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I am starting to have to take lunch with me. I used to be able to skip lunch because I made it home early for dinner. But now I don't get home until 9 or later at night. So really I need lunch and a snack. I need things that are cheap. I have apples and carrots. But right now I'm so tired because I'm sleep deprived from classes and work that I can't think, of anything else that is good. I don't have anything except my insulated lunch bag to keep things cold and it will have to stay cold for 6-8 hours before lunch. I do have a microwave to warm things up if needed. I don't trust sandwitches to stay good on the bread (Udi's) but if you know if Pb&J stays good. Any ideas welcome.

Just to add another thought....anemia is another sign of hypothyroid. If you are hypothyroid and it goes untreated, you can easily pop with anemia.

It has happened to me before. The thyroid plays a role in the production of red blood cells. You sound like you have a thyroid issue and not a vitamin deficiency issue. Make sure the ranges on the thyroid testing are the up to date ranges and not the old ones that doctors all too frequently use. Your TSH should be no higher than 2.5 but for many, it has to be in the 1 range for maintaining health.

Good luck!

Thanks for that info. I will call to make my apt on Monday.

Hello Everyone.

I have been anemic for the last few months. I had a three month period when I couldn't eat much after getting glutened. I became anemic at that point. I am fighting my way back in between getting glutened again a couple of times and having the same thing happen (but not for so long). I didn't realize anemia could lead to brittle nails.I should probably get my vitamin levels checked. I'll have to check with my PCP about getting that done. I will see what my GI doc had done last time as I can't afford to go back.

I did used to have my thyroid tested periodically because of depression, but haven't in a while. I will look into having that done too.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I have been breaking a lot of nails lately in situations that it seems like they should be able to withstand. I feel like it is because there is something that is missing from my diet. What lets nails break easily?

Thanks.

I disclosed my celiac to one of my practicum supervisors. He responded really well. He had heard of celiac disease before and was very supportive. He said that he would make sure there is food for me when they get food. This was really amazing given that my professor at school was not supportive at all. He said I should tell my direct supervisor and I will next week. It was surprising to get such a good response after my school was so awful. Hopefully my direct supervisors will be wonderful too.

I have no suggestions, but I'm wondering why anyone feels they need a "definitive diagnosis"? seriously... if you feel good when you're off gluten and terrible when you're on it...well then why does it matter to you if you have a diagnosis? I'm using "you" in the general sense, not specifically to the OP. I don't understand why anyone would put themselves through this "challenge".

I don't know if this is why the OP is doing it, but, sometimes people need it for accommodations, like for school or work. Without an official diagnosis from a doctor they don't have to provide those. Also sometimes it is easier for people to stick to the diet when they have an official diagnosis as it is so challenging. It is easier for some people than trying to wonder if it could be something else possibly. Also sometimes family is more accepting with an official diagnosis, and don't question that it is "in the person's head".

When I get glutened I get nausea for multiple days afterwards (once for 3 months). My doctor prescribed an anti-nausea med to help me be able to eat, as without it I couldn't keep food down. It helped a lot. You might want to look into that for the nausea. I was going to say make sure it is gluten free, but if you are on a challenge, that might not matter.

Thanks for your reply. I was suspicious that the answer was going to be that we really don't know yet how it happens. But since I was having intense joint pain from being glutened, I thought I would ask and see if I was surprised that we did know. Thanks for looking into that for me, I will give the articles you suggested a look.

Hello,

The pharmacy I use changed the provider of its generic medication. The new medication company says that while it uses wheat in the manufacturing process that it is gluten free. It says that they use purified wheat starch hydrolysis to remove the gluten from the product. They say that they test it using R5 sandwich Elisa kit or Morinaga Elisa kit and it shows no detectable gluten. They also say that they do not have to label it as containing gluten when sold in Europe according to the 2005/26/CE directive. Can someone please help me to determine if this medication is safe for me to take.

Thanks.

I was wondering if anyone knew the mechanisms of action that causes ingesting gluten to lead to things like joint and muscle pain with one glutening. I could see over a long period of time, but how does it do it all at once? I don't know if this is known, but I thought I would just ask my question anyway.

Thanks.

I am sorry you had such a negative reaction from your practicum supervisor. I supervise students in a clinical psychology Master's program, and I can't imagine ever having that reaction to a student asking me how to talk to a practicum site advisor about a disability, gluten-sensitivity or otherwise. If you are in the mental health profession (which it sounds like, but I could be wrong), what I would tell you (as I would tell my own students) is that if you end up having a reaction in front of your clients, just be honest about it. People seeking help from those in the helping professions often like to know that their helpers are also human. You can model for them a healthy way of dealing with an obstacle, which can only serve as a help to them. As for your practicum site advisor, just be honest with them about it, and let them know that for the most part it can be controlled but you never know when that cross-contamination can happen, especially when there are shared food spaces. If you can be open, honest, and professional, then that's the best you can do. And if you ever have to leave a client because of a reaction, just use it as a teaching moment. As for your supervisor, maybe you should be asking him if he should be in his profession!

Thank you very much for your reply. It really helps knowing that there are other advisers out there who are more supportive of their students. I will take your advice when I talk to my practicum site adviser. I hope I get the same type of response you would provide to your students when I talk to him. Thank you very much.

I am so so so so angry. I went in today to talk to my professor of my practicum class. I gave him the dissability paperwork for the class, and then the letter that my case worker at dissability services wrote about my concerns for dealing with this in my practicum. This is the first time I've really had to deal with this in a work environment because I was diagnosed right before I left for grad school (after I had accepted the offer of admission and given notice at my 2 jobs). He is supposed to be there to help us negotiate with our practicum locations if there are any problems that develop. As such I was giving him more information that I would usually give to a professor about the rapid onset and asking him how I should bring this up with my adviser at my practicum. He stops me in the middle and is like, "are you sure you should be in this profession?" I had just told him that I hardly ever get sick, but that I need to be prepared for the worst case scenario (getting sick while working with a client). I don't know of a profession where this disease would not possibly be a problem, unless you work from home and have no deadlines. I work very very hard at not getting sick. How am I supposed to trust him to help if something happens if he thinks I shouldn't be working here in the first place? I don't know what I am supposed to do at this point. He even knew what I had when I had never even told him previously that i had a dissability. My department makes me so pissed.

I was wondering if anyone has early signs before the D that they have been glutened (when you don't know you have eaten something with gluten). For me I have D as the first sign and don't have much warning with that. I am starting a practicum where I will be working with patients for 50 minute stretches and am worried about becoming ill during one of them.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I wish that doctors did a better job of providing the diagnosis, even though at that point they often can't do much. It seems like giving a life changing diagnosis should deserve some respect.

Yeah,

I hadn't thought about the fact of being in a shared house. I was living alone and then needed to move in with a friend because of expenses. So now I am at more risk of CC. I hadn't thought of that being a cause of my nightmares. That makes since being that they seemed to come back when I moved in with my friend now that I think about it. Thanks for the help.

For those of you who were diagnosed by a doctor, how did the doctor tell you? After my endoscopy my doctor called told me and pretty much hung up. Unluckily for me I was starting my shift at my evening job 15 minutes later. They then sent me to a nutritionist (which you would think would be positive), who's food list was out of date and only gave me a list of foods to eat and said she could do nothing more to help me. While I understand that this isn't a diagnosis of cancer, it seems to be that this could have been done more compassionately. What did other people experience?

I'm sorry you are having so much trouble. I agree that those "friends" aren't. One thing to keep in mind with your drinking is that alcohol itself is a depressant. While it may make you feel better in the short term, it can make you feel worse later. Then you end up wanting to drink more to get that feeling back, but it once again leads you to feeling worse (more depressed).

I know you said that you went to a counselor before, but it might be good to go back again. There are different stages of acceptance/grief, and you can go back and forth between them. It sounds like you could use some more support right now.

If you want to get your family tested (and they suggest all first degree relatives be tested) it needs to be before they go gluten free. If they go gluten free then the test will be inconclusive. The tests are already sometimes give false negatives, but it wont be able to be positive if they aren't eating gluten.

I totally understand the ups and downs. It took me a while after I was finally diagnosed to really accept what had happened. Even though the testing process took six months for me. It was like I couldn't stop thinking about it.

As to the doctor's training. I talked to a friend of mine who just got out of medical school, and she was like "yeah, celiac, a disease that kids get and leads to failure to thrive." That was the only context that she knew about it in. Not that it could develop in adulthood. Yikes.

My pastor gets gluten free bread for me. The servers put it in a little bag (after washing their hands) and my neighbor will open the bag from the outside and I will take the piece of bread out. I sing in the choir so I am always sitting next to the same people so they are used to my gluten free needs. My pastor said that he tried some of the gluten free bread and doesn't know how I eat it. Given that they get it for me I told him that I am happy to have what they provide (which I am) but not to worry because I eat a better type of bread when I buy it for myself. One day he apparently forgot to bring the bread (they keep it at their house so it doesn't get used by others) and someone went and bought a loaf since he didn't bring it.

For $100 I would want a Cinnabon and french toast. And Costco's chocolate chocolate chip muffin. yum. yum. yum. (yes I still miss my glutney foods)

I have trouble with corn on the cob. But other corn things I am fine with. I also had trouble with tomatoes for about a year. (that really sucked as I love tomatoes.) So far those are my only problems. I hope to keep it that way.

I wasn't bothered by the nightmares when I was first diagnosed, as I saw them as part of me trying to process the whole change. But now I've been gluten free for over two years and am still having them. Has anyone else kept having them?

You know you are gluten free if you call a company and stay on hold for ten minutes to find out if their food is gluten free waiting in the same palace given that the cell reception in the store is spotty. And you just smile at the store personnel who is stocking food across the aisle from you.

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who has these nightmares. But I'm sorry other people are going through it too. The last one I woke up and couldn't figure out if I had actually eaten gluten at some point, or if it was a dream. I'm not sure if I woke up in the dream and then was confused, or if I really woke up and was confused. Originally the dreams were that I forgot that I needed to be gluten free and then ate something, but now the dreams are (usually) that I get served food that I think is gluten free (Ie ordered gluten free) then to realize they aren't gluten free. Last time it was a dream about ice cream. UGH.

I have recurring nightmares that I have accidentally eaten gluten. Then I try to puke it back up to get it out of me. It is so awful. Does anyone else experience this? Ugh I hate it. I hate this whole thing. Why can't it at least leave me alone in my sleep?