I'm A New Member Trying To Switch Over To Gluten Free

[peacebwu]

Hi - fairly new to the site. Been to various doctors w/intenstine problems, colan bleeding. When I look thru my medical records I have been seriously ill about 3 times lasting approx. 3 months each occurence! Had a lot of tests, but no food allergery until about 9 months ago. Showed up three * for wheat, rye, soy, egg whites, no dairy....on and on. Only until I ran across your cite did I realize I might be celiac. Most drs. say IBS and stress. Long story short I have purchased for my food now: organic corn flakes, rice krispies, chicken bullion (will make white rice) with this, plus tortilla white corn chips (for snacks) and Mi-Del arrowroot cookies. Also Van's waffles.

Right now I'm looking for some type of bread (no make just buy half way decent).

Looking over a lot of topics, blogs the things I have in common are small intestine pain (particularly when after I eat) and always worried about stool. But can keep it under control with Lonnox. I do take Xanax .50 when I feel stressed about this or that.

Any suggestions on how I go from here......I am determined to once and for all get this under control.

Thanks for reading and thanks everyone for the various blogs, topics....... d

[LDJofDenver]

Hi - fairly new to the site. Been to various doctors w/intenstine problems, colan bleeding. When I look thru my medical records I have been seriously ill about 3 times lasting approx. 3 months each occurence! Had a lot of tests, but no food allergery until about 9 months ago. Showed up three * for wheat, rye, soy, egg whites, no dairy....on and on. Only until I ran across your cite did I realize I might be celiac. Most drs. say IBS and stress. Long story short I have purchased for my food now: organic corn flakes, rice krispies, chicken bullion (will make white rice) with this, plus tortilla white corn chips (for snacks) and Mi-Del arrowroot cookies. Also Van's waffles.

Right now I'm looking for some type of bread (no make just buy half way decent).

Looking over a lot of topics, blogs the things I have in common are small intestine pain (particularly when after I eat) and always worried about stool. But can keep it under control with Lonnox. I do take Xanax .50 when I feel stressed about this or that.

Any suggestions on how I go from here......I am determined to once and for all get this under control.

Thanks for reading and thanks everyone for the various blogs, topics....... d

First, on getting tested for celiac disease -- you have to be eating gluten before you do the blood work for this. Your body won't be producing antibodies in the absence of gluten (if you have celiac disease). So you may want to pursue that first, before restricting your diet.

A warning about some products that you think are safe (organic corn flakes, etc). HerbOx bouillion is Gluten Free, Wyler's I believe is not. Kellogg's Rice Crispies are not gluten-free. If it doesn't say gluten-free on the package, it probably is not. General Mill's Rice Chex are gluten-free.

Down the road, you may want to consider purchasing a grocery guide, as many mainstream items are gluten free (Kraft, Hormel, Classico). I like the Cecilia's Marketplace grocery guide (Open Original Shared Link), but there is also one out by Triumph (Open Original Shared Link). They are $20-$25 but worth it (simplifies your life, big time), but are worth it.

Plus I've found that if I email (or call) a company, many are quick to send you information on which of their products are safe/unsafe (Heinz, Hormel, etc.). When in doubt (sometimes there's an ambiguous ingredient!) I contact the maker. Often you can get on their website and find a list of gluten free products.

I don't know where you live so not sure what to tell you about bread except there's usually more to choose from in whole foods types of grocers, although chains often have one or two usually in frozen section.

[mattathayde]

Hi - fairly new to the site. Been to various doctors w/intenstine problems, colan bleeding. When I look thru my medical records I have been seriously ill about 3 times lasting approx. 3 months each occurence! Had a lot of tests, but no food allergery until about 9 months ago. Showed up three * for wheat, rye, soy, egg whites, no dairy....on and on. Only until I ran across your cite did I realize I might be celiac. Most drs. say IBS and stress. Long story short I have purchased for my food now: organic corn flakes, rice krispies, chicken bullion (will make white rice) with this, plus tortilla white corn chips (for snacks) and Mi-Del arrowroot cookies. Also Van's waffles.

Right now I'm looking for some type of bread (no make just buy half way decent).

Looking over a lot of topics, blogs the things I have in common are small intestine pain (particularly when after I eat) and always worried about stool. But can keep it under control with Lonnox. I do take Xanax .50 when I feel stressed about this or that.

Any suggestions on how I go from here......I am determined to once and for all get this under control.

Thanks for reading and thanks everyone for the various blogs, topics....... d

for gluten-free cornflakes make sure they dont have barley malt in them (most of them have it). the arrowroot cookies are soooooooooo good, its a great choice as a snack. for bread the best thing i have found off the shelf is the enr-g tapioca loaf, its not great by it self but as a sandwich or as garlic bread its fine but i would suggest when starting gluten-free to just cut out all baked goods so you get used to not having them at all so when you get a good substitute later its better.

you might want to get tested before you start on the diet if you care about an official result, i personally dont have an official Dx but was Dx'ed by my alternative medicine guy and after going gluten-free i had soooooo many things that resolved them selves that fit perfectly to celiac, my normal doc agreed that i probably had celiac but at this point its stupid for me to make my self sick for a month to get a test for what i already know

-matt

[teacherkd]

In all honesty, I can't say that you should really expect to eat like you used to, but you shouldn't limit yourself to a few "safe" foods, either. It simply is not healthy in the long run. Remember a few simple things and the diet should be fairly easy.

1. Eat non-processed or low-processed foods as a major portion of your diet. Whole foods-- fruits, meats, alternative grains, vegetables, dairy-- without processing or with minimal additives tend to be gluten free without even trying. Start with these as ingredients and you can eat pretty well to begin with.

2. When replacing gluten-full foods, it's best to stick to the very basics. For me, that means bread for sandwiches and crackers for snacking and dipping. For bread, I recommend Ezekiel 4:19 millet bread, if you can find it. For crackers, Blue Diamond Nut Thins [i like the red box variety, my kids and wife like the purple box] are the best I've had. Anything else can be made from a mix or from scratch if necessary, but do not expect these items to compare directly to their glutenated versions, especially in texture.

3. The biggest thing to remember [and most people will probably agree] is to watch out for cross contamination, especially if you're sharing space with gluten-vores.

I hope this helps.

[peacebwu]

To: Teacherkd and Matt/ thank yu so much for the food insight! I've tried replying to your notes to me, but somehow I haven't got this down pat yet. Hopefully, you'll get my "thank you"....

Yes, I got the bread, and some pasta shells, and bars........I do drink Almond Unsweetened Milk (no dairy, no eggs, etc. etc.) Trying to take it one day at a time, spending quite a bit of time reading the forums and blogs....again my thanks! D

[mattathayde]

To: Teacherkd and Matt/ thank yu so much for the food insight! I've tried replying to your notes to me, but somehow I haven't got this down pat yet. Hopefully, you'll get my "thank you"....

Yes, I got the bread, and some pasta shells, and bars........I do drink Almond Unsweetened Milk (no dairy, no eggs, etc. etc.) Trying to take it one day at a time, spending quite a bit of time reading the forums and blogs....again my thanks! D

also if you want some gluten-free baked goods look over a gfmeals.com they are kinda new but have gluten free and casin free food so you probably wont have much issue getting foods that work for you and so far the bagels and burger buns i tried were good, and im going to cook up some of the chicken nuggets they sell. it is expensive but its at least good, so for a treat here and there its good

-matt

[peacebwu]

Hi - fairly new to the site. Been to various doctors w/intenstine problems, colan bleeding. When I look thru my medical records I have been seriously ill about 3 times lasting approx. 3 months each occurence! Had a lot of tests, but no food allergery until about 9 months ago. Showed up three * for wheat, rye, soy, egg whites, no dairy....on and on. Only until I ran across your cite did I realize I might be celiac. Most drs. say IBS and stress. Long story short I have purchased for my food now: organic corn flakes, rice krispies, chicken bullion (will make white rice) with this, plus tortilla white corn chips (for snacks) and Mi-Del arrowroot cookies. Also Van's waffles.

Right now I'm looking for some type of bread (no make just buy half way decent).

Looking over a lot of topics, blogs the things I have in common are small intestine pain (particularly when after I eat) and always worried about stool. But can keep it under control with Lonnox. I do take Xanax .50 when I feel stressed about this or that.

Any suggestions on how I go from here......I am determined to once and for all get this under control.

Thanks for reading and thanks everyone for the various blogs, topics....... d

[peacebwu]

Hi - did go to my allergy dr. yesterday (6/11). Background he is ear, nose, throat, allergy plus surgeon. High end, not store front dr. Has a substantial clinic and well regarded. Long story short, I had a list of questions to ask about Celiac. He said: When you take the allergy panel food blood test and it shows that you are greatly rated plus in the wheat, gluten, rye, malt soy categories you can consider your celiac. He did take an additional test for this to see how extreme. Bottomline, he told me if your body is intolerant of these foods (by blood test)...don't get the small intestine test UNLESS YOU ARE EXTREMELY SICK.....than they are looking for other problems too! He told me basically, what agrees w/me I should eat. There are many foods that show that I can eat, when I do eat, I have stool problems, pains, etc. This can happen vice versus too, foods that show I shouldn't eat, but do agree.

We did talk for quite a while, one of the situations is he said is that once I, in my mind, feel that a food is not "good for me", psychologically this could create a food problem. Keep an open mind, my body will tell me what it will consume and won't don't let my mind tell me, go w/my body. If I feel good on something, even though it shows up positive on the test, he said eat it, but don't over due.

Also, in good probability, this will be w/me the rest of my life. Sometimes, the food imbalace will change, sometimes you can eat a small portion of whatever. I will be interested in what this new blood test will show versus the one that I took in 2007.

I came away w/it's up to me to find out (regardless of the ingredients) what I can eat that agrees w/my system yet knowing the gluten is by far a problem that I must eliminate from my foods. I do have this problem, no getting away from it, keep a food diary, if "ordinary food" agrees, eat some (but not too much or too often), .

Interesting he said even though some individuals find out that they are allergic to some foods, they just plain disregard them. They put up w/the consequences. I asked him how many people he sees like me (diary, soy, milk gluten,egg etc) and he told me colan specialists send him at least 6-10 a month.

He said any bleeding (except hemorroids) in stool immediately should be checked out.

But if no problems in this area, I would know, depending upon how I feel (pain, sick, stools, etc.) what I should eat.

Keep you posted on the test results. Again, this is just letting you know what my visit w/him entailed, but personally, I'm gonna try to get a mind set, get a list of foods that agree, plus gluten free, and not let this food intolerance (call it what you may) ruin my life. Hopefully, I can stick w/this in my mind and body.

Hope this gives you an insight on "one"doctor's opinion! d