I Need Help!

[Gluten Slayer]

Hi, I recently went to the doctor for a check up. I had blood work done also. I then get a call a week later saying one of the levels for gluten was high and to come and and pick up a prescription to see a dietician for a gluten-free diet. Thats all the info I received. I have not yet seen a dietician but have been reading and trying to stay gluten-free. I have the blood work results and was wondering if anyone can tell me anything about this.

IGA is in range value 4

IGG out of range value 20

That is all the info I have if someone can give me any advise that would be great! Thanks

Oh, I do have a few symptoms. I get occasional stomache aches after certain foods. Sometimes food goes right through me after meals. On a good day I have at least 3 normal bm's.(seems like way to many)

Other than that I feel great, I'm thin but not sickly skinny and cannot gain weight no matter what I eat.

Thanks

[Nantzie]

Well it sound like your doctor didn't tell you anything at all. Don't worry. You came to the right place.

A positive blood test for celiac is kind of like having a positive test for pregnancy. You can't be a little bit pregnant or a little bit celiac. You either are or you aren't.

The best advice really is to read, read, read on this board. This board is hands-down the most thorough resource on eating gluten free.

As far as eating at first... Well, what do you normally like to eat? Some people are surprised at how much is already gluten-free (meat, veggies, potatoes, rice). Once you get used to it, you'll find that it's not a terribly restrictive diet.

One of the main things that you should know that may sound odd at first is that you have to be very careful about what we call "cross contamination"

The reaction that's happening in your body is that your immune system is reacting against gluten as if it were a toxin or infection. Any amount of gluten will set this reaction off, and your immune system will start attacking your body. It actually eats away at the lining of your intestines, which is probably why you're very thin. It's the lining of your intestines that absorbs the nutrients from the food you eat.

Where cross-contamination issues come in is that the reaction that activates your immune system to start eating away at your intestines happens on a microscopic level. Even if you just touch a piece of wheat bread and then eat something gluten-free with your hands, you'll get a reaction because the gluten from the bread will stick to your fingers. Remember making paste out of flour and water when you were a kid? Well, it's the gluten in the flour that makes it sticky. So gluten is just plain sticky and it sticks to everything.

The way I learned to deal with CC was just to get into the habit of washing my hands every time I put anything in my mouth or touched any of my food that I was preparing for myself. You also need to make sure your food prep surfaces and cookware doesn't have any gluten on it.

So what is it that you like to eat? Let's start there.

[queenofhearts]

I love to cook & bake so the first thing I did when diagnosed was to go to my library's online catalog & request every gluten-free cookbook they had. I've found Bette Hagman, Annalise Roberts, & Carol Fenster's books the most useful. And there are loads of recipes on this site too-- look under the site index.

And this forum is fabulous for answering questions & offering moral support! Welcome!

Leah

[elonwy]

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Danna Korn is awesome. I found a book read it cover to cover, then found this place. It explains alot of important things in great detail that help alot. I recommend it heartily as a good starting place and manual. I carried it with me everywhere for a while, and now I don't need it, but I think it will really help with that whole "I'm lost this is too much" thing that overcomes us all at the beginning.

Elonwy

[Gluten Slayer]

Thanks for the replys! I will be buying the dummy book, thanks for the info.