New Celiac Here

[123glutenfree]

So... After realising that I didn't give all my friends food poisoning....

... and realizing that I was the only person violently ill after my big pasta dinner I went for some tests. I am still waiting on the results but in the meantime I am doing some reading.

I have had episodes of D very frequently, but as they were often related to drinking (beer), I didn' t think it was too serious, just part of the hangover... but it has been getting worse... just thought I was wearing out and getting old! (At 26!)

I have the rash too... have had it for years and the doctors have just said it's dermatitis.

I also tried the Atkins diet in the past and my stomach felt great - no bloating for once in my life!

I had a dream last night the Eggo waffles in my freezer were made with rice flour... they're not.

I have been trying to eat gluten free as I wait for the test results.

I only get violently ill if I eat a big plate of pasta and nothing else, or drink copious amounts of beer... I can avoid bread and pasta but I am not really willing (or able to afford) making a huge lifestyle change.

So my question is... can any of you eat soy sauce and small amounts of other things that have a small amount of gluten without getting sick?

[Guhlia]

Occasionally I can eat small amounts of gluten without getting sick, but I don't recommend doing it. By intentionally glutening yourself (if you have Celiac) you can eventually cause irreparable damage to your intestines which can lead to many, many bad things such as osteoperosis, mental illness, etc... Even cancer has been linked to Celiac when a strict gluten free diet isn't followed.

Luckily for us, there are gluten free soy sauces, actually La Choy makes one that's gluten free. It's not worth the damage you're doing to your body by cheating. Just because you don't get sick doesn't mean you aren't causing damage. Oh, and Van's makes a gluten free waffle that's pretty decent.

[Lisa]

Instead of small amount of soy sauce, try the gluten free ones. LaChoy is gluten free.

I have found that the longer you are gluten free, the most sensitive I am to gluten.

If you are positive for Celiac, it most definatly will be a life style change. It is a steep learning curve, but it is doable

How were you tested?

[CMCM]

I am also one who did and felt WONDERFUl on the Atkins diet. I was totally puzzled at the time, but now I understand why!!

About small amounts of gluten: The fact is, the body does its best to create a "tolerance" for gluten. Sometimes it is successful, other times not. Reactions can also be cumulative in nature: You have a tolerance, you eat a bit here and there, it builds up, and it's kind of like a glass finally overflowing when you pour too much into it...finally your body rebels as it gets pushed too far, and you get sick.

I've never liked beer (perhaps because I got so horribly bloated from it), but pasta is one thing that has always pushed me over the edge, not long after eating it!

This is part of the difficulty....I could never fully identify what would make me sick. Sometimes I'd eat gluten and feel nothing at all from it. Other times I'd get very sick. No rhyme or reason sometimes. For me, though, many years ago I had identified soy sauce as a fairly certain culprit. I didn't know it was the gluten...I thought it was the soy originally. If you can get tamari sauce (La Choy's gluten free soy sauce), it tastes the same as soy sauce and won't bother you (unless you have problems with soy!!).

So... After realising that I didn't give all my friends food poisoning....

... and realizing that I was the only person violently ill after my big pasta dinner I went for some tests. I am still waiting on the results but in the meantime I am doing some reading.

I have had episodes of D very frequently, but as they were often related to drinking (beer), I didn' t think it was too serious, just part of the hangover... but it has been getting worse... just thought I was wearing out and getting old! (At 26!)

I have the rash too... have had it for years and the doctors have just said it's dermatitis.

I also tried the Atkins diet in the past and my stomach felt great - no bloating for once in my life!

I had a dream last night the Eggo waffles in my freezer were made with rice flour... they're not.

I have been trying to eat gluten free as I wait for the test results.

I only get violently ill if I eat a big plate of pasta and nothing else, or drink copious amounts of beer... I can avoid bread and pasta but I am not really willing (or able to afford) making a huge lifestyle change.

So my question is... can any of you eat soy sauce and small amounts of other things that have a small amount of gluten without getting sick?

[123glutenfree]

Thank you all for replying so quickly!

The doctor ordered a bunch of blood tests - ferritin/iron, various B vitamins, anti-gliadin/trans-glutaminase. The results should be in on Monday.

I have only been off gluten (except some soy sauce) for 5 days and my skin is clearing up - FAST!

For anyone else that has the skin problem, I started using L'Oreal's microdermabrasion kit awhile ago. It comes with a special after-moisturizer that also cleared up those nasty little patches around my mouth... but they just kept coming back...

I knew my skin got worse when I drank...

I knew it got better when I ate healthy - less carbs, more veggies

I knew I got "gut-rot" from drinking...

I have had this abnormally bloated belly since my teens, even though I was very thin back then....

I thought my always achy belly was from stress...

There were so many clues...

At the end of the day I am happy to be diagnosed if it means no more sore, bloated belly, gut-rot, D's and skinrash...

Here's to better days!