Michi8

I think I am having both gluten and dairy issues...the dairy definitely leaves me feeling gassy and rumbly.

I am pretty sure I didn't have enough gluten in my system to register properly. Decided to do the Enterolab tests, though, which I suspect will show something that the blood work didn't. And it appears that the GI didn't take enough samples from the biopsy to get an accurate reading. I feel like this whole thing has been botched from the beginning! I think the thing to do is go gluten and dairy free and see where that takes me.

Thanks for your input everyone!

chocolatelover,

I'm having the same experience. Negative blood, negative endo (though the GI found hiatal hernia and gastritis...plus said it's IBS and added the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome?!) Anway, I was off gluten for a month and feeling good, but decided to eat it again before my colonoscopy next month. Don't think it will make much difference for the test though. I will be off gluten again after that. I feel good off of it, and find that I'm not really craving many gluteny foods anyway. Will be going dairy free too (lactose intolerant for sure) which I think will be much harder for me than eliminating gluten.

Michelle

They get rather sweet if you have too many. But it's a nice cold refreshing drink on a hot summers day.

I like sweet, girly drinks (bellinis are my favourite ) It does take me a looooong time to finish a drink though, so I don't often have "too many." But it sure does hit the spot in the summer!

Michelle

It all depends on your location. In the USA Smirnoff Ice is not gluten free, but in Canada it is gluten free. So, you have to make sure you are contacting the Canadian Smirnoff and not the US Smirnoff.

Wow, I had no idea that Smirnoff Ice is so different between the US and Canada. Smirnoff.com has a list of FAQs that address the difference, and I found a blurb in Wikipedia that talks about the differences:

There are two different products by the name of Smirnoff Ice. One, sold in the United States and France, is a citrus-flavoured malt beverage (5% ABV). The other, sold in Europe (excluding France), Latin America, Australia and Canada, is a premixed vodka drink (4.7% (7% in Ontario and Australia)o ABV).

I have never been a malt beverage fan, so am really glad the Smirnoff Ice in Canada is a vodka cooler instead.

Michelle

I think your probably correct.....

Still you knew what I meant ... now everyone else can too ...

Hold on.. if unagi is fish what is eel?

Where's my girlfriend when I need her... (she's the one speaks Japanese)...

Unagi is eel...I believe it is BBQ'd? Umami is the sense of taste for MSG.

Michelle

A couple of those things can be good when prepared the right way. Brussel sprouts, for example, with the right recipe and careful cooking can be quite good. If you cook the heck out of it though, it becomes inedible...I guess that's pretty much like any veggie...can't stand them mushy! I'm one of those who doesn't much like coriander, but, again, it depends on the recipe. It tastes really out of place with some foods, but works well with others.

Tonic water and olives are definitely off my list though.

My middle child is a supertaster and seems to really enjoy foods with some spice/flavour to them...but he finds pretty much all veggies bitter and hard to eat (even carrots!)

Michelle

We all taste things differently, I love grapefruit... so long as its not too sweet... and I'm not against eating a lemon if its a sweetish one.. I'm sure lots of people find that gross

I personally find quinoa pretty bland (in grain form) (when washed)... but that doesn't mean everyone will.

An interesting article you might find interesting is here

Open Original Shared Link

Anyway, perhaps Quinoa should be added to the list....

# Brussels sprouts[9][10][11] (I really find it hard to believe anyone likes these)

# cabbage[12] Not a great preference for me,

# Coffee[13] 100% Arabica, I can taste the tiniest amount of Robusta and it makes me gag.

# grapefruit juice[14] MMMM

# green tea[15] MMMMM (but I really don't like black tea - and I'm English!)

# kale[16]

# spinach[17]

The pair of these I can happily avoid but do force myself

# soy products[18]

??

* chilli peppers - capsaicin burn is more intense in supertasters

Oh but so worth it (IMHO)

* Tonic water - quinine is more bitter to supertasters (UGGHGHHGHGHHH )

* Olives - for a given concentration, salt is more intense in supertasters (I only like fresh or preserved in brine)

* Coriander - People either hate or love this herb.. the ones that don't like it say it tastes 'soapy'.

Like sprouts.... but the opposite... from how I taste it I don't see how anyone can not like coriander (cilantro) ... hehe but I know MANY do.

Thank you for the replies.

This thing is directly below my last rib on my right side. I feel no pain although I can feel it and during the coarse of the day it feels more pronounced and uncomfortable. It feels almost as if there is an air pocket. I take Omeprazole daily.

Perhaps this is a hernia aside from the large hiatal as indicated by the endoscopy. Guess its time to go back to the doc.

Lisa

Sounds to me like it may be an abdominal hernia of some sort. Definitely worth seeing the doctor.

Michelle

I was going to say the same as jayhawkmom. You wouldn't likely be feeling a hiatal hernia in that area. Is it possible you have a different type of hernia though? Has your GI suggested you need surgery?

My endoscopy results showed a hiatal hernia and gastritis...I need to be careful about the foods I eat, and be aware of how I move (exercise, sleeping, sitting) to avoid having reflux due to the hernia.

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for your reply and the link. I read part of it, but need to go back and read the other sections.

I had thought of just having the fibroids removed, but most of my pain is from the ovary area..so I don't think that would solve my problem.

My Mother is the only person I know well that is unhappy with her hysterectomy. She's had bladder problems ever since (it may not be related to the surgery, but you won't convince her otherwise). So a bad outcome for me with a hysterectomy will lead to a lifetime of "I told you so!" from my Mother which puts another con on the list.

Thanks again and now to get back to reading the informative link you posted!

The uterus is an important part of the female anatomy, so to have it removed can certainly affect the positioning of the surrounding organs and tissues. As I understand it, it could affect the bladder due to organ prolapse (somewhat common after hysterectomy.) I would expect there could also be some complications with the bladder if it is adhered to the uterus (due to prior surgeries such as cesarean section).

If the ovaries are the problem, and need to be removed, you may be able to choose to remove them without removing the entire uterus. Might be something worth looking into if you need to choose surgical correction.

Michelle

Geez... I didn't mean to start anything.

I didn't think that you "started" anything. I thought it was worth mentioning that it's common practice to rinse all grains before cooking anyway, so there's really no need for a manufacturer's label.

Michelle

That's pretty much what went through my head too.... however I guess people know about rice (although the amount of chemical treated rice is making a bunch of people who only know how to micro/boil in the bag) ...

Given its tastes horrid unless you do rinse it though you'd think they would put it on the marketing stuff???

Its not like I Think they should be legislated to do so... but its seems common sense for a relatively new product that is going to put people off???

I don't think it's all that new though...it's been a product in natural grocers for a long time. Though, I suppose if the manufacturers are actively trying to gain new customers it might makes sense. I believe that you would want to rinse other whole grains and dried legumes before cooking as well...it's as much to remove starch or coating on the grains as to wash out any foreign objects too (stones for example.)

Michelle

I have no idea why they would sell something that has to be rinsed without saying that in BIG red letters.

Most packaged plain grains don't have instructions. It's a good idea to rinse rice before cooking as well.

Michelle

Thanks for the reply jerseyangel. Not what I wanted to hear but a good honest answer.

My main fibroid hasn't changed in size for the past 2 years, they say it is the size of a 3 month pregnancy. I realize they won't know what else is going on in there until they do the surgery, but I'm sure it's more than just a fibroid or two. I've really been trying to avoid the hysterectomy although almost all the women I know who have had one are happy they did it.

Hope you get to feeling better soon and thanks again!

Hi Cottage_Soul,

I think you're wise to try all of your options before hysterectomy. Hysterectomy can have a profound effect on your health and emotional well-being, and comes with a whole host of potential side-effects (one of which is pelvic pain), so should never be done "lightly." Unfortunately, it's a surgery that is performed more often than it should be.

For myself, I intend on doing everything I can to avoid this surgery. My grandmother and mother had it done, and they had difficult emotional challenges afterward, plus the issue of weight gain. Excessive bleeding (months long periods that became a health hazard) was the reason for my mother's hysterectomy...I wonder if endometrial ablasion would have been a better option for her?

BTW have you been given the option of fibroid removal? Can you have exloratory surgery without hysterectomy? I'm sure you've done already done some reading and searching about this...if you haven't seen it already, I have found an interesting book & link on the topic: Open Original Shared Link

I hope that you have good response with going gluten and dairy free...it's certainly can't hurt, and you may find added health benefits that go along with it!

Michelle

I just started having this problem recently. It happens when I'm through with a post and return to the main forum page. It doesn't return me to the "new posts" (that I clicked on previously) and that's when I get the error, when I click on "new posts".

How can I avoid this happening, anyone else have this problem, why did it start just recently? Thanks for any help.

best regards, lm

I get this message all the time, and it started when I joined. It is annoying, but it probably has to do with a large number of members being online and searching at the same time...especially if they are frequently clicking on "View New Posts" like I do. BTW, I can pretty much count on that message coming up if I'm performing a specific search.

Michelle

Trying to prevent accidents is of course good but to say all accidents is preventable isn't true... if your driving along the highway and a passing plane engine falls on your car then this was so far out of your control its silly to worry about.

The accident would have been out of the car driver's control, but not out of the control of the airline...the airplane falling out the of the sky would have been prevetable with proper maintenance, a sober pilot, etc.

The point is you simply cannot cover every possible accident that might possibly happen, you have to draw a sensible limit and use judgement. A child falling on kitchen knives left point up in a open dishwasher is obviously easily preventable, the child finding a chair, opening the dishwasher and taking out a knife and hurting themself is beyond planning....

Children are resourceful little tykes... I know I was one... I have my share of scars and broken bones I had my share of moments but I can't look back and say my mom should've protected me, in most cases I made a big effort to be a brat and defeat her attempts at safety...

It's also a learning experience. Once you have an injury from a particular action, then you (hopefully) learn how to predict and prevent it happening again to you. You can then try to impart that wisdom to your own child(ren). Whether they take and use that advice is really up to them.

Michelle

Funny that you mention that... It's probably because of signs like the one Michelle posted that she saw in her pediatricians office. Parents are constantly being judged by everyone around them, including their own parents and family. It makes it hard NOT to try to be perfect. That being said, I know I'm far from perfect and my daughter loves me just how I am.

Thanks for all the kind words.

I think I felt like a worse parent after reading the poster (at the paediatrician's office) about never, ever, ever having a trampoline at home...how they are always unsafe and lead to injury. We'd already bought one. Hope I'll never have to hear the accident prevention lecture for letting the kids use it!

Michelle

I agree, my post was kind of tongue in cheek, and when my daughter fell, she was 10 yrs old, not a toddler. She also had sensory issues with her mouth so I had to be doubly cautious about food - or she would choke.

She banged her cheek once and had bruise...she did this while walking in a special walker (the kid used by handicapped kids - not Toys R Us variety). the physiotherapist was on one side and I on the other, , she lost her center of balance and bang - into the handle,. could it have been prevented - likely with padding on the handle or if the physiotherapist had 3 hands because she was rescusng the "bottom half" when the leg buckled and i was holding the walker steady.

I only wanted to let the OP know she was not alone, she obviously learned from it and wanted to share it with us so no one else had it happen to them.

Sandy

*and if this post sounds defensive - probably is, I am trying to keep things lighthearted because while accidents might be preventable - immune mediated disease isnt and my daughter is currently undergoing a battery of test for autoimmune hepatitis......... so... I just wanted to help "moms" know, yes of course use common sense but be prepared for things like falling toddlers etc. If they fall, its not your fault , if they fall into glass coffee table that smashes - then yes that was preventable.

I certainly wasn't trying to put you on the defensive, and wasn't making a judgment about anybody. Hey, I've got three kids...one of whom is especially "accident" (or should I say "injury") prone (the one who happened to get his fingers stuck in the elevator door...which I tried to prevent, but wasn't moving fast enough.) As I said earlier, you can't control other people. I still think that the sign I saw makes an interesting (and true) statement.

Michelle

BTW, as an fellow Canadian, I'm sure you know that the old-fashioned baby variety of walkers (not the physical therapy kind) are banned for sale and use in Canada...the powers that be are the ones trying to prevent injuries (ie predictable & preventable accidents) in that regard.

not sure about that - with kids, yes its predicatble that when they start to walk - they will fall.....when they start to eat - they will choke........when they ride abike they will fall off of it..

my daughter tripped on the sidewalk once and hit the sidewalk face first, horrible nosebleed big patch of blood on the sidewalk......... how I could have predicted that one, I do not know, the only way I could have prevented it is to keep her home

Again , glad she's okay..

Sandy

Except when they start to walk (or learn any new skills), it's up to caregivers to provide safe places for them to test out their new abilities. When they start to eat, it's up to caregivers to choose the appropriate timing and foods for safe eating. When kids explore their world, it's up to caregivers to provide childproof/child-friendly surroundings.

There is an interesting survey/study that was done to find out the public's interpretation of the word accident:

Open Original Shared Link

A bit of info from the link:

Keywords: accident; public; national survey; terminology

North American injury control professionals eschew the word accident. They believe it reinforces public misconceptions that injuries cannot be predicted or prevented, or that injuries are controlled by fate. This concern has been raised by numerous leaders of the modern injury prevention movement:

I saw a sign at the paediatrician's office a while back:

Accidents are predictable and preventable.

It's very true. Rarely is there an "accident" that couldn't have been avoided if we took preventative measures. That said, you really can't control another person (even your own kids) and sometimes our judgement calls aren't perfect. All you can do is do your best to avoid injury, and try to teach your kids to be mindful and careful.

Michelle

As others have mentioned they're sometimes called allergic shiners. I've always had them, and my kids and DH have them. We're all allergic to various stuff. Don't know about the gluten thing yet, though. I doubt mine will go away, just because I'm allergic to so much in the environment!

Michelle

Let me start by saying, she is fine! There was no major damage done. I just wanted to share this with everyone so it doesn't happen to anyone else. We were in Florida this past week staying at a hotel with a swimming pool. In order to get to the pool we had to go down a floor in the elevator. We were getting ready to go swimming last Monday and Tori (my two year old daughter) was getting really fussy because it was taking everyone so long to get ready. She threw a fit when I tried to put her shoes on, so I just skipped it. No one else was wearing shoes in the elevator, so I figured I wouldn't force her this time. It just wasn't worth the fight. When we got to the elevator she charged at the open door as it was closing. It closed on her and drug her toes down into the tracks and the door closed over them. We managed to get the door open again, though we weren't sure we were going to be able to. Her toes were bleeding badly and we weren't sure for quite some time if she was going to have any permanent damage. Anyway, she IS fine and we ended up not having to take her to the ER for stitches. She's recovering well and was able to enjoy the rest of her vacation. We were very lucky that she didn't lose any toes. I just wanted to share my story with all of you. Please, if you have young children, make them wear shoes on elevators and escalators! I would hate to hear that this happened to someone else. Having your kid screaming at the top of her lungs while literally stuck in an elevator track is NOT fun.

How scary, Angie! I'm glad she's okay. Elevators and escalators can be dangerous. I remember when my eldest was a toddler and he had his hand on the door of the elevator at our condo...when the doors opened his fingers got pulled into the wall...pretty scary, and very lucky he wasn't seriously hurt (though it did hurt a lot!) Accidents can happen so quickly!

Michelle

GlutenWrangler, I apologize if I am misunderstanding you, but I am seeing this from a different perspective.

It's hard enough to get a doctor to agree to order just the celiac panel, even when we have already "proven" the existence of a probable cause just by dietary response. But when you request to be tested for 132 allergens and say that insurance will pay for it, even if your doctor does okay it, that makes it that much harder for the rest of us. The insurancemay pay for your 132 allergen tests, but it will make up the loss by refusing to pay for someone else's truly necessary, Life-and-Death test.

If you think you have a problem with food allergies, then do an elimination test--that's more reliable anyway, doesn't cost you (or anyone else) a thing, and you don't need a doctor's approval. If you find from the elimination test that you react to something, you can then either eliminate it from your diet, or, if you still want confirmation, then present your evidence to your doctor and ask for tests for the things that you react to.

Am I the only one who sees something wrong with a patient who walks in and requests expensive tests for something that can be confirmed more reliably by an elimination diet? Yes, your doctor may very well be a jerk and/or an idiot. Or, he may have found himself in a situation where he made what he sees as a mistake (by agreeing to the test in the first place) and now wants to correct the mistake.

The only part where I agree with you is that you had to shellout $75 based on his initially approving the test. Can you return that and get your money back?

The cost of allergy testing is very low compared to many other types of tests (genetic testing or MRI for example) so I don't see an issue with insurance paying for it, nor do I see how it would really affect how a different patient would end up not getting coverage for something that is "life & death." Insurance doesn't really work that way...they will make up losses by raising premiums instead. When I did my own allergy testing (prick test and patch test) I had to pay for the kits out of my own pocket, insurance wouldn't cover it at all. The allergist who did the test got paid though (provincial public insurance.)

Michelle

These are their chili powder ingredients as listed on their website:

Ingredients

CHILI PEPPER, CUMIN, OREGANO, SALT, SILICON DIOXIDE (ADDED TO MAKE FREE FLOWING), AND GARLIC.

Don't know why it's different than listed on your bottle...maybe "spices" does mean cumin and oregano?

Michelle

Have you seen a dermatologist to determine what the skin issuses may be? Has psoriasis been ruled out? From what I understand, psoriasis can be responsible for the type of flaking and dryness that you are describing. It has also been found that, for some, going gluten free can be helpful.

I suffer from what the dermatologist thinks may be psoriasis (by description) but he hasn't positively diagnosed it as I haven't been in to see him during a flare-up. I do have problems with dryness (though not as severe as you decribe) and itchy "acne" type areas on my face, neck, behind ears, back and chest. I tend to have flare-up patches on my elbows, knees, hips, etc. I have only been gluten free for a short while, and do not yet know whether I actually have celiac disease (though I'm thinking it's more likely gluten and/or dairy intolerance.)

Michelle

I asked for the test because I think I have other food sensitivities. I didn't march into his office and demand it. I asked if he would order it for me, which he did. It was when it was time to have my blood drawn that he refused to do it. Obviously I'm not going to be allergic to all 132 foods, but I like the idea of having everything covered. I really don't care about there being no correlation between positive results and reactions. For the purposes of my own health, I would like to know what my body is reacting to any any level. The main point is that it's my health, not his. If my insurance covers it, where's the harm in it? Not to mention how unprofessional it is to order the test for me, and then refuse to complete it after I spent $75 on the kit.

It was very unprofessional of him to order the test and then refuse to complete it! However, I would be hesitant about relying on this type of allergy testing...especially when it's testing for so many specific foods. I would be concerned, especially, if you were to get a false positive to foods you aren't actually allergic to...it would be a shame to end up eliminating a food if you don't really have a problem with it. It really is more accurate, though time consuming, to do an elimination diet to test for food reactions.

I've had the skin-prick and patch allergy testing done and found, that while it seemed to be fairly accurate for my environmental allergies, the food tests were hit and miss. I tested negative on some stuff that I had always been allergic too, but I sometimes still have the odd reaction even though I've "outgrown" my allergy. I think that the severity of reaction is what has really changed, in addition to foods that cross-react with pollen allergens.

Michelle

Still doesnt excuse the rude response, they could have told you that much...like...: "The doctor hasnt had good results with that product and does not recommend it.."...or..."its still in clinical trials"....

Sandy

Thanks, Sandy.

I actually got a quick reponse from the Dr's office. They left a message for me saying that the dr finds Golytely/Colyte does a better job of cleansing, so that is what I must use. I'm pleased that, though the receptionist was rude, she did take my inquiry seriously and responded quickly. I prefer to know "why" rather than "just because." Still wish they were nicer to talk to though.

Michelle