Girl Ninja

I buy the big tub of hommus they sell for like $4.75. Great with crackers or veggies and travels better than something dairy. I think it was spinach artichoke flavor. My dad buys the big packs of dried meat sticks they have in the cooler by their lunchmeats. I haven't checked their gluten status, but if they're gluten-free they'd travel nicely. Get sliced lunchmeats and cheeses and make up a container of meat and cheese roll-ups (I got turkey there that said gluten free on the package and I love their Muenster cheese). Very easy to eat in the car. Big bag of almonds or some other nuts, Boost shakes, fruit snacks, trail mix. Can you guys tell I basically live in the car??

For cook and take food I like to do mostaccioli or penne type noodles with a tomato and meat sauce. I reheats well and is filling. You could make up some kind of rice with chicken and veggies in it. Or sausage and sauerkraut. Think things that will be "one bowl" meals. I think they have Stagg chili at Costco.

Me too. It's not very bad anymore, but it would cause sores when I was little.

I work for Kroger. Kroger owns the dairy farms its dairy products come from. There will not be hidden gluten. I've had the DeBoles mac and cheese. It's ok, but not as good as Kraft. I emailed Kraft before about the canister thing. They don't sell them near me. They will send it to you, though. I haven't gotten into detail in the meat department yet. I did write a letter to the corporate headquarters urging them to make a gluten-free product list available online like Meijer and whole Foods do.

"Hi Heather,

Thank you for visiting Open Original Shared Link and for your interest in KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Cheese Topping.

I've checked our online product locator database and was unable to locate KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Cheese Topping in your area. However, we do offer an ordering service for our hard to find products - which ships those products directly to you. If you give us a call one of our representatives would be glad to place an order for you. Our Kraft/NetGrocer team may be reached at 888-849-5612 from 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST.

For future reference you can try our Product Locator to search for your favorite products in your area - simply log onto Open Original Shared Link and click the product information tab.

Another alternative is to check with your grocery store manager as to whether or not the store can stock the product you're looking to purchase. The store manager may be able to place a special order for you. Please understand that the decision to place a special order is up to the store manager.

Again, thanks for contacting us, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy our products.

Kim McMiller

Assoc Director, GCR Consumer Services "

Dark chocolate is a natural remedy for D. I believe it's the cocoa and not cocoa butter. Here's a link you should check out. Open Original Shared Link

I like to hear things like that. Hopefully, larger scale production and increased popularity will drive down prices as some of these move from "specialty" to mainstream.

A friend of mine who has been a member for a year or so has been trying to recruit me. She says the Core plan would be perfect for me with the Celiac diet. I haven't jumped on board yet because I'm still slowly losing weight just from going gluten-free.

So did they fix the obstruction, or did they just do nothing?? Don't you just want to shake a doctor sometimes? I'm sorry. If you go back, go armed with Celiac literature. These doctors need a lesson.

Lots of restaurants use bagged lettuce as well. I've gotten sick from salads numerous times. When I worked at a Denny's in 1998 they insisted that we wash all the bagged lettuce because the company knew it was the main cause of food poisoning from their restaurants.

It's been almost 2 months for me and mine is slowly improving. The other day I found my way back to the front desk of a new doctor's office all by myself! I never could have done that before. I had no navigational ability whatsoever. I was so excited I called my mom to tell her.

I read that it was far more common for people descended from that region. The essay I read said that gluten started being an issue when the Romans cross-bred wheat to increase the gluten content to improve the consistency of baked goods. The surrounding cultures couldn't handle the higher gluten levels and never adapted. Apparently there are a couple of ancient strains of wheat that don't cause Celiacs problems, but they are difficult to grow and harder to work with.

I really like the recipes from Philadelphia cream cheese. Their 3 step cheesecake is awesome. I used to make it in an oreo crust with cherries on top. Yum! I haven't made one since going gluten-free. I was thinking about trying a crushed nut crust.

Philly 3-Step Cheesecake

2 pkg. 250g. regular or light philly cream cheese softened

1/2cup sugar

1/2tsp. Vanilla

2 eggs

1 crust 9"

Mix cream cheese, sugar & vanilla with electric mixer at med. Speed until well blended.

Add eggs. Mix until blended.

Pour into crust.

Bake at 350* 40 min. Or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hrs. Or overnight.

Flavour variations

Cherry

Top chilled baked cheesecake with 1 can(19oz.) cherry pie filling.

Chocolate chip

Stir 1/2 cup baker's semi-sweet choc chips into batter.

Sprinkle with additional 1/4cup chips before baking.

Lemon

Stir 1 tbsp. Fresh lemon juice & 1/2tsp. Grated lemon peel into batter

Makes 8 servings

I didn't even realize until I read through this thread that my gums had stopped bleeding! It happened every single time I brushed my teeth for as long as I can remember. I don't know when it stopped, but I bet my dentist will be thrilled.

I don't see anything wrong with checking on the gluten status of all of the things she'll regularly come in contact with (soaps, paints, clays, bandages, etc) or sending in special things you know are safe for her. It will help give you peace of mind, keep her safe, and show her caregivers how serious her condition really is. Not the least bit crazy as far as I'm concerned. They will probably appreciate not having to try to figure it all out on their own. I know the teachers would feel terrible if she got sick.

I don't know how things work there, but for my son's class the teachers sent home a list of food issues that some of the class members had. For this past year they had a diabetic and a peanut-allergic so they asked parents sending in snacks to factor this into their choice. The more everyone knows about her requirements, the easier it will be for them to keep her safe.

***At 3 my son told me I needed a job because he was tired of having to play with me every day. He said I needed to go talk to other grownups!

-Heather

(mother of a kindergartener, daughter of a preschool teacher)

I'm friends with one of the families that has the gene. The diet they have to follow after the stomach is removed is very restricted. No red meats, very few spices, avoid raw vegetables, nothing carbonated, avoid dairy. Whenever we had sandwiches there they were on Lavash bread. I think they believed yeast was the issue, but it's possible that gluten is just really hard on the intestines.

I was pregnant once before I had my son. I had HORRIBLE "morning" sickness. It lasted all day. I'd get sick like every 10 minutes. I only ate saltines and watered down apple juice. I ended up losing 40 lbs in about a month and miscarrying. It was before I ever heard of Celiac or had symptoms myself. Now I have all sorts of questions about it. Could that have triggered my intolerance? (probably) Was it possible that that child was Celiac? I didn't have any of the problems with my son, which adds more questions. I was vegetarian with him and starting to really develop symptoms like hives and headaches. I didn't get sick once through the whole pregnancy, though and he shows no signs of any trouble with gluten.

Now that I know it's possible any child I carry could be Celiac, I will be super careful if I get the opportunity to try again. I wouldn't want to risk any of the problems I encountered the first time. I really thought I might die and now I think that it was probably no easier for that baby.

If I end up with bad D I use dark chocolate. The cocoa in 2 bars of quality dark chocolate is generally enough to clear it up. If not, repeat in a few hours. Conversely, if you are even the least bit C you should definitely avoid dark chocolate.

It seems to me we're sort of like snowflakes. So many variations on the theme! My main symptoms were migraines and hives. Other symptoms would come and go, but I got hives and headaches almost every day. I don't believe I was ever anemic.

I'm such a wino! My favorite "flavor" is white merlot. Sutter Home makes one. Berringer makes a better one. It's light and fruity without being dry or sharp like some of the whites can taste. Pinot grigio is usually pretty good. The last shiraz I had actually tasted really salty. It was weird and kinda gross. I don't like regular merlot. A lot of them smell like bread mold. Barefoot brand wines are all really awesome (even the merlot) and cost around $7 a bottle.

My favorite rum drink is Captain Morgan and ginger ale. It tastes like cream soda.

Also be wary of shredded cheese on salads. I'm told by friends in the restaurant biz that gluten is added to some bulk shredded cheese to prevent clumping/ stickiness.

I get hives (really bad, all over), migraines, anxiety/ depression, and mild D. I usually ignore the D, but I take Relacore and ibuprofen for the rest. The Relacore helps the anxiety/ depression and sometimes completely clears up my hives in under an hour. I was taking it b/c it was the ONLY thing that helped my hives before I ever suspected Celiac. I wish I could get something better for the headaches, but I asked my doc and I swear her answer was, "Well it's obvious that anyone who would ask for Darvocet has a drug abuse problem. I will never prescribe you pain medication." I hate her. I asked specifically for the Darv because a friend gave me one once and it helped so much and Codeine makes me barf alot.

Oh, and I try to drink Smart Water if I can get it. It's water with added electrolytes. Gatorade and Powerade make me retain water and bloat like crazy.

HLHS is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Basically the left side of the heart stopped growing while he was developing.

I can still ask her if she has any tips/ suggestions. I know she had to only feed her son a special formula. He couldn't keep anything else down, not even her milk, and his intake of fluids was VERY strictly regulated b/c of the meds he was on. She didn't get any time to try to figure out her diet, and she was never allowed to actually nurse him. She had to pump so they could measure how much he ate and then weigh every diaper.

What is her heart defect? Can this be contributing? Have you talked to other moms of heart babies? If not, I can look into advice from that end. My little cousin has HLHS (third surgery next month) and his mom (also a nurse) is now really well versed in the issues those kids have.

Be sure to drink TONS of water too! It affects milk production soo much! *hugs*

Does taking a gluten challenge qualify for any sort of medical leave from work? I'm self-diagnosed and if I ever had to have the tests I know it wouldn't be wise for me to commute an hour both ways or possible for me to do my job. Just hearing the length of time you have to be back on gluten freaks me out.

O+ for me. Don't know about the rest of my fam.

Wow. Thanks Julie. I had no idea. I didn't use any sort of deodorant/ antiperspirant for a few years while I was vegetarian. I found that I didn't really have a detectable body odor or accumulate much, if any, plaque on my teeth while avoiding meat. Just strange side effects I noticed. I went back to using it when I went back to eating meat and started a more physical job. Maybe I'll try to stop again. Hmmm...