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Helena

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Celiac.com - Celiac Disease & Gluten-Free Diet Support Since 1995

Everything posted by Helena

  1. Helena
    Does anyone know if Nature's Gate Cherry Gel Natural Toothpaste (with Natural Cherry Flavor and Goldenseal) is gluten free? I'm guessing yes because they put rice bran oil in it (not something companies do unless they are concerned about the gluten issue). But there are some ingredients which aren't specified--like "vegetable glycerin" so I can't tell...
  2. Helena
    Thanks lonewolf and riceaddict. I don't think my grandpa has that autoimmune problem you described, lonewolf. but looking at riceaddict's post it looks like kidney failure could in some cases be gluten related. (I'm not personally having kidney trouble---just had that one off test that made me wonder. when the test was repeated, i was fine, and so i'm...
  3. Helena
    Hmmm....while I was in the midst of a gluten challenge, my blood tests suggested that my kidneys weren't doing so well. (but the test is only definitive if it is abnormal when repeated) About one month after going gluten free, my doctor reran the test and it was normal. A connection? Or a fluke? I think my grandpa probably has celiac . . .. his kidneys...
  4. Helena
    Just to confirm--an allergy and celiac are two different things. According to my understanding, a celiac produces antibodies which attack the *body* (although I'm not sure what the antigliadins do). . . someone with an IgE-mediated allergy produces wheat-protein-specific IgE (and I am not certain, but I think that there are other proteins in wheat besides...
  5. Helena
    I'd trust Lorka on the Celestial Seasonings issue, then . . . I don't drink their teas and am not sure how sensitive I am . . .
  6. Helena
    I have multiple food allergies too, and always carry epipens, etc, so I can sympathize. Celiac disease was a more recent discovery. On 'outgrowing' allergies----kids sometimes do outgrow their allergies, but adults aren't as likely to outgrow severe ones. (Intolerances are a different story.) So if you haven't had milk since you were a kid, there...
  7. Helena
    My understanding is that spices--even pure spices--may have anticaking agents added which don't have to be added to the label. Theoretically, gluten could be used. I haven't actually purchased Shelly Case's book on celiac disease, but I thumbed through it in a bookstore, and I'm pretty sure she addresses this issue----if I'm remembering correctly she said...
  8. Helena
    I ended up going the elimination diet route after allergy testing----my allergist supervised it. First, though, he did the allergy skin prick tests. He was rather skeptical about the results because I reacted to so much. He thought I couldn't possibly be allergic to that many things. (And he is right to say that those tests are a guide but aren't 10...
  9. Helena
    Thanks, everyone--I won't rule out gluten, then. There was definitely no gluten in the ingredients, but around Christmas when all five family members are home for the holidays my mom's kitchen is gluten-filled. My allergic reactions really vary and can be unpredictable. I'm anaphylactic to some things (which for me means throat itchiness, vomiting...
  10. Helena
    I've been sick twice during the holidays. In both cases, I had eaten food prepared by others (so there would be a possibility of cross contamination I suppose.) But there's also the chance that I was having an allergic reaction of some sort to something other than gluten (I do have *a lot* of allergies.) I'm wondering how plausible it is to suspect...
  11. Helena
    This is a tough situation---it sounds to me like you're doing everything you can to try to establish some boundaries. I'd suggest trying to get your mom to go to counselling sessions with you---from what you're writing here it seems like your mom isn't going to listen to you. But if a third person tells her maybe she'll start to understand your perspective...
  12. Helena
    That's good to hear that the GI doc is pursuing this. Good luck--keep us posted.
  13. Helena
    If people test positive for the serological markers for celiac disease, dr.'s generally recommend the biopsy while the patient is still on a gluteny diet---if the biopsy is negative, they decide that the patient does not have celiac. What I don't get is how they explain the positive blood test results. In my understanding (and I might be entirely wrong...
  14. Helena

    ARCHIVED "the Trigger"

    Helena replied to a topic in Coping with Celiac Disease

    I'm not really sure---looking back I suspect I had celiac most of my life. I generally felt tired after eating . . . not so much that others would necessarily notice, but I sure did. About . . . oh . . I'd say 4-5 years ago or so, I started to feel *really* tired right after breakfast. I thought it could be something I was eating (especially because...
  15. Helena
    I don't feel that way about wheat----I actually like the scent of freshly baked bread. But I have never gotten as sick from wheat as a lot of people here. I can relate where peanuts are concerned---while I'm okay with seeing peanuts, ever since I've had a near death experience after eating something with peanuts, the smell literally makes me gag. Once...
  16. Helena
    Well, it certainly sounds to me like you should be investigated for celiac disease and also that your doc isn't up on how to proceed! I sure hope you have better luck with your GI doc. I'd recommend printing off info. from authoritative sources in case you don't. The NIH has good info. on testing for celiac as does Dr. Green's centre for celiac research...
  17. Helena
    I second zansu's comment about the problem with being around flour dust----my dietician told me to be careful of this. Wildkat, What you are saying makes perfect sense. My dietician also told me to get rid of any teflon coated pans, wooden spoons, wooden cutting boards used during my previous gluten unfree life. Gluten gets stuck in any scratches in...
  18. Helena
    This is really interesting. Some people with food allergies complain of a metallic taste---I wonder how that happens?
  19. Helena
    Thanks, Steve! I'm glad I won't need to bring this one up again . . . and that I don't have any structural sinus problems.
  20. Helena
    I have sinus trouble too. Does anyone know if a deviated septum will show up on a CT scan? Just asking because after examining my sinuses, my allergist mumbled something about my septum looking weird and sending me for a CT scan and perhaps to an ENT. I think he *entirely* forgot about this appointment. I reminded him months later of his comments...
  21. Helena
    Thanks for the advice. I do think there is a good chance that I have it--I have all those allergies, high eosinophil levels in my blood, mild swallowing problems (dry meat), mild reflux problems + evidence of tissue damage ("laryngeal inflammation" the ENT said several years ago). I did ask my GI doctor about it the last time I was in . . . but he is really...
  22. Helena
    Wow, that's a lot to deal with. But that is great that you have a diagnosis---it is scary not to know what's wrong. Keep us updated on how things go with the diet. Did the doctor check for eosinophils elsewhere in the GI tract as well? I've been wondering if I should get checked for ee . . . but I'll probably need to get a referral to a new GI doc...
  23. Helena
    I'd go with the elimination diet too. I'd highly recommend buying this book: Open Original Shared Link .com/Dealing-Food-Allergi...TF8&s=books She deals with a variety of things you can react to aside from the usual culprits---like tyramine (hope I'm remembering this correctly). Don't know how I would have survived the elimination diet without...
  24. Helena
    Thanks, Carla. The more I read on this message board, the more convinced I am that she has a tick-borne illness. It might be viral, though, as Russian tick-borne encephalitis is a major problem where she was travelling at the time. Years ago, she came down with a weird "flu" (and she did get bit by something a week or two before that---her one foot was...
  25. Helena
    I had never heard of that before . . . those tick-borne illnesses are really bizarre. An update: my sister did *finally* make it to the dr. this week. The doctor's verdict: she had burned her throat by treating her sore throat with too much salt water. He said only to use 1/4 tsp. of salt (in how much water, I'm not sure). He also recommended camomile...
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