ElseB

As a woman with Celiac and Hashimotos who is considering having children in the next few years, I'm terrified to have children. With all of these autoimmune disesases, can I really produce a healthy child?

I was just diagnosed with Hashimotos thyroiditis, and started taking Synthroid 2 days ago. Yesterday I had 4-5 bowel movements, which is unusual for me - I'm prone to constipation (and that's my gluten reaction). Stool colour was normal (for me). Last night I had a bit of a stomach ache. Then today I had a bowel movement that was somewhat orange in colour (but not diarhhea). I still have a stomach ache, but potentially thats just because I'm anxious and stressed about whether I may have been glutened. The stomach ache made me think I was, but the orange stool was weird. Anyone else had this from Synthroid???

A restaurant near me recently started offering a gluten-free menu. So I sent them an email explaining the importance of avoiding cross contamination and asking them to explain how they ensure that menu items advertised as being gluten-free are in fact gluten-free each and every time that they are served to the customer. Their response:

This response didn't inspire much confidence that they actually have any kind of procedures for avoiding cross contamination. I definitely won't be trying out this restaurant. And I'm sure I will have to explain to more than one friend or colleague why I won't eat at this restaurant despite the fact that it has "gluten free" food. ugh, I hate these restaurants.

Contrast this with another restaurant near me that introduced a gluten free menu for a brief period, then removed it for "liability" reasons. They had received legal advice that since they can't guarantee that anything really is gluten free, they shouldn't have a gluten-free menu. Yet I feel so much safer at this restaurant. As soon as you say you have a food allergy or intolerance they send out the manager to deal with you. I have never once gotten sick at this restaurant. Yet I have gotten sick at many places with gluten free menus. The menu is meaningless: it is the attitude, training and experience of the staff that makes the difference.

Someone tried to tell me last week that pregnancy was a cure for Celiac Disease. This person supposedly had a friend who had Celiac, and then she got pregnant, had a baby and now she can eat gluten with no problems at all! So she suggested I should try getting pregnant "because you never know, it just might work". Had I been thinking faster, I should have asked her if pregnancy was also a cure for stupidity in which case she should perhaps give it a try!

I am sure you can bring some crackers or snackbars in your purse to keep you going. I live in Australia which is one of the strictest countries in the world in regards to food items that can be brought in, and even our quarantine officers allow prepackaged bakery goods. You'll feel less panicky if you know you have *something* to tide you over, but I'm sure you'll be able to find some food there. Enjoy your trip!

I actually specifically asked the cruiseline about taking crackers off and they said that even that wasn't allowed. I'm just going to have to bring a very large supply of crackers and snack bars from home and then hide a day's supply of them in my bag and my husband's bag for each shore excursion. I figure if I spread out the supply between both of our bags if one of use gets searched, the other one may be able to get away with not being searched!

I'm going on a Baltic cruise in a few weeks and I'm starting to panic about food. I thought it would be okay because I read so many comments from people saying they had no trouble getting food on a cruise. The problem is that I realize they meant ON THE BOAT. I'm panicking about the shore excursions, particurly the ones that are all day, the meal is included, and there's no option to go off on your own (like in St. Petersburg, Russia). And I hadn't realized until now just how strict they are about not allowing food to be taken off the boat - not even things like crackers or snack bars. So if I can't take food off the shop and won't be able to get to grocery stores (my normal source of lunch foods while travelling), how am I going to manage this? I don't want to just stay on the boat - I want to see these cities. I also don't want to stop my husband from having a good time. He's so sweet - he said he doesn't care what we do he just wants to be with me. We can do that at home without spending all this money! Anyone have any advice? How do you manage shore excursions??

I was in Quebec City a few weeks ago and ate at a few places: Cafe du Monde, Cosmos Cafe, Lapin Saute. I highly recommend Lapin Saute - the food was amazing, they had a gluten-free menu, and they really seemed to understand what gluten-free really means. Its a really small restaurant so you have to make reservations far in advance. Or go late at night and take your chances that they have a free table. Cafe du Monde was okay. They have huge portion sizes but the food isn't great quality. They had a gluten free menu but I wasn't completely confident that they really knew what they were doing. But I didn't get sick. Cosmos Cafe has a few gluten free items that are actually frozen meals provided by another company that they just re-heat. The upside is theres a better chance it stays gluten-free, the downside is you're paying a lot for a re-heated bland meal. There's also a good health food store called Le Crac on Rue Saint-Jean.

Sadly, there is a noticable absence of any gluten free bakeries in Quebec City.

If you're at all pre-disposed to canker sores, Tri-Cyclen will make the problem infinitely worse. I was on Tri-Cyclen for a year and spent most of that time with a mouth full of very painful canker sores. Now I only get a few a year instead of having them constantly.

It really is trial and error and the more you try, the better you get! I've stopped using gluten free cookbooks entirely, and all of my baking is using regular recipes, converted to gluten free. I agree with pricklypear - if the recipe has more than one cup of flour it gets difficult. I don't even try to convert anything over 1 cup. The trick to baking is the mix of flours you use. There's lots of gluten-free all purpose mixes out there, and those are good to start with. One thing I have learned is never ever use bean flours with anything chocolate - you end up with beany chocolate and its gross! An easy mix you can make yourself is Carol Fenster's mix of sorghum (35%), cornstarch (35%), tapioca (30%), and it gives good results. If you can tolerate nuts, look for recipes using almond flour.

I'm going to Quebec City next week so I'll let you know what I find that is sans gluten!

I know this doesn't help those in the US (unless you want to stock up on your next trip to Canada), but I have confirmed with Pfizer that Advil is gluten-free in Canada.

MY EMAIL:

I note that the Canadian website for Advil indicates that all Advil products are gluten-free. However the American website states that some Advil products contain gluten. Is this a matter of different product formulations in each country? Can you confirm that all Advil sold in Canada is gluten-free?

PFIZER'S RESPONSE (13-FEB-2012):

Thank you for taking the time to email us with your question, and for your interest in our products.

In response to your inquiry, we do not have any information about the Advil products that are available for sale in the US. However, all Pfizer Consumer Healthcare products in Canada are gluten free.

Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Inc. is firmly committed to the manufacture and sale of only the finest quality products and is grateful that you took the time to contact us.

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail or call us at 1-888-275-9938.

Sincerely,

Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Inc

Canada

(Formerly Wyeth Consumer Healthcare)

this makes me wonder if the two products are manufactured differently or if the U.S. is just being overly cautious for litigious reasons... ????

:/

I think they're probably manufactured differently. I've come across a lot of products that contain different ingredients in the 2 countries. For example, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. gluten-free in the US, but the Canadian (and British) versions aren't because they contain malt vinegar. The US version uses white vinegar instead.

Stock up on your next visit to Canada. All Advil is gluten free here. I guess this is another one of those cases where the gluten-free status of a product differs between Canada and the US.

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Q:Is Advil gluten-free and is it safe for people with celiac disease to take?

A:Advil is gluten-free and is safe for individuals with celiac disease.

Q:Does the product contain gluten or is the product manufactured at the same site as another gluten containing product?

A:All Pfizer Consumer Healthcare products are gluten-free.

I love Udi's millet-chia bread. Unfortunately so does my non-Celiac husband - he ate half the loaf last time! (though in his defense, we have no regular bread in the house)

I eat only the certified gluten-free oats, and eat them at least 5 days a week for breakfast. Never had any problems. I usually buy "Only Oats" by Avena Foods. They're available in Canada, but I'm not sure about elsewhere. I used to eat the gluten-free Bob's Red Mill oats and never had any problems with them either (just switched brands because the Only Oats are cheaper).

i have 'maseca' - is that the same thing? made by azteca milling out of texas. on the bag it has "corn: a gluten-free food" with the little 'no wheat' symbol. and also it is labeled kosher. lol - i bought it in new mexico when i was visiting my daughter but when i got home, i noticed they sell it at kroger

Maseca works for corn tortillas, but not arepas. I've tried the recipe on their website for arepas, but they were way too dry. Nothing like arepas made from PAN (which I ate before discovering the possible gluten traces).

I usually make my own crust, but when I'm feeling lazy, I like to use the O'Doughs crusts. They come in a box of 4 crusts, with 4 littles packages of sauce.

Homemade hummus with a pile of raw veggies.

I've googled all sorts of permutations of his name + celiac + gluten and can't find anything! Everything just points back to the articles about the fine.

I ate really healthy and cooked almost everything from scratch before I was diagnosed, and actually felt like I was eating less healthly when I had to go gluten-free. I used to love whole grain bread, bran flakes cereal. The gluten free stuff was all made with white rice flour. Then of course I realized I needed to stop eating the store bought gluten-free food and just make everything myself. There isn't really any food I miss because anything I really want I have managed to re-create gluten free and it tastes just the same, sometimes even better. But I do miss the convenience of not having to think about what I'm eating when travelling. I miss not being able to try the local cuisine. I've yet to gain enough confidence to travel to countries where I don't speak the language because in my limited experience, those translation cards don't always work. But I'll do it one day!

I was vegetarian when first diagnosed, but encountered too many situations soon after where the only option was eat meat or eat nothing. But as a caveat, I was travelling at the time and not in full control of choosing my own food. So I started eating meat again and really like it, but I only eat it once or twice a week. The rest of the time I eat things like eggs, beans, lentils, quinoa, tofu, cheese, yorgurt. All good sources of vegetarian protein and gluten free (for the most part - check the labels). So while I choose to eat meat again, I think staying vegetarian is do-able (it just didn't work for me).

One book I like is "The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen: Delicious and Nutritious Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Dishes" by Donna Klein. I admit I don't use all the recipes as written, but like them for inspiration to create my own dishes. But the book does contain the most amazing chocolate brownies that even the gluten-eaters like!

Been there, done that!

Me: oooh chocolate. Yum. Munch, munch, munch

Husband: uhhh, can you eat that one?

Me(after reading label): oh $#&*%#$@&!

You'd probably find it in the original publication.

I would put it in italics but I'm on the phone...

The study, which weighs in on a controversy over the gluten content of beer, appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.

Not in the original as published online.

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The best I can find is this numerical list, but it doesn't identify which beers the numbers refer to.

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Am I missing something? I found the full text of the article but can't find the list of the beers they actually tested. Anyone else found the list?

I would try the Italian Centre (there are two locations in Edmonton) as they have several brands. I make my own pasta by hand so am afraid I cannot help you on many brands! However, when I was first diagnosed, I recall trying some corn pasta that was horrendous as was some plain white rice pasta. What I disliked about corn and rice pastas was the flavour. Just nothing like the real thing and very offputting. Very unlike pasta to me. Maybe look for a blend such as King Soba's sweet potato and buckwheat noodles. They have several flavours that are my go to if for some reason I do not make my own. That is the only brand I can recommend wholeheartedly as it is flavourful and has great texture if cooked to al dente. I would love to find the pumpkin ginger rice. They are made in a wheat-free facility according to their website and are labeled gluten free on the package.

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Just a warning on the King Soba noodles: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a recall for them last year due to gluten contamination.

I eat Rizopia pasta. Relatively inexpensive and easy to find (or at least it is in Ontario).