Auntie-Manda

Hi, all. I've been gluten-free for 8 weeks now, and I'm 1000% positive that gluten is a problem for me. In those 8 weeks, I've been glutened a few times, and every single time, it's the same: exactly 1.5 hours later, I get a horrible migraine (which I had nonstop before giving up gluten); my belly gets all bloated and grumbly, and I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. 

I have a doctor appointment on Tuesday (as a migraine follow-up/ concern about med side effects). When I initailly told her that a gluten-free diet made my migraines go away, she said, "huh". So I have a feeling she doesn't really buy it. But... as much as I shudder to consider doing a gluten challenge, how important is it to do testing for celiac? I know that gluten is a problem, so I won't eat it regardless, but if I do have celiac, why do I need to know that? If a gluten-free diet is the only treatment, I'm doing that already, yes?

I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound dense... but I'm having a hard time deciding if this is important. What changed for you once you got a diagnosos (besides going gluten-free?)

HI, all. I've been gluten-free for a little over a month now, and things were going REALLY well- my daily headaches & migraines were gone, and my stomachache went away, and I was starting to gain some energy. I felt fantastic! So I thought, ths is the answer... The gluten is causing all these problems, so maybe I don't need quite so many medications to prevent migraines (I have a prescription med to prevent, a costly supplement I have to buy online and take twice a day, and an abortive med for when I get migraines). SO I thought I'd trial cutting down the supplement to once a day. Well now I'm getting headaches again- the past 3 days. 

I feel if I ask my doctor (who said, "huh. I've never heard of gluten causing migraines" when I told her about going gluten-free and solving some problems), she'll say that obviously I need to be on my meds. BUt I feel strongly that it might be another food intolerance, and I'd much rather find the problem and fix it, than mask it with meds. 

So... if this were you, and you flt like you didn't have any support from your doctor, what would you try cutting out next, and for how long? I know the obvious answer is find another doctor, but the one I see is at a free clinic set up through my work, and if I see anyone else, I'll have to pay a bunch because the deductible for the year isn't met yet, and I can't really afford that. So I'd like to try to figure it out on my own, if possible.

Please & thanks.

Thanks, everyone!

Takala- actually, I AM a supertaster!!! My friend told me about that a couple months ago, and said she thought I was one. After looking it up, I'm 90% sure I am one. Crazy that you mention that!

I'm pretty new to gluten-free life (1 month as of yesterday!!), and I'm a little overwhelmed ny the idea of making anything from scratch. I'm guessing all the flours are pretty expensive. My mother in law has bought me some mixes, which was very sweet, I thought. I can eat and enjoy the cookies, but I'm just goig to have to make half a box of pancakes at a time. The reason why I asked was because my mother in law just got me some muffin mix, and I'd love to make a gazillion mini muffins and freeze them, but I don't want to ruin them! I don't know what to do- maybe I'll freeze a few and keep the rest out for a  few days, and then try to thaw them & see how they are. Otherwise, my poor family will just have to help me eat them... King Arthur stuff is pretty tasty- I'm sure they won't mind.

I like to make baked goodies & then freeze most of them, and pull out a few cookies or whatever at a time. I'm finding that whenever I freeze & then thaw pancakes (King Arthur brand) or cookies (Betty Crocker mix or King Arthur brand), it tastes grainy. The cookies weren't as bad as the pancakes. I loved the pancakes freshly made, and even as leftovers from the frige, but thawed... yuck!  Am I crazy? Does this happen? It's such a pain in the butt to make just a little, several times. But I'm the only one in my house who eats that stuff- I can't eat all the cookies or 8 servings of pancakes before it goes bad! 

Dominos gluten-free pizza is made on the same screens as the gluten-filled pizza. They won't even clean it to make a "gluten free" pizza. Also, when they add toppings, they touch gluten, and then touch the toppings. So most of the toppings are cross contaminated as well (at least here where I live- I have called & asked about it). I wouldn't get that pizza for sure!

Yes. I do a lot of product research, and only buy what I know is safe. So if I haven't looked it up, and it says gluten free on the package, it's possible I'll buy it. Otherwise, without looking it up & not knowing for sure, I'm not going to get it.

If there are 2 similar products, and one is labeled gluten-free, I'll most likely get the one labeled gluten-free. But I'm pretty new at this. Hopefully as I learn more, I will know what to trust & what is probably better left on the store shelf.

Noooooooooo! I love the mac & cheese!!!!! No problems for me yet. I've never had the burritos.

Me four. But I love it when it says "gluten free" on the bottle (like my vitamins)! If there's a brand that's labeled gluten-free, and one that isn't, I'll definitely buy the gluten-free for sure one, even if it costs a little more.

I email ConAgra foods asking about a specifc product, and here's the list of gluten-free foods they sent me (current as of today, 3/25/13):

Starting January of 2012, we began producing the following brands validated as gluten-free with gluten-free printed on their labels:
-Cocoa: Swiss Miss all varieties 
-Egg Beaters: all varieties
-Hunts Tomatoes (excluding Tomato Sauces, Tomato Paste, Pasta Sauces and Ketchup)
-Orville Redenbacher's: all Ready to Eat varieties
-Pudding: Swiss Miss & Snack Pack, excludes those containing Tapioca 

Below is a list of some of our other products that do not contain added gluten*
Category/Brand/Items
-PAM Cooking Spray: all varieties except PAM Baking 
-Hebrew National: all items except Franks in a Blanket 
-Wesson oils: all varieties 
-Peter Pan Peanut Butter: all varieties 
-Popcorn: Act II microwave, Orville Redenbacher jar and microwave, excluding Crunch n Munch and Poppycock
-Spreads: Parkay, Blue Bonnet, Fleischmann's and Move Over Butter
-David Seeds: all varieties
-Hunts Tomato Sauces (excluding pasta sauces) 
-Hunts Tomato Paste
-Ketchup: Hunt's all varieties
-Reddi-Wip: all varieties
-Ro*Tel Tomatoes (excluding sauces)
*These items have been identified as not containing gluten. They are not currently routinely tested to affirm they contain less than 20ppm gluten for a 'gluten-free' claim.

Skippy Honey Roasted pb (orange label) is labeled gluten free. I get that

I love Wellaby's Cheese Ups: 

Open Original Shared Link

They make circular, bigger cheese crackers as well.

HI... I work in a classroom, and we (I) make popcorn as a class fundraiser for our community-based instruction trips. We get the huge bag of Mighty Pop popcon from Sam's Club, as well as the Mighty Pop butter-flavored oil, and popcorn salt. I've looked around on the website & couldn't determing if those products are gluten free. Usually I munch on a few pieces here & there as I make the popcorn. Can anyone answer for sure if all 3 of those things are gluten-free? Please & thanks!

Hi, everyone. I just joined today, and thought I'd say hi!

I do not have Celiac, but it's becoming more and more obvious to me that I'm gluten intolerant. My friend suggested that I go gluten-free to see if my migraines would go away (after my doctor was unable to find a cause for them). I've had daily headaches for years (since at least middle school, and I'm now 26). Well, recently they switched to daily migraines, and I couldn't function. I saw a doctor and was put on several medications to make the headaches go away, but they stopped working after a few weeks. I went gluten-free on Feb 28th, 2013. I saw an improvement with the migraines right away, but I'm sure there's still gluten still in my body, and I look forward to feeling even better.

What confirmed it to me, was last week when I had communion (my pastor said I could have gluten-free communion wafers, but forgot and gave me a normal one). An hour and a half later, I was miserable. I had a stomachache, and I was bloated to looking 5 months pregnant, and I had a horrible migraine. I didn't feel better for 2.5 days.

It's quite a project learning about how to eat. It's also a challenge telling others about it, and being faced with everyone thinking it's a fad/ some "thing I'm doing". I haven't been diagnosed by a doctor, but that doesn't make it any less real. I'm not going to reintroduce gluten and feel horrible just for a doctor to tell me what I already know. On the other end of the spectrum, I got some attitude from a guy with Celiac (saying that the reaction probably wasn't due to communion because I still had gluten in my system). He made me feel like since I don't have Celiac, my problems aren't real. Luckily I do have some supportive friends and family members, and that makes a huge difference.

I joined this website because it has been so helpful every time I do web searches with any questions. Thanks already for the help! I look forward to becoming an active member