Howdy Peeps! I'm Being 'tested' For The Gluten Intolerance

[Mellie]

Okay....I'm not sure yet that I even have a gluton intolerance or anything but the chances that I have SOME kind of tummy/bowel disorder is very strong as that stuff runs in my family. Actually my mom is being tested right now to see if she has crohn's disease or the ulcerated something rather. She's had gallbladder disease as well.

I've had bathroom issues for years now. It started in college I think? These last few years have been especially bad and keep getting worse. It doesn't seem (at outward appearances...of course now I'm getting more educated on the subject) to matter what I eat- it sends me to the bathroom sooner or later and usually MUCH sooner. I know I know....it's ALL going to send you to the bathroom cause it's supposed to come out eventually. lol But I have to rush more than the average person. It's usually a close call and sometimes...well....it's not good. I HATE having these issues. Sometimes I'm not even though the whole meal and have to rush to the bathroom and it all explodes out of me. yeck!!!!!

ANYWAY. So a couple Dr.s have thought I have a gluten intolerance (as well as adrenal fatigue syndrome...and I've been dealing with moderate to severe depression especially these last 2 years...AND just found out I have sleep apnea and have been on a cpap machine for about a month now...guess they could all be related huh?) and told me to do the gluten free diet for at least a week. So I went to the wild oats store yesterday and stocked up on some stuff. I didn't know where else to go or what to look for in labels (I just today found the forbidden ingredient list here- thanks!) or anything and it can seem pretty overwhelming.

Well so we went out to lunch today at applebees. I had read a couple posts here about applebees and talked to another friend that has gluten intolerance (who isn't worried about cc so much and I thought since I'm just starting out with this I thought maybe cc wouldn't be an issue with me since my system isn't use to not having gluten stuff....but the more I think about that it doesn't make sense- it made sense at the time though!) to see maybe what I could eat.

So I went and ordered a burger without the bun and asked for no seasonings on it besides salt/pepper....said the bread can't even touch anything. Got cheese and bacon on it (applewood bacon?? and chedder cheese I think??). I also got the smashed potatoes cause I had read here that someone said it was 'safe'.

Well...I thought I had done okay....oh and just drank water too. But as soon as we got back....it HIT me. Just like it seems to always do. So did I eat something wrong or could it have been cc or is it maybe something totally different??? I'm so confused and frustrated and tired of dealing with these problems. I want them to get better....but then if this IS it it makes me mad that I have to worry what I eat so much. Anyway....ANY help is much appreciated thanks!!!!!!

Oh yeah- and I'm a super picky eater too so that makes this 'diet' a lot harder! I really love breads and potatoes and cheese.

Thanks again!!!

Mel, 28

[CarlaB]

Mel, I, too, have adrenal fatigue syndrome and gluten intolerance with some depression.

Personally, I have had so much trouble eating out that I rarely do. IF I eat out, I go to places that have a gluten-free menu because I figure there's less of a chance of cc.

Many people with gluten intolerance also have a problem with dairy. My guess for you today would be that the dairy caused the reaction. I just got off gluten, then realized every time I had thought I got glutened, it was when I had eaten dairy.

You can still have all the things you love, you just have to find other ways to make them. Kinnikinnick makes the best bread. Namaste has great brownies and blondies. Tinkyada has the best pasta.

I just read a great book on recovery from adrenal fatigue called Tired of Being Tired by Jesse Lynn Hanley, MD. You really need to have an integrated approach to regain your health as all your health issues are probably related on some level.

Welcome!

[Mellie]

NO not cheese!!!!! Oh sadness I hope not. My mom hasn't been able to have dairy for awhile...but then they just told her she can have certain cheese and can make her own yogurt and stuff- something about the cultures. Did I already mention that? I'm so forgetful. So the bacon should have been okay then?

I actually just orered a book recomended by one of my Dr's

Open Original Shared Link .com/Adrenal-Fatigue-21st...TF8&s=books

it's Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st-Century Stress Syndrome (Paperback) by James L. Wilson (Author), Jonathan V. Wright (Author)

I'll have to check out that other one you mentioned too- it looks good.

Thanks so much for all the tips!

[CarlaB]

I'll look into the book you recommeded. Some people with celiac have trouble with lactose because the ends of the villi get damaged first and that's what digests the lactose. Some of us, like me, are casein intolerant so it's of a more permanent nature. When you're feeling good, you can drink some milk and take some lactaid, if it bothers you, you're probably casein intolerant, if it doesn't, you're probably lactose intolerant and will be okay with lactaid. You might stay off it for a couple weeks, then test it to see if it's really bothering you because you very well could have gotten cc from gluten.

I read your signature ... as your health returns, you may find that you have an easier time getting pregnant. Is your husband taking vitamin C? It's good for sperm health (I used to teach natural family planning -- some use it to get pregnant, some to not get pregnant).

We have six children and one of them is adopted from Russia.

[Matilda]

...

[Mellie]

you know I got to thinking.....I actually tried going without dairy for several weeks by the recomendation of my Dr. cause he thought I might be lactose intolerant....but I didn't notice any difference....course that was also a year or two ago. I'll have to give that thought I guess. I LOVE cheese!!!!!

Carla- actually our issue is male factor....and as far as I know I have no problems ovulating...although at my appointment the other day the NP thought my progesterone was a little low....anyhoo. It'd be a miracle either way.....so there will always be a sliver of hope but I pretty much have none. We were originally wanting to adopt from ukraine but they're closed for adoption right now I believe....and russia was another one we were really looking at (I may have to ask you lots of questions later if we get to go that way!!!)....but I think we wouldn't be able to adopt there because of weight resrictions as my husband and I are both overweight...makes me so mad that weight can dictate that with things like adoption....nobody says fat people aren't allowed to get pregnant!! Anyway...tangent sorry. Also Russia's travel requirements right now...I'm not sure if we could pull it off. If it's meant to be though I guess right?? Do you mind me asking what agency you went through? Was it someone local to you or more national?

matilda....thanks for sharing your side of things. I thought a week seemed awfully quick but that's what they said. Hmm....guess I'll just have to keep on with the trial and error stuff. It's just so confusing sometimes and a lot of wondering involved....I can see why even know you keep wondering about cc and different things. bleh.

[CarlaB]

We started out going through a small agency, one woman actually, then ended up going directly to a woman in Russia that we met through her. The original woman was very unethical ... and we still had to pay her. We later helped two other people go through the lady in Russia. I can see if we still have her grandmother's phone number as I don't get the idea that people there move much. Natasha (yea, and the driver was Boris LOL, for real!!) speaks perfect English, but you have to keep calling to get her as her grandmother doesn't speak a word of it (once you get started though, she always calls you). It might be a long shot at this point ... we did it 8 years ago. I figure we saved the other people who went through Natasha many thousands of dollars since we told them how to do all the paperwork on this end ... one family adopted two kids, and we got to see them. The other family, would never get together with us and we got the cold shoulder once they got back, after hours of talking with them on the phone and saving them the attorney fees! ... amazing how ill mannered some folks are!!

I don't know what male factor is ...

[Mellie]

oh really?? I didn't even know you could go independant like that in russia- wonder if you can still?? Hmmm cause that's another detterent (sp? eek) from that country...as it's one of the higher costing ones...close to $30,000 and up from what we've seen so far. Very discouraging. Seems so unfair but that's another post on another board.

Male factor- means I'm pretty much 'working' okay....as far as that stuff goes at least. **rolls eyes** He has low testosterone and VERY low count and very very very low motility. Pretty much he doesn't have many swimmers and the few he does have don't really move....which is a problem apparently. Natrually we were told by specialists that we can do somet things to try and help (which we are- like the different vitamins and things) but it's small potatoes. We'd need IVF (in vitro fertilization) but for many reasons only one of which is $$ (of course insurance doesn't cover it and it costs upwards of $20,000 a cycle here or more). So....adoption is our only hope of having children. We'd always talked about adopting internationally before we even knew we had infertility problems...wanted to do both. But now I guess we'll just be doing one. I just want to be a momma! And he would be SUCH a great dad!!! He WILL be. We've just been kinda taking a break from any of that stuff though as last year was especially hard after we finally received a diagnosis. Husband said he wanted to be 30 (for some reason????) before we even started the adoption process...and he'll be 30 in June and if we adopt from somewhere like china he'd have to be anyway (me too but I'm just a few months behind him) so....sometime this next year we're hoping to start the process. Still not sure where to go- like I said we were wanting to adopt from ukraine and that's out for the moment and then a lot of the other eastern european countries we were looking at seem to be more difficult for us to adopt from. Geesh it's not like we weigh 500 pounds either. Oh well....sorry I can get talking about this stuff LOTS once I get started.

[CarlaB]

That's what I thought male factor was. Google "vitamin C" and "sperm" together. It is VERY helpful with that, and it's so simple, besides docs don't always believe in vitamins, that docs overlook it. It's done miraculous things with men. It's definately worth a try!! I'd have him take large doses of it, until it causes diarrhea, then cut back to a more comfortable dose.

I'll look and see if I can find any numbers for Natasha. I think that people don't go directly there because they don't have a contact and they are afraid of the paperwork.

[Mellie]

yeah the urologist recomended several vitamins and things he's been taking for over a year now. One os the vitamin c, and several others they said were good to try and help swimmers....hasn't done anything for us yet though. Course he hasn't had an SA (semen analysis) since then so maybe it has made SOME difference? Not enough apparently though. Anyhoo.

Yeah russia scares a lot of people off that I've talked too just cause of the $ alone...or that and the required travel time. Course adoption period scares a lot of people off for those same reasons.

[CarlaB]

How much C is he taking? I'm sure they also talked about abstaining for some time during your infertile time so the count can build up? (I used to teach natural family planning, some of our students were trying to get pregnant). Be sure he's taking the maximum amount of C he can handle.

Our mandatory 10 day waiting period was waived ... I was pregnant at the time and Natasha couldn't wait to send me back home!!!

[Mellie]

oh yeah....I've learned ALL about all that stuff...more than I ever thought I would or could or wanted to. A good book is 'taking charge of your fertility' by toni weschler. We know all about abstaining at the right times and timing sex and predicting ovulation and all that. I even own a saliva microscope and a fertility monitor amongst many other books and things. I'll look into him taking more C but other than that I don't feel like there's much hope for us.

10 days? Did you just have to make one trip? Now you have to make two trips and the time spent in russia can total several weeks I believe. Both adoptive parents are required to go on the first trip (when you get the referral) and only one has to go back the second time but it still seemed like a lot of time...I'll have to look that up again.

[CarlaB]

oh yeah....I've learned ALL about all that stuff...more than I ever thought I would or could or wanted to. A good book is 'taking charge of your fertility' by toni weschler. We know all about abstaining at the right times and timing sex and predicting ovulation and all that. I even own a saliva microscope and a fertility monitor amongst many other books and things. I'll look into him taking more C but other than that I don't feel like there's much hope for us.

10 days? Did you just have to make one trip? Now you have to make two trips and the time spent in russia can total several weeks I believe. Both adoptive parents are required to go on the first trip (when you get the referral) and only one has to go back the second time but it still seemed like a lot of time...I'll have to look that up again.

In 98, you went to court, there was a mandatory 10 day wait, and you did it there. You had to go spend the day at the orphanage so they could see you interact, then after 10 days, you went to court again. Add that to going back to Moscow to do the paperwork at the embassy and you were there for a couple weeks. We both went and took our oldest two kids who were 8 & 10 at the time. I was 5 months pregnant, so they waived the 10 days. We were there for two weeks as we spent several days in St. Petersburg, which I highly recommend doing.

I know things have changed, and they will change again during your process. It kept changing for us ... we even had to go get one last apostille on our way to the airport!!! Quite a process.