DaffodElle

I came across an article, it is a little old, but it really seemed to clear up the candida/Celiac connection as well as we know about it. It made complete sense with my overlapping symptoms. It was published in the Lancet in 2003, title is "Is Candida albicans a trigger in the onset of coeliac disease?". You can look for it on PubMed, not sure if there is free full text. Brief (and way oversimplified) synopsis: There is an amino acid sequence in the cell wall of candida that is identical to or highly homologous to the gliadin sequence that causes the immune response in celiac disease. In response to both these proteins, the body would also form antibodies to tTG and endomysium. One could see the potential, then, for candida to cause very similar symptoms if it provokes the same immune response! I kept thinking I was getting glutened by nuts, vinegars, wine, and cheese... I now think it is yeast or mold-related foods that do something to trigger candida, which in turn causes the antibody formation and a "gluten" response. I'm not sure why it hasn't received more attention or further research... I would love to know how to fix the problem for good! Does this resonate with anyone else??

Lexi- I totally feel your pain!! I've been at this over 3 years and still the ups and downs. The only thing I can suggest, and you might hate me for this, is to stop with the milk subs for a few days and see how it goes. I know for a fact that I do WORSE with milk subs than actual milk, at least with gluten-related sx. Cow's milk totally kills my stomach, but that's over in a few hours, vs. days with gluten. I think a lot of the "milks" have CC issues if you really look into it. Even the GFCO products may be produced on the same lines as gluten-containing products sometimes. Just because something tests at less than 10 or 20 ppm doesn't mean that none of us will react to it. I've only recently been doing better by cutting out ANYTHING processed. It sucks. But it also gives me hope! On a brighter note, however, I did try a small amount of So Delicious coconut milk yesterday. I don't feel awesome, but I don't feel horrible... so maybe try that? Warning, though, it does contain carrageenan. Good luck!

Does anyone have anything to add? I found this thread while searching for the same thing... can't find any without guar gum. Would be willing to order online if needed...

You know, I often wonder how many things I've cut out due to that very problem... is it the ACTUAL food or a contamination thing?? You all have brought up some interesting points. I do want to add that I'm pretty sure I did react to my peanut butter last week now. AGAIN- is it the peanuts or CC? It is store brand, no gluten-free designation, so who knows what kind of equipment it is made with. Grrrrr. Feeling dumb for trusting it, but also feeling frustrated that it is SO hard to tell what the problems actually are. Maybe it's time to break down and spend a bunch of money on nutsonline just to try them. I just hate to do that and then have problems and have to give/throw away more food (had an expensive chicken I just had to do that with, and three jars of PB in the pantry, along with everything else processed I've cleaned out lately. So I'm a little wary of that right now!) As an aside and reply to an earlier post on this thread, I did eat some other possibly CC'ed things on vacation due to sharing a kitchen with my family, but I was pretty darn careful. And my reactions always correlated with the Larabars. And it certainly wasn't just a bathroom issue (sometimes I wish it was...). Yes, I do have a little bit of a sugar issue, but it is with fructose. Larabars don't have added sugar (at least the old flavors), but do have quite a bit of fructose from the dates and such. The only time I have fructose trouble is right after I've been glutened though. Then I seem to be able to tolerate it just fine after a few days. Huh, how do my posts always get this long? Thanks for reading and commenting I appreciate your input.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry it has taken so long for me to reply, was without the internet for awhile! Not plain nuts necessarily, as I can't find any that haven't been processed on the same equipment as wheat... however, I do eat peanut butter pretty regularly with no obvious problems. That was what was weird about Larabars, I could tolerate the nuts in those just fine but not contaminated plain nuts. Now they bother me too... It isn't a GI issue by itself, everything else is the real problem. (I don't usually have much in the way of GI sx with gluten... very mild D 1-2 days after the "problem" food. DH, fatigue, etc. are most prominent sx) I did get an email back from the company assuring me that they use no gluten ingredients, etc., etc. They had a number to call, but I haven't had a chance to call yet. BTW- has anyone ever found a safe source of non-contaminated nuts? I know there are a bunch of threads about it, but none seem very conclusive... At least then I could try them alone and have more definitive evidence as to whether they are the problem! Wow, this got long. Looking: thanks again for the reply!

Ok, just found more info on the site that the company was bought by General Mills in June 2008. But that was a while ago... I'll post if they tell me anything useful.

I used to eat Larabars all the time, especially when I was glutened... No problems with them. They were a staple from when I was feeling better. As of a few weeks ago, I've been more and more suspicious that they are making me sick. I've been eating a lot of them while on vacation, and have been getting progressively sicker all week. Does anyone know if something has recently changed? Their website lists new flavors with chocolate chips (they seem a lot like junk food to be a Larabar, but I tried one last week anyway). Did the company get bought out and change manufacturing processes? New suppliers? Contamination from the new choc chip products? I'm planning to email the company, but I didn't know if someone already had and could save me the wait. Thanks!!

Gluten information regarding drugs is often difficult to obtain, even for pharmacists. I don't know how many times I've called drug companies looking for this info, and they are unable to give me any helpful information. I have a list that was published in the journal Hospital Pharmacy that lists gluten-free drug manufacturers. I'll try to find it this week and post the info. Otherwise, you can look at www.glutenfreedrugs.com, a site maintained by a pharmacist. He does a lot of legwork to get the info that he has posted on there, and you can email him with specific requests for information. Hope you get the information you need! Elle

I realize I'm a couple months late, but add me to the list of people intolerant of Tyson chicken breast. I suspected it once a few months back, but then thought I was just being paranoid... Last week, Tyson was on sale, the usual store brand I buy was not. Being the frugal-ista that I am, I bought the Tyson and thought nothing of it. I made the same recipe with the same other ingredients the same way as I have before with no problems, and VOILA I was sick within hours. (BTW- it was a very gluten-like reaction) I started wondering about the chicken, and that's how I found this thread. Wow, I'm kind of glad I'm not the only one. Thanks, everyone, for posting your experiences.

Yep, a safe list.

As much as I get on here to see whether others have had problems with the same products, I sometimes find myself getting tired of adding to the seemingly endless list of processed products that have caused a gluten reaction for me. I've been at this three years now. I've only recently gotten to the point where I'm eating very, very little processed food (and slowly feeling better). It is very obvious, then, when I do react. Unfortunately, this has caused me to cut out some products I previously trusted implicitly. So, I'm trying to think positively and make a list of the foods I KNOW without a doubt are ok for me. My go-to foods when I'm feeling yucky and need to reboot. I think this could be helpful for those of us who are super sensitive to CC. I actually thought the whole CC thing was a myth for awhile, that those people were crazy... Now I've crossed over, and I'm hoping we can all help each other with CC-sensitive suggestions in one place! My top few: 1. Larabars 2. Tinkyada pasta 3. Stonyfield Farm yogurt (at least the plain for sure) Anyone else want to join in?

I thought about that. I had the same deal with Betty Crocker brownies a few weeks ago, only worse. I know chocolate is fine because I can eat handfuls of Enjoy Life chocolate chips with no problems. Soy gives me trouble, but it doesn't do the whole DH, etc. she-bang, just GI to a small extent. Can't figure out the common denominator?? Anyone know where they chocolate chips/chocolate chunks in these types of products are produced? Just because the mix is produced in a gluten-free facility doesn't mean I necessarily trust all the processed ingredients... I get burned every time I try anything processed. I keep hoping for brownies, though!! (Thanks for the recipe, Sophie!)

I read your original post after searching the forum for Pamela's mix because I suspected it this weekend, and it was like reading my own post. That is exactly what happened to me: DH, sugar cravings, and all. Not sure what the deal is, I hadn't had any baked goods in quite awhile, but now I'm beyond sad... Would you be willing to tell us what brands/products you use for your brownies from scratch??

I really hate to admit it, but I think I've had CC problems with their plain tea, too. Granted, I'm uber-sensitive, but I made the connection that EVERY weekend on Saturday afternoon, I would start getting gluten-sick. And EVERY weekend, no matter what I ate, I would have green tea instead of coffee in the mornings, thinking it was a healthier option. It has since gone away since I just feed my coffee addiction! I hope no one else has this issue, but just a warning out there in case anyone else has had problems. I think I've seen another thread to this effect on here and that's what got me to recognize it. The tour sounds pretty cool though!!

I suspect M&Ms. Now before every person on this forum tells me I must be crazy and have some other food intolerance instead, I'd like to comment that this was clearly a gluten-related reaction. No other foods cause me to react in this particular succession of symptoms. I had been tolerating lactose and sulfites just fine for a few weeks, in fact, both of which are often a problem post-glutening. I do know that large amounts of soy cause some D for me, but it has not caused DH, fatigue, etc. like gluten. I have seen a couple posts here and there about people who have also suspected cc'ed M&Ms in the past. Anyone else?? The only other possible culprits are: McCormick garlic powder (doubtful, but it wasn't the Gourmet line...), or Sutter Home wine that I drank a glass of last week with no ill effects. I did eat some Mrs. Leeper's beef lasagna flavor pasta last weekend. (Anyone want two boxes of it? I'm not a huge mush fan... or tips for making it non-mushy) Thanks for your comments!!