kbtoyssni

One of the best pieces of advice I was given was "Don't even thing about nutrition untill you find food your daughter likes, you can ease into the nutrition later" (This was advice from my GI's dietitian.

This was my philosophy, too. The first week I ate A LOT of tortilla chips with cheese because I was hungry and didn't know what else to eat. Even though it wasn't the best nutrition-wise, it was still miles better for my body that my previous gluten-eating habits. As the weeks went by and I started figuring out brands, my diet got healthier.

I would just write gluten-free on the card or not check anything, then get the phone number of the caterer from your SIL and call yourself to order a special meal. If you don't feel comfortable after talking to them, bring your own food. It is never tacky to put your health first.

I'd just bring my own food if you're worried about CC. I do it all the time with no problems.

You're only on day 5 of the diet. It's pretty common to not feel well even after eating gluten-free foods for a few months. I wouldn't be too concerned just yet.

I'd also like to suggest probiotics. All those antibiotics have likely killed all the good bacteria in your gut, too, so you'll want to replace those.

Are you trying the diet? If so, you might want to eliminate dairy for a while, too. In fact, a very basic diet where you slowly add in different foods might bee helpful if you think you have other food intolerances.

Good luck. I'm sorry things have been so rough in recent years, but you'll get your diagnosis if you keep fighting for it.

Seizures can be related to celiac. And I am so frustrated by a system that gives you drugs to fix a problem rather than figuring out the root cause.

I think I would either get a second opinion or just try the diet. You don't need a doctor's permission to not eat gluten so this is a great option if you can't find a good doc and/or you don't want to keep feeding him gluten. Good luck!

I think I read somewhere that one of the major cigarette manufacturers started putting gluten in the glue to hold the paper around the cigarette. Some people on this board were getting blisters on their hands and lips because of it.

I like the Pacific brand soymilk best. Although I agree that soymilk does not taste like milk so if you give it to him as a substitute, I can see why he won't drink it.

I use Thermasilk shampoo, I know Suave is ok, too. Most Fructis stuff is fine. I use CoverGirl tinted moisturizer, eyeshadow, lipstick. Some Boots No.7, but a few of those lipsticks do have gluten. Vaseline Intensive Care body lotion - I use the SPF15 stuff (it's new and sunscreen in a body lotion is genius!) but watch out for this brand because some kinds do have gluten. Chapstick is fine, bonne bell I think is mostly ok. In general I just read the ingredients and if they look fine I use it.

I like the bread recipes in "The Gluten Free Gourmet" cookbook. The french bread one is delicious and works great for fondue.

I'm so sorry to hear about what's happening with your daughter.

Yes, stress could definitely make this worse. But I'd also suspect that you might have some hidden gluten lurking somewhere since you've only been at this two months. What about personal care products (lotions, shampoo), pet food, that bottle of ketchup that got contaminated a few months ago and you didn't realize it? Or the lipstick that is gluten-free but you used before diagnosis so it might have hidden gluten particles? You may also still be healing since two months isn't that long to heal if you think of how long you've had to damage your intestines. Good luck!

I wouldn't do it. If you've seen an improvement, I think you've got your answer. If she's still feeling badly, though, you might want to look for other issues.

My mother had me and my brother as an undiagnosed celiac. My mum ate gluten every day and I turned out ok Or at least I like to think so Getting glutened isn't good for the baby, but mistakes happen and I doubt one glutening will hurt the baby. And it sounds like your gluten-free except for the glutening so I think your baby will be just fine.

Interesting. This could be why I felt so craptacular for the last two months. Thanks for the info!

I use the recipe I used to use pre-gluten-free with gluten-free bread cubes. I save all my failed attempts at bread baking to make into bread cubes. So if you want the same stuffing you always have (which is usually the case since most want to have Thanksgiving food the way it's always been) this is a great option.

I wonder what the allergic component is in peanuts? And if this will help those of us with more of an intolerance to them.

As for wheat, I'm not sure what the allergy component is, but if you're talking about removing the gluten, I don't think it's possible. If you took the protein gluten out of wheat, you'd pretty much just be left with the husk. And it certainly wouldn't have the same properties of wheat anymore - it would act like rice flour when you try to bake it. It would fall apart!

Just wanted to say congrats to all of you and keep it up! You're doing great!

I usually fly American Airlines and they can do vegetarian OR gluten-free, not both. So I pick gluten-free, and hope for the best on the veggie part. They're generally pretty good, but they almost always include this four-grain cracker that contains barley, rye, and oats... At least it's wheat free??? It's individually wrapped so it's not like it's contaminated the rest of my dinner, but it makes me worry about their ability to provide a truly gluten-free meal.

I'm sorry you're in such a tough situation. I wonder why your mother is being so resistant to this? Is it that she doesn't have enough information about the disease? That she's in denial (maybe because she feels guilty that she "gave" it to you?) Does she think that you being gluten-free in her house is going to make mealtime so much more difficult, and it's too hard to deal with? I don't know your mother, but would it help to get her more information about the disease? To educate her about how the diet isn't that hard and you won't be deprived (after you get through the learning curve!) To cook with her to show her how it can be easy and tasty? NoGluGirl also lives with her very unsupportive parents so you might want to PM her and ask about things she's tried.

If you are on a gluten-free diet, you won't be at risk of further complications, but if you get enough cross contamination then you're still going to have intestinal damage. As for pans, you're probably fine using pans that are used for gluten as long as they're washed well. That's assuming they're not scratched up and could have hidden gluten lurking in the cracks.

I'm lucky to have fabulous friends. I try to bring along gluten-free treats whenever we get together. They're all wonderfully accommodating and they all know enough now about safe brands and contamination that I trust them to cook for me. It might just be a matter of showing them that your life is not over and you can still eat plenty of "normal", tasty food. Try to steer them towards safe restaurants or activities that don't revolve around food like movies or outdoor activities. I go out to eat a lot and bring my own food. For me it's about the people and the social aspect, I could care less about what I'm eating. Everyone still invites me regardless of where we're going. I could see people not inviting me if they were going out for pizza or something, but since I always bring my own stuff and don't complain if we go to a gluten restaurant, I always come along.

I'd also stop inviting her to dinner. You really don't need that sort of negative influence in your or your son's life.

One thing I very much dislike is when people say that gluten food tastes better and why would they want to eat any of my "yucky" gluten-free food. I just want to snap back that they eat plenty of naturally gluten-free food and love it (like chicken or veggies or nachos). It's just when it's got a gluten-free label on it that it becomes yucky. And yes, cakes and cookies often have a slightly different texture, but that doesn't make it taste bad. These are people who might be perfectly happy eating a new dish at a restaurant, but unwilling to try a new type of cake when it's labeled gluten-free.

My insurance company wouldn't reimburse for it. I spent a good chunk of time explaining that no allergist in the city would be able to test for a non-allergy casein intolerance but they didn't seem to "get it". I paid for it myself. BUT, if it had been positive, I don't think I'd want that on my medical records and if insurance paid for it I think it would be on the record. So I'm not too upset about it.

Hot dogs on a stick!

I made mac and cheese camping once. I took the cheese mix out of Kraft mac&cheese and brought gluten-free pasta.

Well, I think you have several options. One is to suggest you go to the "safe" restaurants. Although it sounds like you might not have that many options to choose from so everyone might get sick of the one safe restaurant you always want to go to.

Another is to go to the restaurants and bring your own food. I do this all the time. You have to learn to switch your mentality of going out to eat as something you do when you're hungry to something you do to socialize. That way it doesn't matter what you're eating as long as you can spend time with your friends. You can bring a gluten-free substitute for the meal or bring something else yummy.

Another option is to eat at home. You could ask the chef to make some extra during the week so you can freeze it and have leftovers on weekends.

Or you could invite people over and you cook for them. Or just invite people over and ask them to bring a dish-to-pass and you can eat whatever, doesn't have to be what they bring.

I do not buy Target Brand (Archer Farms or Market Pantry) for this very reason. One of the problems is that they get their food from another supplier so when you call they have to route you to the proper supplier. The suppliers are generally not set up for individual customer service - they mainly work with large corporations like Target - so it's hard to get a good answer as an individual. Some products have multiple suppliers for the same thing (I know for sure there are several companies that make the Target brand TruTech TVs) so I'm assuming it might be the same situation for food. That's probably why they need to know all the additional info like size, UPC, date purchased, etc. They use this to track exactly which supplier made that lot of food. So basically, I don't buy Target Brand. I'll pay more for the brand that labels gluten-free.

I agree with j-mommy. It sounds like it could be a symptom of gluten, but if you're sure you're not getting any gluten, I'd head to the doc. There are plenty of other things that can cause fatigue and sleep problems so it's worth getting checked out.