BlessedMommy

I did a gluten challenge and wound up in the ER with neurological complications  (after experiencing severe daily headaches) 10 days into it. I do want to stress that my situation is relatively rare though. Most people will not experience those complications and doing a challenge can be beneficial for many people. I put my daughter on a gluten challenge and she did fine with it--but she ultimately tested negative for celiac though, so I suspect that we never should have had her try to go gluten free in the first place.

As soon as I quit the gluten, my headaches started to go away and I felt completely normal in a few days. I decided from that point on to be gluten free for life. 

I tried the crab cakes and we liked them. 

I'd be interested to find where they're sourcing them from.

It's probably not much of an issue for me, though, because I get certified gluten-free oats in bulk for $1.63 per pound anyway.

I understand the hesitation about putting him on gluten, but it really will give you the best chance for an accurate diagnosis for him. Since a very strict lifelong diet is needed for celiac patients, it's important to be sure of the diagnosis. Especially for children, it is so helpful to have a diagnosis.

I hope that you find answers soon!

TJ's has certified gluten free oats?

I saw the doctor today and looked over the test results. The negatives were very clear negatives. So thankful! For example, a 20 on the Ttg is considered positive and she scored a 6. I was hoping for clear answers and these were very clear. 

The doctor said that the variations on the CBC were normal and could be caused by mild dehydration. My daughter also had the antinuclear antibody test, which not surprisingly, reflected the fact that she has an AI disease. 

I'm thankful that she is out of limboland. Thanks to all who encouraged me and helped me through this. I have no doubt that I wouldn't have had the courage to start her gluten challenge or even pursue the tests, because of fear. You all gave me the moral support to do what I needed to do. 

Has she had an endoscopy? 

If you're uninsured or don't have a regular doctor who can order tests for you, you can order from a private lab and self-pay. I can think of one member here off the top of my head who did this.

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I have heard great things about this recipe. I haven't tried it yet, though.

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So I am a planner and have some time before I start the "official" challenge so I am working on creating my list of 5 glutenous treats I miss. I know I will probably not miss the pain they cause, but need something besides bread/cereal to help with the challenge, like Caramel Delight cookies, fried pickles, grandma's mac and cheese, good donut, etc. I also have some Collagen Joint Care that I keep around and plan on using in a smoothie daily to help my joints as they are going to ache. So anything anyone found that helped them with their challenge is game. I know I am going to struggle but was hoping that I could seek some tips from the pros who know my pain.

My #1 advice is not to go overboard on the gluten. Also, be cautious, if you're not used to currently eating certain foods regularly (like doughnuts) it might be best to reserve them for a special treat once a week or less. You don't want to send your body into shock by overloading on gluten or radically changing your current diet routine too much. Make sure that you're eating a healthy balanced diet with fruits, veggies, carbs, and protein. Then on top of that, make sure that you get at least 1-2 servings of glutenous foods per day.

You could simply have 1 grilled cheese sandwich per day in addition to whatever regular diet you're used to and that would cover your gluten requirements.

I personally overdid gluten while challenging. I felt horrible, developed serious complications, and I wound up in the hospital 10 days into it, thus eliminating my chance of ever getting a formal diagnosis. (unless science comes up with better testing methods)

My other thing that I could have done better was listen to my body a bit more. I had daily headaches and ignored them. The headaches lead to neurological complications.

I wish you luck and a clear answer! 

You could always make your own toothpaste. There's lots of recipes for them on the internet.

What about her personal care products? Is her soap, shampoo, and lip balm gluten free? Do you have any pets that she feeds? If so, are the pets on grain free food? If it's regular pet food, does she wash her hands well after feeding them?

I used the bread mix with the yeast packet in it and sugar already in it.

If you use a flour mix, keep in mind that you will have to provide the yeast and sugar.

If you enjoy stir fry, San-J has a number of wonderful certified gluten free stir fry sauces and soy sauces. I know that the soy sauce I have right now says non-gmo on it. It's the lower sodium type. Stir fry is a easy go to meal in our house.

Well, if your doctors are sure it's celiac, probably a challenge is not needed. I know exactly where you're coming from. I'm not big on doctors and I have had all of my babies at home to avoid the hospital too--but I'm the same for my kids, I want an exact answer of what's going on.

Yes, I think that no matter whether a person's food issue is voluntary, medical, or religious, they have an obligation to look out for their selves. 

Yay Bartfull!

So do you think that it's a definite that soy and corn are back? That would be so much easier for you!

Wow, I'm sorry that you're having to deal with this Stephanie. Are you going to do the challenge or just keep him gluten free?

If your kid got really sick and had really bad symptoms during the challenge and still had a negative biopsy, what would the doctors do then?

Pamela's mix does not have any soy in the ingredient list, but it is processed in a facility that uses soy. 

I made the little mounds of dough about the shape of a bagel and then let them rest for an hour and poked holes in the middle. Then I boiled them and baked them.

I checked Talenti's website and the majority of their flavors are gluten free, but I couldn't find the pumpkin pie one listed on there.

Glutening is such a variable thing. 

There's some celiacs who get no symptoms at all after glutening.

I'm glad that you're not sick!

Giving up sugar isn't too bad. The first two weeks were the worst. After that, my taste buds sort of adjusted and lots of things seem too sweet to me now.

I do use some sweeteners now, but very, very sparingly. Changing my sugar intake literally changed my life. Before I made the change, I was sick most of the time with horrendous environmental allergies and got bronchitis a lot. I had two bouts of it back to back, before I finally decided that something had to change. After changing my diet, my sinus problems got so much better and I stopped being chronically sick from allergies. I also stopped catching colds and bronchitis so much.

Good luck to you! 

I'm such a kitchen geek.

My current rice cooker I've had for 9 years. It was a wedding present and it has gotten used, used, used, and used some more. I've use to cook oatmeal, quinoa, millet, and rice.

The cord was starting to short out, so my hubby gave me the okay to get a new one.

This time I got the rice cooker with all the features including a delay timer, meaning that I could fill it with grain and water and set it to turn on at some specific time. I use the delay feature on my oven constantly, so I know that I'm going to like this. I can already see the potential with breakfast hot cereal, etc.

This one also has a steamer on top. So I could put in my rice or quinoa, throw some veggies to steam, set it to turn on 30 minutes before I get home or whatever, and I'll have hot veggies and freshly cooked rice/quinoa waiting. This is the one I got. Open Original Shared Link

I threw out the candy after paying my kids for it. In hindsight, I probably should've saved the non-chocolate candies to send overseas in our church's Christmas boxes that we send to needy children. Maybe next time....

Pamela's bread mix has directions on the side on how to make bagels. I made up one batch that didn't turn out too well then I tried another batch and this time was successful. The key was not to add too much liquid and to let the dough rest for 1 hour.

I only used about 1 1/2 cups of total liquid on the 2nd time and the bagels held up much better to boiling and held their shape very well. These are perfect for some of the egg allergic folks, because the recipe didn't require using any eggs, only oil and water.

Here's a photo:

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