First Post! Some Questions

[pinkflowers]

Hi, everyone! I'm really glad I found such an informative forum. I've been reading through a bit for the past week and gathered some information. A brief backgroun on my journey to you guys: This past tuesday I got really sick and went to the doctor, they took some blood, and then called last Thursday to say I had severe chronic anemia. They sent me to a general practitioner, who took more blood, who I'm still waiting on the Celiac test results from. The type of anemia I have is usually caused by something else, and in this case, with some more questions from the Doc, her best guess is Celiac. She told me to go ahead and get started on being gluten-free and see how I react to it and if it helps.

After I left the doctor today, I headed to a Gluten-Free store and bought a couple items. I really appreciate that they had some samples out of certain items. Just so I wouldn't buy those items. I got a couple ThinkThin bars and I attempted to get some marinade for Seafood/Poultry/Meat. I really wasn't a fan of what I purchased! So, how do you guys flavor your shrimp/salmon/chicken/whatever? I was always a huge fan of bottled marinades from the grocery store, but I know I can't get the majority of those anymore.

Any tips on reading labels? Other than try not to gag as you realize you were eating stuff that you can't pronounce/don't know what it is.

I just want to say, I had my first gluten-free meal tonight and I was absolutely shocked I didn't feel bloated and sick after. My boyfriend had to explain to me that it wasn't normal, and no, the rest of world doesn't feel like that after eating.

I'm really clueless here on all of this, so any tips you can offer are great!

[thleensd]

Welcome. This is a great forum and you'l learn a lot here.

Something to consider - if your test comes back negative (or "equivocal" as mine did), they might want to do an endoscopy/biopsy, which is the "gold standard" diagnosis. You need to be eating gluten for that test to be valid, and once you stop, it's really difficult to go back to it (often the body will have a more severe reaction). That being said, if you feel amazing and are willing to go strictly gluten-free without that biopsy, that's a big decision.

As far as food goes, you'll hear from other people here that the easiest thing to do (especially while you're still reading labels) is shop the perimeter of the store. Fresh fruits and veggies, plain meat and dairy can make an excellent meal. Instead of bottled marinade, add some onion, garlic, tomato and lemon. Start with simple foods.

If you are going to buy packaged food, stay away from anything with more than a few ingredients. You can buy beans for example that contain beans, salt and water.... that's a pretty safe bet.

As you get more comfortable reading labels, then you can decide if you really want to put all that crap you can't understand in your body! =)

Good luck!

[AVR1962]

Welcome! In the blood work, do you know if they actually tested for Celiac? If they did not, they might want you to do that and you ahve to be eating glutens in order to have any chance for an accurate test. Heads up on all this testing though, is none of it is real accurate. You could easy have Celiac and test now and results comne back negative, retest in a year and the tests be positive. So that's something to keep in mind. For many it comes down to doing what is best for our body's and what makes us well rather than depending on test results.

Keep a food journal. This way you can look back and see if there may also be something else bothering you. Many cannot tolerate dairy, high fructose, soy. My gastro took me off both dairy and gluten for the first 2 months of my diet. When the villa in the intestines becomes damaged we sometimes have issues with other foods. Sometimes we can add those back in and other times not, seems to just depend on the person.

Once your doc gets your vit testing done, ask for a copy of the results. Hopefully it will show the normal range for each so you can check to see if you are bordering somewhere. If you are bordering on low docs consider it normal and not say a word yet you could still be feeling the effects. The results will be all medical coded but you can look up all that coding on the Internet. Celiacs tend to have problems at first with absorbtion because of the damaged villa and because of that we are not getting the nutrients the body needs to repair itself and function properly. Most common defiencies are B12, d, calcium, magnesium, and iron.

You'll need to really clean up the kitchen....toss the strainer as it is going to have hardened residue, toss the wooden spoons for the same reason. Buy a different toaster. Check your pans and if they are not the type you cna scrub you will need to invest in those as well. Check your shampoo, lotion, chapstick, make-up. There is a great list of accepted and not accepted products on this website that might help you understand what to look for. If you are sharing a household with a gluten eater you will have to take a few steps of precaution.....jelly, mayo, mustard....use the dump method rather than using a knife or if a knife is used then you cannot redip as once that knife hits the bread it can pick up a crumb and just that can make you sick. Also, cheese can be sticky. Make sure clean hands are handling the cheese and it is cut on a plate so it doesn't pick up crumbs.

My hardest part was learning to ask questions in a restaurant and that is essential. You have to know what you are eating.

How is the stomach, any burning or pain that feels sour? GERD is another issue with newbies sometimes. If so, you will need to go to extra measures to protect your stomach so it can heal. It is actually acid in the stomach that causes the burning. I was on Nexium for 5 months and I am currently still on a low acidic diet.

Good luck!

[Di2011]

I am as yet undiagnosed but think I am Celiac with DH.

I have always (38 y/o) avoided breakfast and never liked cake, cookies etc. I always thought I wasn't a breakfast eater and wasn't a sweet tooth. I went to work in a bakery and after 9months fell in a very big heap. Until a couple of months ago I, like you, didn't realise that the yuck feelings weren't normal.

After a couple of months of being mostly gluten free I feel pretty good. I know when I've been "glutened" - initially because the DH starts withing a couple of hours (sometimes minutes) and when I've eaten serious gluten (breadcrumbs on chicken etc) I get the stomach/brain yuck stuff within 12-24 hours.

A few weeks ago I realised I should get serious and realised a steak is okay. I think my head associated meat meals with bread (meat on sandwiches, roast with gravy and bread, meat pie etc). Now I can eat lots more red meat than I would ever have wanted or craved.

I had an interesting trip to the local supermarket 2 nights ago. I picked up a bottle of soy sauce that was labeled "gluten free". I've learnt a lot from reading this forum so *fortunately* I read the ingredients list and "wheat" was listed!! It was a small-ish local supermarket where the staff are really helpful and the owner/operators are amazing. I knew that one of the owner family members would be in the store - I found her and told her I thought it odd that the front label said "gluten-free" but wheat was listed. She was amazing.. 1. lead me back to the aisle and we found an alternative 2. said (convincingly) that she would contact the supplier the next morning 3. took ALL of the product from the shelf..

Moral of the story for me:

get to know the local suppliers and cafe/restaurants in your area. If you go somewhere and you get 'oh I think so" "it should be okay" or "we use cornflour .. should be okay" (((is it corn or corn with added wheat flour???)) then you are in the wrong place