LauraTX

Honestly, if you are looking for something that is hopefully positive and will give your doctor the ability to further test you, and are paying the full price out of pocket, I say do only the tTG IgA at first.  Then, if it is hugely positive, you can go to your doctor and go further there, and if it is negative, do the rest of the tests to look further into it and make sure your IgA levels are okay, etc.  I only say this to you and you only in this circumstance because you have demonstrated an understanding of what is needed.  Anyone else reading this in the future who is not the user georgia guy should not follow this advice.

Eek. I wouldn't want to go either.

 

That being said, I ate gluten for close to 40 years with undiagnosed celiac disease and it didn't kill me... but it was close. Starvation is pretty certain within a few weeks to months of no food though.

Just for kicks and giggles, if something like a natural disaster/zombie apocalypse hit, and the only food available had gluten in it, I would eat it.  Someone with a severe diarrhea reaction to glutening may die faster than starvation, though.  But heck, I am slow and would get eaten by the zombies before I could worry too much about survival!  

I did go see a counselor, but she wasn't much help. She spent the whole time asking me about medical stuff, and when I pushed her to suggest ways I can deal with the stress she didn't give me very many suggestions. I'll keep looking around...

Sometimes, especially when things are complicated, the first few visits are more of a getting to know you kind of thing before you get into the issues.  However, trust your gut sense on whether or not to keep with that counselor, it is usually right. 

How would we know if the cat had already been neutered?

Google "How to tell if a cat has been neutered" and you get a ton of good results.  

I wouldn't eat them.  When in doubt, throw it out.  Or give to a friend.

Overall, if you have a bowel change that lasts for more than a few days, you should go see your doctor.  Taking a picture will definitely help the doctor know what you are talking about.

I haven't delved into making my own cat food but it is something I have considered.  If you make him food just periodically as a treat, you can probably just feed him some meat (Chicken thighs you can buy boneless, easy to cook and more fat is more flavor for him) and then let his regular food keep him nutritionally complete.  If you do home made food as a primary nutrition source, things get more complicated because you don't want to cause any deficiencies.  

If you are going to cook a chicken for feeding the cat, just unwrap it, put it on a baking sheet/roasting pan, and cook at 400F for around an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the size.  Put a thermometer in the thickest part of the breast (closer to the thigh joint will be the thick part) to make sure it is 180F.  (180 is a little over the usda recommended 165 so you know its definitely all safely cooked).  And if you don't want chicken on your veggie pans you can line them with foil.  

Another insanely easy way to cook a whole chicken is in the crock pot.  Make sure the chicken fits in it well, and just toss it in there on high, takes around 2.5-4 hours depending on the size of the crock pot and chicken.  I add a little liquid to the bottom to keep it from scorching, and I love the crock pot liners you can buy because cleanup is easy peasy.  

Unfortunately, the answer you are going to get is just not going to line up with your hopes.  For a celiac, no matter how severe or mild symptoms were at diagnosis, it is all or nothing with the treatment - a completely gluten-free diet.  

Check out Kareng's very good reply to the person who posted this thread:  https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/94443-how-bad-is-cheating-on-the-gluten-free-diet-periodically/

To answer some of your specific questions, when you think about CC, a good way to think of it is how well you can clean something.  If you dropped an item into a toilet, is it a porous surface and needs to be thrown out, or is it something like stainless steel or glass that you can sanitize?  So toss your old colander, keep your smooth glass bowls and dishes.  Lettuce, potatoes, and pretty much all prepared food will be in the -Cant clean so throw it out- category, so if croutons, a roll, a gluten sauce, a tiny crumb, or speck of flour has touched it, it is contaminated with gluten and that cannot be undone.  I am not familiar with the Tim Hortons beverage offerings, but if they thoroughly clean their machine you are probably okay if your drink is 100% gluten-free, but not if your drink is 1% gluten.  But shared equipment always has an inherent risk, as does eating at a restaurant.  Having a diet of 0.05% gluten is not gluten-free enough for a Celiac, can do real damage, and won't allow proper healing.

Here are a few other reads that I think would be helpful to you:

Open Original Shared Link   "Eating any gluten, no matter how small an amount, can damage your intestine. This is true for anyone with the disease, including people who do not have noticeable symptoms."

Open Original Shared Link    Avoiding gluten cross-contamination

Open Original Shared Link   What can happen if you have persistent damage caused by not being completely gluten-free

It sounds like you have pretty conclusive evidence that likely gluten is not the problem and dairy is.  I would add it back in slowly, and make sure you aren't radically changing your eating habits (For example: Being able to eat out again so you go have a bunch of high fat restaurant meals).  Maybe a slice of toast with breakfast, or a sandwich, something simple that fits into your normal dietary habits.  Some people have both non celiac gluten intolerance and dairy intolerance, so if your symptoms come back, you may need to stay off both.  For your sanity I hope it is just dairy!

My diagnosis was similar in circumstance to yours.  My doctor was checking out something else and discovered the Celiac by accident... my small intestinal damage was minimal and she said I am lucky it got caught early.  I don't get GI symptoms from being glutened, either.  Every once in a while I will get questionable GI stuff but I haven't been able to conclusively link it to gluten consumption.  Some people will start to get glutening symptoms long after being away from gluten, but the few times I have verifiably mistakenly eaten something contaminated, I could not tell.  People like us are sometimes called "Silent Celiacs" in the community.   I did have anemia and unexplained peripheral neuropathy that have gone away after being on a gluten-free diet, so I think those were my symptoms after all.

Like you have said, the plus side is no sidelining and bathroom trips, but the huge down side is the worry that you could be glutening yourself and not know it.  It makes me go completely nuts about making double sure everything that goes in my mouth is gluten-free, and taking even better caution to prevent cross contamination.  I like to re-verify things as gluten-free each time I buy them if it isn't on the label, and double check at restaurants even if I ordered a dish the previous time.  One thing that is important to do and becomes more important if you don't have outward symptoms is going back to your GI doctor for regular checkups and getting your vitamin levels and antibody levels checked.  If you have a major screw up it is likely to show up there.

Overall, I am very grateful my Celiac disease was found by accident early into the disease progression.  There are some nice people on the forum here that suffered through a whole lifetime of problems from being undiagnosed and had a very long healing time after going gluten-free.  Overall I think you are doing great, and as time passes, your anxiety and difficulties will even out to a new normal.  Welcome to the Silly Yak club

I looked on Glutinos website and could find no information about dedicated anything...just a short statement that they do their best to prevent contamination... I wrote them to ask.  Will post my reply when I get it.

I am sure the original posters friend is a person who believes strongly enough in their faith to not be wavered in their attempt to do a missionary trip over this, as they already plan to go.  They may not serve bread in the prisons depending on where they are, they may serve rice or some other local food that is cheap.  Perhaps your friend can contact the US State Department and get more information on the treatment of their prisoners and what to do if the worst care scenario happens.

State Dept. Destination Info:

Open Original Shared Link

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program:

Open Original Shared Link

I had a DEXA scan ordered by my rheumatologist in December because of my lupus + celiac + long term steroid use.  I think the imaging place did a pre approval on it, so you can ask the facility they send you to if they do pre-approvals first to prevent any trouble.

Before I was DX I was a bread lover, and at certain places that had fresh baked bread I would fill up on that, take most of my dinner home, and not get an appetizer or desert.  So they lost money on me!  (I miss those places sometimes    but less and less as I recreate things gluten-free in my kitchen!)

Less places to put bread on your table after you have told them you are a celiac!  Smart business decision for higher end and non traditional places. 

I have tried the betty crocker yellow cake mix and the devils food cake mix.  Liked them both.  Haven't tried any others, I try to avoid making cake because I eat it all at once... haha!

Ah yes, I forgot to mention coconut oil!  I felt like I forgot something.  I use coconut oil on scaly patches on my face before they get bad.  It really thins out once it gets on your warm skin, so it is a nice light moisturizer.  And smells lovely.

Usually when I see a positive result mentioned it is a more modest number like yours, although I have seen some that were very high, 100+.  However, like Karen said, it does not indicate how likely you may be to have Celiac, a positive is a positive no matter where it is on the scale, and you need to go ahead and have an endoscopy done for proper screening. If you want a measure of severity or damage, the endoscopy is going to tell you the most information. 

I have an IGA deficiency so my number would not be good to compare to someone with a normal immune system.  I totally understand you trying to rationalize things, that is very natural when you are faced with a scary diagnosis.  Let us know what happens.

An elderly lady that lives next to a bakery got her house covered in flour when a pipe burst.  All I could think of while reading it is THAT would be my worst nightmare, just burn the house down, please!

Open Original Shared Link

Awww, it is so nice to know they save the ducklings-to-be instead of mowing them over.  Duck eggs are good eatin', but only when you intend to, lol.

I get a new eczema patch somewhere on my body every year, and my hands will start to develop it if I let them get too dry.  In my teenage years before I learned to get it under control, I would have cracked bloody hands all winter.  I, too, try to not use steroid creams too much.  I am very proactive about using moisturizer on any scaly/dry places, and the ones with dimethicone in them seem to stay on and protect really well.  Once a patch is no longer broken skin, I will apply the thickest lotion with dimethicone on it after every shower and as needed... spots on the hands it is after every hand washing.  I use silicone glove by Avon. It claims to stay on between hand washes, but I wash my hands very thoroughly so I reapply.  It works great for spots on the face and the nostrils, doesn't irritate or smell.

But yes, especially with the hands, I wear gloves when I do things like cleaning, etc, and I apply lotion year round after I wash my hands.  For my regular lotion I use my store brand equivalent of the Vaseline intensive rescue repairing moisture unscented body lotion.  Also, I use a ton of hand sanitizer being a germaphobe, and I only use Germ X.  It seems to have the best balance of moisturizers and germ killing power- all the purells irritate my hands.

We ate at a restaurant around here and one of us had "squashta" and it inspired me to want to get one of these!  Have to talk my husband into eating zuchinni, though!

Welcome!  Feel free to read through all the content already on here and ask any questions you may have

if this OP is genuine, and the PTB found out they were posting here, they may have been told to stop.

I just first read this thread and was about to post to tell them to speak to their lawyer before posting any more.  Hopefully they at least got the feedback from the replies, I wish them the best.

Yep, with it being easy to clean, once you are used to it it will be fine.  I would buy a cheaper, dedicated knife for it that you can easily replace since they can dull nice knives.  And watch out for slippery stuff!