SugarBiscuit

When I get gluttened, I always take two charcoal capsules, which you can get near the Pepto. I also take some Nyquil for sinus issues, and lay down with a wet cloth over my eyes. This whole method seems to help me greatly. Usually after that, it just takes 3 or so days before I am fine again. Beware though, charcoal capsules will turn your feces black, which alarmed me the first time I saw it.

Hope you are feeling better soon!

Granite City in Cedar Rapids, Iowa has a gluten-free section on their dinner menu. It's only 5 items, but since we don't go there much, it's enough of a variety for my hubby. I don't know if their other locations have a gluten-free section. It's on the dinner menu only, but hubby was able to order off the dinner menu for lunch. AND...we did not get the deer-in-the-headlights look from our server, so I hope there was a lot of training for the staff!

Thanks for the info! I am from Iowa City, and we have found few places I can eat at around here, besides Godfather's Pizza and Mama's Deli in Downtown Iowa City. I would definitely be will to drive to Cedar Rapids to try something new. What sort of food do they serve?

I am Celiac and my husband has been going on and off of my diet. He has anemia and keratosis pilaris, extreme fatigue, lots of GI issues, and is very irritable. His father also has really severe joint issues and diabetes. Other children in our family appear to have gluten allergy or Celiac symptoms, but none of them feel it is severe enough to visit a doctor. I thought perhaps I was just imagining these things because I have Celiac, so I told my husband, and asked him to try gluten free for a week.

Only a week in, he stopped being tired, quit having tummy issues, and his keratosis pilaris nearly vanished. He stated it was the best he has ever felt. However, he went to a friends for burgers and hot dogs, and started eating gluten again. He skin broke out all over and he once again became his sleepy and grumpy self again. He believes that he at least has a gluten allergy, but is unwilling to abstain from gluten, unless he has an official diagnosis. Since he continues to eat gluten, I am thinking about making him an appointment to get a Celiac panel done. I am fairly sure that he has it, his symptoms are just not to the severe degree that mine were. Even if he doesn't I think there is some sort of allergy issue going on.

Good Luck! I am just finishing my first month of being gluten free.

The first week or two was rough for me. I had a lot more energy and no headaches, but I still had some GI symptoms. It was easy for me to feel discouraged that my symptoms did not magically vanish. I also kept thinking I had glutened myself in the first week, but my stomach was still healing.

Now that it has been a month, I can definitely tell you it will get better. I no longer crave wheat foods and I have started cooking a lost of fresh meals from scratch, which actually taste much better than the sandwiches I used to eat.

Like others have said, make sure that you are buying food just for YOU. I am used to cooking for my husband, so I often would just buy and prepare whatever he wanted. Now I buy my own separate groceries, cook my own meals, and keep my food in a different part of the kitchen, since I also live with my in-laws, who have no gluten issues.

Also, stock up on the snacks! I went from having no appetite to being ravishingly hungry every three hours or so. It's really nice that someone made you a list, I had such a hard time those first couple of trips to the store. I was definitely afraid of chemicals, so I mostly bought potatoes, rice, fruit, nuts, veggies, and dairy, which worked out well. Now I am adding in some gluten free pastas and some soda made with stevia, but for the most part I am chemical free.

I hope you feel better really soon!

I just wanted to relay that I had a really good experience with Godfather's Pizza. I found it using a registry in my area, and then visited the website beforehand. Their management has all attended Celiac Awareness training, and all of their gluten free pizzas as prepared at a dedicated facility and shipped to the store.

They were very nice about it, and assured us they take special precautions. We were able to see from our table and they cooked it in a special container, and used special utensils and sterile technique when cooking it.

It was very good,and just tasted like a normal pizza. My husband is a expert pizza eater, and he even enjoyed it. They come in 6 options, and we tried the meat combo, which was amazing. My only complaint is that they are small, like a personal pan size, and they have just the one size. So it is slightly expensive for the size we got, but it was worth it.

Highly recommended, and makes me happy that I can still have pizza on occasion.

I ended up getting the fish prepared as you suggested, and I had a really good experience. It's nice to see that eating out is still possible sometimes

Great!

I have read all these horror stories about getting glutened when eating out, so it is nice to hear something good. I also went out this week had a gluten free pizza at Godfather's Pizza. Tiny, but very good.

I love Zevia! Yes, soda is bad for me. No, frankly I don't care. I don't (and won't) drink soda with calories, not only does it make me sick but I'm fat enough to know better. My husband won't go near Zevia, he says it tastes funny and it does take a bit of getting used to but I rather enjoy it. I buy mine at the health food store since they seem to be the only place locally that sells it. I also enjoy Izze which most grocery stores and health food stores in my area carry. It's basically juice and water, carbonated. The grapefruit one is just amazing. Don't let my love of those seemingly healing sodas fool you though, I'm a straight up Mountain Dew/caffeine addict with no plans to change that. There's something special about an ice cold Coke on a hot summer day that just can't be beat.

Sorry, I just posted a blank reply...still a newb.

I am really liking Zevia, I think the grape is the best. I also have been drinking Hansen's. I got lucky, and quite a few places carry Zevia around here. I was even able to get a couple of packs for 3 bucks on sale this week. I did see the Izzes, but I wasn't sure whether or not they were good.

I'm not too worried about my soda drinking at this point. I am losing weight really quick, and I basically am on a whole foods diet. At this point, the only thing I am even consuming that is processed is soda and Mounds ice cream bars, which I am now in love with. I make all my meals from scratch and I have fruit and veggies for snacks. So I'm gonna enjoy my Zevia try making my own sodas too.

Oh, and by the way, I also tried to get my Coke drinking husband to have a Zevia and he spit it out. So I'll still be buying him at least a 24 pack a week. I've been able to get him to eat some gluten free meals, but I think he will always drink Coke.

I was a big diet coke drinker but decided to stop apsartine etc. I bought a soda streamer which turns your own water into a sparkling water, then I add a splash of lemon juice, cranberry juice what ever you like but make sure no citric acid which isn't always easy. Then I add a squirt of stevia to sweeten it. Kal has a version without natural flavoring which if you have trouble with citric acid like I do you probably want to stay away from natural flavoring as well since they are both often a msg product. Hope that help[s. I do miss my cola type beverage and once in a while I have a real coke, small glass.

Thanks! That's a really good idea. I also stopped and got some Zevia and some Hansen's. I like the Hansen's, but it has a lot of sugar. The Zevia was really great. It doesn't taste too much like soda, but I think I might actually prefer the tase.

I really like the soda streamer idea, where did you get it at? It would probably be cheaper in the long run as well, Zevia is almost 7 bucks for a 6 pack in my area.

OK! Thanks everyone! I don't plan on drinking soda forever, because I do know it's not good, I really just wanted to have something similar gradually step down.

I have tried Natural Blue before, and I really liked it, and I will look for Zevia too. I think in a few weeks, I will try making my own. I think the carbonation is something I really like, and I usually just have a soda at dinner.

Thanks for the good info!

Well, as a rule, as long as they do not add certain seasonings to fish, it is fine. If you like fish, there were lots of options on the menu. You would basically just need to ask them not to season it with anything but salt or pepper, and just serve it to you with some butter sauce. Steaks and Veggies are the same. As long as it is not seasoned and doesn't come with noodles, it should be okay.

If it is upscale, they probably will have no issues with special requests, and may even have special gluten free items that are on the menu. A couple of places I have checked online in my area do not have the gluten free menu displayed with the regular one, but will either email you a list of safe items, or a separate menu.

Good luck! I love dining out, and it is one thing I already miss.

Hi! I am still newly gluten free, and I was wanting to get an opinion about beverages.

I am a big Diet Coke drinker, and I am trying to to switch to something else, as I seem to not be able to tolerate citric acid, and I also do not want to drink or ingest artificial sweeteners. However, I am having a hard time, because I love soda. I know that water and juice are good, and I have largely switched to those, but I am having a hard time letting go of my dinner-time Diet Coke.

I would really like to find a soda that uses Stevia, if anyone knows of one. So I was just wondering what all of you drink in a normal day, and what you would recommend.

I am open to trying sodas with cane sugar, or some other natural flavoring, I'm just not sure if this would be bad for me. I do have some concerns that I may be getting low blood sugar, because when I wait to eat I get very intense stomach pains, irritablity, and I start to feel a little light headed. I also am losing weight at a very fast rate since I went gluten free, enough for everyone around me to find it noticeable. I am wondering if I need to add some sugars to my diet.

So far I am not really consuming anything processed, other than soda. I am sticking to meat, veggies, fruit, greek yogurt, cheese, nuts, cornbread, fish, and quinoa. I also have been making smoothies with half strawberry banana Kefir, and half juice. Does it sound like my diet can tolerate the added sugar from an organic type soda?

Hi, I am in my second week of going gluten free. I also eat this brand of refried beans, and haven't had any kind of reaction. I have, however, had reactions to anything with citric acid. I'm with the other people, it may be a different ingredient causing the issue. I heard a lot of people can't tolerate dairy at first, so if you put cheese in the beans, like I do, that may have been it. Lucky for me, I seem to be able to tolerate cheese.

Interesting...I am half Native American, half Irish. I was born with back hair, but turned brown with red tinting when I was a teenager.

Your symptoms sure sound like Celiac. I echo what the others have said though. If you want to be tested, now is the time to do it. You would have a few symptoms going back on gluten, but not anywhere as severe if you get it out of your system completly and then want to add it back to be tested later.

Why would you want to test later? Because as you feel better and better you may start to second-guess if gluten is your problem, and get lax with the diet or cc issues. If you have Celiac, and start to consume it again, you've opened the door to additional auto-immune diseases, etc.

It also helps your Dr. diagnose any future symptoms you have, and if you have children will let you know if they are at risk.

It's a hard decision to make, and it's one you'll have to consider and decide. If it were me, I'd rather know for sure, just to know how careful I'd have to be.

Yeah, I will have to think about it. I guess I am just dreading the doctor because for the past two or three years, I have been visiting doctors who will not listen to me. This last one was the worst. I told him all of my symptoms and he said, " It doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard of, I think you are just borrowing trouble. You just have a urinary tract infection and you need to take antibiotics. You will be fine after that." I told him I was adopted, so I had no family medical history to rule out genetic disorders, and that I have been having kidney issues since childhood, and also, that I was also having severe stomach issues. I explained that I have PCOS, and that I have not had a period for 4 years and have large cysts on my ovaries. I requested that he run tests and told him that I believed something was seriously wrong. I also voiced my concerns that I might have ovarian cancer, based on frequent urination, back pain, increased abdominal girth, and several other issues that also commonly appear in Celiac. He told me that he was the doctor, not me, and that urinary issues, bloating, and back pain have nothing to do with Ovarian Cancer. These are the first warning signs!!

I also asked if it might be possible years ago that had some kind of allergy because of the red bumps on my arms. A dermatologist told me that it was an "Indian Person's Disease", and that it is because my birth mother was white, and my birth father was Native American, and that those two races breeding causes genetic deformities.

So really, I am just not eager to begin dealing with doctors again. Really, I do believe I have Celiac, and just that knowledge is enough for me. If I can find a good doctor here in Iowa City, I will consider it, but I am really stressed out just thinking about having to fight with these people. Plus, my husband and I have limited resources right now, so I am worried that if I have to Doctor Hunt, it may result in multiple co-pays that we cannot afford. I'm a CNA, and I haven't been working because I have been too sick, and my joint issues caused me to fail a physical the last time I applied for a job. We are on one income right now, so I know it will at least be 2 or 3 weeks until I can even schedule an appointment. I don't know if I am willing to be sick for that long again, just to deal with possible quackery again, and get told that everything is in my own head.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. It has been a few more days, and I feel even better. Since I have not other issues that are really serious, other than PCOS, at this point, I'm not sure if I want to even go to the doctor. My main reason I thought I needed to go were my frequent headaches, which are now gone. I have also been reading about people that are having to eat gluten to get a diagnosis, and it sounds horrible.

I told my husband that I would rather be gluten free my entire life than have another week of symptoms. I feel like as long as I know what is wrong, and can keep from becoming ill again, that is enough for me. And I am becoming more and more sure that gluten is the issue. My red bumps are already starting to fade on my arms, and I know this is weird too, but my skin feels way softer. Last night, I was throwing away my old soap, and as soon as I picked it up, I started sneezing. So I am thinking that gluten has to be the issue, as I looked at an unopened bar of my old soap, and it contained gluten.

I am just very grateful to finally know what is wrong. I have spent the last year or two believing that I might be dying, and being frustrated because no doctor I went to would listen to me.

Besides that, I actually really enjoy eating gluten free. Sure, I miss pasta, but I grew up in a household where we had an acre garden, so I know many ways of preparing fruits and veggies, and I have also been gathering some gluten free recipes online. Plus, I live in an area that carries a lot of organic and gluten free foods, so I am lucky. The only thing I noticed is that it is very expensive if you start buying pre-packaged gluten free meals, or substitute foods like gluten-free pretzels. So I just bought things that are naturally gluten free and I am making other things from scratch.

Hi, my name is Jessica, and I am in need of advice, if anyone has the time.

I have been ill on and off since I was a child. I am adopted, so I have no medical background on my parents. My mom says that as a baby, I had colic, and had to be fed soy milk. I was also a fairly irritable child, and went to the doctor many times with constipation for weeks at a time and kidney infections. I also have had flat fingernails and red bumps on my upper arms since childhood, which I am told are signs of anemia.

I was very small until the 5th or 6th grade, and then I suddenly ballooned to 100 lbs over a summer break. I was taken to the doctor, where he checked me for diabetes, and then said that I was just fat and sent me to a nutritionist. My mother was baffled, as I played every sport available, and was very active. After that I continued to have stomach issues, and as a teenager, I never started my period. I was diagnosed with PCOS. I also started getting migraines, and my stomach began to alternate between being constipated for days and diarrhea. The diarrhea was abnormally urgent, and painful. It would feel as if someone was stabbing me in the abdomen, and on one occasion, during a long commute, I had to pull over and use the bathroom in the woods. I also developed severe acne, which went away after I started using hypoallergenic shampoo and conditioner, which I thought was just because I had sensitive skin. I was also diagnosed with depression right around this time as well.

Let me just say that through all of this, I had been eating gluten very heavily. Pasta was my favorite, but my mother was also a big pusher of bread, grains, and barley. In my 20's, I barely had any money, so I began just eating fruits and veggies from the farmers market. I was not sick that entire time. Then I started dating my husband.

My husband eats basically nothing but gluten. Since I have been cooking for him all the time, I have been eating lots of breads, pizza, pastas, tacos with flour tortillas, and sandwiches. Looking back on it, from when we started dating my health has went markedly downhill. I even had to quit two jobs because I was having serious joint issues with my hands and knees. The were tingling and numb sometimes, and at night I would wake because my hand would feel like it was on fire. This definitely was abnormal because up until I got sicker, I worked out about an hour a day, walked, and had no issues. I am only 27, so I shouldn't have arthritis. Things just got worse until I hit an all time low last month.

I also was having another kidney infection. I went to a clinic, and I told the doctor about my issues, and that I believed something was seriously wrong. He basically ignored my request to do some blood tests to find out what was wrong, and prescribed me with two antibiotics. After finishing the antibiotics, I got even worse. I had diarrhea for 4 weeks, a migraine that lasted near a week, and would fall asleep as soon as I was sitting down. This whole time, I was eating Subway and bread products, thinking that if I ate something more solid, my diarrhea would stop. It escalated to the point that I was in the bathroom 10 or 15 times a night. My stomach also became huge, and my mother in law kept asking me if I was pregnant. I went through my clothing, and none of my pants fit.

I was terrified that I had cancer, and spent a lot of time researching my symptoms, which were seemingly random, until I came across Celiac Disease. I have most of the symptoms, but I cannot afford to go to the doctor until my husband gets paid again. But since I was miserable, I decided to just try a gluten-free diet for a week and see what happened.

It has only been 4 days, and my diarrhea has stopped. So have my stomach cramps, and my exhaustion. My stomach has gone down a considerable size, and I no longer look pregnant, just chubby. In fact, I have honestly not felt this good, or had this much energy since I was a child. I know this is a long story, but I just wanted to provide background so that everyone would know why I am fairly sure I have Celiac. So now I have several questions, and would be so grateful if someone could help me out.

Firstly, does it sound to anyone with Celiac like I have similar symptoms? Also, if I do have it, can I bypass the doctor and just eat gluten free forever, or is it necessary that I go? I know that they run some tests, so I also have questions about that. If I need to go have testing done, do I need to eat gluten again, or will I be okay eating gluten free, if I plan on going in two to three weeks? My last question concerns genetics. If the testing is based on genetics, will they be able to complete it, since I am adopted and do not have a family medical history or records? I would really appreciate any help I can get with these questions.