Possible Gluten Allergy

[JAMIELYNN]

I too am one of the many people on here wondering if my symptoms are possible gluten allergies. I had my blood drawn at a GI doctor and am still waiting for results (almost 4 weeks by the time of my appt). My symptoms include; severe bloating and cramping (to the point where I had a hysterectomy last year at the age of 29), gas, lightheadedness, eczema, irritability, PCOS (I had one child with the help of fertility medication and 8 other tries got me nowhere), depression, acid reflux and insomnia. I unlike what I have read about Celiac's am not underweight nor have I lost weight. In fact it is quite the opposite and I seem to keep gaining (probably because of poor diet). My symptoms have increasingly become worse in the last year, but have been going on for a lot longer than that. I travel 90% of the time with my job and am forced to eat out most of the time. I am an auditor and have odd work hours. I live on junk food and have to eat pizza with the staff during my inventories. When my blood tests come back if it is Celiac's are there any suggestions on how to eat better when traveling so much? If it is not does anyone have any ideas on what it could be? I do not know what blood test they ran on me.

[Booghead]

It could still be Celiacs with the blood test negative. As for eating out: get Baked Potatoes from Wendys or salads from subway or blimpie, Chilis hasn't made me sick and some Mexican restraunts are very helpful as well. Infertility is a very big symptom of Celiacs, I'm 17 so I haven't had this problem yet Glad you could have one child at least. Eczema could actually be Dermatitis Herpformis which is associated with Celiacs. Irritabily can be a symptom or an outcome of feeling trashy, its hard to be nice when you feel like poop. Pizza is a no no. Though there are some pizza places that make gluten free crust you just have to be careful about Cross Contamination. Grab some Rice cakes or fruit. Lately i've been eating Apples and Bananas like a maniac. lol Don't just rule out celiacs if the blood test is negative. Give gluten free a try. Its not so bad.

[gfpirate]

You very well could have an allergy/celiac. The blood tests aren't always accurate, and you could get a false negative. The best thing for you to do is to try the gluten free diet for a month or so, and see if your conditions have improved.

As for food and travel, I would suggest bringing your own food. Fresh fruits and vegetables are always safe, nuts (as long as they aren't proccessed on shared equipment), popcorn is usually gluten-free. Udi's makes gluten-free sandwich bread that is not half bad. You could also try a breadless wrap, I usually take salami and wrap it up with pepper jack cheese, with mayo and sometimes lettuce. You might be surprised at what your local grocer may have... I usually shop at Food Lion and was completely unaware that they had an entire gluten free aisle. Not sure if all locations do, but definitely worth a try.

Celiac doesn't mean you have to stop eating out. Chili's, Wendy's, Chick-Fil-A, and even Taco Bell provide gluten-free options... I've eaten at all three several times and haven't had any issues. You can also always Google the restaurant, as they usually have allergen info online.