sixtytwo

So....now it is many days later and I just cannot tell you how good I feel with the combination of 1000mg of Vitamin D, melatonin for sleep and an antidepressant. I am good natured, do not snap at my husband, feel so much more at peace with my life. I just went to the doctor today for a follow-up appointment and had to tell him how life-altering this regimine has been. I feel I must have been depressed for a very long time now and am so happy to have found a solution. It really is hard to explain, but I was always living either in the past (going over what is wrong with my life and wishing it were different) or living in the future (trying to see what I could do to make things better) and not living in the moment. I am able to do that more now. After nearly 65 years the other way, it takes some time to change, but it sure is wonderful. Happy New Year. Barbara

Try Melatonin, I don't know if anyone else has suggested this, I don't feel like going through all of these answers. The doctor told me about Melatonin and it works.

If any of you think you have SAD, a common ailment that affects people who do no get outside and who are bummed in the winter.......last winter was awful for me and no doctor put their finger on it. This winter I suggested to my doctor that I might have this, he agreed and put me on a much larger dose of Vitamin D, Melatonin for sleep and an anti-depressant. I was having so many "nerve" headaches (used to have migraines, but don't anymore) and "episodes" where I was so very sick that I just had to go to the bed and sleep it away, kind of like I was in a stupor. In the beginning I could attach each "episode" to a gluten accident, but not the three in one week that I had Thanksgiving week. After I saw the doctor, and went on the three things he suggested, I feel so, so much better and even am a nicer person. Christmas is a very hard time for me and then the cold months of January and February are tough too. I had just a crappy winter last year and am looking at a much better one this year. Happy Holidays.

LaChoy soy sauce is gluten-free. I use it all the time. I don't know what you meant by "regular" but LaChoy is a very popular name in the Chinese section at regular grocery stores.

I'm with you.........I eat Rice Chex almost every morning and I have for over six months now, I just do not tire of it. It is almost the only way to get milk in me, too unless I use it for cooking as I do not drink milk. I don't like the Corn Chex and have not tried any of the flaovred ones.

Yes, Biaggi's has awesome gluten-free pasta. It is green and must be spinach pasta, but you can't tell that when you eat it. The only time I was there, I just ordered the pasta with red sauce, but they have a large gluten-free menu and now to think they may have bread too. That would push it up to the top of my favorite's list. Before gluten-free, bread could make or break a meal for me in a restaurant, I love good bread. You can google Biaggi's maybe they have the menu online. I was to the one in Raleigh, NC and it was really good.

Barbara

Just google gluten free carrot cake recipe and it will take you to lots of places, but I just chose the Betty Crocker site and there are what looks to be lots of really good ways to use their mixes. I am going to try some of them. Betty Crocker has really come through for us, and will line their pockets with gold due to the fact that their mixes are so expensive. We are worth it, though!!!!!

Barbara

Hey, Babysteps, you put your finger on something here.........last night I had a bowl of chocolate pudding (sugar free/gluten-free) and sleep was impossible. I had already figured out the caffiene thing re: soda, but chocolate??? That's it. I am going to stay away from any chocolate things before bed and see if that helps. By the way....did you notice how many people took a look at this site, must be a lot of non-sleepers out there. Barbara

There is a basic rule in the previous letter............go with a char grilled steak, some kind of potato that you feel safe with and a salad or veggies and you pretty much can't go wrong when dining out. I know what I can eat in every restaurant that I go to. Noodles is the best as they have gluten-free rice pasta that is scrumptious. It is one of my favorite places to eat and they are very busy, not cheap either.

Barbara

Had the gluten-free pasta at OG and I agree, it is a bit blah, but surely a step in the right direction. I eat the salad, asking for the croutons to be on the side and do fine. I have to admit that the pasta was a little dry so I asked for some of their regular red sauce and that was fine too. As far as CC goes at OG, this product comes prepackaged so I imainge they just microwave it and slip it on a clean plate. Biaggi's is a wonderful restaurant, and they have a huge gluten-free menu. Their gluten-free pasta is green/spinach and so nice, and much better than what OG offers at this time. NOW if only they could come up with some interesting gluten-free bread with these Italian dinners, we would really be happy, right?

Barbara

Is this test effective if a person has a gluten intolerance and has not been eating gluten for some time? If it is cheap enough, I might try it for confirmation. Barbara

Bob's Red Mill Bread Mix and All Purpose Baking Flour are staples in my kitchen. I love the bread, when I make it I use all eggs rather than waste money using so many whites, cheaper too. The flour I use as a substitute in lots of recipes. I have found that you can use a little less as it is more dense than regular white flour. Also be sure to use Xanthun Gum, about 1 t. per cup of flour. I have fed gluten-free things to people that didn't know and they could not tell. Actually I did try Pamela's bread mix and it is good too. They have it at my Walmart in a special section for us gluten-free people. Pamela's baking mix is so awesome for pancakes and waffles, try it with blueberries on top, so yummy.

Barbara

CONGRATULATIONS on getting a daughter from China, they are just beautiful children and so blessed that someone wants to give them a good life. We have friends that have two Chinese daughters, they got them two years apart------their names are Sarah and Rachel. They wre adopted into a very loving large extended family and will have such a nice life as the whole family is very comfortable financially, too. Hopefully you have enough time now to research the gluten situation in China, so that you can eat okay while you are there. Barbara

For my chronic constipation the doctor told me to take Miralax. I bought the generic form at Walmart, their brand is Equate (exact same stuff). I took it for four days and it completely straightened out my problem, actually going in the other direction so now I am trying to fine tune how often I need to use it. I swear by it.

Barbara

To Hungryforlife, I get those same symptoms, I call them neurological as it is like I am in a stupor and I just have to go to bed and sleep it off. Happened just recently when I ate some regular pumpkin bread (what was I thinking), won't do that again. I am fine if I just eat gluten-free. I did do the Enterolab full deal and I have the gene, a sensitivity to gluten and at the lactose, but that has passed. Although not many people have responded, this thread has had a lot of lookers, so it may be important to many.

Barbara

Have been making my bread out of mixes either from gluten-free pantry or Bob's Red Mill, both of which I really like, however this sounds like a challenge and I am going to try it. I am excited. Thanks...Barbara

WOW, did you ever hit a nerve there, did you see how many people have read this post, over 1600!!!!!! Weight loss is a problem for so many of us, contrary to the theory that celiac people are excessively thin. I too need to lose weight and am gluten sensitive with chronic constipation (also contrary to usual celiac thinking). There are no easy answers, other than counting calories, getting exercise and cutting out soda of every kind (diet and regular) and drinking lots of water which is good for everyone. Best wishes to you all....Barbara

Diagnosed with fibromyalgia before the gluten sensitive issue was discovered. The fibro is better, I believe, with the switch to gluten-free eating, plus I take Mobic and just recently Lyrica (damned expensive, but worth it). Occasionally I get a flare-up which begins with excessive weariness followed by musle and tendon aches. I feel lucky that I have put together the package (practically on my own) and now understand the relationship between gluten/muscle-tendon aches/thyroid condition. It is a learning time and I am now very grateful to be this far into the process. As I don't have full blown celiac disease, there have been times that I thought I could get along okay with a nip of gluten here and there, but after much study I know that is not true. We sensitive people need to be as gluten free as those with celiac disease.

Easier, more natural and works...........a glass of prune juice in the morning and evening.

Very interesting. I have been putting the sugar thing together after having been gluten-free for five years. I sure do feel better when I don't eat white sugar. You should check out the black bean brownies and the carrot cake made with beans. It sounds unusual, but I tried both of them and they really are good. Do a search and you will find them. It is hard to always be thinking of gluten-free and sugar-free, but it really is worth it. I let the gluten-free thing go lately and got very sick, and my symptoms are unusual to say the least. I get neurological symptoms like light-headed, sick to my stomach and I have to go to bed because it is like I am in a stupor. Eventually it passes and I am good again. This used to happen to me before I went gluten-free and it would be after I had lots of pizza/ice cream, or a big sub from Subway, etc. I was 57 when I discovered that gluten did not agree with me and I have an 11 year old granddaughter that has severe celiac disease,diagnosed when she was one. Nice talking to you.............Barbara

What a treat. I just tried the black bean brownies which are reallly good and have to be so muc healthier than regular brownies. Of course, I put more cocoa than it called for!!!!! What I do like is that they do not have flour or white sugar, both of which I am addicted to and just want to keep eating. I also tried the carrot cake ones on the site to which I also added coconut. Airy and moist. I would imagine they are going to have a good effect on the constipation from which I suffere chronically. If so, then I could eat them for medicinal purposes!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the mention of these, I never tire of reading the gluten-free site as I learn things all the time.

Barbara

Gosh, there is a lot of good information in this thread. Everyone should go back and see the videos that Homemaker put on a link to. I think I learned more looking at and listening to that doctor than I have heard or read in the five years that I have been eating gluten-free. I have a granddaughter that is a diagnosed celiac for 10 years and I have the gene/via Enterolab. That along with the videos Homemaker has put up there for all to see, is enough for me. It has convinced me to eat totally, totally gluten-free forever and ever. By the way, I was 59 when we finally figured it out for me, never too late, and I sure have been healthier sinced then. Everyone would do well to listen up before it is too late.

Barbara

SPRUSTER....you sound very rigid. I went to the site that Homemaker suggested and listened to all six of the parts of what he had on there and he is very knowlegable and right on the mark. In fact it made me realize that although I do not have full blown celiac, that I should still be eating gluten-free all the time and not cheating at all, due to all the other things that happen to a person when they eat gluten if they are sensitive. Sensitive covers a lot of territory and NOT celiac, which is just the tip of the iceberg. I had a lot of the complications that the doctor mentioned on there and the shoe fits. Thanks again to Homemaker for sharing.

Barbara

Did I hear that floating poopies are a sign of celiac, or gluten sensitivity?

HOMEMAKER----I just looked at all of those bits on U-Tube. Thanks. I have never heard a more thorough explaination of gluten sensitivity before. RESULTS...........doesn't make a lot of difference if you are celiac or gluten sensitive, you must stay off the gluten totally. I am one that thought that if you are gluten sensitive, then you could have a little bit here and there. I have so many of the ailments that he was talking about like thyroid, headaches and he didn't mention it as fibromyalgia, but he did say muscle/joint aches and pains. All considerably better when I am gluten free. My stomach hurts today so I am wondering what I ate yesterday that caused it. Thought I was being really good. Again, thanks for the tip, everyone should watch those videos.

Barbara