Emotional Vent

[ItchyMeredith]

I feel like I am one of the lucky ones because I got my diagnosis only 2 years after the symptoms started. I also feel lucky that my biggest issue (I think) is this rash. I am so happy to have caught celiac disease before I became truly and dangerously ill like so many of you have.

It is amazing that I even got the diagnosis

[Creative-Soul]

Feel free to vent away! You are indeed very fortunate to have found the root cause of your issues so "soon" (two years)! Thank goodness that your baby is fine and that you finally did go to see that second dermatologist; your previous one was totally irresponsible, to say the least...

[tarnalberry]

I would encourage you to call your first doctor on her negligence. (You may want to avoid that word, as it has legal connotations, however.) Doctors need feedback as well, good and bad.

[kbtoyssni]

Ummm, yeah, that sounds like negligence to me, too. It's one thing for a doctor to not know enough about the disease to think about it and be able to diagnose based on non-standard symptoms and a negative "gold-standard" biopsy, but it's quite another to have a diagnosis written in your records and not tell you. It is unacceptable for a doctor to not tell you if you have a disease.

[emorgan1985]

How frustrating! I've had some issues with doctors concerning Celiac also...my primary care doctor just kept shoving acid blockers down my throat, not really doing anything to find out what was wrong. When those failed he sent me to a GI doctor. The worst GI doc EVER to be exact. He sat me on the table, poked my tummy with a finger, asked if I was pregnant, then said "There's nothing wrong with you." and sent me home. So I FINALLY got with a good GI doc and that man is a miracle! But anywho...that was my rant and I know how it feels to be SO FRUSTRATED with your doctors!

Erin from Arizona

[debmidge]

Meredith:

My husband went thru 3 gastros and no less than 5 Internists/GP's before gastro #4 diagnosed the disease. This took 27 years of adult-onset illness. One GASTRO told him he needed psychological help because the illness was all in his mind. This was in 1994. The years were grueling emotionally and the illness has racked and destroyed his body, not to mention what it's done to him mentally.

The word "diagnose" is interesting. It's root word is "gnosis" in Greek meaning "knowledge." "Dia" is greek meaning "through, between". The word means to get the knowledge by taking the facts through or between the symptoms and information. May we all have doctors who truly know the meaning of this word.

I cheer for those who get diagnosed quickly go gluten-free and retain their health.

To your health - Deb

[kjk]

I would encourage you to call your first doctor on her negligence. (You may want to avoid that word, as it has legal connotations, however.) Doctors need feedback as well, good and bad.

Hi, I'm new to the forum. My Chinese herbalist recently suggested that this could be my problem (dh). I was really interested in how you signed off about "chocolate". I am just discovering "hidden gluten". Does chocolate have hidden gluten?

[tarnalberry]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. My Chinese herbalist recently suggested that this could be my problem (dh). I was really interested in how you signed off about "chocolate". I am just discovering "hidden gluten". Does chocolate have hidden gluten?

Hi!

Ah... Chocolate.

I should clarify that my sig's talking about pure chocolate, not chocolate in things like Milky Way and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Other people can tell you about those; I'm a snob for the good, pure chocolate.

Technically, the answer to your question, in my experience, is no - it's not hidden. But you have to read the label, because it can be on there. Most good, solid chocolate does not contain gluten at all. There are a couple of noteable exceptions, such as Green & Black's Mint Dark Chocolate and Caramel Dark Chocolate contain glucose syrup derived from wheat. I've seen one or two that list malt on them, which would mean they were right out, but don't recall the names. Those cases are all well marked on the label, however, so it's not hidden, you just have to read the ingredients.

The sig actually comes from discussions we've had over what soy-free chocolates are available. A number of people on the board are also soy-intolerant, to the degree that they avoid soy lecithin as well.* But soy lecithin is a very commonly used emulsifier in chocolate, so it can be very difficult to find truely so free chocolate. Due to a recurring "Chocolate Thursday" event at work (we taste a new fancy chocolate every week at work; oh life is rough ), which had me search out oodles of chocolate, I found a number of soy-free ones, including: Domori, Cluizel, Castelain, Bonnat, Theo, and Vivani. (I've had all of them but the Vivani, so far, in at least two varieties. I've ranked them in order of my preference, but I like strong chocolate.)

There was general discussion over what was good chocolate, too.

*(I should note that many people who find that they cannot tolerate soy, even if it's due to an allergy, can tolerate soy lecithin, but many cannot. So I don't want to imply that if you think you need to avoid soy, you automatically have to avoid lecithin as well. It's something to determine, but I wouldn't call it automatic.)

[wildlife-lover]

I feel like I am one of the lucky ones because I got my diagnosis only 2 years after the symptoms started. I also feel lucky that my biggest issue (I think) is this rash. I am so happy to have caught celiac disease before I became truly and dangerously ill like so many of you have.

It is amazing that I even got the diagnosis

[kbtoyssni]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. My Chinese herbalist recently suggested that this could be my problem (dh). I was really interested in how you signed off about "chocolate". I am just discovering "hidden gluten". Does chocolate have hidden gluten?

Most chocolate is ok. Again, just read the labels, but there's plenty out there that you can have: Snickers, M&Ms, Mounds, Almond Joy, Dove, Andes Mints, Milky Way DARK (note: Milky Ways made with milk chocolate is NOT gluten-free).