring from the center out. Once they are incorporated into the dry ingredients, slowly drizzle the ice-cold water into the mixture, a little at a time, then stirring to see if it has become dough yet. You do not want this dough to be too wet. Add water only it all coheres together.

At this point, drop the ball of dough onto a large piece of parchment paper. (Prepare this ahead, unless you want to wipe dough off the box of parchment paper later!) Place another piece of parchment paper, the same size, on top of the dough. Gently, smoosh the dough outward, equally in all directions, until it is a thick, round cake of dough, about the size of a pie plate.

Refrigerate the ball of dough, for as long as you can stand. Ideally, you would prepare the dough in the evening and refrigerate overnight. Take the dough out of the refrigerator at least twenty minutes before you want to work with it.

Leave the dough in the parchment-paper sandwich and roll it out. By rolling it, gently, between the pieces of parchment paper, you will not need to add more flour to the mix. Roll it out as thin as you can, then strip the top piece of parchment paper off the dough. Gently, lay your favorite pie plate on top of the dough, then flip the whole thing over. The dough should sag into the pie plate. You can crimp the edges at this point. If some of the dough falls off the sides, don't worry. Simply re-attach the pieces to the crust-to-be by pressing in with your fingers.

***OR you can just buy this:

Open Original Shared Link

What are you gonna do for the pie shell?

The jury is not out anymore....it is a "hung" jury. Some say it is good for you and some say it is the devil. I use it only now and again. I mostly use Cold pressed unrefined extra virgin olive oil (for salads and for adding to foods after cooking like soups) or coconut oil (great for high heat cooking). Butter can also be used or cooking.

I have experimented with sesame oil, grapeseed oil, avacado oil, etc. I also like Macadamia nut oil for cooking on medium heat.

I make sure to eat nuts and seeds as well as flax oil and fish/fish oil daily for a balance of oils.

I used to take it in capsule form many years ago trying to lose weight:

Some herbs like glucommanon can expand fifteen to up to fifty times its original size and weight when it is eaten and this exerts pressure on the stomach walls and sends a signal to the brain that it is full.

It didnt work.....LOL But it didnt bother me in anyway either.

Welcome!

Many Celiacs are also intolerant to Casein found in cow's milk/goat's milk at least for the first few months while healing. The reason being is that the tips of the villi are what allows us to digest dairy. These tips are the first to be damaged in Celiac. So it may be that you need to eliminate dairy for a few months to allow his intestines to heal. You can then try to reintroduce dairy. Some can eat it again and others cannot and say the symptoms are the same as glutening. It is trial and error with dairy.

Also make sure 100% gluten-free including toothpaste, gum, chapstick etc.

There are A LOT of ups and downs while healing. It would be great if we healed on a consistent upward curve, but most do not. I have really great days and days where I feel like I am back to square one. The square one days are getting farther and farther apart as time goes by thankfully. I do not cheat, so I am allowing my body to heal and being patient while it does so.

When the biopsy was explained to me, I personally found it invasive. To me anything that enters a body cavity is invasive. I was at high risk for perforation due to adhesions so refused the biopsy. From what everyone on this board has reported most do get put under. One person mentioned having a numbing agent sprayed on the back of her throat before the scope was lowered through her esophagus. She said she kept retching and wished she had opted to be put under. She said it was very uncomfortable but not unbearable to do it conscious. So how you proceed is up to you. Or you might get a GI who will insist on the patient being out. It really is easier for them to do their job well if you arent retching.

Are you eating plenty of gluten right now and have been regularly for the past 3 months? This is the best you can do for an accurate blood test. It is true there can be FALSE NEGs, but go ahead and get the tests if you are/have been eating gluten.

The biopsy is invasive, but you are put under. You will not feel thing. They should take at a minimum 5-6 samples, more it a variety of areas is best.

If all comes back NEG, it does not hurt to try the diet. I am sure glad I did. I was NEG blood.

It is up to you if you want a biopsy. You may not get an "official" dx Celiac without the biopsy. Which many point out is just fine then you wont have a pre-existing condition to muck up any future insurance needs. Many believe POS blood and POS response to the diet is enough to dx Celiac. I am one of them. I refused biopsy and just continue to get well on the permanent gluten-free diet. Some doctors will dx with blood and diet alone as well. Many wont though.

A genetic test is a good idea though to see if YOU have the genes before you worry about testing your daughter.

You are gluten-free for life, there is no reason you cannot feed your child gluten-free too. It will be so much easier on you.

Have you responded to the diet? How long on?

Soy milk is soy just like any other soy product. However it is not fermented like soy sauce, tofu or tempe. It is LESS digestible.