kbtoyssni

I'm going to put in another plug for the Kinnickinnik (ok, I don't think that's quite how you spell it) donuts! They are delicious!

You could also look at the calendar page on this board. It often has listings of walks that are taking place around the USA so you might be able to get some contact information from someone running one of those for some advice.

$80 is expensive, and that's certainly money you don't need to spend. This site has all the info you need on gluten-free brands. NoGluGirl posts a huge list of gluten-free brands a lot - try searching for her posts. Nini also has a link in her signature to download a Newbie Survivor Kit that has a list of gluten-free brands.

Why would someone want to profit off this? Because they can? Celiac is one of those rare diseases that doesn't require drugs or expensive medical treatments to deal with making it completely unprofitable for the medical industry. This is maybe the only way they can make money off this disease?

Janeti - it doesn't look like a stub, though, because the base of the pinky starts below the base on the ring finger.

I think I need to change my vote. One pinky is just about even with the joint and I voted based on that one. Then I looked at the other hand and that pinky is below the joint.

If I had to choose a college right now, my celiac would certainly be a huge consideration when making a decision. There's no way you can spend 4+ years in a place that can't accommodate your dietary needs. People choose a school based on many things other than the academic program they want - location, size, proximity to city/nature, etc. Everything adds up to a school just "feeling" right, and health/dietary concerns absolutely should be a part of that decision.

My brother goes to the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse. They have several celiac students there and are very accomodating. There's a fridge in back stocked with gluten-free food and a microwave to use. They're very good about getting me a clean pan and real eggs (not the egg-mix) for scrambled eggs when I visit.

I went to UW-Madison before I was diagnosed, so I can't say how they are with dietary restrictions, but their meal plan might be better for a celiac. You put any amount of money on your card and pay for each item individually instead of having a set number of meals you have to get. This is a much cheaper option if you don't eat a lot or want to, say, buy your own cereal and just buy milk for it in the cafeteria. It's also nice because you can buy as much food as you want and take it out of cafeteria to eat later. Fridges are provided in each dorm room, too.

I wasn't bitter or angry at all. It was such a relief to finally have an answer that I was excited to get to my new gluten-free life and start living again. I do tend to have the attitude of "well, this is how it is, no sense getting upset because there's nothing I can do about it so let's move on and enjoy what I've got" with most things in life, though.

I can imagine if someone doesn't have supportive family and friends, doesn't see immediate relief or ends up having more food intolerances, is very busy and doesn't have the time to do the research, is on a very tight budget and doesn't have the money to try all the "yucky" gluten-free foods before figuring out how to make the diet work, or has an emotional attachment to food and its role in his/her life, giving up gluten would be very hard. It's a major change, and only natural to mourn for what you've lost. Give it time - hopefully it will get much easier for you.

I was going to suggest Thai stirfry, too. Tacos are great, too. I use a black bean salsa in place of the meat. Soups or chili is usually gluten-free. Or Fondue using the french bread recipe in "The Gluten Free Gourmet". I'm making a fondue meal for a bunch of people this weekend. Although, things with bread probably aren't the best because of all the "special" ingredients. Eggplant pizza (use eggplant slices instead of crust).

I don't get too upset. When people tell me that gluten-free must be so hard and that they could never do it, I know they're thinking about their current lifestyle and how difficult it would be to cut all the gluten. Yes, it would be a major change for them that offers no apparent benefit. But my lifestyle when eating gluten wasn't like that of a "normal" person. It was that of a very sick, bedridden person. When making a choice between gluten and bedridden OR gluten-free and leading a normal, happy, healthy life, it's a no brainer. When people make these statements, they are doing the benefits-downsides analysis in their head. And for most, the downsides far outweigh the benefits for them.

I usually respond to comments about how hard gluten-free must be with something along the lines of "well, gluten makes me very sick, so for me it's an easy choice. Not eating gluten means I can lead a normal life instead of being bedridden". People usually get the idea. I'm sure me being able to brush off comments like this are due partially to my very positive, easygoing attitude and great outlook on the disease.

It's an inconvenience to her. I am going over to her house for dinner tonight and I tried to be very clear about what i could and could not eat. She was going to make this one dish and it didn't even occur to her to look at the ingredients. I had her read them to me over the phone, what was one of the ingredients "wheat gluten"! I mean seriously, I don't ask for alot but if you don't even know not to make me something where gluten is clearly an ingredient than I don't know what else to do. That's when she got annoyed and told me how inconvenient this all was. Gee I am so sorry that my not getting violently ill for days on end and compromising my immune system is inconvenient.

Can you bring your own food? That way you're not inconveniencing her at all. Plus, I don't think I'd trust eating food made by someone who doesn't get it.

What triggered your doctor to test you for celiac if you don't have any symptoms?

Blood tests and biopsies have a high rate of false negatives, but there are no false positives. If you had a positive blood test, you've got it. Some people are asymptomatic. And some think they are until they go gluten-free and realize that there were lots of little things that weren't quite right that have no gone away. The other issue is that celiac might have been triggered very recently so you haven't had time to develop intestinal damage yet (which is a good thing! lucky you!). If you keep eating gluten, you will be at high risk for malnutrition, osteoporosis, cancer, neurological symptoms, etc.

Flour is notoriously bad at flying all over the place, getting inhaled, getting stuck in small places and being impossible to clean up, etc. I have no problem sitting next to someone eating a wheat-bread sandwich, but I would not want to be anywhere near wheat flour.

Hormel says gluten-free right on the package.

I'd suggest trying to eat plenty of protein to help you not get hungry. Planning out what you want to eat at night when you get hungry can be helpful, too. If you're studying until midnight or later, it is perfectly reasonable to eat a second dinner around 10 or 11pm if you ate your first dinner at 6pm, and you're probably better off making a dinner rather than snacking on junk food. Thinking can burn a lot of calories.

You could also check out what resources your campus offers. There might be a nutritionist, psychologist, and/or fitness trainer you could talk. I'd encourage you to discuss this with professionals rather than your girlfriends to avoid triggering each other into bad food and exercise habits.

I eat Cheetos all the time with no problems.

I think you should also consider a psychologist. I'm sure it is difficult for him to watch the two of you dealing with the ups and downs of celiac, but to be very depressed about it could be indicative of a larger issue that he may not even realize. The celiac might be the most obvious stressor in his life and therefore the thing that he thinks is causing the depression, but there's often many more reasons for depression that are not as easy to pinpoint. Good luck to both of you.

There is a HUGE learning curve to this diet. The first two months will be very difficult trying to read every label and worry about CC, etc. But once you get it down, you won't spend any more time shopping or cooking than you did before. So know that if you can push through the first few months, it will be much better.

Another thing to realize is that if you do have celiac, gluten is horribly addicting and can have psychological effects. The binge eating may be a combination of these two so you may find that it goes away after being on a gluten-free diet for a while. I also feel that in the beginning, you can only handle so much and being truly gluten-free is better than a completely healthy diet. Don't beat yourself up too much about not having balanced meals all them time. Give yourself a chance to figure out the right brands first.

how does everyone find the time to work out...i'm a student in university and i spend bout an hour commuting to school in the morning then spend the whole day at lectures and then go home to study...i have no energy or time to work out....

It's hard, but exercise is one of those things you have to MAKE time for. It's got to be part of your schedule. For me, I go to work and I know I'm going to the gym right after work before I go home or I'll never do it. Once I'm home I can find plenty of time to waste on the internet, but can never find any to workout. I have to force myself. Or find a workout buddy. I do gymnastics on Monday night with a bunch of friends. I want to go because it's a social activity. Same with ballet on Thursday nights.

I went to Mukwonago Family Dentistry my whole life (until last year), and they were always great. I never had any major work done, but they were very good about checking ingredients of the cleaning products for me.

I live alone so my kitchen is gluten-free. When I lived with my parents, my mum and I were gluten-free and dad and brother were gluten eaters. The kitchen was 95% gluten-free. We'd buy gluten-free brands of condiments, corn tortillas instead of wheat, corn chips, etc. The only gluten items in the house were pre-packaged things like crackers and cookies. And my dad was really careful about not contaminating things. My mother likes to bake and has developed some good gluten-free bread recipes so now my dad eats gluten-free bread, too. And we always have gluten-free cakes.

A kitchen that isn't entirely gluten-free is doable with some work. But the one thing I would NOT allow would be wheat flour. That stuff can travel out of its container so easily and will probably be getting into the air if you use it. Even if you cleaned the kitchen after using, I don't think you could guarantee you've gotten all of it.

I was also thinking gift certificate for something he can do in his new free time. Like dance lessons or a wine tasting class. That's what my parents did the minute they retired

Gosh, I'd be calling the cops every time something happens. I'd also be keeping a record of everything that happens, including trying to remember dates of past incidents. It sounds like it might come in handy soon I'd be inclined to call the cops to ask them to walk you to your car at night if you don't feel safe - no one should feel that unsafe in a community like yours.

I typically don't correct them unless they ask for more information. The treatment is the same and very few people know about the difference between IgA, IgE and other reactions. I never knew there were reactions other than allergies before I got celiac, either. I don't find it very important to tell people the scientific details of what happens to my body. Issues like CC I feel are much more important to mention, and if you're only got time to tell them about one issue, I'd rather talk about CC.

Gosh, this is no good at all. I wonder if they are worried you'll send something like uncooked meat and it won't get fully cooked? There are plenty of things you can send that don't need to be heated, though, and the blue ice stuff should work well. My mum also used to send hot dogs in a thermos of boiling water and they'd still be warm at lunch. If you have a good thermos, this would probably work with chili and soup, too.

A question for all of you. My son did get tested for Celiac when we were first trying to find out what was causing his diarreha problem but that was back in 2004. So should he be tested again??? He is already on a restricted diet with his UC so if he has to go gluten free he will be hard to live with. But if he has to he has to & will just have to learn to deal with it.

How does everyone cope emotionally with going gluten free? Ok because you know it will help and make you feel better or do you mourn not being able to eat certain things?? Being my kids are teenagers I am wondering about the drama they will cause because of this.

I would continue getting your son tested, probably yearly. Celiac is often triggered by some trauma to the body so if he has the genes, he may not have celiac now, but he may develop it in the future. It's just something to be aware of and monitor. Plus, at the time of his last blood test, he may not have been eating much gluten or he may have been producing minimal antibodies. For a kid who already has digestive track issues, I'd definitely keep testing.

Emotionally, most people do have some mourning period. It's a major life change so it's only natural. I somehow skipped the mourning phase and jumped right into the "this is the best thing that's ever happened to me, now I don't feel sick anymore!" phase. I think if you can emphasize all the things your daughter can still eat and how yummy gluten-free can be, it will certainly help. And the fact that you have a few weeks to prepare before going cold turkey should help. Does your daughter have favorite foods? Now's a good time to figure how to make them gluten-free. Post them here and we'll help with recipes!