Reactions To What Seems Like.. Everything?

[LakotaLegend15]

Hello. I am new to the forum, my name is Eve, I am 16 years old, and after months of being ill, was diagnosed with celiac, two months ago.

I had a period of doing really well, after i was diagnosed. However, i was on a very restricted diet of veggies, fruits, rice, nuts, and cheese/dairy.

After a while, i encourperated more things into my diet, like chocolate milk, gluten-free candy, gluten-free baking mixes, rice ceral.

Well, turns out the rice ceral had "malt flavoring" (Gluten) the lolly pops although STATED gluten-free on the package, were dusted with flour, or somehow had traces of gluton. So if you can believe it, i am counting my days all over again as a gluten free girl.

gluten-free baking mixes should be okay, right? But I just had a piece of gluten-free bread from a gluten-free baking mix, and butter, and have had a reaction of bloating.

Question one- How is this possible? It seems as though I am having a reaction to almost everything I eat. Such as gluten-free bread. Could it be my stomach/intestines are irritated? I cut out soy, dairy (i knew i was lactose- intolerant, but we have pills for that) and gluten/vinegar. It still seemed like I was having reactions. Ideas anyone?

Question two- Are potato chips okay? Lays have three ingredients. Sunflower Oil (not hydrogenated),potatos, and salt. Yet i get a bloated stomach EVERY time.

Question three- Vinegar. I have reactions to all vinegar, even though it is stated Celiacs can have distilled vinegar if it was not distilled from wheat (like Hienz). Any reason for this- exceptions?Relating to Celiac? Or could it be another allergy?

Thanks so much. I am pretty much desperate, and would LOVE it if anyone could brainstorm with me.

Eve

[home-based-mom]

A lot of gluten-free baked goods use rice bran but for me any kind of bran is a "four letter word." I am looking to try Food For Life's White Rice Bread and see how that goes cuz it would be nice to make a quick peanut butter sandwich for work! It may bother you, too - check the ingredients.

As far as potato chips go, Lay's Stax (regular flavor) are OK. Most others don't list any "bad" ingredients, but are subject to cross-contamination so you never know from one bag to the next if they're gonna zap you or not. Also, anything fried is harder to digest than food cooked some other way. Could also be the high fat or the high salt, too.

I hate to state the obvious, but if vinegar bothers you, don't eat it. It bothers a friend from church, but I'm fine with it.

Hope that helps a little!

[sickchick]

I haven't eaten vinegar since 2001

Hang in there... you'll get through this!

sickchick

[tom]

ALL of the symptoms you're showing could be due to candida overgrowth & leaky-gut syndrome.

About the milk - the lactose may not be as big a problem as the casein (milk protein).

I couldn't eat any of those things you list w/out a reaction either.

The vinegar aspect is particularly telling, as it's a BIG no-no for candida.

[MDRB]

Hi,

Celiacs really takes its toll on your body. A lot of celiacs find that they react to fatty foods and/or large amounts of carbohydrates until they have completely healed, which can take a while. Remember that your body is suddenly being bombarded with types of starches that it may have never come across before. Introduce them slowly allowing your body to get used to them, meanwhile try eating mostly vegetables and unprocessed foods.

If you are still getting a bad reaction from gluten free foods in a few of months time, you might need to go see an allergist o find out if you have other allergies.

Good luck

[tom]

Celiacs really takes its toll on your body. . . ..

. .. .If you are still getting a bad reaction from gluten free foods in a few of months time, you might need to go see an allergist o find out if you have other allergies.

Those tests won't necessarily show intolerances - perhaps in particular leaky-gut-induced intolerances, which are pretty common for ppl w/ celiac disease.

An aside to new2celiac(s) - no offense intended of course but it's called celiac disease not celiacs disease.

One forum member took GREAT offense to my mentioning this in the past. Seemed like a gargantuan overreaction to me.

I see it more akin to telling a friend they have spinach in their teeth.

[MDRB]

An aside to new2celiac(s) - no offense intended of course but it's called celiac disease not celiacs disease.

One forum member took GREAT offense to my mentioning this in the past. Seemed like a gargantuan overreaction to me.

I see it more akin to telling a friend they have spinach in their teeth.

Lol,

thats fine, I am not offended. I am aware of the proper term, however I use the term 'celiacs' as slang rather than typing out the entire 'celiac disease' everytime I post. I guess because this is a relaxed forum I feel that I can use slang as I would in everyday speach and that it is not necesarily appropriate to be uptight about grammer.

[home-based-mom]

Lol,

thats fine, I am not offended. I am aware of the proper term, however I use the term 'celiacs' as slang rather than typing out the entire 'celiac disease' everytime I post. I guess because this is a relaxed forum I feel that I can use slang as I would in everyday speach and that it is not necesarily appropriate to be uptight about grammer.

Obviously you did not have Miss Becker for eighth grade English!

[tom]

. .. I use the term 'celiacs' as slang rather than typing out the entire 'celiac disease' everytime I post.

Ahhh

Well, there's no need to type it out in the forum. Just as an adjacent G F is replaced by "gluten-free", C D (w/out the space) is replaced by "celiac disease".

It does make it difficult to abbreviate CompactDisc.

[Takala]

Go back to the "really strict diet" part and add in one thing at a time and see how you react.

In general, the more unprocessed food you have in your diet, the better off you'll be.

Vinegar- I try to stick to real apple cider vinegar only.

Chocolate milk. No. Not unless I made it myself of milk substitute, cocoa powder, and sweetener.

Butter. Organic, cultured butter is the only type I can use for cooking and on gluten-free toast. Yes, even butter can have "natural flavorings" now, buyer beware.

I can tolerate olive oil and use a great deal of it.

gluten-free bread. I'll only eat my own, made out of stuff I know I can tolerate. I didn't eat grains for several years waiting for healing, and now still sparingly compared to normal people. I just don't need that much. You can make bread out of nut flours/meals, for example.

Don't know what was in your bread mix that you reacted to, suggest you get a bag of gluten-free rice flour, gluten-free corn starch, and gluten-free tapioca starch and start experimenting with pancakes or quick breads.

In the beginning you may have trouble still tolerating grain carbs mixed with fat, which may get better over time.

Rice Cakes. Use Lundberg, they come from a dedicated facility. Don't use Quaker, may be cross contaminated. Rice cakes can be crumbled into a bowl and then they are rice cereal. Everybody makes this search for gluten-free cereal too complicated. Add different dried or fresh fruit and nuts and you have rice granola.

Potato chips. Ick. I'd rather eat a cooked potato. Yukon gold potatoes with olive oil and salt are much more filling and tasty.

Try corn tortillas made by Mission, they say gluten-free on the label.

There's a lot of trial and error to this. I recently tried a new brand of pricey peanut butter marked Gluten Free on the label, and can finally tolerate it. So I'm in hog heaven (other than being horrified at what the jar cost )and this is something most people don't even think about.

[LakotaLegend15]

Thanks so much you guys.

Can anyone tell me what "candida overgrowth & leaky-gut syndrome" is?

Is it dangerous? What does it mean? Treatment? And how will it change my life style?

I am having stomach pains, but I always do when I eat gluten, and it hasn't been too long since I last ate it.

Thanks SO much.

Eve

[TestyTommy]

Hi Eve,

Welcome to the forum! Keep in mind that we've all been through the frustration of adjusting to a gluten-free diet and trying to heal. We feel your pain (literally!)

I found it really helpful to stay on a very simple diet of meat, veggies and a little potato and brown rice. Make sure you chew carefully, and I even used to put hard to digest things (like veggies) through the blender. Dairy is a problem for a lot of us -- I didn't eat any for nearly 2 years. Lay's chips are bad. The Stax chips are okay, but I won't eat any of the others.

It took me a long time to realize that you can't trust labels; just because the ingredients don't include gluten-ingredients doesn't mean they are safe. I've found the best place for info on packaged food is this forum. Spend some time going through all the old threads and you'll be surprised at the wealth of information you can get from people who've been through it before.

It sounds like your digestive system is in bad shape. You might want to check out some books on gluten-free diets. One of the classics is called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" and deals with people like you who have sensitive digestion. There's also a book by Dr. Peter Green that gives a thorough overview of the disease.

To answer your questions:

"Leaky Gut Syndrome" is a condition that happens to a lot of people with digestive diseases like celiac. Basically, your intestines get damaged to the point that undigested food particles pass through your intestines and get into your blood (think of it as little holes in your intestines). As a result, your body develops a sensitivity to that food. That's why so many of us develop sensitivities to other foods -- and unfortunately, it's often the foods we like best! You might want to search for info on 'rotation diets' to help you narrow down any food allergies/sensitivities you might have.

"Candida" is a fungus. Some people think that when your intestines get damaged, candida can flourish in your small intestines, resulting in a host of symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, allergies, etc. Most mainstream doctors don't think candida is a big problem. But you'll find lots of info on candida on the Internet. I'm in the camp that thinks candida is mostly a myth -- but that's just my opinion. The treatment for candida is usually a combination of dietary changes and taking some herbs. The candida diet -- which eliminates sugar and simple carbohydrates -- is a fantastic diet.

Good luck! Spend some time exploring this forum and keep asking questions!

[dbmamaz]

I have been on a very limited diet, but I was trying to ignore the candida aspect of my problems for now . . . i'm only eating 22 foods, at least let me have some sugar!

BUt i started having green yucks coming out of me and I couldnt figure out what was doing it. I eliminated the sugar and took an oral anti-fungal which my ob-gyn had prescribed for me for repeat yeast infections - that seemed to knock out the green slime.

Well, then I got the flu and bronchitis and an ear infection, and went on anti-viral and antibiotics . . . green slime was back. I eliminated my lunch salad, wondering if that would help, and it did . .. i reintroduced the lunch salad and OUCH!!

I will try to avoid vinegar for a while and do another round of antifungal. But you might want to check it out, esp if you've had a lot of yeast infections.

As for packaged mixes - I cannot tolerate tapioca, which is in almost every single packaged gluten-free item and mix. Some people also have trouble with sorghum. You can buy the flours yourself and experiment ... or do without for a while until you heal.

good luck . .. to us all . ..

[MELINE]

Question two- Are potato chips okay? Lays have three ingredients. Sunflower Oil (not hydrogenated),potatos, and salt. Yet i get a bloated stomach EVERY time.

Eve

Hi Eve

Your questions have been answered by others but I have something to add....

When you are lactose intolerant you cannot have fried oil (is that the word? I mean the oil you get in the potato chips), because then the oil causes you trouble. That's why you get bloating after eating potato chips. I've read that in the net, but I cannot give you the link cause it is in Greek and I guess you are not going to understand anything.......

[tom]

. .. Most mainstream doctors don't think candida is a big problem. .. . . I'm in the camp that thinks candida is mostly a myth

yipes!

And it was mainstream docs who put me back on gluten on my 5th Bday, despite celiac diagnosis. (The "kids grow out of it" theory)

Mainstream docs prescribe pills which, 2-3 yrs later, are found to be more dangerous than the condition they were meant to treat. This has happened a LOT in the past few yrs.

Candida as Myth .. .. . ..hoooo boy what to say .. . .. . Is this an offshoot of Mainstream Medicine's "It's all in your head" theory?

I remember finding that mainstream medicine thought Intestinal Candidiasis(sp?) could only happen to a MOST severely compromised immune system, like that of a dying AIDS patient.

Oh well ... ..they'll learn in time.

Candida overgrowth does happen to celiacs.

Testy Tommy - I'll bet the ranch that you yourself have relatives/ancestors who, in the 1st half of the 20th century, were told that wheat in their diet CAN'T be the problem.

Mainstream Medicine evolves glacially at times.