luvs2eat

Oooh... I just ordered "english muffin rings" ... I'm hoping that will help make smaller uniform sandwich rolls. I am a happy camper!!

When I was diagnosed (2+ years ago), I'd only had symptoms for several months, but when my doc told me I had Celiac Disease and I read what it can do to your small intestine, I very simply stopped eating wheat/gluten. This may sound dumb... but it never occured to me that I had a choice to "cheat" and hurt myself... I just stopped eatihg wheat/gluten and researched and researched food lists and ways to change existing recipes.

I kept saying, and still say to people... in the scheme of life and with everything that happens to people... this is nothing. There is so much I can eat... my celiac seems to me to be mild... no diary issues, no skin issues... my ONLY symptom was diarrhea and iron deficiency ... no pain, bloating... nothing. I consider myself so lucky to have so few physical symptoms.

It did take a whole year for my digestive system to return to normal... but it's as right as rain now. I still don't see "cheating" as an option... and don't find it hard to stay away from wheat/gluten. If I don't know if there's wheat/gluten, I don't eat it... simple as that.

Now that I've found a bread mix that makes wonderful sandwiches, I am a happy camper!!

I'm inclined to agree about taking the hospital dietician to task. Geez... you're IN there for a severe reaction to wheat and they give you wheat?? What's the diff betw. that and giving someone with a life-treatening allergy a whopping dose of penicillin?? Someone would fry for that!!

That's sort of my nightmare... that I end up in a nursing home someday and people feed me wheat and I keep having "molten acid" leaking out of me and they get mad and I get terrible bed sores on my butt!! YIKES!!

I (or someone ELSE) accidentally threw away a loaf of bread that contained the little paddle that mixes the bread!! So now, I only have one paddle and my other bread well is useless.

I've scoured the direction booklet (that had a TON of typos in it... anyone else notice that??) and can not find an address to call and order another paddle.

Does anyone know where I might find a replacement paddle??

Good idea about the reducing the liquid a little.

My other problem is slicing the bread uniformly... guess I'll have to break down and buy that knife on tv that you can "dial" the same thickness... haha.

Like I said before... I ate an awesome sandwich for lunch every day last week. I am in hog heaven!!!

I'm with you guys... simple, basic food is not hard to cook and easy to find without wheat or gluten.

The operative word here is READ... read every single label... EVERY single label... so who knew the second ingredient in red licorice is wheat? They stick wheat, modified food starch, and malt derivitives in so many things...

I've stood in the soup aisle and read tens and twentys of labels to find ONE soup without modified food starch... it was a Progresso chicken cheese enchilada and it was very good!

I was always a label reader but it's really imperative cause wheat and gluten hide in things!

And, as others have said... wheat-free is not necessarily gluten-free.

I get them too... strange ones that seem to involve the muscles on the top part of my foot... a place that seems to "thin" to have lots of muscle.

I even tried the bar of soap under my sheet between my feet as I read in the newspaper was helpful to some... haha... did nothing for me!

No bread machine. I used my big mixer and a regular loaf pan. When it came out of the over, I did invert it and sort of sat it inside the loaf pan and the "puffed up" top sort of held it up... kind of like you'd do with an angel food cake.

First real sandwich I've had in more than 2 years!!

I was a tad put off when I first saw the batter... it looked like there were ANTS in it!! haha

Well, I'm completely HOOKED on Manna from Anna!! I made a loaf on Sunday and sliced it and froze portions. I've been bringing a real honest-to-goodness SANDWICH to work every day... on TOASTED bread that doesn't crumble.

I'm in hog heaven!!!

Last year, I signed up for a seminar for Celiacs given by our local hospital. The room was pretty darn full of other Celiacs and I was so looking forward to getting some support and recipes.

The woman conducting the seminar gave out a 5-page list of "Not Alloweds" and I thought to myself... now how many who've been diagnosed with celiac disease hasn't gotten a list of foods to avoid???

Anyhow... the woman spent an hour talking about her feng shui business and how we'd all feel better if we feng shui-ed!! She gave us some pretty crappy gluten-free brownies and I found the folks in the audience knew way more than this gal leading the seminar!!

I skipped at half time and went home and wrote a letter to the hospital. They refunded my money and agreed that the leader wasn't what they were hoping for!

I'd love to find a local support group in eastern PA.

My doc said the same thing as yours did, cdford... he told me unequivocally that my blood work showed celiac disease and that I should immediately go gluten-free, which I did. He said that if I didn't see improvement, then, and only then, would he do an endoscopy. I was a gluten-free fanatic... and it still took a year for my system to get happy again.

I've not had much luck with any recipes I've tried, with the exception of Bette Hagman's pizza crust in her book. I don't think I'll buy it often... I've gotten used to just doing without bread... but it's nice to know it's there!!

From the day I was diagnosed, I did not let a MORSEL of gluten pass my lips, knowingly. I just switched to "real food," meaning that I ate plain meats, seasoned by me, fresh fruits and veggies, rice and potatoes. I only ate baked goods I made myself. I'd been a label reader for years, so while shopping was time consuming, it wasn't too hard.

All that said... it took an entire year for my system to get back to any semblence of "normal." Luckily, I don't have other food allergies and can have dairy and stuff.

I've been gluten-free for 3 years. Several times in the last year, I've eaten a piece of bread or had a few sips of beer... "to experiment," and have had little or no repercussions. But I think it's because I am SOOOOO completely gluten-free all the time.

I keep thinking that I might be able to "plan" cheats... like eating pizza once a month... and not hurting myself. But so far, it's just dreaming... I've read too much about what gluten does to your intestines.

Um... I think ice cream is a medical necessity... as are chocolate and martinis and french fries. In fact, I think Haagan Daaz Swiss Vanilla with Almonds ice cream is essential to my health!!

(just kidding)

I'm partial to brown rice pasta... I find it tastes the closest to regular pasta. None of them reheat so well, but at the first meal, no one in my house can tell the difference betw. brown rice pasta and the old wheat pasta.

Well... as soon as I received the Manna from Anna, I made some rolls and a small loaf with the first mix! It is delicious and I brought one of the rolls for lunch today to have with tuna fish!!

Eureka!!

I just ordered some. I'm crossing everything that it's as good as y'all say!!

What obstacles do people with Celiac disease face?

i.e. at work, at home, traveling etc.

I don't face so many at work. A coworker's aunt is a celiac. It's not hard for me to say, "No thanks, no cookies, etc. for me." Traveling is only hard if you don't speak the language and can't ask about gluten-free foods in restaurants, etc. It is quite amazing tho how people don't "get" it... "There's no wheat or flour in the soup..." that's got pasta floating all in it. (Arrgghh!!)

I was with the "know where the bathrooms are" crowd, but since I've been gluten-free for several years, it's unusual for me to be running for a bathroom anymore... I'm THAT careful.

What are the common complaints?

i.e. about Gluten Free products?

As others have said, they are expensive and a poor substitute for yeasty wheat bread, an ice cold beer, and about 100 other tastes and sensations I could name. Altho, I've just ordered some Manna from Anna bread mixes that I'm keeping my fingers crossed for!

What social stigma and limitations?

I don't find a social stigma at all. I'm not a thin person, so if I refuse cookies or beer, it could easily be for any kind of diet. The limitations are in my own head. I miss bread and beer and cookies and lots of stuff like that.

But, know what? There are so many worse things to have than celiac disease.

I'll have to reluctantly agree. Luckily, I loved to cook before being diagnosed and was already a label reader (I didn't like giving my kids crap) so I pretty much knew what I couldn't have before I got all the lists of No-Nos.

But what happened to me is that when I was diagnosed, I was so upset at not being able to have bread, beer, etc. etc. again that I OVERDOSED on the things I COULD have... potatoes, rice (in its every form!) homemade cornbread, brown rice pastas... and packed on some weight. Not to mention... that my celiac disease was diagnosed so fast (3 month of gastro symptoms) that I didn't even begin to lose weight!! ARRGGHHH!!

I have a friend who I sensed was getting impatient with my not being able to have wheat/gluten. She's a diabetic who manages the food she eats by shooting more insulin rather than managing her insulin and her diet. She asked me once... "Can't you just have SOME??" I finally told her, "Sure... if I want MOLTEN ACID comin' out my butt!" haha... sorry to be so graphic, but it made her understand that cheating on a gluten-free diet is not an option!!

Celiac Disease - Yes

Diabetes - No

Sex - Female

My night time cramps are on the top of my foot near my toes... where it seems there shouldn't be enough muscle to cramp!! I should try the bar of soap thing... I've read that before.

I was diagnosed so quickly that I didn't have the unexplained weight loss problems that are so common. Then I substituted rice and potatoes for all the stuff I couldn't have anymore and have packed on weight. AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!

As soon as I was diagnosed, via blood test, I became obsessive about my diet... and was COMPLETELY wheat/gluten free... and it still took a whole year before I decided things were as normal as they were gonna get. No more gas, or diarrhea, unless I've eaten something I shouldn't have.

My diagnosis was pretty fast and simple. I had unrelenting diarrhea for about 2 months when I finally took myself to a GI doc. He gave me a course of Flagyl (an antifungal) while he tested for Giardia after I told him we'd spent the summer boating and swimming in the Delaware River, and did blood tests.

He told me he'd never seen antibody levels as high as mine and told me I had Celiac Sprue. He said it was common in folks of Irish descent... I told him my mom and fam were right off the boat from Belfast... and that was the end of my wheat days.

I remembered questions about possible wheat allergy when I was around 5 years old cause I had to take my own snack to school for a while, but nothing ever came of it and I was completely "digestive system" healthy till I was 48!!

I've since come to the conclusion that my sister's wicked allergies and eczema and my brother's eczema would be helped if they too stopped eating wheat... but if all I had was eczema, I'd keep eating it too!!

Luckily for me, tho, I've always loved to cook and know how a lot of things are made, so it wasn't as hard for me to avoid ingredients when dining out and cooking. Still looking for a good bread recipe tho!

I tried the pizza crust from Bette Hagman's book and found it to be quite good. We cooked it on one of those Pizza Pizazz things and everyone thought it was geat!