MNBeth

I was intimidated out of having the endoscopy by a couple of GI docs, but I wish I'd pushed back and gotten it done before I went off gluten. (I didn't have a positive blood test, though, so the situation was a bit different. My father, however, and a cousin or two are clinically diagnosed celiacs.) Anyway, I do find it inconvenient at times not to have the firm diagnosis. It's not the end of the world, but there are times when it would simplify things if I could just say I have celiac disease.

But you're soooo right not to have it done by *that* guy. Yikes.

Hi Angie,

I'm so sorry to hear about the awful week you're having. It does get hard to take, doesn't it?

After totally crashing after Easter, I've been digging around for more answers, and suspect that reactive hypoglycemia is something I'm also dealing with. It's maddening how little consensus of opinion there is about how to manage it!

After reading "Hypoglycemia: The Classic Healthcare Handbook" by Saunders & Ross, I'm off all sugar (inc. honey), refined carbohydrates, dried fruits and even root vegetables and the sweeter fruits. I'm still eating grains, but only whole, and in small quantities. I don't know what to think about legumes - opinions are totally polar on those.

I haven't been glutened lately, but it's that time of month for me, so I'm craving carbs and sugar like crazy. And creamy - anything creamy - but I'm having trouble with dairy, too. What I wouldn't give for a bowl of cereal! Sometimes it's just hard to feel satisfied on meat and veggies and a little fruit.

Since going off all that, I've been extremely weak and tired. This is what the authors predicted, but it stinks just the same. Folding the laundry feels like a workout. It's so frustrating that when we feel the worst, we need, where food is concerned, to do the most for ourselves - no prepared foods, no "out" food...

Whine, whine! Sorry; this is YOUR whine! Mainly just wanted to say that I feel your pain. Hang in there!

Absolutely it could be this. I'm not saying it is, but it's definitely something that needs to be looked into.

I think I'll leave it to others to recommend a course of action, though. I'm sure some good advice will be along presently...

I bought a bag of millet for my birds, but was too lazy to put it out in the shed in a container, so I kept it in the container in my kitchen. Some time later, I noticed maggot-looking things crawling all over my walls in the kitchen. Can you say YUCK?!?! I thought it was some food that had dropped and gone under the cupboards (we were building at the time) and then opened the millet container to feed the birds. It was literally crawling. After pitching it out, I researched and found that bird seed is a common host to the eggs of "pantry moths" that then hatch and turn into larva (maggot-type things) and then moths. I had to throw out all of my dry goods as the moths had gotten into every box and container. I was still finding those nasty things over a month later even after keeping all things stored tightly.

I had a similar experience w/birdseed, only it was in our front hall closet. That was also where I kept my buckets of wheat for milling, and I thought that's where they were coming from. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that it was that dumb bag of birdseed - for the feeder someone gave us that we never did get around to putting up!

I'm glad it wasn't in my kitchen. I did have them get into 2-3 things in there, but that was all. Miraculously, my big buckets of wheat sealed tightly enough to keep them out of that! Gives me the willies just to think about the whole experience!

Please don't eat the Ezekiel Bread. It may be fine for people who simply have trouble digesting gluten, but celiac disease is not an inability to digest but an autoimmune response to gluten. I've never seen any research that would suggest that the sprouting process renders the gluten unrecognizable to a celiac's immune system.

I used to freak out about wheat grass, too, being too fearful of possible wheat grains in anything with wheat grass to try it - until I actually saw some barley grass.

If you to do a Google Image search for "wheat grass," you may see what I mean. Wheat grass, when ready for harvest, looks like your lawn. It is far, far too young to have any heads of grain yet developing.

There may be people who react, but I doubt that it would be from wayward grains of wheat. I don't blame anyone for avoiding it, but neither would I think anyone crazy for trying it, especially as there do seem to be people who do fine with it.

No, unfortunately this recipe won't work with gluten-free flour. There are many recipes that can be easily adapted with a substitution of gluten-free flour for regular flour, but yeast breads are a decided exception to the rule; they rely too heavily on the gluten to give them their unique structure and texture. There is no gluten substitute that is adequate to make a regular bread recipe work w/gluten free flour.

With gluten-free breads you need some binders to try to compensate for the missing gluten, but even with those additives, the nature of the dough is so completely different as to require very different handling. If you tried to knead gluten-free bread dough, you'd have quite a mess on your hands - literally!

For gluten-free bread you really need to start with a gluten-free bread recipe. You have a tough combination of limitations to work with, though. I think you could use a combination of millet flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch. I would think one part each would work, though i have never tried that particular combination. If the recipe you use does not include xanthan gum, make sure include some with your flour - I would estimate about 1/2 teaspoon per cup of flour. Any other opinions on those ratios?

When I made my buns in the pot pie tins, I was able to level out the dough simply by picking up the tins and dropping them on the counter a few times after I'd scooped the dough in. (BEFORE letting them rise, of course!) Simple, neat, and the best looking buns I've made yet! I'm not sure how well it would work with a sheet full of rings, but I'm going to try it if I ever get the rings. Maybe I'll put another sheet on top while I smack it on the counter to keep the rings from bouncing around...

It is difficult to get the dough evenly distributed in the tins/rings, but I have found that if I dip a spoon in water I can use the wet back side to push and level the dough. The extra moisture does not affect the finished product.

Amazon has them, too, a little cheaper, and w/free shipping if you spend at least $25. They're on my wish list!

... Not sure where they get them but here's one source. Open Original Shared Link

I would try reducing the liquid a bit and see if that helps.

I just made a great batch with foil pot pie tins I picked up at the grocery store. I may still get some hamburger rings, as the flare of the pie tins limits the # that will fit on a sheet pan, but in the meantime the cheapo tins worked great.

These look yummy - I'll have to give them a try!

(Your gluten-free flour blend looks a lot like mine - I love sorghum flour)

I am so sorry for what you've suffered for all those years. My own son, now 17, went through some similar things, though not for as many years. But he definitely had the very scary panic attacks and mysterious stomach and more generalized pain. He was sick for almost two years, and while he did manage to keep going with school, it was a very difficult time for all of us. We also have celiac in the family, and when my son's blood tests were negative, we weren't convinced. We ended up ordering our own tests through Enterolab, and between those results and positive dietary response, it became very evident that he needed to be off gluten.

Will you mind if I encourage you to try not to focus your attention on the years you've "lost?" It is true that your teenage experience has not been typical, but in many ways we learn and grow more through difficulties than through ease and comfort. I suspect that in many ways you will be more ready, not less, for the challenges of adulthood than will those who have not been forced to learn to persevere through hardship.

When you think of all you've suffered, try to think - "and I MADE IT THROUGH!" Then try to look forward to all that you will now be able to do with your life. Celebrate, if you can, your release from the chains of your illness. I know it is not always easy, and do not mean to imply that it is. But I hate to see you miss out on the happiness that is more available to you now by dwelling on a past you cannot change.

Set your face forward and hope!

Just curious - was it cost that led you to pursue these two items rather than a grain mill?

There is a small amount of wheat and beef added to the fries during processing.

I really don't think it's accurate to say that there is "wheat" added to the fries. If a product contains grain alcohol, we don't say that it "has grain added to it." What McDonald's uses are flavorings that are *derived from* wheat, and, I believe, milk. A small quantity of the flavoring is added to the oil in which the fries are cooked.

About the rest, I totally agree. As I understand it, gluten is barely detectable in the flavoring itself. By the time it's been diluted by the vast quantity of oil and the fries get cooked, the gluten is no longer detectable at all. I'm definitely one of those that is more concerned about CC than the flavorings in the oil, but I have no criticism for anyone that feels the fries are not to be trusted.

Maybe I've missed something here, but if you're pursuing testing for celiac disease, going off gluten first may interfere with the accuracy of your test results.

Once you test positive, or if you decide to forgo clinical testing, then amen to what everyone else has said. I felt awful for the first couple of weeks off gluten, and craved it like crazy, but it does get MUCH easier once you've broken the habit. I didn't sub with a lot of gluten-free breads & pastas; maybe it would have been easier if I had.

The one time I screwed up enough courage to try a BP at Wendy's, they were out, and I couldn't wait 15 min. for fresh ones.

What concerns me about them is simply the potential for CC, with the kitchen staff so busy handling burger buns all day.

I'd love to hear that people regularly do well with them, as I'm plenty tired of chili, which I go for just because no one has to ever touch the food itself.

I know there is a massive thread on Everyday Minerals, and I've read much of it.

Can't read it all, though, right now, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had trouble with this make-up or with mineral make-ups in general. I've been wearing it for many months, and like it in some ways much more than I thought.

But I'm realizing more and more how much it irritates my eyes and nose, especially in the hour or two right after I put it on.

I'm not suggesting that there are specific offending ingredients, but simply that all that powder flying around my face cannot help but get into my eyes and nose, and I always feel like I've been through a dust cloud for a while.

I hate to give it up, especially with summer coming. With our excessively dry Minnesota winters, I've needed some very heavy moisturizer to keep from drying out with the powders, but in the summer I love the shine reduction that you get with mineral make-up, and it seems to wear better than moist makeups when my skin is more inclined to be damp.

Still, <sniff, snuff> this is a bit troublesome.

Anyone else, or am I just weird?

I can't find mention anywhere of what may or may not be gluten-free at the Costco Food Court, except the iced mocha. Does anyone know whether the berry smoothie is safe?

I've lost about 20 lbs in the year and a half I've been gluten free - weight I needed to lose. :-) I'd like to lose about 10 more, but am glad to be doing it slowly.

And all the previous commenters are right - for most of us (not all), it's all about how we eat.

Before going gluten-free, I was very whole grain oriented and already wary of empty carbs. That wariness helped me avoid adding in a lot of starchy gluten-free products, which, I think, are such a trap for many people going gluten-free. I think you'll do just fine!

Thanks for the information. I'm not sure I'll be able to control what lab they send the test out to, or even whether I can get them to do the gene test, but I'll give it a try.

Hi all,

My oldest son and I are gluten intolerant according to Enterolab and dietary response. (There are also numerous other celiac/g.i. extended family members.) We've kept a mostly gluten-free kitchen for more than a year.

Now my 10-year-old daughter is having inexplicable symptoms, and I've scheduled a celiac panel for her. The issue is that she doesn't eat much gluten. She normally eats gluten cereal for breakfast, but she's avoided it for a couple of days. That's the only gluten we keep in the house.

She had more gluten than usual over the weekend, and has had a rough couple of evenings. Yesterday she had a Subway sandwich. Today she hasn't had any gluten at all. (And, incidentally, she seems to be feeling fine.)

So the question is, will she be likely to get an accurate result with such sporadic gluten eating? She's never been completely gluten free, but there are often periods of days where she's not having any, just because of how we eat around here. Should I make her eat gluten cereal for breakfast? Would that make a difference? (She's having her blood drawn at 2 p.m.)

Thanks,

Beth

Wow; I'd kind of given up hope on getting a reply on this one. Thank you so much for finding out and letting me know; I can take the big jar of salsa out of the den, now!

Beth

Hi all,

Anybody know about this product? I have tried to contact the company without success. The online e-mail form doesn't work, and the phone message I left was not returned. My family is already using the salsa, but I'd like for my son and I to be able to eat it, too. The only questionable ingredients is, as usual, "natural flavor."

Thanks.

I use all my old favorite muffin, pancake, & other quickbread recipes w/a combination of 3 parts whole sorghum flour to one part starch (usually half & half tapioca & potato.) They come out great, but you do have to freeze leftovers or they go kinda funny.