jess-gf

Probiotics, plenty of liquids, eating greens (like kale), making sure to eat healthy fats, and magnesium supplements like Natural Calm have always helped me.

This has been a very frustrating week. First the Domino's thing, and then the Today Show. It really pisses me off. Celiac Disease is NOT a trend, companies and celebrities going their version of "gluten free" for weight loss is trend. I hated how cavalier she was about it, too.

I've been contacting news stations and papers suggesting it as a feature. Talk to more people about it. Start a blog and share your story with the interwebs. Or just continue to be an awesome support community

I'm not sure if you all know about this (I didn't until Twitter exploded about it a couple weeks ago!) but May is Celiac Awareness Month. We get our own month

The NFCA has some more info about it here: Open Original Shared Link

I just finished The Hunger Games trilogy and quite liked it. I'm not sure what I'll pick next!

I actually prefer potlucks! That way I know I can bring something that is completely safe. I usually make something that's mostly a meal in itself and serve myself first, or make up a plate beforehand. It's pretty rare that I trust anyone else to make gluten-free food. I just find it easier to know I can take care of myself ahead of time and not worry about the food once I get there.

The hardest situations for me are big family events that are at a restaurant, typically a buffet. At those I never really feel safe, and if I order off the menu I feel too "special".

Hey, jess_gf, I was just this morning looking at the topic you started that has been runing all this time, and wondered what had happened to you. Good to see ya!

Oh I've been around, mostly lurking. Thanks!

This thread is funny It's a girl with reddish-blonde hair in pigtails on a windy day, showing off a lollipop.

I started reacting to corn a few months ago. Honestly I have no idea if it's a separate intolerance or if it has something to do with the GMO freakshow in corn. I just know, a year ago I could eat it just fine. Then over time if I ate "too much" popcorn I would get a slight stomach ache. Then a couple months ago if I even had a handful of popcorn or any corn-containing snack my upper stomach would erupt in pain so intense that it would wrap around to my back (behind my ribs). I don't usually get back pain from glutening. I've quit corn as best I can since then.

Skylark I read the abstract, it looks very interesting. I just wish I understood it I need to take a class to learn how to read that stuff!

I've had different reaction times that seem random. Sometimes it's immediate, and sometimes it's 6-8 hours later.

Ok, now i'm confused. I thought that coffee was safe. Since I can't find any safe tea, I drink coffee. Is coffee gluten free or not?

You can't find any safe tea? Most tea is safe unless it has barley/malt flavoring added. Bigelow and Celestial Seasonings are two major brands that label which of their teas are gluten-free and I've never had a problem with them. Right now I'm drinking a cup of Trader Joe's Earl Grey.

I've heard various things in bloggerland about other foods cross-reacting, or rather that their molecules can look close enough like gluten that the body believes it is gluten and reacts accordingly. While I doubt the paleo conference is trying to pull one over on everyone (coffee is allowed on the paleo/primal diet) I also would not be ready to quit coffee just yet until I see more hard proof.

Cooking more, and using whole foods will be cheaper than relying on convenience foods. A good home-made chicken stock is surprisingly nourishing and you make it from chicken bones and whatever veggies you can spare Open Original Shared Link Plus the natural gelatin is soothing to the stomach. A whole chicken at Trader Joe's usually runs me about $5.50 and I can get several meals out of, and maybe 4 quarts or so of stock. Chicken breast is more expensive than chicken thighs and chicken drumsticks, and the dark meat tastes better to me Like others have said, rice, beans, and lentils in bulk are super cheap (remember to buy them plain and not seasoned). White and sweet potatos are fairly cheap and are great for lunch/meals, I used to take them to work for lunch all the time and nuke 'em in the microwave. While you might not be able to handle most dairy, you might be okay with butter or even goat cheese is divine in potatoes. For more protein you could top it with cheese or some ground beef. Ground beef is also super cheap! I have made many a meal/slop by just cooking up some ground beef with various veggies tossed in and a nubbin of butter (squash, green beans, broccoli, onions, carrots, kale..) During the summer see if you can find any friends who garden, they often have surpluses of certain things like tomatoes and summer squash that they're happy to give away.

I personally don't think your cats need to be gluten-free. Feed them and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. When you clean their dishes rinse them out and run them through the dishwasher instead of hand washing. I also don't think your kitty should be eating pasta, anyways. Regular cat food should do -- if they get hungry enough they'll eat it even if they're being picky. Plus less pasta for them = more pasta for you. I also have a cat that throws up, but only if she eats too fast. I've never really heard of pets having Celiac. Perhaps it could be something else?

Maybe there are other parts of your budget you could cut back on too? For me I'd rather have good food than entertainment stuff, clothes, etc etc. Two of the biggest things that have saved me money this year is cancelling me phone contract and switching to pay-as-you-go (Tracphone) and cancelling cable and using Netflix instead. Something to think about

It's so nice to see positivity every now and then

I PMed you

Thought I'd update this. It's been 4 months now! Feels like an eternity. It seems like I keep taking 1 step forward and then 2 steps back. I'm still dairy free and mostly soy free except for my gluten-free soy sauce I use in stir frys. I've also recently decided to give the paleo diet a whirl since I haven't been feeling remarkably better since going gluten free. It's only been a week so far so it's hard to say if there's been an improvement or not - it seems like no matter what I do I discover something else that gives me a stomach ache!

I stopped taking bromelain since my stomach ached after taking it. I still take liquid vitamins, and a calcium-magnesium suppliment. If I remember I'll take a probiotic and fish oil.

It feels like my stomach is getting even more sensitive than before. I stopped drinking regular coffee and started drinking decaf, but I found that made it feel angry and burny too. I switched to only drinking tea and eventually that made it feel achy and burny. So now I just drink decaf tea. I tried a cup of jasmine green tea with honey today and even that bit of caffeine is bothering me. I ate a small bar of dark chocolate last night and that was too much - I guess I can only have one bite of that.

A few days ago I made my own turkey sausage (recipe here: Open Original Shared Link) and that made my stomach burn. Argh why! It wasn't even that spicy. I feel like the only real thing that's improved since being diagnosed is that my constipation has gone away. At least there's something.

Right now I work part-time doing audio edits and other related stuff for a webconferencing company that caters to big Pharma I used to work there full time, but there was another round of layoffs and they gutted my department. Shock of shocks they've been having trouble meeting client deadlines since then.. but I digress!

I like that I can work part-time from home now. Since being diagnosed I spend a lot of time cooking and planning and researching and it's definitely easier at meal time being at home with a kitchen. But I do feel a bit lost, like I'm not contributing enough to society (or making enough $$). I have been looking around for another job but haven't had much luck yet. It would be really cool to work for Celiac awareness somehow, but I haven't seen anything out there like that.

I've been off L-Glutamine and Bromelain for at least a week now, though I just started taking L-Glutamine again today. I didn't feel any better while being off of them. I've also been dairy free for about a month. :/

So I have been gluten free since November 2010 and it's been getting easier and easier to maintain the diet. This is good. I've never cheated and only accidentally gotten glutened at thanksgiving, once when I licked an envelope, and once when I took a generic brand of tylenol. The original pain and nausea that caused me to go to the Dr in the first place is gone.

But, I feel like there are still things that are wrong with me and this past week some symptoms have become more and more frequent. Lately I've been feeling really bloated and full after meals, and like a pocket of gas is expanding and prodding at the top of my stomach causing discomfort. Eventually it settles down. But it gets worse at night - as soon as I lie down it's back and I also get mildly nauseous. I've been having a terrible time concentrating. I feel tired. My muscles ache. I feel sad and long for a day warm enough that I can go outside and at least sit in some sun.

I'm not sure what's going on. Gluten withdrawal? Or is this just a stage of healing? Is it a symptom of something else related to Celiac like Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Here's what I usually take for supplements: MethylCobalamin sublinguals, Bromelain, L-Glutamine, a probiotic that I discovered expired last year (oops) and a daily vitamin gummy. I stopped taking Bromelain and L-Glutamine a bit ago suspecting they were making me feel bad but I don't think it was them, so I started taking L-Glutamine again today.

This weekend I bought some more supplies thinking I just need more support through this. I purchased some liquid vitaminsOpen Original Shared Link (the gummies really don't have much in them), acidophilus Open Original Shared Link, calcium-Magnesium Open Original Shared Link, and fish oil Open Original Shared Link. Hopefully this will help.

Has anyone else had an experience like this?

I've also read some interesting research on the Paleo Diet. I am concerned that it's just a fad, but maybe a complete cut of all grains (rice is pretty much the only form I eat) will help? I've also been dairy free for about a month.

Yesterday I had a headache so I took a couple of these generic tylenol's (Acetaminophen). About 20mins later my headache was gone but then I started having gluten side effects. Inactive ingredients are: colloidal silicon dioxide, croscarmellose sodium, D&C red #33, edible ink, FD&C blue #1, FD&C red #40, FD&C yellow #6, gelatin, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, polyethylene glycol, povidone, starch, stearic acid, titanium dioxide

Here's a link to the product: Open Original Shared Link

ugh

Hmm, well I don't really eat much processed food except for Udi's bread for lunch sandwiches and sometimes I will get trader joe's english muffins for breakfasts, and rice pasta. But other then that, I am pretty good and shopping on the outside aisles. No candy or anything like that, no chocolate, no dairy except for goat's milk in my black tea. No dried fruits, sometimes I do eat nuts though.

Hi all,

Well I've been gluten-free since November so about..2 months now. I've seen a lot of comments around here about women finally loosing their belly "pooch" after being gluten free. I'm very interested in that because I've had a pooch for a long time now though I am 28 and have no children. Unless I have perfect posture (shoulders back, boobs out, hips forward) I can look like I'm 3mos pregnant. While not totally offensive it's not the look I am going for! I'm 5'5" and about 150lbs (the nurse at the Dr's office is always surprised by that, I guess I carry it well) and I would really like to loose 10lbs. 20 would be awesome but 10 would just make me feel better about myself.

So how long do you think it will take for the glutenless belly to kick in? I know I need to exercise also, but having the energy is a challenge for me right now. I've also been thinking about starting a food journal to keep track of what I eat. I eat really healthfully and have been loosing my taste for sweets since I've been gluten-free which is a plus. I've also been dairy-free except for butter, goat's milk, and whatever might be in trader joe's gluten free english muffins or in Udi's bread. What has your weightloss experience been like?

I was just diagnosed a few weeks ago and I hate feeling left out, too. Or like I'm making things really complicated for everyone. But we have to take care of ourselves. I'm sure your friends and youthgroup wouldn't want to feel bad about it. Maybe talk to you mom and ask her to talk to your youth minister? Donuts aren't that healthy anyways Maybe it's time to start a new tradition! Maybe see if instead of (or in addition to) donuts they can buy a fruit bowl instead (the kind with watermelon, pineapple, cantelope etc). Or you and your mom could start making something to bring the night before to share, like gluten-free banana bread?

TJ's has a hearty and tasty gluten-free lentil soup and gluten-free chicken meatballs in the refridge section. Their brown rice pasta is good, and they have gluten-free pasta sauce too. Hmm they also have gluten-free vanilla merengue cookies I've been nomming for about a week! At my TJ's they have lots of gluten-free food interspersed with the mainstream stuff, but usually it's easy to find because it has a little "g" icon in a bottom corner. I also noticed they have Udi's bread, and I tried one of their own gluten-free english muffins this morning. Not too bad.. didn't taste exactly like Thomas's but it was tasty with some jam.

What about those little mini bananas? Clementines are in season and are fun to eat. Those kinda come in their own packaging I've seen pre-packaged baby carrots, grapes, and apple slices too. Do they make soy string cheese?