Jocammie

Thanks for the good wishes, both the pharmacist and I have been checking all my various medications so I pretty sure every thing I'm on should be gluten free

I'm wondering if anyone knows if there is a known association between Pericarditis and Celiac. I have been gluten free since Jan '09 and was feeling great until Aug '09 (right after my honeymoon to the Dominican Republic) when I came down with pericarditis. I have been fighting pericarditis since then. The doctors keep putting be on high doses of prednisone then slowly trying to lower me off but then I start getting chest pain again and they raise me back up. I hate being on so much prednisone as i am getting every side effect in the book (moon face, weight gain, no immune system, swollen lymph nodes and ankles, sweats..) I know I have read that some causes of pericarditis are autoimmune disorders and just wondering if this might be related to celiac. I was so relived to feel so much better on a gluten free diet and thought all my problems had been fixed but now my body can't seem to kick this.

Hi, I'm relatively new to the gluten free life (6 months). In general I don't like talking to groups, I prefer a one-on-one, close friend kind of thing. I was originally hoping I could meet other people who lived in Washington to talk with, but I haven't had much luck. I realized maybe it'd be easier to find a good pen pal or two who are in a similar boat. If you also feel the need to have a specific individual or two to talk to about all the various challenges and joys of having to give up gluten, then I'd love to become pen pals! (Email, or for that matter old traditional mail pen pals if that suits you better)

I am 25 year old female who lives in WA with my husband and 3 other roommates.. none of them are gluten free. I originally went gluten free at the suggestion of a natruropathic doctor. Within a week I felt amazingly better. Several months later when I heard about Celiac it was too late to test accurately. I saw a massage therapist (who specializes in energy work) when she took one look at me she was shocked at the damage she could feel in my stomach and said I must be a Celiac, but I can't really use that as proof for my doctor. I really love how much healthier I feel being gluten free, but I'm also finding it hard to have to be so cautious about what I eat, and I'm still trying to work out how to fit my gluten free lifestyle into my social life.

Anyhow, I'd love to meet a good pen pal so we can share everything we are going through in more of a one-on-one setting! If you want to try at pen pals email me:

(jocammie at yahoo dot com)

Thanks

I have been off gluten for about 5 months and I have yet trust any restaurant that doesn't seem really aware of what gluten is. The only places I have eaten out at recently are Outback and Garlic Jims. It seems when I try other restaurants or friends cooking it always backfires. One time one of my friends went to a lot of trouble to make me a gluten free cake but I got sick. I later found out that the sifter she used to mix the gluten free flours was the same as as the one she used on wheat and I'm sure there was flour left behind form the last time she baked. I think part of the reason I end up having trouble eating out is I tend to be a quieter person who doesn't like to cause a lot of trouble. I will try to tell people what I need but I don't like to sound too needy and in return people don;t take me as seriously.

I am going on my honeymoon in July and I am paranoid about so many days where I'm not cooking. We are going in in all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and I emailed the manger who assured me I just needed to meet with their director of food upon arrival and they would be able to provide me all gluten free meal. I'm glad they seem so accommodating but it is still a big worry to be in another country for a week with no control of food.

I have heard that there are supplements that you can take that will help you feel a bit better if you accidentally get some gluten and I'm hoping that might be something I could take with me to be prepared. Has anyone heard of these or had any luck with anything offering relief in accidentally gluten cases ?

I live in Bellevue. I would love to find other people near me who can't eat gluten, but I haven't seemed to have any luck with that yet.

I live in Bellevue and I am hoping to find people who are interested in meeting up regularly. I have looked at pre-established groups in western Washington and I haven't been able to find anything on the eastside. If you happen to know of anything near Bellevue, Washington or would be interested in starting up a group with me please let me know!

My brief history:

I have been off gluten for about 4 months now. Unfortunately my doctor recommended I try going off wheat to see if it happened to get rid my tiredness and always being sick. After just a week of being off gluten I decided to have a try a treat of a slice of pizza and got the worst stomach ache I have ever had. On the rare occasions that I eat food that has been contaminated with gluten without my knowing I have had similar but increasingly worse reactions. My current doctor wants to test me for Celiac Disease. I think it would be nice to know if I had Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance but ultimately not worth the suffering through all the pain of going back on gluten.