angieInCA

In my newbieness and searching for products that were gluten free I found a company that manufactures and sells products that they guarentee contains no gluten. I called the company and actually spoke directly with the founder Dr.Flora Stay D.D.S. who assured me that all of their products were gluten free (with the exception of their Hair Condidtioner but it is currently being reformulated to be free of gluten).

When I told her that I live in the same city they are located in, she invited me to their warehouse and show room to see the products and test some samples. I plan on going next week She was very familiar with Celiac Disease and Gluten intollerance. She originally formulated her first product (toothpaste) for her Fibomyalgia patients.

The company name is Cleure. Their web site is cleure(dot)com It was originally set up kind of like Mary Kay where it was personal sales or party sales but she told me the internet sales has been so successful she has opened up for direct sales.

If you go to their web site and click on any product it lists all the ingredients.

After my visit I will report back my findings.

Thank you for your responses, you just keep confirming what I feel.

I guess I should explain why I want to give the tests every opportunity to be positive.

I KNOW I have a problem with gluten and will avoid gluten the rest of my life.

But.......I have two children ages 19 and 23 who I believe show some signs of celiac disease but refuse to listen to me. But heck, what do I know, I'm only their Mom and if it took me 47 years to figure this out then they don't have to worry about any damage untill they really have to, Right?

They really are great kids and are very supportive especially after they saw what just 3 weeks off gluten did for me. But when I broach the subject that they should get tested, their response is "well you haven't been tested so you don't know if this is really what is wrong".

So, I guess I'm looking for solid confirmation so I can be a bit more pushy with my adult children.

After all the research I have done, I have no doubt I have suffered with this all my life, It explains so much of the unexplainable. I just wish to hopefully keep my kids from going through the same things.

3 weeks ago my Dr. (GP) said that she was about 90% sure I was Gluten Intollerent and suggested I go on the gluten-free diet. So gluten-free I went!

When I got the copy of all my tests that had been ran not one was for finding out if I had celiac disease. I called the Dr. office and asked if she planned on running any of the tests and she said "If the gluten-free diet is working why bother." But then suggested I see a GI for testing so "We can see what the extent of damage there might be and where to go from here". She said I didn't have to start eating Gluten again.

I found a Gastroentrologist in this area that was recommended for celiac disease. Called to make an appointment but I can't get in for 6 weeks. I asked the appointment taker (I know, not the best person to ask) if I should start eating Gluten again and she said if I was getting tested for celiac disease I should not be eating gluten.

So.........After doing much reading (on here and elsewhere) I decided to start eating Gluten again till the Dr. appointment because I want to make sure to give the test the full benefit of a positive exposure. I have been back on Gluten for 2 days and I am soooooooooo sick. Nausea, headache, pain in all my joints, pain on my left side, hips hurt so bad I can hardly walk or sit. I itch from my waist to the top of my head (no rash yet) especially on both of my forearms. Brain fog, extremely tired almost like I have a hangover with out the benefit of the drunk. And of course the dreaded diarrhea. Six times this morning in 3 hours.

I can't imagine going through this for 6 weeks. And that is just for the first consult appt. Am I thinking about this all wrong. Should I really be doing this to my body?

I'm a gainer too!

Over the past 8 years I have gained 50 lbs. I am not an over eater and I exercise. I kept asking my Dr. what was happening and he just kept saying well when you get older you tend to gain weight. OK, I can accept that if it was 5 or 10 lbs but not 50! I have never had cravings except when pregnant and I really have a hard time consuming more than 1200 calories a day but the weight just kept creeping up and I couldn't lose an ounce.

Three weeks gluten free and I have lost 10 lbs. I still eat carbs, actually probably more now because I have increased my fresh fruit intake. I have had to cut out all lactose so my dairy intake is limited . I've actually thought about cutting out almost all grains till my gut heals and then reintroducing them one at a time.

I'm very new to all of this and I'm looking for anyone or a support group in the West Ventura County area. I'm actually in Camarillo and would love to find a support group or individule to meet with.

Having just been a little over a week since I had confirmation I can tell you exactly how I reacted.

Pure Elation at first. I was so happy to have an answer and a definition of what had ailed me for all my life and thankfull ti wasn't something oh so scarier!

After about day 3 the the fear crept in. Now that I had the answer I had to figure out how to live with it.

At about the one week mark total anger set in. Anger at every Doctor I had ever been to that said nothing was wrong. Anger at every Doctor that had ever looked at me like I was making it all up and it was all in my head. Anger at the tests I had endured and not one of them had been the magic one.

I'm getting past the anger and right now I feel relief. I feel good. After just 3 days of no Gluten I started experiencing no heartburn, no cramping, no almost not making it to the bathroom.. I'm looking forward to no more itching, no more tingling in my finger and toes, no more pains in my joints. I want an unclouded brain and energy to do the things I enjoy.

I want the life I feel had been taken from me.

I had only really learned about Celiac about 4 years ago before my Step-Daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's. I was doing research trying to help her when I discovered Celiac. All the sudden all the puzzle pieces started fitting together for me. It was so obvious.

I immediately went to my Dr. and said I think this might be my problem. Was sent to a gastroentologist and of course the answer was no and we don't need to test. For the last 3 years I have seen 6 different Dr.s in this area untill I saw one that would actually listen to me. I'm sure my insurance company thinks I'm a complete hypochondriac.

Thank God I have a Trader Joe's just down the street and we have a great Health Food store very close that had a whole aisle just for Gluten free even though they are a bit on the expensive side. I found some of the same things at Trader Joe's for almost 2 dollars cheaper.

There is a Whole Food's in this area but it's about 20 miles away so trips will have to be planned because here in So. Cal. 20 miles may mean an hour of traffic just to get there.

I use a multi blend flour that I have found freezes very well and I have been able to substitute it for wheat flour in every receipe I have made my family and friends love my cakes, cookies.breads, and pies. I use my mothers and grandmothers receipes and with just the one flour to buy I don't have to worry about mixing my own or storing lots of different kinds.

I also make my own chicken strips deep fried mushrooms steak fingers ect.

Please share the brand or recipe.

another mutt here. Mother's side- Lakota Sioux and Irish. Father's side - Northern Italian and Irish.

So, not only did I get a double wammy of Irish but I get to be Native American Indian lactose intollerent too

Hello all!

I am a total newbie to this whole celiac thing. I was diagnosed on Aug. 22nd. Just a little over a week of finally knowing what has been my problem for over 40 years. Sad thing is I became suspicious over 3 years ago and my gastroentologist then said "No Way" but never ran one test.

I've known for years something was not right and have had test after test for allergies and other things but nothing was ever conclusive. Sad thing is if you go down the Celiac check list I had 14 out of what 17 symptoms! And not one Dr. in my entire life ever questioned it. My guess is because the one symptom I didn't have was weight loss. Matter of fact I have always been about 10 to 15 lbs over weight and now I am close to 40 lbs over weight. Strangely enough, after just 1 week of being gluten free I have dropped 10 lbs and feel the best I have felt in years!

I have found all of this very daunting as I'm sure most of you did in the beginning. I've spent countless hours researching. I'm so excited to join a community where I feel I can learn so much.

Just call me

Angie