CateK

When they did the blood test on my son, I started researching. Funny, I had a lot of those odd symptoms that could have been attributed (and were) to other problems (like arthritis, acid reflux, migraines...) hmmm. So, the whole household went gluten-free. It seems to make no difference for my older boy nor for my husband... but man did young one and I see some major differences!

I'm not even going to bother with the blood tests and such for me. I now KNOW what is going on in my innards. And while my son's blood tests came back "inconclusive", we are proceeding with the idea he probably has celiac disease or is at least gluten intolerant. In any case, we both feel much better.

Yes. those are the ones. Order two or three sets as most recipes make at least 8 rolls/buns/muffins.

I have used several of Hagman's books but my favorite bread recipes (so far) are from Fenster's Wheat Free Recipes and Menues. THe pumpernickle bread is dead on. I make a loaf every week and we have yet to throw any to the chickens. All the other gluten-free bread recipes got about half eaten before going moldy or too stale to consume and became livestock food. I am try some of her other recipes soon... we are just really hooked on the pumpernickle right now.

"Their print catalog is like pornography for celiacs, it's so full of pictures of wheat breads and pastries. ..."

This is too funny... but I also digress... Their catalog has a lot of neat items we can use even if the gluten-free flours are too pricey.

I ordered 2 sets (4 per set) of English Muffin Rings (I think I found them on amazon .com) and use them set out on a cookie sheet to make my hamburger buns and my english muffins. The rings cost me about $4.00 per set. Well worth it to have a bun at a barbeque. I slice them, then freeze them individually.

I use either a wet spatula or wet fingers to smooth the tops before they rise. I let them rise on the back of the stove for at least an hour before I bake them. I also use an egg beaten with a little water brushed on top of the buns then sprinkle on PoppySeeds or Sesame seeds.

When I first became gluten-free I tried to use my breadmaker to make gluten-free breads and it did not work out at all. After some research I sold the breadmaker at a yardsale and bought a KitchenAide Professional Stand Mixer. A big investment but well worth it to me and my family.

Attachments can be ordered for the mixer including a grainmill. This is on my Birthday wishlist but if I don't get it then, I will probably buy it myself.

You can also order a pasta maker, a meat grinder/sausage stuffer and a bunch of other stuff for this mixer.

I have ground flax seeds (and spices) in my coffee grinder and it works well. I would imagine you could grind small amounts of whole or cracked grains to get flour in it as well.

Maybe I'm strange, but after about 2 weeks gluten-free I really don't want to eat food with gluten. Just the thought of it makes me feel a little queazy. Folks offer food to me at work all the time, and I just tell them no thank you. If I have extra I make a point of offering them stuff that I bring (like fruit, fresh veggies, etc). Sometimes they take me up on it. Sometimes they don't.

The biggest challenge are these working lunches. I'm learning to call ahead before they get too busy with the lunch hour, to the restaurant and explain that I will be attending with this particular group and I have (dare I say it?) an ALLERGY. This word seems to give me a better working relationship with the folks in the restaurant business and so far, they have been very accomodating.

Two restaurants (not chains), when I have given them adequate notice, have ordered special ingredients and prepared a dish for me that isn't even on the menu. Most of the time I settle for a salad and a grilled meat of some sort and that works well. I tip very well and when there is a special meal prepared I also send back a tip for the cook.

No one I work with finds this strange and seem to respect that I have special needs. Fact is, I think they respect me more for doing what it takes to stay healthy.

I've lost 30 pounds since becoming gluten-free in March. I'm also following Weight Watchers but the weight started coming off much faster when I went gluten-free. I have energy now, the pain in my joints is gone and I've joined a gym and work out 3 days a week.

I do miss the convenience of flour tortillas and wish I could find a good gluten-free recipe to make a decent substitute. I may have to invent one...

I agree the store-bought gluten-free breads leave a lot to be desired (they do make good bread crumbs). I have found that baking my own breads, crackers, cookies and cakes are the answer.

I'm not sure how old you are but I know my mother had me baking when I was 12. The hardest thing with the gluten-free baking is finding good recipes and getting the ingredients together (having a good stand mixer helps too). Both Hagman and Fenster have good recipes. I personally perfer Fenster's but my kids like Hagman's. Try the both.

I refuse to feel sorry for myself over this. I feel so much better gluten-free I cannot believe how sick I was and still managed to plug along. My son's are having a harder time of it as it seems a lot of teens are into eating pizza and other stuff in large groups at restaurants so this is hard for them. But I'm making sure they both know how to good using gluten-free ingredients because someday they will be on their own. I think they like the opportunity to spend time with me one-on-one, they just won't admit it.

Ask one of your parents to help you.

I went on a gluten-free diet two months ago to support my son whose blood test came back negative but whose doctor said to put him on a gluten-free lifestyle anyway because his symptoms are so classic, he can't think of what else it could be. Anyway, within two weeks of going gluten-free myself I noticed some major changes in my own functioning: My bowel movements normalized (I alternated between constitpation and loose, greasy, floating stools), my skin started clearing up (just a generalized rashiness on my inner thighs and face), the achy pains in my joints went away, I had ENERGY, and my cloudy thinking started clearing up. Two years ago, when all these symptoms appeared for me, I had Lyme disease from a tick bite. I'm also in my mid 40s so I thought I was just getting old. Now I'm wondering if the Lyme Disease (which for me included a very high fever) didn't trigger a gluten intolerance in me.

What I noticed last week, to keep with the topic of this thread, is that I accidently ate something with gluten in it (just didn't read the label right, for some reason). Within two hours I had a raging headache and the next day had the runs, bloating and burning when I urinated. It all cleared up in two or three days... but I sure don't want to do that again. The headache was debilitating!

I made a pizza crust using her recipe this morning as we are going to a pizza party tonight for a birthday. We will be bringing our own fixings... any way, my son nibbled a little piece off the edge of the crust while it was cooling and declared it "great! It tastes like Pizza crust!). Success!

One of my sons is deathly allergic to nuts and peanuts. So many of the gluten free recipes call for nuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts or peanuts I was getting discouraged that we would ever eat pie crusts, cookies and breads again.

Then I experiemented a little and discovered that a one to one ratio (1 cup of each) raw sunflower seeds and raw pumpkin seeds put through a good buzz in the food processor makes a great substitute for most of the nut meals called for in recipes. If the recipe, for instance, calls for 1/4 cup of almond meal, I substitute a 1/4 cup of my seed meal.

One seed or the other just doesn't quite work. More sunflower to pumpkin makes it taste a little more peanutty.

If the recipe calls for roasted nuts, I toss the meal in a dry iron skillet for a few minutes on high heat, stirring constantly until it smells roasted.

I am going to experiment a bit further by adding some flax seed and or sesame seed or poppy seed for a bit more fiber.

Where can you find quiona flakes? I have had no luck locating them but see them popping up in recipes.

By the way, I used unsweetened puffed millet cereal in our meatloaf the other night since the kids won't eat it for breakfast cereal and the meatloaf came out great! I am planning on using some more of the puffed millet in place of rice crispies to make Rice Crispies Treats.

To support my son (age 14) and make sure we didn't accidently contaminate him, I made my whole kitchen gluten-free and just started making gluten-free foods for the whole family. My hubby sort of rebels from time to time and so he has loaf of Whole Wheat up the cupboard but he's not allowed to use the toaster.

What is amazing to me is that within 10 days of going gluten-free myself, I started losing weight. I had been doing WW since early February and losing in little bits and drabs, but the weight is really dropping now (2 or more pounds a week) and I'm not doing anything drastic. If anything I'm actually eating a little more because the gluten-free breads, etc are higher in fat. I'm working on adapting some recipes so they are gluten-free, taste good and are low fat.

I have energy. I thought having energy was a myth reserved for people who didn't have children.

My bones don't ache at night anymore... and that odd rash on my legs and face is gone... hmmmm.

My bowel movements are NORMAL!

Well, I guess the kid got this disease from somebody... and now I guess I can't blame his father (my ex) anymore...

Honestly, though, I didn't think I had celiac disease because I have always been overweight.

I'm kind of curious about how that works because it seems like we should all be underweight ... could it be our bodies are over compensating for the lack of nutrients by grabbing hold of everything it can get and not letting it go?

I will answer for the whole family:

Son #1: 1. Yes, 2. No, 3 male

Son #2: 1. No. 2. No. 3 male

son #3: 1. No, yes, male

their father: no, yes, male

their paternal grandmother (deceased): no, yes, female

paternal grandfather: (deceased): unknown, yes, male

me (the mother): yes, no, female

maternal grandmother: no, no, female

maternal grandfather: no, yes, male

maternal uncle: yes, no, male

maternal aunt: no, no, female

maternal uncle: no, no, male

maternal aunt: no, no, female

maternal aunt: no, no, female

cousin: yes, no, male

cousin: yes, no, female

cousin: no, no, female

stepfather: no, no, male

Hope this helps

I may be off base here even suggesting this... but years ago I went through a period of depression. I lost my appetite completely. I lost 65 pounds before I finally went for help.

You might want to make sure you are not experiencing depression. Certainly, the upheavals of this illness could contribute to depression.

I took my 14 year old to the specialist yesterday for chronic constipation and bowel leakage. He has always been underweight and undersized for his age but the docs have always chalked it up to short parents (5'4" and 5'6").

My son has complained about bone pain, headaches and tireness and stomach cramps, but I chalked that up to growth pains, sinus problems, not getting enough sleep and the constipation.

I had to fight my family doctor to get a referral to the specialist but after years of laxatives, enemas, and a high fiber diet filled with wheat...

THe gastro doc - I have to look up how to spell it - when he saw how thin my son was and how tiny he was and how underdeveloped his muscles were started asking me a lot of questions.... symptoms we had never put togethere before... said he thought it might be Celiac Disease.

We went straight down for xrays (to check for bowel compactions (which was there) and a whole series of blood tests including the Celiac Disease tests, anemia, thyroid and to check for bone density... the test results should be back by the end of the week.

He told me to start reducing the gluten in his diet now and he would know soon (hopefully by the end of this week) if we would need to go completely gluten free. He said he wanted not to take him off completely as he may have to do the biopsy in about six weeks for a conclusive determination but we could start getting used to the new diet.

Sounds to me like he's pretty sure this is the problem.

I feel terrible that my son has suffered with this for so long.

Good news is that since he is only 14 the doc said he has a good chance of catching up on height and weight to something normal or near normal.

He said we would also follow up with additional allergy testing for lactose intolerance, soy allergies and others but we would worry about those later.

My son is pretty positive at this point -- at little excited even that he will get special food like his brother who is allergic to peanuts, nuts and shellfish. I don't think he understands at this point how much he really can't eat.

The hardest part is that we live in the middle of nowhere (2 hours to see the specialist) and 2 hours from a store that sells gluten free products and 2 hours from a health food store where I can buy rice flour and other products to bake him stuff... but we will adapt if need be and the internet, I think will be a help. The UPS guy already knows all my dogs by name, so getting things shipped to us will be nothing new.

I think I"m the one who needs the most encouragement and reassurance at this point because I feel so badly that I didn't push harder and insist there was something more wrong than just constipation.

My son was just diagnosed via blood test with Celiac Disease. After 14 years of dealing with chronic constipation and impactions and stool leakage, I finally put my foot down and told the family doctor I wanted him seen by a specialist.

Well, guess what, this little, skinny rail of a child is anaemic, may have weak bones and there may be a problem with his thyroid (waiting on these additional test results).

I feel horrible that I made him wait so long for an accurate diagnosis... but I trusted my family doctor and we ran through years of laxatives, stool softeners and the whole nine yards. I've also been following the traditional advise of high fiber and baked our family's bread and included (what else) whole wheat, wheat bran, etc. I have been virtually poisoning him all along.

I'm really upset about all this but now that we know, I understand we just have to move forward.

Thankfully, I like to cook and bake and will now learn to bake gluten free stuff. He is excited that he will get his own special foods to eat in his own special cupboard. His brother is allergic to shellfish, peanuts and nuts and has his own cupboard for treats. I'm allergic to soy and beef and his stepfather is allergic to tomatoes so it's going to get real interesting around here...