bigbird16

One other thing I won't try (besides aforementioned animal eyeballs and live maggot cheese is live octopus chopped up but still wiggling - it has choked many). Oh, and puffer fish. That is just plain suicidal if the chef is off by more than 1 mm. I have no problems with COOKED insects but would have issues with wriggling fat grubs.

I'll try just about anything once, unless it's still moving or potentially deadly, like that puffer fish. I've liked the blood puddings from Puerto Rico and Ireland I've tried.I've never been offput by many of the meaty things, but custardy things like flan I find vile (more textural than taste). Sorry if I offend any friends from across the Great Ponds, but Marmite tops my gross list -- over flan, haggis (sans scotch), bread pudding, and mincemeat pie.

Maybe there's one on alcohol & you can get drunk!

Tequila across, crown royal down, whiskey diagonal backwards . . . woohooo!!!!!!!!!!

Wishing you well! Hope you feel better soon!

(I've done this too. I got so excited by Udi's chocolate chip cookies at the store one day that they didn't have gluten or soy in them that I didn't see the big fat glaring word "butter." Body was quite unhappy.)

She's Always a Woman -- Billy Joel

My supervisor popped a word search book into my inbox this morning, because she knows I like puzzles of various types. I opened up the book and laughed. The first search is entitled "About Bread" with words like croissant, durum, malt, spelt, wonder, etc. (Although rye isn't listed to find, I found it.)

I've never done well on carbs for breakfast. I eat what I would eat for lunch or dinner -- some meat and some veggies. No processed food involved. It's my biggest meal of the day. I wash it down with coffee kissed with a bit of unsweetened hemp milk.

Glad this thread is around. TJ's opened up near me and I got a bag of potato chips. Should have been fine, but I got glutened. I was kinda bummed, but at least it was only tater chips. I also got a bag of granola which I haven't tried yet. Planning on taking it to the parents house for TG so's I have something to munch on while making gluten-free food for all.

I tried that granola when I first saw it in my local TJ's. Made me happy to see gluten-free granola with no oats. Wow. I'm not a big fan of granola, and it was so good.

Haggis!!! Chitterlings.

richard

LOL Haggis is indeed pretty gross, but it can be made semi-palatable with plenty of Scotch. Not so bad the next day as haggis burgers (with plenty of Scotch), too.

In grad school, my Malaysian roommate would make a special lady's soup once a month that would drive everyone out of the house. I think it had dong quai in it, but I don't remember. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever smelled. She urged me to drink it, too, but I couldn't get past the smell. Though, her lotus soup, red bean drink, and foul-smelling fermented garlicky condiment rocked!

I don't know why, but this made me giggle. I'm sorry about your gas, truly. But I have this picture playing in my head of you as your avatar workin' it, trying to belch. My imagination really needs to stop playing me little movies of everything I read. Thank you for the giggle.

SometimesI have little burbles of anger that spurt up when I'm especially tired orfrustrated or stressed. If any of the doctors along the way over the past 38years had been worth their salt, maybe my health would have been better andthere wouldn't have been so many problems. My birth mother had a "wheatallergy" and a weird rash. When I was a baby I was diagnosed with foodallergies that the doctor said I would outgrow; my dad didn't tell me aboutthese things until I was at the end of my rope three years ago. I startedhaving horrible digestive issues as a teen. I would stink up the bathroomsomething fierce and spend the time between classes in the restroom at school.My belly hurt. I associated them with milk and refused dairy for years, whichstopped the D and bloating. My folks didn't believe me and told me it was in myhead. (My gluten issues are more neuro than gastro; that's the way I tell what's got me when I've been bit now.)

When I moved to Northern Ireland for grad school, my diet changed. I ate a lotof whole, fresh foods, skipped the bread and pasta in favor of cheaper rice. I refer to that year as the year I awoke from a dream.Everything was so vivid and clear, like a fog was lifted from my head. As soonas I moved back to America, my body seemed to slow down again. It continued toslow down even though I took up dance. I was tired and achy all the time andfelt like sleeping. I gained weight like crazy in spite of a heavy danceschedule and walking everywhere (no car). Doctors said my joints were fine whenI complained of joint pain. They said I was healthy when I said I wasexhausted. They kept brushing me off.

A friend's husband had this horrid bodybuilder diet that consisted of rice, turkey,and fiber tablets and pretty much nothing else--no gluten or dairy. I decidedto try it to lose the weight. I dropped four or five dress sizes and feltphenomenal, so alive and awake. Nothing hurt, and my stomach, which alwayslooked pregnant, was flat for the first time.

Gradually I went back to my old eating habits. And the migraines began. Istarted getting clumsy--bumping into things, dropping things, falling down. Itwas a really slow, gradual process over time, but I started feeling worse andgot to a point where I didn't even remember what it was like to feel goodanymore. I couldn't climb the stairs without getting winded or complete onedance, much less a whole set. I wanted to sleep all the time. I became a shellof a person. My heart would flutter and squeeze; I was afraid I was havinglittle heart attacks. My joints hurt so bad. My whole left side was tingly or numb,and the buzzing in my head finally became a constant companion. D was my"normal." And doctor after doctor said I was fine and in good health.One told me to stop bothering him. Not one made a dietary association. One saidI might have some allergies and gave me some Allegra to help with thebreathing.

Please tell me how amigraine for 20+ days out of the month, numbness on one side of the body,lethargy to the point of needing a nap after cooking breakfast following a fullnight

I've heard that there can be. Pubmed may be a good place to look for more info. Here's one article: Open Original Shared Link

Yep, being dairy-free totally sucks worse than being gluten-free, but it hits me harder and faster than gluten. Sometimes I miss cheese so bad. Though it smells gross to me now.

Girl, get yourself a big bar of dark chocolate!

Hopefully the dairy thing is just temporary.

Hi and welcome. I'm sorry you're in so much pain. Yes, most certainly celiac can cause pain that bad. If your blood test is positive, you have celiac. The endoscopy can happen to choose a not so damaged section and come back negative, so it doesn't mean jack if it's negative.

If you're avoiding dairy and soy as well, to help with rebuilding your gut flora after the keflex, So Delicious makes coconut-based yogurt and kefir (drinkable yogurt). Whole Foods and some Giant groceries carry it. They also make soy stuff, so make sure you get the coconut if you go looking for it. When my system is off-kilter, I find it helpful.

I hope you feel better soon!

Mine was great. It was quiet and restful. I made a bird, squash, and a sweet potato. Had cranberry sauce with big ol' cranberries in it. I shared the sweet potato with the dogs, and they were quite happy. They got to play and cuddle with me all day. I put up the tree and fell asleep near it (lights off) with the TV on. When the timer shut the TV off, my new pup (got him in April) started growling. He wouldn't stop. He was facing in the same direction, moving from floor to sofa to floor to sofa. He thought the tree was a menace! I pulled him into my arms, and he stopped and quickly fell asleep, sawing logs like a champ, his brother sighing softly behind my knees.

Black Friday was kinda funny. I spent the day with a friend and her parents. Friend's mom (FM) is a pediatrician. There's a Celiac in her family, so she "knows everything" about Celiac and food allergies, etc. (Mmmhmm.) Friend passes everything I say/do on to her mom, and we've had meals together before; so FM is at least semi-aware. So yesterday at brunch (I ate before meeting up), FM asks if I'm still on my special diet. I said yes, forever. Forever? Forever. But you can eat turkey? Yes. She raised an eyebrow. Alrighty then. A bowl of fruit gets passed around, everyone sticking their pancake encrusted forks into the dish. Please have some fruit. No thank you; I'm not hungry. But you can have fruit? Yes, but I'm not hungry. (Especially with you digging your fork around in there.) Shopping ensues. Dinner rolls around. I honestly was not hungry and wasn't going to order something just to poke it around on a plate. I was just happy hanging out. Like a good mom, FM kept suggesting things for me to eat. But you can eat a salad or a potato. What about some broccoli? You need to eat something. Then she picked up the basket of rolls, and said, "Have bread. It's good and will fill you up." I about lost it, wanting to fall on the floor laughing. I smiled graciously at her, "No thank you. I'm really not hungry."

IrishHeart, good to "see" you, too! Trish_Trish, I hope your hives go away and that you feel better soon! These funny stories have been making my week.

I've eaten there quite a bit (one location repeatedly) and they are the most knowledgable restaurant re:gluten-free I've been to. The only gluten is wheat tortillas....and so far I've had good luck.

Tell them you are gluten-free. They change gloves and get clean utensils to scoop the food. I always get a burrito bowl....

They will heat corn tortillas for you in the press, but put them in foil.

I've never seen them touch spoon (serving utensil) to the food (wheat tortilla) but am sure it happens. It's NOTHING like Subway.....there they touch bread, dip back in, repeat. Makes my skin crawl. Chipotle is "one scoop", drop.

Hmm, I'll have to give them a whirl. I used to get the worst indigestion there before going gluten-free. Wonder if it was actually the flour tortillas rather than the spices. lol Thank you.

When people ask "isn't it hard?", she says "NO, what the big damn deal? Just eat sensibly!!" She is VERY upset my whole family isn't gluten free and feeling as well as she does now. She has worked out a gym 3X a week since turning 55: cardio kickboxing, stair master and aerobics.

She is nearly 85. Go Mom.

I turned 55 yesterday. I am in rehab for my severe loss of muscle mass and joint/bone pain from long unDxed celiac, but it appears there is hope for me yet, since "good genes" are in here, too

Happy birthday, IrishHeart! Your mom sounds so awesome!

Every time I see my mom she asks me if pasta is ok. Every time she asks, I ask her what the first ingredient is. Wheat. Oh. One time she was sure that the pasta was ok because it was a special low-carb pasta with less starch and higher protein. OMG. The protein, mom, is the the bad guy! And you are a really really smart nurse. I am scared. It's kind of a ritual now, the pasta asking.

I'm thankful for the wisdom, experience, friendship, and support I've found here on this board; my health and your health, that we have this opportunity to recover; good food that makes my body feel happy; friends who try to understand; family who probably will never "get it" but who I love anyway and especially; and my pups who make me laugh every day and cuddle with me when I feel icky.

That is how bad celiac and my GI system has messed me up. I cannot even notice plunging bras anymore. I have been neutared. lol.

Sit down over here, hon, and we'll get you a nice big steak with onions and a baked potato and a cider -- free of all evil gluten. You'll be singing bass again in no time.

Sandsurfgirl, have you tried some ginger or peppermint to help with the nausea? Sometimes candycanes or peppermint tea or ginger chews or ginger tea help when I'm feeling sick. A bit of Tiger Balm or peppermint oil on the temples and under the nose, too. Hope you feel better!

I think a lot of times people are just so inwardly focused (or so scattered and unthinking) that they really don't hear the words they say. Selfish git that I am, I know I'm guilty of being insensitive.

I did finally quiet my friend after one of her self-loathing fests when I said, "And, my waist has the same measurement as K's hips." She looked at me and then at K, and I haven't heard anything about her being fat in about four or five months. (I know everyone's measurements because I help with costuming.) Sometimes the dance world can be seriously messed up when talking bodies, even in a dance form that is supposed to be more forgiving.

I had told her there would be problems with people and the tops, but that was the look she wanted. The plunge bra thing was seriously like being at the first day of daycare. The solution for most was to wear a lacy tube top to cover up their unusually exposed bits. I said screw that and showed off every bit of what my mama gave me, within legal limits. You want cleavage, honey, I got enough for all y'all and then some in my fancy hand-made top that is better made than those bought tops that fall apart in the wash.

And hey, we're not fat, skinny, off-balance, off-kilter, or any of the rest of it. We are well-nourished, because our food no longer kills us.

My thin friend was moaning about not being able to lose 5 pounds. I said something about how I was a size 16 at one point and was so frustrated.

She said "I would kill myself if I was that big."

I cried the whole afternoon.

My best friend, who is a size 4 (I'm 16/18), says crap like that all the time. It hurts so much. I nearly walked out of rehearsal the day we tried on new halter tops for a show (best friend picked them). Grown women were crying because they would need to wear plunge bras. I had to make my own top, because the biggest didn't fit. And due to bust size and neck issues, I can't wear a halter bra. I waited until I got to the car and sobbed. I sobbed while I made the stupid top, too.

Actually, Strawberry, not so awkward. It just turns the insensitivity of his comments right over on the guy's head like a litterbasket. If I'd have been there, I'd probably have snickered and winked at you. (Some of my friends don't get my darker humor. It causes misunderstandings at times.)

It's amazing the difference we feel after going free (gluten, dairy, soy, nightshade, or whatever).