BRUMI1968

I had a very bad tummy several days ago. I thought I might've been glutened, but it could've been that the gluten-free pancakes I had eaten (Cravings Place) were so sticking to the pan, that I had to use copious amounts of coconut oil. I think I greased myself out. Not to mention I hardly ever eat pancakes (never, now) and also had strawberries, a bit acid for my brekkers.

I know it's probably different - it didn't last more than a couple hours - but I don't think it was gluten. I just lay down and held perfectly still for a couple hours and it faded, thankfully.

Good luck. I hope you feel better!

Besides "beans and greens", as my nutritionist puts it, you might try "Pure Encapsulations" B12 Folic, which has a wee bit of Vitamin C, folic acid, and B12 as methylcobalamin, which is easier to absorb than cyanocobalamin (and which doesn't have a cyanide molecue your liver will have to dispose of). It has LOTS of B12. I also have taken "ActiFolate" by Metagenics.

It does not have B12.

Both have 200% the RDA for folate.

Take care. Good luck.

Yes on the blue cheese - they make it get blue with moldy bread - okay, I'm not sure that's exactly it, but they use bread in the process of making it.

I don't know on the other stuff, but you certainly don't need gluten in diet coke to make it troublesome for you - what about the Aspartame - that stuff is devlish, albiet not gluten. I'm sure someone will know more than I on the other things.

My rule of thumb is: did God/Nature make this? If not, it is highly suspect. Needless to say I eat lots of fruits, veggies, nuts, and salmon.

I wonder how old you are. I once had bronchitis for like six months and got down to 100 pounds (at 5'8-1/2). Man I could not gain that weight back. I drank protein drinks, ate like crazy, etc. I looked awful. But then something remarkable happened - I turned 22. Then I didn't seem to have any problems...thighs, butt, oh yeah, they were absorbing fat. The next thing you know I'm 140 pounds. What is the magic age, 24 years old or something?

I wish I could suggest someone - I'm in your area - I live in Bellingham. Good luck to you. I'll be sure to see if anyone has good suggestions and write them down in case I decide I need to see a gastroen.... I've just gotten the diagnoses from my OB/GYN (I asked for the test) and then learned the ropes myself. I've seen some improvement, so I'm just going to keep trucking. I have been working with other issues as well. I've gone off all grains and beans for three days and I'm seeing how that goes. Often, our best docs are just ourselves in detective mode. What would Columbo do, I always say. Okay, I never say that.

-Sherri

I already answered, but thought of another one. The little bumps on the backs of my arms have gone away, and on my outer thighs too. Yahoo.

Does Celiac affect our teeth and gums? My sister (undiagnosed and in extreme denial) just went to the dentist and has gum disease, 9 cavities, etc. tc. I told her I thought Celiac contributed to that and she might get less tartar and the like if she quit gluten. I'm trying to convince her to get tested....was I totally lying? Or did I read this someplace?

Another thing the BMI doees not take into account, though this matters more to those with high BMI, is WHERE you store your fat. That's why the waist to hip ratio is often considered better, or at least required to make good sense out of BMI.

Being underweight makes you more susceptible to osteoperosis, so adding weight-bearing exercise like liftiin weights will help. Other weight-bearing exercise like walking, yoga, etc. won't work as well if you are thin.

I'm 5'8-1/2 and weigh 130 - and according to the charts that's a bit underweight, but I don't feel underweight at all. I also carry it low - on the top I look super skinny, but on the hips and thighs I look pretty normal. I think one key for me is that no matter what I eat or don't eat at this point, I never wander more than three or four pounds over the course of a day - I'm damned near always 129-132 in the a.m. I think this means that it must be about my proper weight. Just my philosophy.

Good luck.

-Sherri

Hi. I've decided to cut out all grains and legumes for a while, to see if I feel better. I already don't eat dairy, land animals, or soy.

But...if I'm going to do this diet, I thought I would add lunch meat like organic turkey/chicken. But today at the Food Co-op I couldn't help but notice all the lunchmeat had "spices" in it. Anyone know anything about lunch meat and gluten? Anyone been on paleolithic diet or grain free diet or legume free diet and have any advice? I feel that I'm struggling with what to eat.

My "bad" cholesterol has always been fine; but my "good" cholesterol is chronically low. I have not checked it again since going gluten free, however.

Ok, veteran sinusitis sufferer here. You might think this is gross, but it totally works! take 1 cup of warm water, stir in two tablespoons of table salt. Stand over the bathroom sink, and snort the warm salt water up your nose. DO NOT SWALLOW IT! Hold it in your sinuses for a minute, then blow it out into the sink. Do this every four hours, to both sides of your nose. It will burn, as the salt tackles the infection, but it will also flush out the infection. You do not have to use the whole cup each time, just enough to get a good flush going. Do not save the water, make it fresh each time. This is what I do at the first sign of blockage/infection, and have not had to have antibiotics in a long time (knock on wood!).

Using a Nettie Pot might be easier that this way. It's a little pot you fill with salt water and you hold your head to the side, pouring the water up one nostril while opening and breathing through your mouth (preventing the water going into the lungs). It comes out the other side.

There is also another contraption that is like a syringe. You fill it with salt water and then pretty much repeat what I said above.

they have been using nettie pots in India for a thousand years and more. I hear they really help folks with sinus problems.

I know it may seem "out there", but it sounds like the regular docs aren't helping you a whit. Give it a shot. I'm not one who gets sinusitis, but Ayurveda has really helped me with other stuff.

Good luck.

I decided to get tested because when I quit wheat, I felt so much better. Less constipation (a lot of folks, though, have diarrhea), less gas and bloating, way less anxiety and panic attacks. When I quit gluten (also found in barley, rye, and through contaminated oats [they usually grow wheat every other year with oats and its hard to keep them separate]), I also lost the itching and the canker sores that I had been experiences.

The symptoms of celiac can range so greatly in part because we've all been digesting our food without absorbing all the nutrients we should - our small intestines which grab up the vitamins and minerals are all flat and smooth instead of sticky and fingerlike - less area to grab stuff in other words. So fatigue and other signs of mineral/vitamin deficiency show up readily.

I think the blood testing, the one that includes four or five separate tests, is the way to start. If you come back positive on two of the tests, that's pretty much for sure; if you come back positive on the other tests, that could be celiac but also could be crohns or other diseases. Some folks go on to get a biopsy, others don't. Many folks just quit gluten to give it a try and find their symptoms disappear, so they stay on it.

I think that it's easy to get all the nutrition we need even without gluten. Grains have been touted as extremely healthy, especially since the sixties and seventies when the "whole foods" movement got going. That's when folks started eating brown rice instead of white rice, and the like. Veggies, though, contain all the stuff that's in grain.

SPROUTED grains...I don't know on that one. I stay away from any bread with gluten in it, sprouted or no. I am thinking about sprouting some other grains and beans before eating them...but am still researching that.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll get lots of responses to your questions; folks here seem to know a lot of stuff.

I find it interesting that the study looked at "cereal fiber" and not fiber in general. Also, the whole idea that a study like this really says anything at all is ridiculous. What about all the other facets of life for these participants. My word, you can't factor in that stuff. Medical study/science cracks me up -- that's why we get such see-saw: coffee's good for you, coffee's bad for you...bla bla bla. When I told my sister soy turns out to be kindof nasty stuff (at least processed soy), she flipped. What the heck should I believe then, she said. My idea is that if you follow the money, your likely to find the fibs, exaggerations, truth stretching, and sometimes outright lies and malice.

Anyway, I'm going to read dangerous grains and the body poisoning me book. I like having info. I have a good bulls**t detector, plus I like to read all sides of things and research the daylights out of them...so that way I can use my own brains, and I know they have my best in mind.

I know, I know. I'm just frustrated because before I asked for the celiac test, I felt pretty good, save for the itching and canker sores. I had defeated the terrible C that had plagued me my entire life (by quitting wheat), and most of the bloating, and felt great. Now that I've quit spelt and oatmeal and all the little things that sneak in the gluten, I just don't feel as well. I'm having tummy aches and the C is back with a vengeance.

I'm getting a food panel done this week so if there are any other no no's for sure, I'll find out about them. I'm just frustrated as can be, and feel like food is my enemy, which is not healthy, I'm quite sure. I know it will all balance itself out, but right now, I'm just defeated about it.

Thanks, all.

My FAVORITE is Lundberg Original (teal bag). Garden of Eatin' also has some that are really good.

I wrote to Gadren of Eatin (a subsidiary of Hain) and they said the chips are made in a facility that handles gluten, so I figured they were out (along with Bearito's Refried Beans - my favorite - also made by Hain). I'll check out Lundberg though. I tried Mission last night, but I prefer the more natural brands, hopefully organic. (I am reading a really interesting book about the organic empire, though, which is making me think buying from local farmers should be the first choice, then organic, then regular).

Thanks to all.

I am not necessarily alleric to soy, I just don't think it's good for you. I used to eat Nayonaise, but quit when I quit soy.

Frankly, I'm contemplating quitting tuna (too much mercury) and quitting bread (why bother)...so I wouldn't even need mayo anyway.

I'm contemplating the paleolithic diet. Anyone been doing this?

I heard that the human waste that gets collected here and there is chock full of vitamins that have never been digested at all - whole. Yuck.

The cleansning diet sounds interesting. I'm not ready to try dairy again myself; if I have the smallest amount I get C. But I am struggling with why I'm still bloated and have C problems, even though I'm gluten free for nearly two months. Well, there have been moments like when I figured out my pumpkin seeds might be cc'd (the bag says made at a facility that processes gluten), but for the most part, I'm good.

So I'm considering cutting out grains altogether, and beans altogether...but that makes it tougher to get the fiber I need.

Maybe I'll check out that book Dangerous Grains and see what they say.

-Sherri

Okay, so I started making my own trail mix to use as snackies between meals, and I was including raw pumpkin seeds. Last night I read the bag and noticed it says made in facility that handles gluten (among other things). I hadn't even thought to look since it didn't seem conceivable that pumpkin seeds would be glutened. Ah well....I didn't get sick or anything, but I'm still new so my reactions are pretty subtle.

Is rice not on your diet because all grains are out? You've said "healing diet" a couple times, but I'm not sure what that means.

I like to do little things to increase my fiber intake: figs - my goodness figs have a lot of fiber, and if you don't have sugar issues, a dried fig is phenomenal for fiber intake. I also eat prunes. Plus, I love veggies, so I get a lot through those, and I eat some beans (though am considering taking those out to test), and those are chock-full.

DF is dairy free I'm pretty sure, that's how I would abbreviate it. I'm dairy free and potato free, but do ocassionally eat tomatoes - mostly in homemade salsa and on sandwiches. I think nightshades are tough for lots of folks, and they make getting enough calcium difficult.

Anyway, good luck in figuring this out. I'm on the C side of things, so D aint my thing. Take care.

-Sherri

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts.

Hi. I just realized I'm not supposed to be eating eggs for the time being, and I've been downing mayo. Duh. Anyway, what do folks who don't eat may put on their sanwiches for moisture/grease. Any ideas?

(humus sounds good, avocado smushed up sound good...what else????)

p.s. I know there are eggless mayo's, but I also don't eat soy or partially hydroginated anything, etc. Maybe there's an olive oil eggless mayo out there.

Hi. I'm looking for some nice non-flavored tortilla chips. I like the healthier kind, organic, that kind of thing. But so far haven't found any that are gluten free. I miss my "mexican salad" which is salad plus black beans plus crushed tortilla chips plus avocado plus salsa vinegrette.

Anyone know of any good healthy brands that are gluten-free?

Found this site. Not about gluten, but is about Lipitor. Not sure of the source, but interesting stuff and lots of links.

Open Original Shared Link

-Sherri

I am still having a lot of problems sleeping. I would like to list all of my daily medications to see if it is possible that I am missing any hidden gluten. Sorry the list is so long but I have a lot of problems! Thank you in advance for all your help. You guys are great!

Prevacid

HCTZ

Atenolol

levoxyl

lisinopril

lipitor

klonipin

zoloft

Does anything jump out at you?

Sorry, I had to keep going back and forth.

Also found that the Levoxyl can cause insominia. More worrisome is that Levoxyl probably shouldn't be taken with beta blockers or cholesterol lowering drugs, both of which are listed here.

So it looks like at least three of your meds can cause insomnia. I didn't initially find info on any of them contgaining gluten; but even if they don't, I'm sure your sleep is being disrupted.

Anyway...

I googled Lipitor and found this site, though I'm not sure who is behind it. I remember hearing quite a few bad things about lipitor...anyway, here's the site.

Open Original Shared Link

It does not mention gluten; however, it talks about other side effects.

Also, Zoloft ANd Atenolol can cause insominia/sleeplessness. (though it seems the Klonopin should make you sleepy).