pixiegirl

Hey debbiewil, I'll one up you with that. I told my doctor for 12 years that I had the runs 10 times a day. It still took me 12 years to get a diagnoses! Its just not something that most doctors look for I guess. Crazy!

Susan

When you figure it out let me know... I'm in sort of the same place right now, I'm not doing so well and no one can figure out why. I'm going to have my first endoscopy and colonoscopy in about 3 weeks... not really looking forward to it but eager to find out of something else is going on or if somehow I'm getting glutened (I just now got rid of all hair and body products that contain gluten).

Lately i too feel like I'm disappearing....

Susan

You can still go out with the guys just don't drink beer... (although there are one or two gluten free beers but you won't find them at bars). Drink wine or if thats too wimpy for the "guys" drink scotch or bourbon (or whatever you like). I use to love beer but now I stick to wine or martini's.

When you first learn you have Celiac it seems so restrictive but after being gluten free for a year now... its just second nature. there are tons of things you can still eat.

You asked what would happen if you continue to eat gluten, to put it simply you will probably kill yourself, cancer or some other auto immune thing and you won't feel all that good while your doing it. You've got a new baby coming into your world, one of the very best things you can give him is a healthy daddy.

If you stick around this board for a while you will learn so much...

Susan

Sometimes I am... I'm single and that doesn't help either (and I work at home so no office comeraderie) but sometimes it seems like I don't go out at all any more... last week some people I know were going out but to a place I know can't do anything gluten-free. So I stayed home, I did feel lonely. I went from going out probably 5 times a week to a few times a month, its different thats for sure.

susan

It does come in a pill, I saw one at Whole Foods the other day when I was buying mine... I happen to get the powder but I saw the pills right next to the powder.

susan

Ditto the above, I love the Anna bread so much! It really tastes good and its not crumbly. I too am going to make stuffing from it.

Susan

Thanks for the restaurant links!

As far as Nashville.... just two of us are going to be there, my boyfriend and I... and we like... wel.... anything. When we were in Chattanooga we hit Rock City and Ruby Falls (nature type things) and really enjoyed them. We went to the small art gallery district and loved that too. We travel a lot, we love museums of all kinds... beautiful outdoor/nature hikes/stuff (not sure about the weather), love music, good local shopping...... anything, we are curious/fun people. There must be some "must see's" in Nashville, every city has them...

New York - Central Park, some of the neighborhoods

Boston - Freedom Trail, Newbury Street

Detroit - Greektown

Miami - South Beach

Palm Beach - shopping!

Nashville - ?

Thanks, susan

Darn, I wish you did eat out! We are going to be there for a couple of days and although I bring a lot of snack/power bars for breakfast and snacks we do eat out for dinner and maybe lunch.

But if you have no suggestions for restaurants, I'd be happy to have some "what to do" suggestions. We have never been to Nashville and we have no idea what to do.

Susan

I'm going to be in Nashville and Chattanooga (mostly Nashville) in 2 weeks, does anyone know any gluten free places there?

Susan

Prior to being diagnosed as Celiac I use to eat there and I loved their food, but now any place with the word "bread" in their name... just isn't for me, too much change of cross contamination. I hope you feel better soon!

Susan

Mine has always been very low... of course I also have low heart rate, low blood pressure and low cholestorl (except for the good kind which is high).

I think its just individual from person to person.

Susan

I wish I knew you contacted them, I'm trying to contact all the make up companies I can think of (like all the companies that are at Sephora and such). I've had a hard time finding out info about cosmetic companies, it seems there is a lot of food info out there but I've searched for a comprehensive list of cosmetic companies and it doesn't seem there a single list. I'm hoping to compile one (and I'll take any help offered).

I'm going to try the Bare Escentuals but I have really really dry skin and I still need major moisturizers and I'm afraid its just not going to look right on my skin. I can't imagine putting just dry powders on it.

susan

I wrote to Sephora about their own products and they sent me a letter

stating none of their products are gluten-free.

**************

Hello Susan,

Thanks for contacting Sephora.com.

Unfortunately, we do not currently offer any products that are guaranteed to

be gluten-free. We recommend that you contact your doctor or dermatologist

for suggestions. Because the reactions to this can be severe if you have an

allergy, we recommend that you use only products to be guaranteed free of

gluten, as even in trace amounts, or in a derivative form, serious

complications can occur.

We are aware that there is a need for products that are gluten-free, and we

are striving to meet the needs of all of our clients. Please contact us

again in the future, as we are constantly updating our inventory and we hope

to have more selections available to you.

Its not just a teenage thing... this summer when I was visiting family I had stopped at Whole Foods on the way to my sister in laws house, where I was staying for 5 days. There was a bunch of family there and they tasted some of my gluten-free stuff I had for myself and they did the same thing... ewww this is gross, how do you eat that. I just looked at them and said well, I like it. But I was surprised... maybe not quite hurt but surprised they said that.

However later on... my sister in law (she made a lot of comments about how gross the food was and really she is usually a nice person) and I were staying up late talking and the wine I bought had run out so she says to me... "Susan I'm really cutting back now, I'm going to make my severence package last as long as possible". (she quit her wonderful job of 20 years and is unemployed for now but has had good offers and really can go without working for a few years) So I say OK. She says I don't drink expensive wine any more. I say, "ok". I'm no wine snob.

Well I sit down to gossip with her and taste the wine. Choke! I look at her and say, you've got to be kidding me. I get up and go in the frig and its a huge bottle that cost 2.99 I start laughing and say I can't believe you made a comment about my gluten-free food and then go on to drink this junk. We both had a good laugh and I popped her in my rental SUV and went to the liquor store on the corner and bought her some drinkable wine. We laughed the whole way there. To this day I'm still teasing her about it and we both start laughing so hard when it comes up.

The moral of my story I guess is have a sense of humor, don't take things to seriously, live life fully every day, don't stress over the small stuff.

Susan

Our local Stop and Shop use to have perdue rotisserie chickens in the already cooked foods section of the deli. They were great when in a hurry and gluten-free.

However now Stop and Shop has changed to Boston Market chickens (and other Boston Market foods too, mashed potatoes, squash...etc) and I don't know if they are gluten-free.

On the Boston Market web site it doesn't say and most of the food looks to be the stuff in Boston Market stores not the local grocery store, but again, either way it doesn't list info about gluten. I asked at the store and they didn't know.

I tried to search these forums but even when I type in "boston market" like that I get every post that just mentions the word "boston". So I can't seem to go back and see if we've covered this information already. Does anyone know if the Boston Market stuff in the grocery stores is gluten-free?

thanks, Susan

The problem is there isn't a simple answer to your questions... its individual to each restaurant. You have to go to places that are near you and start working with the owner or manager to see if anything is gluten-free and about cross contamination issues. At my favorite Thai restaurant they don't speak enough english for me to feel comfortable with eating there. I just got some dining cards with Thai on them so I'm hoping this will help, I really miss my Thai food fix.

I've had virtually no luck with Chinese but in Boston there are a few Thai places that seem to get it. (Boston is an hour plus away from me on Cape Cod but I go there to shop a lot).

So I'm afraid you will have to start investigating your local haunts.

Susan

None of those links worked for me.....

I guess everyone has to decide for themselves if they need a "real" diagnoses or not. I'm mostly self diagnosed. My Dr. tested me for Celiac last year (blood test) and having never heard of Celiac I went online and had such an "ah ha" moment reading about it. I had the blood test and the following day went gluten-free. The blood test came back negative, but by the time I got the results I had been gluten-free for a week and 95% of my symptoms were gone. That Dr. told me to start eating gluten again, I changed doctors.

I paid to have my DNA tested and I have the genes for Celiac, so given the improvement I had with gluten-free diet and my genes I've assumed I have Celiac.

Fast forward to May when I got glutened every day on vacation to Florida's panhandle. Since then I have had GI issues. I saw a GI doctor last week and I'm going to have and endo. and colonoscopy in November. The Dr. said to me if I wanted a official diagnoses for Celiac to start eating gluten now. No thanks. She did say that the blood test my former doctor gave me is an older one and that one single test is meaningless, I guess it wasn't the "right" test for gluten. I'm just not going to start eating gluten again, its not good for me and I don't care at all about an official diagnoses.

On a gluten-free list I'm on (one of the ones that comes in your e-mail box... a yahoo one I think) they were talking about official diagnoses and I told the story above and one guy is really pushing the case for me to get a real diagnoses... for my kids... I've got the DNA results I'm just not eating gluten, not ever again.

But again, we each have to decide what "we" need.

Susan

Manna by Anna. Second place is Whole foods market.

I agree not to rush into a decision, weigh all sides and try and figure out what is the best thing for you. I wish you the best!

Susan

Well I'm gonna sort of disagree with all of you.... (sort of). My sister in law was the CFO of a major (huge) corp. for years. She was having job issues too, but "wouldn't let them make me quit". So for years she went on battling with them. Finally after gaining 50 lbs (from stress) having chest pains constantly, stomach pains, and being on anti depressants for over a year she got smart. I had been telling her for years to get out. To me my happiness is far more important then any "principal". But she made a ton of money and her lifestyle was more or less dependant on that. So what?

She kept telling me that she is unemployable.... not because of her skills which as I'm sure you can imagine as a CFO she has tons of them but because of her age, she is 53.

I saw this job/stress eating her alive. Finally last spring she said to me, what am I doing to myself? I said, "killing yourself". She had spoken to a lawyer about what was going on and they said their could be a case but it would involve at least a few years of court battles, etc. Not everyone is cut out to be a crusader, my sister in law made the right decision, got a small severance from them and left.

Just last month when I visited her in her new house she said, she wished she had listened to me years ago, she has never been so happy in her life, there is no stress, no drugs, she is sleeping and losing weight. Although she has decided not to take a job until the first of the year, she did contact a head hunter and also applied at a few local companies right off and they all wanted her. Yes she will take a pay cut but with her fabulous experience there are a ton of smaller companies that want her. She has cut her lifestyle back and again, she is so happy.

So if I were you... I'd not listen to me or the others here, you need to ask yourself, how much is this situation damaging me? Am I employable? And also, can I negotiate a settlement of some sort? If they want you out, you maybe in the position to get a small something to tide you over... make sure you leave with the written understanding that you will get a good recommendation from them and get that recommendation in writing before you leave. Because of the possibility of lawsuits most companies are not willing to give bad reviews to an employee that they are actually "forcing" out. See if you can get them to pay your health insurance for a year or so.... My sister in law asked for the moon and didn't get it but she did get some of what she asked for (she did have a lawyer representing her in the leaving part, he did the negoitation for what she walked away with.

Finally for the first time in 10 years she is happy again. You have to do what is right for you... it took my sister in law a few years to figure out what that was but she finally did.

Best to you! Susan

Well I agree the only way to be 100% sure is to cook at home. I certainly believe when you eat out there is some risk involved but at places like Legal Seafoods the risk is less then at places where they don't even know about gluten.

Some people are willing to give up eating out, I'm not one of those people. I travel at least 2 times a month and am expected to eat out, so it would be very difficult for me to give up restaurant eating.

As I've posted here many times... I never let the server handle this... every time I eat out, in a new place or at places like Legal Seafood I ask for the manager to come to my table. I speak to them and ask them to please talk to not only my server but to the chef. Then when I order I ask the server to please write gluten-free on my ticket. And often when the food is served I ask again just to be sure... I'll say are we sure these veggies have no seasoning on them?

I probably go overboard but I'm very gluten sensitive and my daughter has a life threatening peanut and tree nut allergy so we are just very use to doing this.

Best, Susan

Believe me, I bet almost all of us on this list have had similar experiences along the way.... the way I explain it now, is this: I explain it in the medical/scientific way but I end my lecture with: its like an allergy, even a crumb of gluten will make me ill, this "allergy" is life long. Using the words allergy (which most people understand) and life long helps some.... but guess what? There are still people that just don't get it, I don't know why they don't but they don't.

I use to get mad/frustrated at them but I realized that was hurting and stressing me more then anyone else... so I decided if I wanted those people in my life (most of them I did) and I now just accept them for who they are. In my head I just say they have Celiac impairment... they just can't get it no matter what. Around those people I did have to change some things.... I won't eat at their houses, its just not safe for me, but I'm happy to have them here or go out with them. So it takes some adjusting but if you like them and want to keep them in your life, you are probably going to have to be the one to adjust. That may not be fair but its less stress then trying constantly to change them.

good Luck! Susan

Hi Jen, Dr. Koehler is my Dr. too. I saw her for the first time last week and was really impressed with her. On top of that we personally got along quite well so I feel really comfortable with her.

Susan

Carrie are you in Canada?? I have heard that they go a lot lighter with the sedation there.

I think how far under you go under is Dr. dependant, my GI doctor told me that as long as my heart rate and blood pressure stay stable I will be totally out for the procedures, she said she prefers it this way, but she did say some doctors prefer the patient more awake. I've never heard of anyone around here having an endo without sedation, yuck.

Susan