notme

There is a lot of misinformation here that I wanted to address.......and this comes from someone who has been diagnosed and successfully gluten-free for 15 years.
You can safely eat processed, gluten free items and heal.  It might be better to go easy on them in the beginning but it all depends on what you can tolerate and whether or not you need to gain weight.  I usually buy products from dedicated gluten-free facilities and these you can trust.  If they are marked gluten-free, then they would have to test their product.  The Gluten Free Watchdog is invaluable for product testing results and warnings on what does not pass roster.  Companies that do not test their product before marketing cannot label them gluten free but they fall under the “no gluten ingredients used” category.  There are a few items I use that are like that but they are for sauces that contain tomatoes and single spices and very few ingredients. I have never, ever had a problem with them and I rarely, if ever, am glutened after 15 years.  Some of the major food companies are pretty good about information on potential gluten content in their products.  The comment about many food labels not being accurate I have found to be not true.  You also need to be able to read a label and figure it out because you have to do this for the rest of your life.
Go to Nuts.com and order your products from them.  Excellent company and their gluten-free line is certified. You can enjoy nuts with abandon!  This is a favorite site with Celiac’s.
I use certified, gluten-free oats regularly and have never had any problems but I ate a lot of oats pre-diagnosis.  You may want to wait awhile before you try them as per medical advice but I started back on oats after about 3 months gluten-free because I like them.  They agreed with me well and my blood work was excellent on re-test.  These are the dedicated grown, certified oats, not mainstream oats.  
Lastly, you absolutely can share meals with your boyfriend.......as long as he eats what you eat, period.  He can save the gluten filled stuff for outside the house/apartment.  Use your common sense with this and learn the right way to read labels...........you will be fine!  After awhile, it will become second nature.

IMO the positive blood test + genetic test confirming you carry the celiac gene = pretty strong indicators of celiac disease, thus rendering 2nd opinion useless/redundant.    I also had negative EGD/biopsies but high ttg (200+).  Doc said I was "likely/possible" celiac.  I have didn't get a genetic test because not being a gene carrier would not erase the positive blood test result.   (I also suggest all your family members get a blood test because celiac disease is genetic and they should know whether they need to get treated, adopt gluten-free diets as well.)
Most celiac disease blood tests have a very high accuracy rate.  Also, IBS-like symptoms and unusual weight loss without trying (i.e., being on a weight loss diet) can also be classic symptoms of celiac disease.   BTW, you can have BOTH celiac disease and IBS (esp. if IBS is stress-related).   
"Most of the gluten food is out of my house (there are a couple of things my boyfriend is still eating that are kept on a separate shelf, but he has mostly gone gluten free with me)..." 
A friendly tip from one "newbie" to another:  This gluten-free diet is not the typical kind of "slim down" diet where you can celebrate or pat yourself on the back for "mostly" avoiding G or "only eating G rarely/occasionally".   Unfortunately, a gluten-free diet required of celiac disease patients is not effective at all unless ALL G is avoided.  No exceptions.  That is the ONLY way to heal yourself and remain healthy.  At least until a G vaccine is developed (hopefully in a few years).  And I would not share ANY meals with your BF.  Also, avoid oats, nuts because even in gluten-free in their original form, they can be "cross-contaminated" with G, processed in facilities that share equipment, processing, packing facilities with G crops.
I didn't realize that at first, but a learning curve is to be expected.  In the first months after my diagnosis, I drove myself crazy trying to read every single label on foods and wonder whether foods bearing a "gluten-free" label really were gluten-free (many labels are not accurate because most US food companies are not inspected or well-regulated for safety or claim accuracy).  After a few months, that exercise in tedium/anxiety drove me nuts.  So I decided it's just much simpler, easier, and cheaper to avoid ALL packaged and processed (which is chock full of artificial additives and chemicals) in favor of exclusively buying, cooking, and eating nothing but fresh foods (meat, fruits, veggies).
 
 
 

yes, me!  I have a weird symptom of my neck and shoulders ache when I get glutened - popped a gummy bear in my mouth the other day, dumb me, then I read the ingredients.  some gummy bears are gluten free, these were not.  spit out gummy bear, rinse out mouth, etc, I must have gotten a little, because the next day, there was my telltale neck ache.  so, it does happen to me and it is because of eating gluten.  for me.  maybe for you, too.  

lolz!  I can make a chat bot!  it's just gonna say, "I know you are, but what am I.....?" ????
I would take anything free from apple, I graduated high school with laurene, hahahaaa
I am gardening - got half of my herbs in, harvested the cabbages we started from seed in july, they are now becoming sauerkraut (about 3 gallons!)  gotta put red cabbages in, one runt green cabbage from the july ones that's still on the back porch, different varieties of tomatoes and peppers.  got beet seeds and cucumber seeds to go in, as well.  
i'm hunting freight - half of everything is closed or working from home.  boo.  plus, it's still a holiday even if we can't do anything about it lolz
blackberry smoke brothers and sisters reunion show is cancelled, Bristol race would have been this past sunday……...
I can sew.  I can knit.  all I want to make is:  PLANS!!!!

Welcome to the forum. Did you get diagnosed with celiac disease? It sounds like you are on a gluten-free diet now, is that correct? Here is a starter guide if this is correct:
 

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Our family made masks out of bandanas and rubber bands...it gets hot in there!  At least we have something!
Cyclinglady...so cool that you are sewing masks for others...love that. (((Hugs)))
My kids are struggling with this too.  I have one in college, one in high school and one in elementary.  All of them miss their friends a lot...therefore comfort baking is a must!  Today we are making snickerdoodles.  Your chocolate chip cookie sound great!

I spent the day yesterday sewing facial masks.  I really detest sewing, but there is a need.  I am so glad that I “hoarded” a couple of bins of sewing supplies.  There was no need to go out.  I first used up all the scraps that I saved  (I always thought they would be put to good use) as they already had been washed and shrunk.  A little more time intensive, but worth it.  My daughter laughed at the fabric colors.  Many were ones that she choose when she was little.  Oh, how her tastes have changed!  Once cut, the sewing part was easy once I got a system down.  
These masks will go to my extended family and neighbors in need who have chronic issues or must venture out for food.  I am going to keep sewing them for hospital use.  They are good at covering the N-95 masks.  I hope our local hospitals will get the supplies they need and these masks will not be necessary.  
Like so many of you, I find baking comforting.  My kid who is now studying online needs cheering up and hubby is working on taxes.  Chocolate chip cookies are on the menu today.  

Definitely not!  No naked bears allowed!  LOL!

How about a sweater for the teddy bears in the window?  Can't have bare bears flashing the neighborhood.  Hee hee!
http://www.knittingonthenet.com/dollsteddy.htm
Teach the kids to knit, too!  I started knitting at eight!

Iceland girl, 
It's like riding a bicycle.  Your fingers will remember!  I'll be around to answer questions if you need assistance.  
Also, there's patterns for Knitted Face Masks....
Instructions for sewing fabric face masks....
 
I'm trying my paws at sewing a face mask...
Note:  These are non-medical face masks! 
 

3+ weeks at home and I would love some ideas too!
I have kids to keep entertained too and we've baked together,done a lot of art type things(my 8 year old has made multiple batches of slime), watched movies, built with Legos, board games, etc.  As of last week the kids went back to school for eLearning...that is a challenge in itself as I am not a teacher!
One thing our city is doing is a teddy bear scavenger hunt.  People put teddy bears in their windows for kids to find while out walking.  We have 2 windows full of stuffed animals because my daughter wanted it to be more than just a bear.  When I took a walk yesterday I saw a lot of cheery windows in our neighborhood!
We also discovered Art Hub for kids on Youtube and that's really fun for adults and kids to learn to draw. 
Kitty, I learned how to knit years ago, but have forgotten completely.  This makes me want to try again, maybe. 

Hi!
Of course, I'm going to suggest learning how to knit! 
Kick off the shoes you've worn outside at your doorway (so you don't track the virus into your home) and slip on nice warm slippers.
Here's an easy pattern for beginners to make slippers.  
https://www.simple-knitting.com/knit-slippers.html
There's tons more pattern sites and lots of instructional videos on YouTube.
? knitting makes me purrrrrrr
 

I haven't tried this myself, but gluten-free cake in an egg sounds interesting.
https://www.goodshomedesign.com/how-to-bake-a-cake-inside-an-egg/?fbclid=IwAR2b3MRmAO_WBmGNjEJqfzJ6dI9HNxogTPQAp2nkqnvumCGP0W85yHMOnDM

Hello cyclinglady and notme!
So good to hear from you both!  After reading your posts, I remembered that the insect bite problem happens to me also.  Mosquitos became an issue and the bite site would swell up and turn bright red and itch like I have never itched before.  It was so annoying and I didn’t realize until I researched mast cell issues that all my symptoms were connected.
The last time I got hives about 7 weeks ago, before I saw the dermatologist and got the steroid cream, I actually got angioedema.  It happened, of course, late in the day, after I must have had high histamine foods and my cheeks, under my eyes, got so swollen, I was actually worried.  I never have had breathing issues and did not have them that night.  That would be the only reason I would ever go to an ER.  So, I swallowed some Benadryl and it was better in the morning.  Since cutting way back on high histamine foods, things are so much better that I can’t believe it!  I think the reason that the docs didn’t quite believe me is that the hives only ever appeared on my face.  It is more common to have them body wide.  
I think I was in denial for awhile because I was resistant to giving up even more foods.  I was upset to give up the red wine.  However, after a couple of days of no wine, I was fine with it.  It does get annoying that we suffer so much from food issues.  I am thin so can’t give up too much.  But I snuck a 4 oz. glass of red wine in the other day, because I wanted to see what would happen and was thrilled to find no hives the next day.  So, you are all correct.......it’s all about tolerance levels and if I can have a small amount once a week or so, that is all I need.  I went a little crazy over Christmas with the delivery from the wine club because there is stress in my life with the 2 mother’s in Assisted Living right now.  So, too much wine and cheese, not to mention my love of smoked salmon and I must have been toxic with the histamine.  Not anymore!  I am being good because I am thrilled to have conquered yet another problem.  Maybe this summer I can actually go outside when there are mosquitos and not swell up like the Hindenburg when I am bitten.  ?. You can also bet I am going to ask these doctors to read up on histamine intolerance as it relates to Celiac Disease.  It was good that I found out I have no other AI diseases but I still had to figure this out without their help.  What cyclinglady said about the glass or barrel filling up is so true.  I have to be more careful when the weather is rainy and moldy because that affects my allergies. Add some high histamine food into the mix and boom!  Hive hell.
I also had to say good-bye to the wine club.  ??‍♀️  But that has paled compared to this pandemic we have going here.  I am not finding it hard to stay at home because we can all connect much easier these days than when I was younger.  But I am getting annoyed that I am actually stressed when having to go food shopping. Not knowing how this virus affects each person is stressful.  Not to mention that I am now considered high risk because I had one birthday that tripped me into being considered older.  WTF????????  ?
I hope everyone stays well during this time and I’ll be on the forum more often now that we are in quarantine!  It’s great to talk to everyone again. ?

honestly, scott, I haven't picked up anything except one sinus infection in the past 10 years.  everybody got the 'bad flu' last year, even the (big, tough guy) husband was in bed suffering for days, I fully expected to be sick next.  then, nothing.  not complaining!!  I spent years sick with everything when my immune system wasn't working due to untreated/undiagnosed celiac.

It is hard to really know if you have had a gluten exposure as symptoms can be attributed to several illnesses.  For example, you could have food poisoning or intestinal flu.  Some celiacs are super sensitive though.    Just look through the DH (Dermatitis Herpetiformis) section of the forum.  Their gluten exposures are very visible.  Most avoid processed foods to prevent a DH outbreak.  
Here is my story for what it is worth.  My husband had been gluten-free 12 years before my diagnosis, so I really knew the diet well.  Within months, my anemia had resolved.  A good sign that I was healing.  But I was getting gluten exposures (or so I thought).  Turns out that I have an intolerance to Xanthan Gum which is found in so many gluten-free processed foods like bread.  My husband, who had healed, could consume Xanthan Gum but not me.  I still have issues with it to this day.  So, consider other food intolerances.
I have had gluten exposures (hidden).  Instead of just anemia, I developed some pretty severe GI upset.  It took me weeks to recover.  Usually, I could not identify the culprit though I had my suspicions.  My GI was nice enough to order a celiac panel, which usually did confirm a gluten exposure.  
Two years ago, I developed a tooth infection, the flu, a cold and had a hidden gluten exposure.  My celiac panel was off the charts.  Months later I was still pretty miserable.  I had developed chronic autoimmune hives.  My GI suggested a repeat endoscopy, but I opted for the Fasano diet (super strict gluten-free diet).  My hives eventually went away but I had GERD like symptoms that would not resolve.  A year after that gluten exposure and tooth infection, I had an endoscopy.  Biopsies revealed a healed small intestine.  But I had a gastric polyp and gastric biopsies found that I had autoimmune gastritis.  It is common with Hashimoto’s (as are hives).  
I learned that not all things are due to celiac disease.  
I do consider myself to be very sensitive.  Those gluten exposures usually cause me to pass out and literally last for weeks and weeks.  I am super careful (never eat out unless it is a dedicated gluten-free restaurant) because that last bout of hives was awful.  Gluten exposures trigger my other autoimmune disorders and allergies.   Everything goes haywire.
I am certainly not discounting your reaction.  We are each unique.  But most certified gluten-free products do not contain any gluten.  No test can measure below 5 ppm, if I recall.  But manufacturing mistakes can occur,  though they rarely do.  (Like Van’s wheat waffles were packaged in gluten-free boxes by mistake a few years ago — google it.)
I hope this helps.  I hope you recover fast!  

Ask your doctor instead of a bunch of strangers with various degrees of knowledge and panic.
There have always been lots of knee jerk reactions on this board and varying degrees of panic when dealing with simple issues (see eating out threads); So, panic or ask your doctor.

 
From Columbia University’s Celiac Disease Center:
 
As coronavirus is a new illness, there is no research specifically looking at the risk to people with celiac disease. Celiac disease is a chronic medical condition in which there appears to be an increased risk of infections with pneumococcal bacteria that cause pneumonia and herpes zoster (causing shingles). In addition, there appears to be increased risk of worse outcomes with influenza infections and an inadequate response to vaccination with hepatitis B. Still, these risks, while measureable in several studies, are small in magnitude. It is reasonable to consider that those with celiac disease, especially older individuals, may be at a small increased risk of worse outcomes with infections with this new virus.
In view of this data, individuals should closely follow the advice of the CDC given to the general population, including hand hygiene and social distancing when possible. In addition, it is important that those with celiac disease ensure they are current with vaccinations and have follow up medical care appropriate for the disease.
Back to anonymity, and reading not posting. 

This would indicate that not enough is really known about the subject to assume anything and the if there is an increased risk it's small one compared others. 
It's probably good they're setting up a registry, maybe we'll find out if we're susceptible or not. Based on current info it's "probably not" but don't know for sure. 
Also, the use of "theoretical" indicates that there's some effort to connect dots. Just because something applies to A or B doesn't mean that it applies to C unless we have better info. Certainly could be that we find out it's an issue but really right now we don't really know. I don't think we have data on how celiacs faired VS H1N1 but that would probably be a better comparison to Covid-19. 
I think the bigger thing with this virus, if it ends up infecting as many as they say, is how many people will have celiac disease triggered. If there is wide infection we could see a spike in celiacs being diagnosed. 

To all of those who are having issues with hives......I have been a member of this forum for a long time and thought I would share my experience with the hive problem.
Starting about 6 years ago, I started having a problem with hives.  Now, I have Celiac, Hashi’s, Sjogren’s and Reynaud’s so I guess it was inevitable that I would get hives.  It started out slowly and went from just a few spots on my face to full on facial hives, over the course of 5-6 years.  Anti-histamines worked well in the beginning but over time, became less affective.  I tried sublingual allergy drops, after having done allergy shots when I was younger, which helped me then with seasonal allergies.  I did not have a hive problem back when I did allergy shots.
Well......they did not seem to be doing anything, so after 4 years, I stopped.  It all came to head over the holidays last year when I just could not get rid of them completely.  The permanent rash that developed started to resemble a lupus rash so I finally bit the bullet and went to my first Rheumatologist appointment.  Now, I knew the root problem was hives but because it looked more like a lupus rash, they did boatloads of blood work for every skin disease known to man.  They do that when you get older like me.  The doctor I saw was very good and very caring and personable.....which was nice for a change.  Well, it all came back negative, which was a relief, and as I already have 4 AI diseases, I was a bit concerned I had popped for another.  They even did a skin biopsy to test for the skin version of lupus, which was negative.  That was done by the Dermatologist I then was referred to.  Yes, I was in doctor hell, but not for long.
The dermatologist, who was very sweet and very nice,  thought it a contact allergy to products I was using on my face. She turned out to be very good, even though it was my first experience with a doctor who was young enough to be my daughter.  ?. She gave me strong steroid cream for it, to clear it up, and it worked really well.  I kept mentioning the hive thing, but because it did not look like hives by the time I saw both docs, they very politely kept steering me in another direction.  I mentioned maybe a histamine problem, because everything else was negative, but I could tell they had no real knowledge of it.  So, once again it was up to me to figure it out.  They were helpful though in helping me figure out what it wasn’t.
I bought a book on the histamine problem, written by a doctor with years of experience studying it.  I quickly realized that following the diet as strictly as the book mandated was going to be a problem as I am a thin Celiac.  It is not a healthy diet to follow, long term.  So, I decided to cut out the main high histamine offenders and see what happened. Those were red wine, which is obscenely high in histamine, citrus fruits, tomatoes and cheese.  I was dismayed to read that, even though I eat a healthy, whole foods diet, it was loaded with high histamine foods. It figures. After using the steroid cream and getting my skin back, I was waiting for my skin to explode with hives again. I followed the diet as best I could and 6 weeks later.......not one hive to be seen at all!  I have never been able to go for more than a couple of weeks without the problem and since cutting out those foods, nothing. Nada. My skin is clear and non-red for the first time in 5 years.  I can’t wait to see the Dermatologist for the follow up, when we are released from all this isolation, to see what her reaction is.  Once again, I am going to have to educate doctors on the other cause of hives in people with AI disease.  It wasn’t from the other AI problems, it was the histamine.  I have been able to have small amounts of cheese and drink an occasional glass of white wine with no hives appearing.  The dermatologist wanted me to do the skin elimination diet, stripping me away from all my favorite skincare products and I never started it because the hives never came back after changing my diet.  That made me happy because I like my products.
So, if you have hives that are becoming a problem, you can try the diet without being as strict as they seem to think it has to be.  Maybe some people will have to do that but I found that just by dumping the highest histamine foods, it seems to be working like a charm.  It is all about tolerance levels with histamine so I can eat some of these foods but in much smaller quantities and not every day.  I can have the wine and cheese about 1-2 times per week, but not everyday.  It’s always the food, isn’t it?  ?

Notme!  That's great news, much needed at the moment.  You have given me hope that one day oats will be back on the menu again.  I really miss them!

i couldn't eat oats for, like, 10 years.  I kept trying them every 6 months or so.  processed foods, same thing.  I was undiagnosed for 25 years, I can imagine, when I started on the gluten free diet, there was plenty of healing to be done!  keep yourself a food journal - include alllllll ingredients and your body's reactions.  adjust accordingly, until you have some good 'safe' foods.  I had to avoid (first) lactose for about 6 months, soy for about a year, raw veggies for like, 2 years (or be aware that if I ate them, they weren't going to digest well!)  etc, you see where i'm going.  also, I can't eat the same thing two days in a row.  the first day, all is well, the second day I eat the same thing, body is like, nope.  I think it has to do with histamine overload.  it works for me, now I am eating tons of different foods I couldn't eat in the beginning.  some stuff I still hafta limit (fruits, chocolate <ok, chocolate, I will take the hit, lolz)   I used to notice that (if you are female) hormones will add to discomfort once a month  
just pay attention to your body, keep dat journal, you'll adjust to your 'new normal'.  good luck!  welcome to the club you never wanted to join lolz  

I  got an air fryer for Christmas and I LOVE it. So far I have done fried shrimp, fried chicken, fried pork chops and chicken fried steaks. It was all amazing and I feel like it is so much healthier than the old way of soaking everything in grease. My advice is to get a good cookbook. I am using "The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook" by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.  

We had a turkey and a ham for Christmas.  Plus sweet taters cole slaw, and almond cake with swerve not sugar.  Since then made turkey soup from the bones and ham bone soup from the bones.  Ham bone soup came out more like rice and veggies since the water was a little short, but that's ok.  Ham bone soup with cauliflower, peas corn, and a wild rice mixture   Also made sauerkraut and pork for New Years. but didn't put a silver dollar in the sauerkraut.  If you put an old silver dollar in the sauerkraut while you cook it, the silver dollar comes out bright and shiny like the new year.  That's a German thing or something.

Y'all obviously are not in the South. We are having turnip greens (brings money), black-eyed peas (brings good luck) and pork tenderloin. Any kind of pork will do to bring more good luck. Round out with cornbread (just because it's good) and the end of the homemade fruitcake.
Everyone I know is having some version of the same. We have a lot of food customs here.