queenofhearts

Susan, don't you dare think you're a fraud because you still have to battle with depression. I'm glad you got the help you needed to pull yourself out of the pit. The mind is a complicated thing, influenced by gluten, sure, but even gluten-free isn't all-powerful. I'm just so glad you are coming out of it. We need you!!!!!

I'm a big believer in art as therapy-- that's probably how I got started in the first place! Painting is not only therapeutic, but is in itself a sign of health for me... not painting is my biggest danger sign.

I'm sending you virtual meringues & paintbrushes.

Hang in there!

Leah

I live in Tarrytown!! LOL!! I grew up in Northern Westchester (Pound Ridge), lived in Hartsdale for a few years after college and just moved to Tarrytown about a year ago. What a small world.

We were only there in '86-'87 but because my kids were born there, they can claim to be NY natives. We had to move though, because we lived in a 1-bedroom brownstone apt. & the bedroom was already also my studio, & with 2 cribs & a changing table it was just insane! Westchester real estate is pretty pricey, so my husband requested a transfer. We live in NC now.

I was just thinking yesterday, "How sad that I'll never have another bagel" (because I never could call the frozen things bagels)-- now I have hope!

Leah

Susan, I hope you're feeling better. Know that we're all rooting for you...

Karen, that hamster's so cool! I love hidden pictures... & like you I see them everywhere, whether they were put there or not! (My kids make fun of me for all the times I say "Doesn't that rock look exactly like a...")

Makes me think of the weird things people sell on eBay-- toast with an image of Elvis, &c.

Another one

Open Original Shared Link

You can also design your own on this site.

Have you looked here?

Open Original Shared Link

Leah

Hey your cat looks like a penguin......or your penguin looks like a cat

Had to hit refresh to see what that was all about. How perfect for you!

That's so interesting-- I get migraines from certain cleaning products, but never thought to connect it to gluten... yet another link!

I don't know if it will help you, but I always drink a lot of water when I have a migraine & it seems to help.

Hope you feel better soon,

Leah

What an ordeal-- I'm so glad Matthew is healthier now. This is making me think again that one of my sons (who had repeated attacks of croup as a child) should be tested... he's 19 now & doesn't want to hear about it...

If only doctors knew how many ailments can be improved by the diet. I hope the NIH clues them in soon...

Leah

p.s. I'm so sorry to hear of your lost babies. You've been through such a lot.

Rats, I was just visiting there this Summer, would that I had known!

p.s. Where do you live in Westchester? We lived in Tarrytown, briefly-- my kids were born there.

Personally, I would do it (and I did!). Your doctor sounds remarkably like mine. There's more than celiac to stomach distress, gluten isn't the only culprit of symptoms. It helped me, for my peace of mind, to know that I don't have ulcers, stomach cancer, chron's, etc.

As far as glutening the hell out of yourself until Friday, I don't see much of a point, that's not a lot of time. I was on gluten for 3 months before my biopsy Monday and all he saw was a little irritation on my small intestine. Like your doctor, he put me straight onto a gluten-free diet, because of my dietary response. I was still confused, because I was still drugged, but my chart says immediate gluten-free diet and I got handed a pamphlet on celiac (although he said he has no reason to suspect it?). I don't know, make sure whoever goes with you is paying attention when the doctor is speaking, DH didn't pay close enough attention for me.

Good luck with it all! Peace of mind is worth an IV and a camera down your throat (IMO).

When do you hear back about your biopsy, Penguin?

Arthritis was the last straw that drove me toward a gluten-free diet, so in that sense it's a *new* symptom. Is it normal for it to get worse, spreading to more and more joints, even though I'm gluten-free?

Only been gluten-free 3 weeks or so.

Toni, I was diagnosed with arthritis, but I'm not entirely sure that's what it really is. I've been gluten-free 2.5 mo & it seems to be (slowly) improving. One thing I really recommend that helped me a lot even before gluten-free was daily (or better yet twice daily) stretching. I do a combination of yoga & active isolated stretching & it has greatly increased my mobility & decreased pain. I had horrible knee, hip & shoulder pain & stiffness that responded rapidly to a really dedicated stretching program. It hurts like hell while you're stretching, but makes the rest of the day much better.

Leah

Hello everybody--

Congratulations, Jessica! You have one of the most important jobs in the world.

How's the sugarless life, Morgan?

Adorable picture, Andrea!

Have you started school, Molly?

Leah

yep! I just made onion rings the other night and they were awesome! I used 1-2-3 gluten-free pancake mix, mixed in two eggs, milk until the consistency I wanted, (you just have to play with it), garlic powder, pepper, paprika and salt... then I sliced up a big ol sweet onion, dipped the rings in the batter and fried them in my fry daddy! (had to do a bunch of batches cos I have a small fry daddy but hey) oh and they were awesome.

Hey Nini, I've been pondering getting a Fry Daddy... what I want to know is whether it eliminates the "fry" smell hanging in the air for days. That's my main objection to deep frying... always used to indulge the urge for fry outside the home... now that's become problematic, so I'm questing. Think it was a worthwhile investment?

Leah

Hmmm. I thought I'd answered this before, but I guess not.

Ty's got from my side: Irish (mostly) with a wee bit of Scottish and Welsh

from his dad: more Irish, bit of English and on his paternal grandfather's side they aren't sure if it's Czech or Hungarian. They lived in Czechoslovakia but spoke Hungarian.

We like to call ourselves Canadian though.

I had a little deja vu too so I checked & there's another related thread:

Open Original Shared Link

I'm an English/Irish/Scottish/French mutt.

Leah

Well, the flour dust does hang around for quite some time, so if he spends time in the kitchen, it's probably not such a good idea. The good news is that you can make delicious gluten-free cakes-- try Annalise Roberts' book, Gluten-Free Baking Classics.

Leah

Another thought-- if the decorating is really your art form, have a friend bake the cakes. Most frosting recipes are gluten-free, so that part is fine.

Something you might want to consider is that Celiac has all sorts of stealth symptoms, & if you go fully gluten-free for a while, you may find relief from symptoms you didn't know you had! I recommend you take a look at the Unexpected Positive thread... you'll see it's not just digestive issues.

Open Original Shared Link

Best to you & your son. I hope you get some answers.

Leah

Can you please tell me where to buy Bette Hagman's 4-flour blend

If you pm me your e-mail, I'll send you a master list of flours that I've compiled. It makes baking from different cookbooks much simpler. It includes Bette Hagman's 4-flour blend & the 4-flour bread mix.

Leah

Vitamin E can be derived from soy as well... you have to ask the manufacturer to be sure.

through all my searchs on the internet i found a ton of stuff but not once did i find that beverages have gluten. i never would of thought to even read what drinks have gluten.

wow.

where can i find those lists?

Do you have Nini's lists?

Open Original Shared Link

This doesn't cover everything, of course. The main thing to look out for is that evil phrase, "natural flavorings" which can include barley malt & various other baddies. But to be safe, call the company or check the website. I was so afraid that V-8 had gluten when I saw flavor on the ingredients, but it is safe! Whew, I'm addicted to the stuff.

If it is a Kraft brand, you are safe if the ingredients list doesn't explicitly state wheat, rye, barley or oats.

Leah

Gluten can have a delayed reaction, or you might have other intolerances, but you are still very early in the game so it could be you're just still detoxing.

Quaker reccommends that all celiacs avoid their products. How lame, Quaker, you aren't my friend!

You may want to try corn thins...I prefer them to rice cakes...they're made by Real Foods, and they're much less akward for "sandwiches"

Wow, I didn't know they actually warned us off! That's horrible! Rice cakes seem so perfect for us, would it be that hard to make them safe? Grrr...

I actually do enjoy the corn thins too. Looks like I'll be switching to those. Sigh... another food bites the dust!

Leah

I've heard people say, or should I say I have seen it written on this board, that Quaker is known for being contaminated.

Yes, this is why I'm a little worried about them... haven't noticed any problems myself, & I eat a lot of them. I don't care for Lundberg ones, they are too dense for my rice cake moods... I used Mother's for a while until I realized they are just the expensive Quaker brand!

I'd been using Kroger, they claim theirs are gluten-free, but they've stopped carrying the plain ones. Those are the ones I like since I use them for "sandwiches" & breakfast "toast". I wonder anyway if theirs are made by Quaker...

SSI sent my 2 year old to one of their doctors because they do not know enough about gluten sensitivity to make a decision about her eligibility. Through the whole visit I would make it about half way through a sentence before he would interrupt me. He didn't like it that no doctor had told me to put her on a gluten free casein free diet, even though her ped. and childrens hospital agreed it was the right thing to do. He would not except enterolab gluten sensitive/casein sensitive diagnoses. He also said that even if she has two genes for gluten sensitivity that they might be recessive genes and therefore not a problem. I told him her dad was diagnosed with Celiac and I have had to avoid wheat for years because of the problems it causes me and asked him if that wasn't a good indication that those genes were not recessive. No comment.

He is sending us to a gastro. at childrens (before it was endocrinoligist). As we were leaving he asked Aimee if she wanted a sucker. I never ever let anyone hand her food. But I wimped out, I said nothing, I froze. He is a doctor. He is suppose to have half a brain. I did tell him the only time she ever gets candy is when she gets a jelly bean for going potty in the potty chair. He gave me a look that was either,' you are a women therefor an idiot' or 'I'm testing you to see if she's really gluten free and you are failing.'

An hour and half later she had diarrhea. Again two hours later and she had a runny nose and had to have allergy med. to be able to sleep.

aaaauuurrrghh

That's just awful. I went through several pediatricians for my kids because I hated the way they threw antibiotics at everything & only spent about 15 seconds "examining" them... this was just for routine childhood complaints; I can only imagine how frustrating it must be with the Celiac issues. I finally found a good one & hope you do too. Ask around...

Leah

Good morning everyone I'm off to start my sugarless day

Hey, you're already sweet. No added sugar necessary!

Same here!!! Love white rice.

Actually, this was the first item on the list I wrote when I was diagnosed "Why I'm Lucky"-- "I really like rice."

Even before diagnosis I had four tins in my kitchen, white rice, brown rice, sushi rice & basmati. Plus I actually enjoy rice cakes. Beginning to wonder about the Quaker ones, though...

Leah