seven

Thanks for the advice and insight, it's nice to hear from those who have already gone through this and from those who are also starting a new journey.

As my knowledge of the disease has increased over the last few days, my thoughts on how to become gluten-free have evolved as follows:

Stage 1 - This is when I left the GI with the diagnosis. Thought simply removing certain ingredients from foods would be sufficient.

Stage 2 - Learned about gluten in non-food products, and that absorption by means other than ingestion could cause problems. Realized that at least a few products that I use contain gluten and that I would need to investigate further.

Stage 3 - Read about cross contamination of food, utensils, toasters, etc.. Started to become paranoid about eating out, and wondering how to coexist with my girlfriend who is not gluten-free.

So I think that's where I am for now. My birthday is next week and I plan to hit all of my favorite spots one last time between now and then. After my birthday, I'll lay low for a while and go 100% gluten-free. Hopefully I'll be able to start feeling better. Once feeling better, I'll be able to carefully go out again and see what happens. My concern is still with cross contamination, both out of the home and at home, since it sounds like even a trace amount of contamination is all it takes.

Thanks again for all of the input! Oh, and I think I'll need to try that cake!

Thanks for the words of encouragement! It has been a bit overwhelming trying to wrap my head around all of this... it seems like gluten is everywhere! I even found it in my shampoo.

You brought up some interesting points that I had not considered. I would have never thought to replace wooden spoons or to get a new toaster. Looks like I have some shopping to do.

While I think I'm starting to understand the scope of change that this will require, my biggest concern is accidental contact or ingestion because of how much I eat out. Not just at restaurants, but visiting with parents, or my girlfriend's parents... I would never expect people to change their eating habits for me so I'm trying to figure this out how this will work...

Anyway, thanks again for your insight! Can't wait to go gluten-free and finally start feeling better!

-Andrew

Peter,

Thanks for the explanation!  For a second there I thought I was going crazy, but now it all makes sense..

-Andrew