luvs2eat

Something similar happened to me in the short procedure unit. After a shoulder manipulation (for a frozen shoulder), I woke up in considerable pain. Before they could give me a pill for the pain, they insisted I have some food on my stomach. We started going thru their list, "No, I can't have toast, No I can't have crackers... or cereal... or a cookie." Just as I was about to start crying... my friend walked in and handed me a big fat Snickers bar!! Ha ha... It was the best thing I've ever tasted!!

Next time (hoping there is NO next time!!!) I'll be sure to bring my own snack!!

I've always made gluten-free corn bread... this recipe comes from my Southern friend.

Turn the oven to 400

My southern girlfriend makes her family's fried okra with corn meal. I'll ask her how she does it.

I've been making bread crumbs for things like crab cakes out of the thin rice crackers in the asian section of the grocery... do you know the ones I'm talking about? They come in neat flavors like seaweed and wasabi. I just wiz 'em in the food processor for awesome crumbs.

I just ask for a burger without the roll... folks always ask if I'm on Atkins. I'd also bring wine and ask if I might bring something (salad, appetizer, dessert) that I'm sure I can eat.

I always tell folks not to worry if they're serving food I can't eat. I NEVER starve eating a bunless burger and salad.

That's one of my greatest fears... that when I'm old, I'll end up in a nursing home and they'll feed me white bread (cause it's not whole wheat bread) and I'll have terrible diahrrea all the time and they'll get really mad at me and I'll get terrible bed sores.

My doctor laughed when I told her this. She said it'll be written all over my chart in such a case. But, we all know how that can go!!

Cream of wheat is okay cause it's cooked in water??? YIKES!!!

Yea, I don't get eating gluten on purpose either. I had mild gastro symptoms for a long time and used to think I might be able to "plan" a gluten cheat... a beer here, a yummy piece of homemade bread there... but then I realized that I'd become so sensitive that there are no on purpose cheats for me!

I have that "romantic" craving for gluten. It's like smoking. I know darn well that it makes you cough and feel lousy... but I still crave a smoke. I want to feel it go into my lungs and see it blowing thru my lips. I know... it's sick.

I still don't have all the symptoms I read about on this board, thank goodness. And, from the beginning (loving to cook) I've always said... in the scheme of life and the things that can go wrong with people's health?? Celiac disease is nothing.

If he was on dialysis, that's got to do with kidneys... maybe he had what the young kid on Different Strokes had... dang... I can't remember his name... that made him really small and short... and in need of a new kidney!

Yea, I was gonna say check the soy sauce and the hash browns. All the gluten-free brands of soy sauce I find too heavy and dark... I can't believe wheat makes that much difference, but apparently it does. I've not found a brand yet that's tasty.

My house isn't even remotely gluten free. I just don't EAT it. I cook food that's not gluten free all the time for my sweetheart and kids when they're visiting... I just don't EAT it. When there's a recipe, for example lasagna, where I can substitute brown rice pasta and almost no one will know the difference, I'll make the switch... I can't imagine eating gluten on purpose!!

Another Manna from Anna fan here! I don't use a bread machine tho, so I can't help there. I mix it up in the old Kitchen Aid and bake it in english muffin rings.

My doc told me when he gave me the celiac diagnosis that it's most common in those if Irish descent... my mom was right off the boat, born in Belfast. All my relatives are either Irish or Scottish.

Hope the German and Russian added in to my daughter's gene pool will help them avoid this NO FUN deal!!

I did the same thing a few weeks ago. We made this awesome taco meat and it didn't occur to me to read the many ingredients cause my son-in-law was cooking and he's got the skin form of celiac (hives and only mild intestinal symptoms). I woke up in the middle of the night positive there were WOLVERINES trying to claw their way out of my intestines!! I didn't know whether to sit or turn around, if you know what I mean. I sat... and sat... and sat... and sure enough... both the adobe sauce and the mole in the taco meat contained "toasted wheat bread."

I accused him of trying to poison me as he thinks I "cursed" him to get celiac disease... he found out about his about a year after I did... and as celiac disease didn't appear to be as common as I believe it will come to be... he accused me of cursing him. Hahaha

I only had chronic diarrhea for about 2 months before I was diagnosed. It took a whole year of a scrupulously gluten-free diet before I decided my BMs were back to "normal."

If there's one thing I've learned from all the reading I've done on this board... is that "normal" is a relative term and all of our symptoms and reactions are so different.

Hang in there!

Welcome from me too!

How does one find out they're in remission? I have a long list of foods/drinks I'd have if I wasn't celiac disease... haha... I'd start at the top of that list and keep going till my remission was over!

Yea, I know I'm fooling myself. But it's a nice dream... of a Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza and a tall frosty beer...

I've tried many gluten-free bread recipes... using many different types of flours... and none have been acceptable to me. They all were grainy and break apart with or without toasting.

I tried Manna from Anna bread mix on the advice of folks here and am now their greatest fan. They have a dairy free bread mix too. I make it every Sunday, in English muffin rings and freeze them.

It toasts up wonderfully... I am so hooked!! And so happy that I can enjoy sandwiches and toast again!!

Check out her stuff at www.mammafromanna.com

My recipe for General Tsao's chicken calls for dredging the chicken in corn starch before frying. I don't have the recipe close by, but can find it if anyone wants it.

Can anyone recommend liquid vitamins? I can only think of liquid children's vits.

It took me a whole year before I felt like my symptoms (diarrhea, bloating) were gone and I felt back to normal. I never got the "unexplained weight loss" (darn) and have put ON weight since goign gluten-free.

My doc said to me that Celiac disease was common in those of Irish descent... I'm with you Emma... my mom was right off the boat (Belfast) and my dad's fam is all Scottish.

Good luck, keep the faith... and come back here. Everyone is so knowledgable and helpful!

Please don't be afraid of the tests. The colonoscopy is actually fascinating... I wasn't asleep at all and watched mine, asking the doc questions the whole time. I've not had an endoscopy but when my friend had it done, her doctor asked her which "island" she'd like to go to with her preop drugs. Pick an island and enjoy!!

Reading thru your various diagnoses and ordeals... I guess ya gotta feel good about the many strides and take the set backs as only temporary till a better diagnosis is made.

In any event... you can whine to me anytime you want!!!

1. sex: F

2. age: 52

3. ethnic group: white (of Irish decent... my doc said that was common in celiacs.

4. age at which you were diagnosed: 48

5. How did you feel when you were diagnosed? really sad... homemade bread is my favorite food.

6. Did you have health problems in childhood? Nope. I remember an episode when I was 5 when there was a question of my being allergic to wheat but I wasn't sickly or skinny and nothing ever came of it.

7. How well do you maintain a gluten-free diet?

__ I absolutely never eat gluten

_x_ I very rarely eat gluten that I know of

__ I try not to eat gluten but I sometimes cheat or don't know

__ I don't maintain a gluten-free diet as well as I should

__ I don't maintain a gluten-free diet at all

8. What are some of the main difficulties you face in maintaining a gluten-free diet?

__ Price of gluten-free food

_x_ Availability of gluten-free food

_x_ Taste of gluten-free food

__ Preparation of gluten-free food

__ Public awareness of gluten intolerance/celiac disease

__ Knowing and understanding what foods you can and cannot eat

__ Reading and memorizing labeling on foods

__ Dining out

__ Traveling

__ Other:

9. What type of symptoms do you face when gluten is ingested?

__ nausea/vomiting

_x_ diarrhoea

__ mouth ulcers

__ stomach pains

_x_ fatigue/tiredness

__ other(s) :

10. How comfortable are you eating in restaurants or public situations?

__ Very comfortable: I have no problem at all

_x_ Comfortable: It's not too much of a problem or embarassment for me

__ Slightly uncomfortable: I sometimes feel it a hassle or embarassing to ask about or identify gluten-free food

__ Uncomfortable: I often feel it a hassle or embarassing to ask about or identify gluten-free food

__ Very uncomfortable: I avoid dining in public situations if at all possible

11. If you ever do feel uncomfortable, where and why exactly does this usually happen?

12. How do you deal with situations in which you must dine out?

__ Don't eat

_x_ Only eat what you know or can assume is gluten free

__ Eat what they have out of politeness, even if it may contain gluten

__ Ask for a gluten free dish

__ Other :

13. In most restaurants, do you find that waiters/waitresses/managers/cooks are aware and accomodating to gluten free requests? Most are clueless. I've been told things contain no wheat to have it come out breaded! I explain that I can't have anything with any kind of flour.

14. If a device were available that allowed you to test you food for gluten in public situations, would you use it? I might, but probably not. I pretty much know what's gluten-free and what's suspicious.

15. What are some features it would need or you would like it to have? (for example: size, accuracy, speed, etc.) the cost, I guess

16. What aspects might make you refrain from using it? Don't see much of a need.

17. About how much would you be willing to spend on a device like this? not much

18. Would you be willing to participate in later product testing and further interviewing as this project develops? if it's free? Sure.

I've gained weight too since being gluten-free. I think part if it is because I over-compensated with the food I WAS allowed (rice, potatoes, gluten-free pasta, and now Manna from Anna bread) in place of the food I'm no longer allowed to have.

When I explain to folks about Celiac disease and they ask me the symptoms, I tell them one is unexplained weight loss... then I look down at me and say, "But I didn't GET that one!!" haha

FYI... the pastas we're allowed have a higher "glycemic index" meaning that on any sort of low carb or diabetic diet, they're actually WORSE than regular pasta.

I guess it was about the time I had to go gluten-free that I discovered risotto... my new favorite food... cheesy sticky rice... what's not to love?? It takes all my will power not to make it regularly!!

I'm from eastern PA... not far from Philadelphia... about 10 miles from where George and the boys beat the crap out of those Hessians ... they renact it every Christmas day.

Did my new signature come thru? I am technology-challenged, to put it mildly!!

edited to add... woo-hoo!! It did!!

My daughter was a manager at a Macaroni Grill in suburban Philadelphia and they had a family who were "regulars" with a celiac child. They would use a clean pot (beware the constantly boiling restaurant pasta pot) and cook this little girl some gluten free pasta so she could enjoy eating out with her parents.

Has anyone asked? And what's the response you've gotten?

I was out with friends last night and there was a "macaroni gratin" on the menu that I'd have killed for and I thought I should start asking!! The worst they can say is "no," right??

Tammy... what is that beautiful baby with the pacifier in your post?? I want it!!!

Funny I should see this today... I work for an insurance company and am handling a claim for a person with diarrhea, unexplained weight loss, bloating, etc... and the doc's done lots of blood/stool/urine tests... all neg. of course... and I'm thinking... WHERE'S THE CELIAC BLOOD WORK?? It ain't there... and, of course, there's nothing I can do!!

I actually found the english muffin rings at amazon .com! I went to google and punched in "english muffin rings" and it sent me to amazon. i checked out some of the other sites, but the ones at amazon looked like the best deal. They should be here early next week... I'll let you know how they work out!

I'm also intrigued about the "enhancer." What's it supposed to do and where do I find that??