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So I'm worried that I am/have developed another digestive problem. Six months ago I got glutened (CC) and then had three months of D, nausea, and vomiting. It slowly disappeared over time. Now last week I started getting D again and nausea. I took Imodium because I had to go to class. That stopped me up for two days and then I had normal BMs for three days. Now the D is back. I don't think this is a glutening as I don't have any of the other symptoms that I get with glutening (not even cramping). I have been gluten free for two years. Could I be developing soy intolerance or lactose intolerance after this amount of time? Any advice/ insight is very much appreciated. Everything has been going well so far.

Thank you all for your input. This will be the second time eating with family since I was diagnosed. They were all really good about it last time. So I hope it goes similarly this time. All your advice and insight is helping me feel calmer about the trip. I can't believe I'm nervous and the trip isn't until the beginning of October.

My brother and his fiance are getting married in the fall. They are both really awesome and are letting me stay with them as I am the one with the least amount of disposable income (I'm a student). However, when I posted something on Facebook about gluten free eating my brother's fiance was like "let us know what you want us to get for you for while you are here". I don't want to offend them and don't want them to go out of their way for me at what will already be (I'm sure)a very hectic time for them. How do I tell them that they don't have to worry about food for me? I don't want them to be offended, but since I am driving alone both ways I don't want to worry about getting glutend. They are being so awesome I don't want to be rude. They both saw me eating food when we went to my grandfather's funeral a while ago, but I was there when the food was bought but they weren't there yet so they don't know that.

I was also wondering about checking grocery stores in the area that they are living for gluten free food. Is there a way to check what foods stores like Kroger or Whole Foods will have at a specific store? Would I be able to call the store ahead of time, or just need to check it when I get there? I will bring some food with me, but I'm sure that there will be perishables that I will want to get while I am there.

Does anyone know anything about Nashville, TN?

Not sure what I'd do w/o my Udi's....it's my answer to the bread issue and I have sandwiches everyday for lunch. Hope it's not too bad for ya. If you don't have problems and want to purchase it again. There are coupons and it generally goes on sale every month or so (at our local grocery store's health market) so I stock up since you store it in the freezer anyway.

Where do you get the Udi's coupons?

When I get glutened one of my symptoms I get is anxiety or depression. I'm just waiting for the time I get glutened and I have both at the same time. They are both much worse than what I usually deal with, and my psychiatrist actually said it was okay for me to take my anti-anxiety meds that I am supposed to take to help me sleep when I need it to deal with that anxiety.

love2travel,

thanks, I'll have to look for that. Is that something you have to get from the seafood thing at the store, or is it sold prepackaged?

SB- too bad I don't live in Boston anymore.

Thank you both for your replies. I've never cooked seafood except for fish, so cooking calamari from scratch is a little intimidating.

I really love fried calamari. Does anyone know of any companies that make gluten free fried calamari?

Thanks.

SIGH.....I did it again. I went to a BBQ with complete intent to not go on and on and on about my wheat allergy and dietary needs....yet, I did it again. I believe I saw the glazed look in my hosts eyes once. It's so hard not to talk about it, because it encompasses every aspect of our lives. How do you guys control yourselves? I want to, but it comes out anyway, like word vomit...Help...so upset with myself....I don't want to be known for being a bore......

Have you been recently diagnosed? When was first diagnosed (and the time between the tests) it seemed like I could not stop talking about what I learned about celiac and what I could and couldn't eat. But I found that over time this decreased. As it became more of a normal part of my life and something I adjusted to, I didn't feel the need to talk about it all the time. I think part of the reason I talked about it so much at the beginning was that I was always thinking about it. I was thinking about it, and what i was learning, and how it would change my life. So that is what came out of my mouth. I tried to slow down before I talked and think about if I was talking about food. If I was thinking about food, then I purposefully picked another topic to talk about. That helped me reduce my verbal vomit.

Sadly reactions to gluten can change over time. Once I stopped eating gluten I added serious depression and anxiety to the list of symptoms I get when glutened, even though I did not have them before. And they don't both come every time I get glutened. I'm glad you figured out that it was the med change that caused you the problems.

Last night was the first night she didn't vomit. This morning she woke up, and seemed in the best mood she's ever been. I thought we were in the clear. Then around 3pm, she vomited again, and again around 8:30pm. My hopes went down the tubes. She had Jello, a hot dog (no bun), and Gerber strawberry yogurt mostly today. Yesterday, she had chicken and strawberries. She's also munched on Gluten Free Chex cereal both days. Was it something maybe she ate today, or am I jumping the gun and the healing process will take a little time? I'm so frustrated, and I'm sure she is as well. Help!!

Hello,

There are a couple of things.

1. Healing can take time, and so there can be ups and downs during it. You haven't been at it very long, so you will have to be patient.

2. What have you done done to make sure your home (or at least what you are going to use to cook her food) is gluten free? Have you been using scratched dishes/cookware, plastic utensils/cooking spoons etc/ wooden cutting boards? These things will all hold gluten and that can come out when you are cooking and cause cross contamination. (getting gluten in your food without having food that has it as an ingredient in it.)

3. When you gave your daughter the hotdog, were you making some for others and holding hotdog buns when you were doing this? That could cause cross contamination.

4. Was there any coatings on the chicken or was it plain, was it cooked on a pan that has previously cooked something w/ gluten on it?

5. Had people put their hands in the box of cereal previously after touching food w/ gluten, or was it a new box?

6. Did you wash your hands before you cooked her food after touching anything with gluten?

These are the things that comes to mind right away as ways that gluten could have gotten into her food.

I would definitely get books to read up on this. I did that when I was first diagnosed. It helped a lot.

Hello,

I have started to have signs of what I consider low level gluten exposure (loose and frequent stools, possible neurological symptoms of depressed mood). The problem is that there have been two changes in my life recently and I'm not sure how to determine where the gluten is coming from. The first change is that I moved in with a roommate who eats gluten. So, while she is not in the apartment much, I know that there is gluten around and so I could be getting cross contaminated. The second thing is that the baby I nanny for has recently started eating gluten containing food (before it was rice and formula). I know that he likes to take his hands and put them in my face and tries to get me to eat his teething rings. I do my best to avoid his hands, and his rings. But I know that I am not always able to dodge out of the way fast enough. Since he is 8mos there is no way to explain to him that what he is doing could make me sick. I also do a lot of handling his food where before I started working for the family, I did not have this gluten exposure. I work really hard to get him cleaned up after he eats by washing his hands and face, but I know I can't do anything about him putting his hands or his teething rings in his gluten containing mouth. How do I figure out where the gluten is coming from? Thanks.

My doctor did a endoscopy and colonoscopy to make sure there were no other problems (I have a family history of GI problems.) Had I not needed it for that I don't think my doctor would have done a biopsy, would have just taken the test results as proof.

I moved in with a friend last week. She returned home from vacation on Sunday. I got glutened today (or the symptoms came today as I think my reactions happen about 24hrs afterwards.) I knew this was going to be a learning curve, especially since I have live alone since shortly after I was diagnosed (though need to have roommate now for $ reasons.) It just frustrates me. I have only been glutened once in the past year. I know I am sensitive to CC. So I think that is what happened. I'm still trying to figure this all out. Ugh.

I'm wondering about making food. So I wash my hands before I cook, but then I open the fridge (which I would expect to have gluten on it) then I get out my ingredients (then I wash my hands again after I open the bottles/cans/bags, to remove gluten) then I make the food eat it and then put away the ingredients that I have used? Is that how it works? What about my dishes? Do they need to dry in a room other than the kitchen (it is really really small) to avoid getting gluten on them from when my roommate cooks?

I took a probiotic hoping that it will help my stomach heal. I need to work and go to class tomorrow, will it be a problem if I take something like pepto bismal? I feel like I had these things down when I was getting glutened a lot, but it has been so long, and it didn't happen a lot after I was diagnosed, so I feel like I have forgotten everything. So far it is just D any maybe some body aches. Will it get worse tomorrow?

Any other advice?

Thanks.

I am moving in with a friend who eats gluten. I have to do this because of financial reasons. We will keep our food in separate places, use our own dishes and cooking stuff. What other things should we do? The kitchen is really really small so there isn't really space for us both to have our own cooking space. Any advice is much appreciated. If you need more information to give advice please ask. Thanks.

I seem to have made it through without getting sick. Yay. I am feeling a little better from the crash.

I was in a car accident today. I went to the ER and they said I had a mild concussion but otherwise fine. However, I needed to be monitored by someone for the next 24 hours. So I am staying at my friends house. However, that means I am limited in my gluten free food access, and unless I wanted to bring my kitchen with me, am using her dishes and hoping not to get sick. Wish me luck.

The one interesting point was that when the paramedics asked me about allergies and I told them about the celiac they knew what it was and what I couldn't have. That was a pleasant surprise.

Thanks.

I also take a long time to react. I think that I react about 24 hours after ingestion of the culprit. But I can't be for sure. But that is my guess.

I'm so sorry this is happening. It really sucks. Yes you can cry. Crying is totally okay. You don't have to ask our permission. Please be gentle with yourself.

I will have been gluten free for two years in June.

I have been having digestive issues for a couple of weeks. Diarrhea, nausea, intermittent vomiting. I went to the doctor and first they suggested that it was a stomach virus and should go away in 7-10 days. But it didn't. I went back and they took blood and stool samples (bacteria and parasites). The only finding was that I was slightly anemic. I am going back this week hopefully. I was thinking that maybe it is lactose intolerance, until I ate a kiwi and it came through with parts of it undigested a couple hours after eating. Any guesses as what this could be? I know people say that people can become lactose intolerant after going gluten free, but two years later? What specifically should I ask to be tested for when I go see the doctor this week?

Thanks.

I tried Bob Red Mill's pancakes today for the first time. They were great. Nice and fluffy and not gritty. Now I will have to see how they hold up to being made into sandwiches.

Thanks.

I will be gluten free for two years in June. I just don't know what is up and this has lasted way too long. I had the tests run this week, so I haven't had time to get the results in paper form yet (I called in to find out what the results are). I am going to have another appointment on Tuesday (probably). I really need to figure out what this is since I am starting to have weakness and muscle aches from not eating enough (nausea or not hungry most of the day). I will not eat any more dairy for a while, see if that helps.

I have been having other gut issues (diarrhea for three weeks, intermittent vomiting, nausea.) I went to the doctor and they took blood and stool samples. But everything they tested for (not sure what it all was) was negative. I was thinking it might be related to dairy. Is there a test for lactose intolerance? I think I remember them doing a blood test for it when they first tested me for celiac. Ugh. I hate being sick.

Thanks everyone.

I went in to the doctor and they said that it is a stomach virus that is going around and should last 7-10 days. They said since I've had it for a while I should likely be close to the end. I'm slowly starting to feel better. They did tell me that because it was a stomach virus the imodium was the worst thing I could have taken.

I knew they were going to ask me if there was a possibility I am pregnant, but no, not any. No offense taken.

I hate going to the doctor so thanks for convincing me to go.

I'll call the doctor tomorrow and see when I can get in. I hate being sick. The pepto-bismal didn't help, but the imodium did.