Need Advice Please

[Marie1976]

OK I have a couple of questions. (Background: I was diagnosed with celiac a couple years ago, and have been on a strict gluten-free diet ever since.) 

 

1. Is corn masa gluten free? I bought a bag of it from Albertsons and made tamale pie. I was sick as a dog the next day. Was it the corn masa? I thought it was just made out of corn??

 

2. My next question is gross so stop reading if you're easily grossed out. Whenever I get accidentally glutened or catch whatever stomach bug is going around, I don't just get sick a couple times and then I'm fine. I'm sick ALL DAY. I have to lie in bed the whole day, stay near a bathroom, and wait for my body to vomit and/or otherwise expel every last drop of liquid in my stomach/intestines, including stomach acid. Is this normal??? It's very distressing/inconvenient. I don't know what to do to treat this. Immodium? Or just suffer and wait it out like I've been doing?

 

3. I'm 38, and in the last five years I look/feel like I've aged way more than five years. I look older than my friends who are the same age as me. I also am struggling to lose the 20 lbs I gained from my last pregnancy (which was four years ago). I exercise and eat (mostly) healthy; I'm not sitting around all day eating potato chips. I look in the mirror and I barely recognize my own face: I have eye bags, jowls, and wrinkles. What is going on? Am I deficient in certain nutrients or what? My doctor has humored me and ordered several blood tests but found nothing wrong (hormones, zinc, anemia, etc.) I am vegan as well as gluten-free so I'm starting to wonder if I should be taking some kind of supplements anyway. I do have a juicer and I make green juice which does help a little, but I recently read about sea buckthorn berry, biotin supplements and reservatrol as the new "fountain of youth" type products. Is this stuff a waste of money, or should I try these? Anyone tried any of these or have any advice for me? I'm depressed about my appearance lately.

 

Thanks in advance and sorry if I sound vain or petty.

[shadowicewolf]

1. Have you any other issues with corn products? If not, I suspect there was some sort of cc involved.

 

2. Thats how i am with stomach bugs. I wait it out.

 

3. Have you had your thyroid checked?

 

 

Just some random thoughts I had

[Mr. GF in Indiana]

First, as to the corn: there is an Italian study from last year, repeating the effort made in Sweden (all as summarized in PubMed.com)

which shows that about half or more of celiacs react in some way to corn gluten type molecules. (In my case, that includes sorghum, of the corn family, and oatmeal, or any other prolamin except rice). Then again, the cross contamination of corn and oats and even rice is commonplace, and if you are somewhat triggered and ate a lot of beans with that...not pretty. Welcome to celiac disease, where paranoia over food is a GOOD thing! As to your need to completely empty your gut from either illness or celiac: pretty common and the next day or two is often pretty weak too.

As to the inflammation you otherwise report, you may be deficient in vitamin B (dry beri beri, see Wikipedia) and D even if your levels are adequate. In my case, it took two years after diagnosis to straighten out all the supplement/drug interactions, and I had to find those all on my own, using the internet medical databases. Doctors do not actually know very much about the dozens of proteins we eat daily, and I for example, have a salicylate sensitivity, and you may have any other group of your own other sensitivities (not allergies) or drug interaction. Only you can list all your symptoms and all your medicines, and supplements, and whether they are contaminated, and then laboriously study them using the internet. Be very wary of Misinformation (I always use PubMed to check, at length, for studies). Also, do you have any bone loss (pointing to rare parathyroid disease, or thyroid inadequacies etc). Best wishes.

[kareng]

 Be very wary of Misinformation (I always use PubMed to check, at length, for studies).

 

 

Good idea.  I noticed you didn't provide any links for your assertions about corn. 

[kareng]

This lists some nutrition concerns for vegans and vegetarians. Perhaps you are a bit light on some of them?

Open Original Shared Link

[IrishHeart]

 Welcome to celiac disease, where paranoia over food is a GOOD thing! 

 

LOL....I never think paranoia is a "good thing".    Paranoia is wasted energy, IMHO.

 

Hi Marie!!

 

(1) corn masa is usually gluten-free. ,maybe it was cced? who knows. I get mine from nuts/com where it is certified gluten-free.

 

(2)  if you get glutened or you are sick with the flu or food poisoning or anything of that nature....let it out. kid.

The body works naturally to rid itself of what it considers "poison". It expels at the rate it does (either through vomit or the big D) because it wants to purge. Not sure what any of us can do except "wait it out".... can't make it go faster and we can't make it stop. I have taken pepto bismal to help with the abdominal cramping and I double up the probiotic to help with the gastritis/colitis..

(inflammation in the GI tract)

 

(3) You are 38. So young!!....God Bless!! 

 

 You may be too harsh on yourself, hon! You may not look as "bad" as you think..

I do not know any fountain of youth magic bullets. If I did, I'd be taking them myself.

I do know that I have aged backwards in the last 2 years, whoohoo!!....but then again, I looked like

hell when I was sick before DX (I mean, I looked like I was 90--old and creaky and slow) . so now, I look much better. 

 

Supplements to make us look younger are a waste of $$, IMHO. 

Supplements that are necessary (vitamins, for example) are useful, yes.

 

I respect your veganism, but honey, I have to wonder if this is causing  any of your "tired" appearance.

Just sayin. Do you have a B-12 or folate def by any chance which can occur with not eating meat??? 

 

Hugs to you. I have not seen you in a while! Nice to see you again.!!  

[Marie1976]

Thanks for the suggestions and info everyone!!

 

I don't have any B deficiencies, which is probably pretty amazing considering vegan diet/celiac. The best I have ever felt was right before i had kids, maybe they are just sapping my energy, haha! Seriously though, I wasn't eating very much food at that time, mostly salads and smoothies, so it may have been because I was (accidentally) not eating much gluten. But then again, I'm not eating ANY gluten now, so you would think that would help me out!