GottaSki

Welcome DS!

 

I've got two sons 18 and 19 that eat out all the time -- if it is a restaurant that they trust they order - if it is a new place they bring their food along. 

 

They have been gluten-free for over three years and both have found it helps them interact with girls -- teen girls - for good or bad believe eating gluten-free will help them lose weight -- understanding celiac disease and true facts of gluten-free eating has been a great conversation starter for the older/more shy of them.

 

Good luck and don't be afraid to say -- I can't eat this or that...but I'd really like to hang out with you anywhere you'd like to go

Awesome advise!!

 

She's a stubborn one, so whatever foods I do end up having to remove from her diet will be quite the battle, but will be done for her own health. 

 

If it turns out to be gluten related, my concern is more about my husband's understanding and the amount of safeguards that will need to be in place to allow the house to still have gluten.  They often enjoy their 'snack' time together, which I've managed to switch them to popcorn or nuts, but when I'm not there I have a suspicion that its more cookies and chips. ha.

 

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She ate minimal yesterday, refusing even her almond milk.

At most she ate 4 pieces of pineapple bits (daycare) and they counted 8 saltines.

 

No more diarrhea or signs of reflux during the day and she survived the night without another blowout as well.

 

 

It is tough to transition, but you will be amazed how many foods are gluten free naturally.  Honestly, I think the transition is going to be harder on you and Dad -- kids adapt quickly, just don't say "you can't eat that" too many times -- stick with substitution and distraction.  Little girls love to learn the rules of anyone's special needs -- by the time she is three, she'll be teaching her classmates why the food they are eating can be harmful to her.

 

PS...that she craves saltines and other glutenous foods is common in celiac disease -- processed comfort foods are a great comfort to our brains, not our digestive systems -- they are a want, not a need.  Your family will find lots of new comfort foods that will sooth both brain and body -- ours did

Great Work PositiveThinking!!!

 

It really does help to be prepared and be partners with our doctors.

 

Have a wonderful weekend

Bone scan -- usually folks don't get one until later -- my celiac doc recommended and it wasn't pretty -- I was 43 and had the bone density of a 80-90 year old -- good news is bone replaces itself completely in about 5 years -- looks like mine is -- am planning to repeat scan at about 6 years gluten-free -- should have the bones of a 20 year old by then

That  is great that your TSH improved -- you are not moving towards Hyper -- close to "1" is recommended as the best TSH.

Not sure about B12 -- just know it is good that it isn't low.

Bone scan is a great idea -- my celiac doc ordered for me when freshly diagnosed...haven't had a follow up, but can tell you after nearly four years gluten-free -- my very bad back that I've had since early teen years has vanished -- back is stronger than every in my life

And yes, let the doctor lead, but do have your list of questions and tests you'd like at the ready -- I always do much better with a written list in my hand.

Yes, follow up celiac antibodies are important -- I had them at 3mo, 6mo, then annually after that.

Mo-
Yep ....  the bad days that follow the good ones are the toughest for me too - esp when u can't figure out what got u.

Hang in there!

Karen-

Everyone is different.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes can help -- sometimes removing other foods.

I sure wish we could all plant a patience tree -- I could have used it's fruit these past years....time finally taught me patience -- hoping you don't have to wait long as long as I did for healing to begin.

Hang in there

For me...age is truly just a number.

When I turned 47 last May - I felt like a very ill 87 year old.

As 48 approaches - I'm feeling better than I did at 18.

Oh and I've always looked younger than I am - which has been both an advantage and disadvantage at different times.  Now, I must say I am very pleased that I look much younger than many of my friends   Hubby is only two years older than me and folks think he is more like ten -- he hates it -- I love it.

Encore bol.

And turns out yogurt is a no on the reintroductions. Might try dairy again in a few months.

Sorry to hear about yogurt -- just wanted to add -- make sure you try other dairy -- yogurt can be hard on the healing digestive tract for other reasons than dairy.  I can't eat it because of my issue with high histamine/histamine inducing foods -- my damaged small intestine can't make the two enzymes necessary to regulate histamine....here are a couple links - just so your familiar with this random group of potential problem foods:

http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm
http://www.allergyuk.org/downloads/factsheets/intolerances-and-sentivities/Histamine%20Intolerance.pdf
http://www.ehow.com/info_8110125_high-histamine-foods.html

along with a great article IrishHeart found:
http://thatpaleoguy.com/2011/04/11/histamine-intolerance/

Welcome!

I agree with Tom - transition takes time - the learning curve is steep - yet it does get better.

Hang in there & ask questions where needed.

Tomorrow is birthday supper with my whole family, and I'm so excited because it's my birthday! (Which means I get to choose our meal) The menu is: Steaks, potatoes, onions, and asparagus  on the grill, YUMMMM....and for dessert, flourless chocolate cake! I can't wait! Haha

Happy Birthday to you!

Enjoy your YUMMY and well desearved special meal

Has she tried a strict elimination diet to determine if there are other foods causing problems.  For me -- I tried removing one food or group at a time for over two years with no real results.  Then I removed all grains, legumes, nightshades, dairy, nuts and seeds for a month.  Major improvement for the first time on the roller coaster that had been my health (or lack there of).

For the next several months I trialed each food (not group) -- one at a time and found I was intolerant of almost all of them.  I still had another flare last spring but am now doing better than ever before in my life (knocking head against wood).

This type of elimination diet is tough, but was helpful for me.

That being said...the MOST important thing to do is what you are doing -- looking for answers - they can be very tough to find as we are all different, but keep trying.

I'm a bit late to this game....

but here is what I think....

I was barely positive at 43 - so sick that I could no longer function.  In hindsight == ALL of my health concerns over those four decades can be connected to the malabsorption connected with celiac disease.  Had some doctor had the brilliant idea to run celiac antibody tests on me in my 20s or 30s I would have likely been negative and never gotten to the endoscopy stage -- although I was ALWAYS severely anemic.

Dietary response should be a major consideration in diagnosis - yet - sadly - it is often dismissed among our health professionals.

Hang in there - you know what your body is saying far better than any doctor.

Welcome Cathy!

Your results are a bit confusing - the positive DGP is enough to know something is going on related to gluten ingestion.  The positive EMA means there is damage to your small intestine.  With family history and two positive antibody tests - that is celiac - in my opinion.

Your total IgA is within normal range, but interestingly in the lower end of normal which is quite similar to everyone in my family - we all test higher on IgG.  You are missing the tTG-IgG.  I highly suggest getting it run along with nutrient testing if you have not had it done as the malabsorption caused by celiac can be another important piece of the diagnostic puzzle.

The endo is up to you - I vote get it.  The reason is this...you have no gastro symptoms - I would guess you may have some other symptoms that you never would think are caused by celiac.  If your endoscopic biopsy reveals clear damage it makes it much easier to be fully compliant about removing ALL gluten - at least this was the case in the early days for me as some digestive problems resolved yet my autoimmune symtoms all got worse for a time which could have left me wondering if gluten was really the cause of my symptoms - for me the endo was far worse than my bloodwork.  We are all different so read as much as you can and then decide if endoscopy is the next best step for you.

Hang in there

Welcome!

Sounds like you are on the right path - only suggestion I have is stick with whole foods - nothing processed for at least six months.  I've had a few windows of improvement over the past few years - trialing foods is very tough on a healing body.

Hang in there - oh I'm guessing your functional doc is testing your vits/minerals - I get these tested every six months - once they were at optimum levels I cut back supplementation - I am currently taking no supplements for the first time in years and am maintaining great nutrient levels.

There are several of us that have had to eat very limited whole food diets to improve ... once feeling good it is very easy to get a bit more creative with a short list of foods.

Let us know if you have any questions