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Any Celiac(s) From Canada

Gerri

By Gerri
in Introduce Yourself / Share Stuff

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Gerri Explorer
Gerri
Posted

I am new to Celiac (54 year old female), even though I have watched what I ate for many years. I had Gluten problems for many years. Always sick at Christmas, and holidays, acid reflux problems getting worse, vitamin D deficiency, vitamin B12 low, and a list of other health issues getting worse.

Last year my doctor at the time told me to go Gluten Free for the rest of my life. He hoped it would stop the progression of other autoimmune diseases. Since going gluten free my diabetes is controlled, and my sleep apnea's pressure is coming down. I have since been diagnosed with Celiac.

I am from Ontario Canada, and wonder if there are there are others from Canada here.

Hugs

Gerri

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  • Replies 133
  • Created
  • Last Reply
psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

Hi.

There are a number of Canadians on here. I'm in Toronto here at work.

Gerri Explorer
Gerri
Posted
  • Author

I am in Kitchener, just west of Toronto. I see a naturopath in Toronto, and hopefully soon a Rheumy.

Don't work too hard. Hoping to talk again soon.

Hugs

Gerri

Hi.

There are a number of Canadians on here. I'm in Toronto here at work.

leadmeastray88 Contributor
leadmeastray88
Posted

Hi there!

I'm from Winnipeg, MB.

I have a cousin who is Celiac from Halifax also.

curiousgeorge Rookie
curiousgeorge
Posted

Toronto!

I are really annoyed about ontario not covering celiac testing. I think its just criminal.

If any of you have a good celiac friendly doc in Toronto (GI) please PM me.

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

Back in 2000, when I was diagnosed, the blood tests were still very new and were not commonly done. I had the endoscopy and biopsy, which was covered by OHIP.

elye Community Regular
elye
Posted

Hi, Gerri!

I'm in Ottawa, and share the anger over OHIP not covering the blood panel cost. It cost me ninety dollars four years ago, and my dad had it done last fall for $120.00. Expensive, and at times meaningless, for my dad's results were "negative", and I continue to suspect they were false. :(:angry:

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Gerri Explorer
Gerri
Posted
  • Author

Some of the test are oovered but not them all. I had to pay $180 for two test I believe out of 4. My tissue Transglutaminase (sp) came back low celiac, plus other health issues which are associated with Celiac, gave me my diagnoses of celiac. Get your doctor to order this test (tissue transglutaminase). If you have been off gluten for a while, it is my recommendation not to go for biopsy. Damage can be done in any area of the duoderum, and missed by the biopsy. You will know that your Celiac, by the way you feel off of gluten. To go back on Gluten, causes you to become very sick.

Hugs

Gerri

Toronto!

I are really annoyed about ontario not covering celiac testing. I think its just criminal.

If any of you have a good celiac friendly doc in Toronto (GI) please PM me.

  • 1 month later...
princesskill Rookie
princesskill
Posted

im in ottawa

debbiwi56 Newbie
debbiwi56
Posted

Hello from New Brunswick. I was diagnosed about 2 and 1/2 years ago. I am 52. I was completely thrown for a loop with the diagnosis. I am an ovarian cancer survivor (10 yrs. now) so I'm afraid to say I had been suffering for what seems like eons before I finally gave in and went to the doctor. (I was so afraid that I would be told I had cancer again...my reason for putting it off). I try very hard to watch what I eat but still seem to feel like the dickens most of the time. My GI specialist tells me to continue with the diet and that's all I can do. Seems like I should be doing more....any ideas? :)

  • 3 weeks later...
Tomkitchener Newbie
Tomkitchener
Posted

Hi There, I am from Kitchener,ON,CA.

I am new to the forum, and have not yet been tested but will and pretty well am am sure I have some form of gluten intolerance. I have been on a gluten free diet for almost 2 months now and symptoms have significantly improved.

I look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing my thoughts with people in the same situation as myself.

  • 1 month later...
Northern Celiac Newbie
Northern Celiac
Posted
I am new to Celiac (54 year old female), even though I have watched what I ate for many years. I had Gluten problems for many years. Always sick at Christmas, and holidays, acid reflux problems getting worse, vitamin D deficiency, vitamin B12 low, and a list of other health issues getting worse.

Last year my doctor at the time told me to go Gluten Free for the rest of my life. He hoped it would stop the progression of other autoimmune diseases. Since going gluten free my diabetes is controlled, and my sleep apnea's pressure is coming down. I have since been diagnosed with Celiac.

I am from Ontario Canada, and wonder if there are there are others from Canada here.

Hugs

Gerri

Hi Gerri,

you found another Canadian as well. I am in Northeast B.C. in a very remote community(ft nelson) but am learning to cope with whats going on with me. I was finally diagnosed in April this yr2009 and have been working on going gluten-free ever since. I have gone through my own personal hell like you did. The worst part of it was the family doctor I was using wouldn't refer me to a specialist until he had his turn at me.

This was the worst part of it as I kept getting sicker. But you must have courage I have met celiacs who by all appearances have returned to normal health, and that is what I am shooting for.

Best Wishes

Northern Celiac Newbie
Northern Celiac
Posted
Hello from New Brunswick. I was diagnosed about 2 and 1/2 years ago. I am 52. I was completely thrown for a loop with the diagnosis. I am an ovarian cancer survivor (10 yrs. now) so I'm afraid to say I had been suffering for what seems like eons before I finally gave in and went to the doctor. (I was so afraid that I would be told I had cancer again...my reason for putting it off). I try very hard to watch what I eat but still seem to feel like the dickens most of the time. My GI specialist tells me to continue with the diet and that's all I can do. Seems like I should be doing more....any ideas? :)

Hi Debbie,

I am a brand new celiac(hahaha, april 2009) and have come to terms with the disease quite quickly. I realize that if I want to get healthy and stay healthy the only way to do it is to stick to the diet. I keep telling myself"no dammit I don't want to be sick anymore.

Best wishes

Felidae Enthusiast
Felidae
Posted

Hi,

I'm from Alberta. I haven't been on here much lately. But hopefully I can get here more often.

nomentanus Newbie
nomentanus
Posted

Victoria, BC here, moving to Toronto someday.

Forget the test if you are avoiding wheat now. The test looks for anitbodies and assumes you are eating a lot of wheat right now. If not, the test doesn't work.

Everyone should be screened for celiac - it would save your province an immense amount of health care dollars. So says Fasano himself:

Gut. 2003 Feb;52(2):168-9. [bELOW]

Comment in:

Gut. 2003 Feb;52(2):170-1.

Gut. 2004 Jan;53(1):154-5.

Gut. 2004 Oct;53(10):1545-6.

European and North American populations should be screened for coeliac disease.

Fasano A.

Division of Pediatric GI and Nutrition, Center for Celiac Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. afasano@peds.umaryland.edu

PMID: 12524393

Open Original Shared Link

misshollydolly Newbie
misshollydolly
Posted

Hi Everyone! I'm Holly and I'm from a little town outside of Edmonton, AB! I'm 22 and was diagnosed in feb this year and am having a pretty hard time coping with the diet change...there's no one else in my family with celiac disease, although my little sister is being tested right now, we're waiting for her results :( we're hoping it's negative b/c this really sucks.... anyways i dont really know anyone else with the disease, so i guess i'm looking for some friends that know what i'm going through

cooki.dough Rookie
cooki.dough
Posted

I'm from Halifax. =) Representing the east coast.

  • 2 weeks later...
Melusine Newbie
Melusine
Posted

Hi

i'm in Lethbridge, AB. Not sure if its celiac or gluten intollerant or ....??? but gluten free makes me feel so much better! I can sleep. I can eat. I can live!

Pac Apprentice
Pac
Posted

Hi,

I just moved to Dawson City, Yukon. I'm originally from Europe and to be honest, I have hard times adjusting to the canadian-style gluten free diet. :( If anyone of you have time and patience to answer my probably trivial questions, I'd be really grateful.

Have a great day everyone!

Pavla

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

Hello, Pavla, and welcome to the board.

Living in Dawson City will pose some challenges. It is a lovely place, but is small and somewhat isolated. My wife and I visited in the summer of 1994, well before my gluten-free days. My brother and his wife spent three months in Dawson City in the summer of 2007.

If you are looking for specialty gluten-free items, you will probably need to order them online. But there are lots of mainstream products available in Canada that are gluten-free.

Here is a list of companies/brands that will always clearly disclose gluten if it is present in any of their products:

Arrowhead Mills, Aunt Nelly's, Balance, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Bertoli, Betty Crocker, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Campbells, Cascadian Farms, Celestial Seasonings, ConAgra, Country Crock, Edy's, General Mills, Good Humor, Green Giant, Haagen Daz, Hellman's, Hormel, Hungry Jack, Jiffy, Knorr, Kozy Shack, Kraft, Lawry's, Libby's, Lipton, Martha White, Maxwell House, McCormick, Nabisco, Nestle, Old El Paso, Ortega, Pillsbury, Popsicle, Post, Progresso, Ragu, Russell Stover, Seneca Foods, Skippy, Zatarain's.

The list does not include every brand sold by the listed companies, but look closely at the label for the name of a large company such as Kraft or Unilever. Their brands can be trusted even if they are not on my list.

Soft drinks made by Pepsi and Coca-Cola are all gluten-free. Caramel colour in North America is safe, as is maltodextrin.

VH sauces are a ConAgra brand, and are only sold in Canada. Most (but not all) are gluten-free, and in particular, their soy sauce is widely sold in Canada and is gluten-free.

I've given you a start, but you will have many more questions. Ask away, we are all here to support you. :)

canadianalli Newbie
canadianalli
Posted

didnt see anyone from Saskatchewan, but i am! straight from saskatoon!

Pac Apprentice
Pac
Posted

Hello Peter,

and thanks for your warm welcome.

If you visited Tasty Byte Internet caffe while in Dawson, you might even know me. I was working there in summer 2007. Plus I was goldpanning for the Czech team, (still have the gold). :-)

The list of companies is exactly what I needed, thank you a lot. As for the specialty gluten-free products, I haven't found any breakfast cereals or biscuits, but I can't eat any starchy or too sweet stuff anyway, so it doesn't really bother me. For those celiacs who want to come here, there are gluten-free tortillas, puffed-rice bread, spaghetti and lots of flours - all purpose, corn bread, muffins, pancakes, chocolate cake from Red Mill company.

I still have two more questions. First one - are there any gluten-free beef jerky you can recommend? I've seen some that don't have any gluten in their ingredients list, but just don't know if I can trust them. The second is not related to gluten-free diet. I tried to find sour cream and cottage cheese that are made from milk only but I had no luck so far, all of them contain at least corn starch and guar gum. Should I search more or is this just the "purest" form I can get in Canada? I honestly don't know.

Well, need to go back to work. Hope you have a great day.

Pavla

Hello, Pavla, and welcome to the board.

Living in Dawson City will pose some challenges. It is a lovely place, but is small and somewhat isolated. My wife and I visited in the summer of 1994, well before my gluten-free days. My brother and his wife spent three months in Dawson City in the summer of 2007.

If you are looking for specialty gluten-free items, you will probably need to order them online. But there are lots of mainstream products available in Canada that are gluten-free.

Here is a list of companies/brands that will always clearly disclose gluten if it is present in any of their products:

Arrowhead Mills, Aunt Nelly's, Balance, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Bertoli, Betty Crocker, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Campbells, Cascadian Farms, Celestial Seasonings, ConAgra, Country Crock, Edy's, General Mills, Good Humor, Green Giant, Haagen Daz, Hellman's, Hormel, Hungry Jack, Jiffy, Knorr, Kozy Shack, Kraft, Lawry's, Libby's, Lipton, Martha White, Maxwell House, McCormick, Nabisco, Nestle, Old El Paso, Ortega, Pillsbury, Popsicle, Post, Progresso, Ragu, Russell Stover, Seneca Foods, Skippy, Zatarain's.

The list does not include every brand sold by the listed companies, but look closely at the label for the name of a large company such as Kraft or Unilever. Their brands can be trusted even if they are not on my list.

Soft drinks made by Pepsi and Coca-Cola are all gluten-free. Caramel colour in North America is safe, as is maltodextrin.

VH sauces are a ConAgra brand, and are only sold in Canada. Most (but not all) are gluten-free, and in particular, their soy sauce is widely sold in Canada and is gluten-free.

I've given you a start, but you will have many more questions. Ask away, we are all here to support you. :)

dnwiebe Newbie
dnwiebe
Posted

Newly diagnosed (May 2009). 20 years old from Edmonton! :D

miloandotis Apprentice
miloandotis
Posted

HI, I'm from Vancouver Canada, and joined this site today. I got my world turned upsidedown just three days ago. I'm also blessed with a severe, severe dairy allergy, eggs, and sunflower seeds, just to name the most severe.

In the past three days I've come to understand that my carefree eating will now be very, very changed. Thank god I can have coffee still!!!!!!

I too will have a bunch of questions that will probably be repeats...like...I'm already confused...cornstarch is out as well? hmmm...is there a list of foods to avoid on here somwhere?

I think I'm very lucky. I live in a large city, so access to special diet items may be easier....and I work in a clinic with many fabulous professionals with great advice and experience with this. I guess life could be worse. lol

Anyone know how long it takes to start feeling relief from symptoms?

miloandotis Apprentice
miloandotis
Posted

opps double post...this forum and I are not getting along yet...sorry

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    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens.  I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium.  I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells.  When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly.  This is safe and nontoxic.  Vitamin D level should be above 70 nmol/L.  Lifeguards and indigenous Pacific Islanders typically have levels between 80-100 nmol/L.   Levels lower than this are based on amount needed to prevent disease like rickets and osteomalacia. We need more thiamine when we're physically ill, emotionally and mentally stressed, and if we exercise like an athlete or laborer.  We need more thiamine if we eat a diet high in simple carbohydrates.  For every 500 kcal of carbohydrates, we need 500-1000 mg more of thiamine to process the carbs into energy.  If there's insufficient thiamine the carbs get stored as fat.  Again, recommended levels set for thiamine are based on minimum amounts needed to prevent disease.  This is often not adequate for optimum health, nor sufficient for people with absorption problems such as Celiac disease.  Gluten free processed foods are not enriched with vitamins like their gluten containing counterparts.  Adding a B Complex and additional thiamine improves health for Celiacs.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine helps the mitochondria in cells to function.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins.  They are all water soluble and easily excreted if not needed. Interesting Reading: Clinical trial: B vitamins improve health in patients with coeliac disease living on a gluten-free diet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19154566/ Safety and effectiveness of vitamin D mega-dose: A systematic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34857184/ High dose dietary vitamin D allocates surplus calories to muscle and growth instead of fat via modulation of myostatin and leptin signaling https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38766160/ Safety of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31746327/ Vitamins and Celiac Disease: Beyond Vitamin D https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11857425/ Investigating the therapeutic potential of tryptophan and vitamin A in modulating immune responses in celiac disease: an experimental study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40178602/ Investigating the Impact of Vitamin A and Amino Acids on Immune Responses in Celiac Disease Patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10814138/
    • Jane02
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Jane02 · Posted

      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency.  I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently meet from my diet is vitamin D. Calcium is a hit and miss as I rely on vegetables, dark leafy greens as a major source, for my calcium intake. I'm able to meet it when I either eat or juice a bundle of kale or collard greens daily haha. My thiamine intake is roughly 120% of my needs, although I do recognize that I may not be absorbing all of these nutrients consistently with intermittent unintentional exposures to gluten.  My vitamin A intake is roughly 900% (~6400 mcg/d) of my needs as I eat a lot of sweet potato, although since it's plant-derived vitamin A (beta-carotene) apparently it's not likely to cause toxicity.  Thanks again! 
    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

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    • Scott Adams
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I do not know this, but since they are labelled gluten-free, and are not really a product that could easily be contaminated when making them (there would be not flour in the air of such a facility, for example), I don't really see contamination as something to be concerned about for this type of product. 
    • trents
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By trents · Posted

      Contact them.
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