I Am 50 A Woman - Need To Exchange Info And Support

[daniela]

Hi there

I am relatively new in the gluten free area.

i am 50, diagnosed about 2 years ago, still checking out things and want to do things right. i need some friends and support, would like to be in contact with friends from the forum.

lots of health

Daniela e mail is danielajosef@walla.com

[Kaycee]

Hello Daniela, I am like you, and found out I had coeliac last year, and am very fast approaching 50. It is not easy to say the least and I have found this site full of support and I think it is one of the only things that has kept me going when times get tough.

I will post you an email soon.

Cathy

[Jestgar]

Hi Daniela,

I'll be 43 this year.

This site is great for both info and support. Welcome!!

[blueeyedmanda]

Hi Daniela,

I am little younger than you but found out I have celiac a few years ago. This is a great place to get support and get answers. It is very overwhelming at first but once you get into the groove of the diet and your new lifestyle it just goes. You get your life back, it may not be exactly like your old life but sometimes it is much better. You will have energy again, and you will feel like doing things that you used to pass you because you didn't feel well enough to do them. I hope you find some new friends here. It is very nice to meet you. Good Luck!

Amanda

[luvs2eat]

I was diagnosed at about the same age as you, Daniela... been gluten-free for almost 5 years. This is the place to be... ask any question and SOMEONE knows the answer! Ask for a food recommendation and LOTS of people know the answers!

[jmd3]

Hi there

I am relatively new in the gluten free area.

i am 50, diagnosed about 2 years ago, still checking out things and want to do things right. i need some friends and support, would like to be in contact with friends from the forum.

lots of health

Daniela e mail is danielajosef@walla.com

Welcome - I have found more info here in just the last few weeks, than any dr could give me...In fact, the two Dr's that diagnosed me did not give me any info other than I was celiac and to avoid gluten... I am lucky I found this site! I have sent you an email.

[lmvrbaby]

Hi, I was diagnosed about 1 1/2 years ago and my oldest son was diagnosed about a year ago. I am almost 39 with four boys and know how hard it is to buy the right things. Everything is expensive and sometimes you might catch a deal. Talk with your local grocery store managers and see if they can stock things as well. This does help and some others on here have offered the names of some good books. I love to bake and bought the book by Annalise Roberts - Gluten Free Baking Classics. I have found several recipes that I loved to make and still can with just a little change of a few ingredients. I read on here just about everyday and learn more and more as each day goes on.

Lisa

[burdee]

Hi Daniela:

I was diagnosed with celiac disease 3 years ago at age 57. Diagnosis brought so much emotional relief, because it explained my ongoing (and misdiagnosed), life long symptoms. Of course I had to learn what I could eat, but I had spent many years guessing what foods were 'healthy' for my body. celiac disease diagnosis was only my first step. I later learned I had milk, soy, egg and cane sugar allergies, Klebsiella bacterial infection, depleted good bacteria, and finally low stomach acid. I've learned so much during the past 3 years and physically recovered so much that I decided to share what I learned with others. I lead a local celiac support group and organize an annual celiac awareness walk and gluten free food fair.

I would love to correspond with you. I'll send you an email just to say 'hi'.

BURDEE

[Teacher1958]

Hi,

I'll be 50 in January and have had a variety of symptoms since the age of six or seven. I figured out what was wrong with me about a month ago while my family and I were on spring break in California. Since going off of the gluten, my digestive tract is unbelievably quiet (I am still fascinated by this), my ADD symptoms have improved considerably, I am much less fatigued, my depression has lessened, my foggy brain is no longer foggy, and I don't have the constant cycle of constipation-diarrhea-constipation, etc. In addition, I used to have these strange jumping sensations that would cause me to involuntarily jerk, and these are gone, too. My mouth sores have decreased in frequency as well.

I am trying to decide what my next step should be. I realized what was wrong with me when I did several web searches on one of my newer symptoms- BM's that stuck to the sides of the toilet and left an oil slick on the water. In my web searches, celiac disease and gluten sensitivity came up over and over again as a cause of this symptom, so I immediately went off of wheat and made a visit to my doctor when I got back from California. She said to just stay off of the wheat and also to go off of the cholesterol med (Vitorin) for a week, then both would be reintroduced separately to see which was the culprit. Well, when it came time to go back on the wheat, I decided not to so she said just to go back on the Vitorin. I asked for a blood test first and found that my cholesterol problem was gone. Anyhow, now I have to decide my next step. I know that I don't want to do a gluten challenge, but I do need to have a bone density test. I should also see a dietician, because I am currently a vegetarian who can't have gluten or dairy. I don't think that I want to have the invasive testing done unless there's a really good reason. I am concerned, though, that there is more that I should be doing, and I don't feel that my doctor knows enough about the disease. I could go to a gastroenterologist, but how will I know that he is an expert either.

Anyhow, I am rambling (off sick today with some kind of upper respiratory infection), as I have too much time on my hands. I will close for now.

[spunky]

Hello. I've been gluten free for 15 months now, and am now almost 54 years old. I "suspected" I might have a gluten problem back 7 years ago, attempted gluten free (now I understand all of my many errors), didn't see any difference, and gradually added back the grains, first oats, then kamut, spelt, and finally wheat. During the next several years, my health spiralled downward so fast I got scared.

I have no faith in doctors and avoid them like the plague, and somehwere along the line I found this message board, on which I'm afraid I have done a TON more lurking than contributing. Part of the reason for that, though, was because of my self-diagnosis: I could never be sure for a long, long time, and didn't feel right chiming in on others.

Anyway, now having been 100% gluten free (outside of 3 accidents--which provided huge learning opportunity to prevent such things in the future!) for 15 months, I am really pleased and even amazed at how much better I am doing. Still getting better too.

I was vegan for the past 10 or 11 years, but after noticing recently that I seemed to be reacting to soy as well (although those symptoms, similar to my gluten ones, were much, much milder than the gluten symptoms ever were), cut that out, and have added wild fish to my diet: I've had trouble attemtping to be vegan, gluten-free, and now soy-free too.

I am feeling a lot better, though. I'm getting more and more certain that gluten was in fact my problem, when all I have to do is stop and remember all my symptoms I had just a year and a half ago, and compare that with today...SHeesh! Big difference, let me tell you!

My recovery has been very slow, though. I couldn't say there was steady improvement until early in the 7th month of gluten free. It does take time.

Here's something about cholesterol and gluten-- sounds like the cholesterol profile can improve just by getting off the gluten:

Open Original Shared Link

[Teacher1958]

That would be really rough to be allergic to soy. Currently, I'm a vegan, but I am hoping to start adding dairy back into my diet in about 5-6 months (I'm lactose intolerant right now since going off the gluten). I am dependng a lot on soy protein. If I didn't have that, I would have to start eating some type of meat again, probably fish and/or chicken. Good luck to you.

[burdee]

I'm celiac (gluten intolerant) and allergic to dairy, soy, eggs and cane sugar. I eat 2-3 vegan meals a day. I usually eat one meat (fish or poultry) meal in the evening, but keep my breakfast and lunch vegan. For breakfast I eat peanut butter on gluten-free toast with fresh fruit or gluten-free hot cereal with almond milk, almond butter and fresh fruit. For lunch I have bean, vegie and rice soups, beans and rice dishes or tortillas filled with refried beans, avocados, red peppers, etc. When I have meat for lunch (tuna or salmon salad), I usually have vegan dishes for dinner. I conciously try to balance legumes with nuts or grains or grains with nuts to provide a complete protein at my vegan meals which also include lots of vegies and/or fruit.

BURDEE

[evansnuna]

Hi there

I am relatively new in the gluten free area.

i am 50, diagnosed about 2 years ago, still checking out things and want to do things right. i need some friends and support, would like to be in contact with friends from the forum.

lots of health

Daniela e mail is danielajosef@walla.com

Good Morning Daniela

I am also new to this forum. I have read alot of letters in here that sounds likeme. I hate this disease and pray to god by grand sons dont have it. But when I get down , I read alot in here and makes me feel better.

I get alot of side pain after eating. Do u

Janet

[BarbieD]

Hi, I was diagnosed about 1 1/2 years ago and my oldest son was diagnosed about a year ago. I am almost 39 with four boys and know how hard it is to buy the right things. Everything is expensive and sometimes you might catch a deal. Talk with your local grocery store managers and see if they can stock things as well. This does help and some others on here have offered the names of some good books. I love to bake and bought the book by Annalise Roberts - Gluten Free Baking Classics. I have found several recipes that I loved to make and still can with just a little change of a few ingredients. I read on here just about everyday and learn more and more as each day goes on.

Lisa

I Lisa, I was just diagnosed that I have celiac disease this past April with blood test. I have been sick for a while and just left it go until it got bad enough for me to see a doctor, I told him how I felt, he did blood work and this was my good news....lol. I'm having a hard time with this and don't know what to eat half the time, when I find out somethings I keep eating the same things over and over until I am so tired of them I feel sick to look at them anymore. I'm hungary for something sweet, like pie or cake and don't know how to make it gluten free.......I don't want to gain weight but just want something different........can you help me ? Send me some good receipes, I love strawberry pie and want it so bad and don't know how to make it gluten free. I just need some good receipes to try for a change. I'm tired of fish and chicken, salad and cereal. Help !!!!!

BarbieHelp, I'm new at this !

[wowzer]

Hi, I'm 52 years old. I went gluten free the beginning of the year. I did have a negative blood test. I do have a little sister that is a celiac. I really thought I had DH. I did have 2 biopsies, but they probably werent' looking for that. One came back eczema and the other spongiotic dermatitis. I had been plagued with all sorts of rashes and itching for most of last year. I finally did a search and when I read about DH I saw so many rashes that looked like some of the outbreaks I've had over the years. I've had many improvements since I went gluten free. Wendy

[BostonBill]

Hi, I was diagnosed in Feb., 07 with a positive endoscopy and positive blood test at the age of 59 after years of feeling miserable. I have responded well to the gluton free diet with many improvements thanks to my lurking on this site for the past four months. I started to feel guilty about taking all of the great information on this site and using it to my advantage. If nothing else I hope that my success to this date and my gratitude to all the contributors will convince others to stick around here, get well and share their experience. There seems to be very little understanding of what we go through by the non-celiac world including the medical field. Thanks again ! Bill.

[MarathonGirl]

I Lisa, I was just diagnosed that I have celiac disease this past April with blood test. I have been sick for a while and just left it go until it got bad enough for me to see a doctor, I told him how I felt, he did blood work and this was my good news....lol. I'm having a hard time with this and don't know what to eat half the time, when I find out somethings I keep eating the same things over and over until I am so tired of them I feel sick to look at them anymore. I'm hungary for something sweet, like pie or cake and don't know how to make it gluten free.......I don't want to gain weight but just want something different........can you help me ? Send me some good receipes, I love strawberry pie and want it so bad and don't know how to make it gluten free. I just need some good receipes to try for a change. I'm tired of fish and chicken, salad and cereal. Help !!!!!

BarbieHelp, I'm new at this !

I was just diagnosed this February. Since I love to eat foods with texture to them I have been experimenting with all sorts of baking. I don't like most gluten-free breads, as I find them to be too sweet and without enough texture. Recently I have been experimenting by adding one to two cups of cooked Quinoa to the gluten-free bread recipes that I have found. It improves them a lot. I also leave out all sweetener but 1 T of honey. Once I get the recipe perfected I will post it on this forum. Right now it still isn't rising as much as I would like. I may have to add more yeast or perhaps some baking powder.

I just made the recipe in the July 2007 Gourmet magazine for corn-meal cookies. Instead of the 2/3 cup of wheat flour in the recipe I substituted 1 1/4 c Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour. I used more of the gluten-free flour to roll them out, and they came out great. Here is my new and improved version of the Gourmet Magazine recipe:

Margaret's Corn-Meal Butter Cookies

1/4 cup yellow corn meal

1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill All-purpose gluten-free flour

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 stick (1/4 pound) salted butter

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon zest

more gluten-free flour as needed for rolling

granulated sugar as needed for topping

In a mixing bowl, mix the butter until it is soft. Then add the corn meal. Add the egg yolks. With the mixer whirring add the vanilla, the lemon zest, and the gluten-free flour. The dough should be a little sticky, but not so much that it sticks to your fingers. If it is, add more gluten-free flour. Put a generous amount (about 1/4 cup) of gluten-free flour on the clean counter and gently spread the dough out using the flat of your hand and fingertips until it is 1/3 inch thick. Use a small round biscuit cutter to cut out circular disks. As you cut them out place them of a very well buttered cookie sheet. Once they are all on the sheet sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar. Bake in a 360 degree oven for 12 - 14 minutes. They should be a nice yellow color when they are done. Lift them gently onto a cooling rack to cool.

These are a delicious tender shortbread cookie. The corn meal in them gives them a nice crunchy texture. Let me know what you think of my modified recipe!

[Karen B.]

I was just diagnosed this February. Since I love to eat foods with texture to them I have been experimenting with all sorts of baking. I don't like most gluten-free breads, as I find them to be too sweet and without enough texture.

Have you tried Chebe bread? (www.chebe.com)

Hubby and I just finished some breadsticks I made with parmesan and green chilis that I dipped in a bruschetta topping. I made the bread sticks flat and about an inch wide so they are just right for dipping and the texture is chewy. The parmesan in the Chebe went wnderfully with the tomato/garlic/olive oil of the bruschetta.

[PatBrown]

That would be really rough to be allergic to soy. Currently, I'm a vegan, but I am hoping to start adding dairy back into my diet in about 5-6 months (I'm lactose intolerant right now since going off the gluten). I am dependng a lot on soy protein. If I didn't have that, I would have to start eating some type of meat again, probably fish and/or chicken. Good luck to you.

It was actually a gastroentoligist that diagnosed me(at Bethesda Naval Medical Center). I have always been iron poor and had reflux and requested and endoscopy to check my esophagus. After eliminating wheat and gluten from my diet I no longer have the reflux. I have yet to find a good dietician although I think between this board and a couple of others I get all of the info that I need.