kbtoyssni

Most people here talk about how the symptoms of glutening get worse the longer they've been gluten-free. Is there anyone whose symptoms of glutening have gotten better after going gluten-free?

I'm asking because sometimes I have mild stomach upsets and I'm not sure whether it's gluten or not. This happened yesterday a few hours after I'd eaten out for lunch, so cc was definitely a possibility. A few weeks ago I ate accidently ate something with malt and didn't get sick at all. The mild symptoms make it really hard to determine if I've been glutened or if I have other food intolerances going on.

When I was eating gluten I did have stomach problems, but the worst symptoms were fatigue and joint pain and brain fog. But I'm not getting those at all now, just a little bit of stomach pain.

ok, thanks for the info everyone! This is going to be a great camping trip now that I can make mac and cheese

I think remember someone on here mentioning that the cheese powder in mac and cheese is gluten-free. I can't find the thread now, so I was wondering if someone could give me some more details. Is it only specific brands that are gluten-free? Can you buy the powder separately from the noodles, because it seems stupid to buy the whole box when all I want is the powder? I'm going grocery shopping for a camping trip in a couple hours so I'm hoping someone can reply quickly! Thanks!

lorka u ever have problems with cc from bobs red mill? i am neverise about the company since they package raw flower at the same facilitly, but they have so many gluten free cooking things i really want to trust them

Bob's Red Mill has a dedicated gluten-free part of their manufacturing plant. If the package says gluten-free, then it is made in this part of the plant. Most of their flours are gluten-free. Soy flour is not - it is made on a separate line from gluten flours, but they made are in the same building so Bob's will not guarantee it's gluten-free. I have never had any problems with their products that are labled gluten-free.

I don't have problems with melon, but a friend's mum is allergic to melon, so it's definitely possible. Do you have trouble with cantelope and honeydew melon, too?

Yes, I did have blood test done. One came back very high, and one came back negative. My gastrologist (sp?) said that I should just eat one slice of bread a day for a week before the bioposy, since i'm very very sensitive to gluten. So i'm going to pig out on gluten during Christmas. He said that should show up well enough for the bioposy. He also said he needed physical proof for me to be considered a true Celiac. I would've been happy with just eating gluten free with out the bioposy and making myself sick. But the doctor insisted. The doctor did say though, that he wasnt sure what else it could be. .

-amber

By the time your villi are worn away enough to get a positive biopsy, you have already done a lot of damage to your body. If you know you are gluten intolerant, I don't think it's worth it to do that kind of damage to your body just so you can have the official seal-of-approval from your doc. Have you talked to your parents about whether or not it is worth it to get a biopsy? If you are satisfied that you have celiac or at least gluten intolerance, do you need an official diagnosis? Another thing to consider is that there may be complications when you get older and have to find your own health insurance. It's not necessarily a bad thing to not have a diagnosis on your record... But talk to your parents about this.

Not sure if you've already had your birthday, but here's a list of gluten-free alcohols:

https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-00106103227.9d

And definitely stay away from beer and whiskey! Happy Birthday!

Celiac is genetic so yes, you'd have to be born with the gene. You don't necessarily develop celiac at birth, though. For some people it takes some type of trauma for the celiac to develop. For me it was the flu, which I suspect overloaded my immune system and caused the celiac to take over. I'd had mild symptoms for years, but it took the flu to turn it into full-blown celiac. There are people who have the disease from birth, though. It sounds like you might be one of them.

The problem with testing at this point is that since you haven't been eating gluten, blood tests or scopes won't give you a positive diagnosis. You have to be eating about three servings of gluten for three months prior to testing if you hope to get a positive dx. Which you may not want to do. I was in a similar situation. I figured out it was gluten, and I didn't want to go back to eating it just to get the diagnosis.

The one way to get tested without eating gluten again is enterolab. You send them a stool sample and they do the testing. I haven't had it done, so maybe someone else here can give you more details.

I've been watching with interest as it seems like Alzheimer's might be a new type of diabetes where the brain isn't able to produce insulin. I've seen 3 different studies that indicated this.

Do you have any articles on this? Sounds interesting, and I'd like to read more about it.

I'd mention it. I've been wondering about the connection between celiac and EDs for a while now. I'm curious if a large percentage of people with EDs have celiac (diagnosed or not). I feel like there's some subconcious thing going on that makes you associate eating with being sick, but when does the whole fear of food and eating become a paranoia about weight? Or maybe it's so hard to explain why you don't want to eat since it's a subconcious thing, that weight becomes something tangable you can relate to.

Does anyone have any articles about the connection between celiac disease and EDs? I was trying to find some last night and wasn't having much luck.

>It's only being "sentenced' to eating the way everyone should eat anyway.

So true! My girlfriend also has a wheat-intolerance and we are both laughing at this sentence.

What is a kinnikinnick donut? I'm dying for a donut ... does it taste anything like a "standard" donut?

Also, you are drinking coffee I see -- have you had any trouble on caffiene?? It seems the couple times I had any my stomach went crazy, terrible pain, etc. Is it perhaps just b/c the gut is still sensitive?

Thanks to ALL who have responded, I appreciate hearing the different perspectives and experiences regarding recovery time. I am beginning to understand just how long of a process this will be ! (Now if only my FAMILY would understand too!)

I LOVE kinnikinnick-brand donuts! They are delicious. I buy mine at the local health food store, so I bet you'd be able to find them.

I used to have problems with the caffiene in coffee so I switched to decaf. My stomach would hurt so badly. I haven't tried drinking regular again since I went gluten-free, but maybe I'd be alright now.

It could be gluten-free breads that are bothering your stomach. I remember a thread about that not too long ago; I'll try to find the link.

Another possibility is that you have additional food intolerances. Many celiacs are tmeporarily intolerant to dairy because your villi haven't healed enough to digest it. Or it could be a permenant intolerance. I just figured out this week that I'm intolerant to peanuts, and I've been gluten-free for eleven months! I never noticed it before because my reaction to wheat was so much worse than my reaction to peanuts. There are so many things you could have an intolerance to: beans, dairy, soy, corn, nightshades. It could even be that you're eating a lot of fruit and your body is having trouble digesting all that fructose. Have you tried a food journal or an elimination diet yet?

Here you go - the post on reactions to gluten free breads:

Open Original Shared Link

i know what you say makes perfect sense but im scared, scared of my gp saying its not been proven tracey that you are celiac, scared of peoples comments, most i want my hubby to have something concrete that says i have this, he never said it but i think he doesnt realllt think i have it iether so i want it for him and for the kids cos if i have it in writeing then the boys will be able to have a smoother time of it than me as there is a known celiac in the family and the doctor will test them for it, i believe she wont do the test if im negetive or wont do the biposy. im doubting everything i know, my gutt instinct is telling me i have celiac but my brain it saying but and what if, dont know which one to trust. feel sick!

I do think that the only reason to get tested is if you need proof that you have celiac. Some people do need to have the official diagnosis to commit to gluten-free. But what happens if your biopsy comes back negative (which it very well could)? Will you still go gluten-free? I get the feeling that you'd still want to, but how is your husband going to deal with it? Maybe he should read the book Dangerous Grains. It will certainly give him a sense of how underdiagnosed the disease is and may help him to understand why you need to do this. Another alternative is Enterolab. You do not need to be eating gluten to get a diagnosis and from what I've read here, it seems like it's a lot more accurate in diagnosing celiac and gluten intolerance than a biopsy is.

I agree with nini. You don't need an official dianosis to go gluten-free. You know you feel better not eating gluten, why should you have to make yourself sick for two months and then re-start the healing process? I don't have an official diagosis, either. Once I figured out gluten was making me so sick, there was no way I wanted to prolong getting well again. Life's too short to waste it eating gluten.

I had severe joint/muscle pain and fatigue prior to going gluten-free. I could barely get up the stairs to my apartment so working out wasn't really an option. I ended up being diagnosed with fibromyalgia (which I now don't think I have) so I was going to physical therapy and working out in the pool. Nothing too major, leg lifts and walking in the water for five minutes. It did help me and I did start to get stronger but it was so hard.

When I went gluten-free I started out with five minute walks and increased from there. Working out became much easier as my body healed. I couldn't believe how much strength I'd lost from being sick for nearly a year.

Lorka - you said that PB bothered you when you first went gluten-free. Can you tolerate it now or have you not tried it again? I've been gluten-free for 11 months now so I feel like my intestines are pretty well healed and I may never be able to tolerate PB. And I'm 100% sure that my PB isn't contaiminated - I live alone!

kabowman - thanks for the heads up about peanut oil. Why did you give up peas? Were you ok eating them for a while and suddenly they became a problem? I'm just worried that every year I'll have to give up something else and I'm wondering if there's a way to avoid that. I guess not eating the same thing everyday would help with that.

I'm getting the feeling that there's no way to test for peanut or legume intolerances - that you just have to go by how you feel.

I get annoyed when a company can't give me a straight answer (assuming they're not one of the companies who say that gluten will be on the label) and usually refuse to buy their food. I don't need that kind of hassle and I'd rather give my business to a company who knows what gluten is.

The normal chewable rolaids are gluten-free. The softchews are NOT gluten-free.

i dont know about weather or not you can but i do know that since i went on this diet i crave nicottine but i have never been a smoker and me and my son are allergic to cigerette smoke its the wierdest thing ever

Woah - me too!!! I've only had a few cigarettes total in my life and the last time was probably three years ago but the last few months I've been wanting one all the time. I can't figure it out.

Wait a minute - are you saying that asprin contains gluten? I had no idea. Is it just certain brands?

Peanuts are high in mold, so if you're allergic to mold, they will bother you. I use almond butter instead.

I had some allergy testing done a couple years ago and I wasn't allergic to mold then. I've never had any food allergy testing done, though, so it might be about time to do some of that.

I've been suspecting some additional food intolerances in addition to celiac for a few weeks now, and I'm pretty sure it's peanuts. Peanut butter has always made me sick, usually within an hour of eating it. I eliminated peanut butter for a week and a half and then ate peanuts on Saturday night. Sunday my joints were hurting a bit. Today I feel awful - joint/muscle pain, stomach cramps, fatigue. Not good.

My question is: is there a way to test for peanut allergies/intolerances or do I just have to base my diagnosis on my reaction to peanuts? Peanuts are part of the legume family, should I be testing to see if other legumes are a problem? It's possible to be intolerant to a few of the legumes but not all of them, right? Do peanut intolerances damange the intestines the way gluten does (like, if I eat peanuts am I going to be doing damage other than making myself feel like crap for a day or two?)

I had no problem giving up all my gluten foods without an official dianosis. Now I suspect PB and it's like a mini-crisis for me. What am I going to do without my peanut butter??? I'm starting to understand how some of you struggled so much with giving up gluten. I think part of my problem is that I am also vegetarian so I'm going to run into some protien problems pretty soon.

Happy birthday! And sorry you didn't get any cake. Maybe you could talk directly to the person who orders the cake and offer to order banana splits for her or pick it up or something. It's possible she just forgot and since they always do cake, there's no reason to change.

I now treat situations like this as more of a social thing rather than an eating thing. I go to socialize and hang out with people; I don't go assuming I'm going to get a snack/meal. Before I was diagnosed I didn't particularily like the cake, I just ate it because everyone else was and it was the thing to do. Now I'm able to listen to my body and eat something that I truely like when I get hungry.

My brother goes to the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse and they have gluten free food for their students. I think there are five celiacs out of the 5000 or so students. There's a fridge in the back stocked with gluten-free food and they can use the microwave to cook it up. Everytime I've visited they've been very accomodating. I wanted scrambled eggs for breakfast and they weren't sure what was in the mix so they gave me my own eggs.