LauraTX

It is listed as gluten-free on Open Original Shared Link, so you can call the company to double check, but if you were told not to take aspirin and took it, that is certainly going to cause you GI discomfort, and could potentially lead to a dangerous GI bleed.  Sometimes people can tolerate a dose or two as long as it is not long term, but now you know that any is a bad idea.  You can get just acetaminophen +caffeine together that lacks the aspirin component.  The name brand is called Excedrin tension headache, and I was unable to find any good info online so you may want to call the company on that, or look for a safe store brand.

Here is more info on NSAIDs and other names for them, side effects, etc. Open Original Shared Link

Welcome to the forum!  Many of us had long crappy roads to diagnosis and are very happy with the fact that we have answers now.  It takes time to heal up after going gluten-free, but stay strict with it and over time you will notice some changes.  I think you got lucky only having been gluten-free for two weeks, that wasn't enough time for your small intestines to heal up so you got a solid diagnosis.

Feel free to read through the forum, and keep in mind a lot of product information is going to be for the US product, but there are a few Australians around here that can help you out.  Also, if you want to make a signature that says you are in Australia, people can gear their advice towards that once they see it.  Cheers!

If you have insurance and want them to cover your visits, usually on the back of your health insurance card there will be a number for mental health claims.  Call them and get a list of providers in your area to start from.  Then, decide whether you need a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist.  A psychiatrist prescribes medication and is an actual doctor, and they usually don't do talk therapy- so probably not what you need.  Therapists and psychologists do the same thing and neither prescribe medication, but the psychologist has a higher level of education.  If you have a complex mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, a psychologist may be better for you.

Once you have a few to choose from based on who takes your insurance and such, think about who you can comfortably talk to.  Some people have a hard time getting comfortable and opening up to a member of a certain sex, so if that applies, feel free to rule those out.  Also, many mental health professionals run their own solo practices and they may be the one answering the phone when you first call, or returning your message left while they were in a session with a patient.  So, you can use that short conversation to get a feel for how they are and how comfortable you may be with them.  

Lastly, some clinicians have specialties and many times this info will either be available on the insurance listing or on a website if they have it.  They can include various issues and if you see one that stands out to you, that can help you choose as well.  I know it may be hard to reach out and ask people you know if they know a counselor that is good, so these are all ways you can find one yourself. 

If you don't have/don't want to go through insurance and are a person of a certain faith, many large churches have counseling available and it may be faith-based.

So overall, look for someone you feel comfortable talking to.  Feel free to try and talking to them shortly on the phone and if it doesn't feel right, move on.  But I have seen many people in my life helped greatly by getting counseling through hard times and I really hope it helps you a lot

My arm pits get red from a Toms DO also. But I dont think its related to Celiac because they say their dos are gluten free (http://www.tomsofmaine.com/products/overlay/Not-In-Our-Products) and the same redness happens when I made my own do with too much baking soda. 

A huge amount of people react to things in body care products such as deodorant, and that is not celiac related.  People with Celiac do not react to gluten in body products- that would be a seperate allergy and is extremely rare.  Generally, Celiacs avoid gluten in products that could get in their mouth only.

Yes it could. I had a rash in my pits for a good 10 years before concluding that I have DH.

Hopefully you have seen a doctor and have not come to this conclusion yourself.  You need to have a biopsy done to be for certain.

JennaQ, it sounds like you are reacting to something in the products and your armpit skin issues are not related to gluten.  Keep trying different products, and remember that even if something says all natural, hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, etc... it can still cause skin irritation and reactions if you are prone to it.

 

Do you keep oats in the freezer to avoid mold?  Or the batches of oatmeal in the freezer?

........

Well, Laura just told me only Red Mill, so I am ordering it.   Hopefully, the oats that I have for long term storage are not contaminated, but there is no way tell without trying them after I've been gluten free a while to get an idea.  I may just give them away too, until I have a guaranteed bulk supplier for dry long term storage.

 

I keep my oats in the freezer to avoid them getting stale since it takes me a while to go through the big bag.  I will also put individual servings of oatmeal in the freezer to easily heat up if I know I am not going to want to cook in upcoming days.  There are other places to get certified gluten-free oats, but the key is they will say certified gluten free on them.  If you bought regular oats for long term food survival storage, unless they say they are gluten free oats they are not going to be safe.  Generally, gluten free oats are going to have a higher price tag as well, but compared to other gluten-free foods they are still pretty reasonable in cost.

Here is an article that talks about oats and gluten:  Open Original Shared Link

Keep reading around this site and others, and over time the whole "What can I eat?" question will be a little easier.  When I was diagnosed, I gave all my gluten-filled pantry items to a family I know with a bunch of kids to feed.  Took the sting off losing the money I spent on the items to know their family was benefiting from it.

Yep- I think poofy flour dust is the culprit here.  May want to institute a rule of prebaked gluteny stuff only, or use things like premade cookie dough that don't have loose flour on them.

Yep, no kissing the gluten eater, haha!  My husband is really sweet and will stop me. Maybe you can buy your husband a set of special beer pilsner glasses to drink from?  I want to say you can get them at a place like walmart or target in a set of 4 for under $25.  

Any type of swelling like that in response to salt intake should warrant a visit to your primary care doctor.  Even though the swelling isn't presenting itself in the most typical way, you may be at risk of a cardiac event if you ignore it.

oatmeal and potatoes!

Welcome, Questore!  Check out our newbie thread and the others linked to you by GFinDC, and you will see that all fresh fruits and vegetables are gluten-free, so you can eat potatoes safely.  Regular oatmeal at the store is gluten contaminated, but certified gluten-free oats are readily available.  I get the big bag of oats from Bobs Red Mill, kept in the freezer, and I make batches of oatmeal to eat for breakfasts.  Remember to not only look out to avoid sources of wheat, but barley, rye, and non gluten-free oats as well.

For the ink and any other chemicals applied, like glue, you should have access to the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) that will tell you exactly what is in them.  For the paper, gluten is highly unlikely to be in it, but if you are able to talk to someone in the purchasing department of your work and get the manufacturer information, you can contact them and ask.  If you don't feel comfortable telling them you eat paper, you can tell them you are doing a school project and want to know if they use any wheat, barley, and rye derivatives in their product.  If you just ask them what all is in it, they may shoot down the request saying that is proprietary information.

I understand you are not looking for further advice, but I highly recommend you go talk to a professional to get assistance in quitting your habit.

If you don't want to wear it but want to display it and make the kids know you appreciate it, you can probably spend around $20 or so and buy a small shadowbox that goes on the wall, put two hooks in there and hang the necklace nicely in it, and keep it on the wall.  Maybe put a picture of the kids in the middle as well.  Also like Karen said, draped somewhere nice looking would be a good solution, too.

The other thing you can do is, once you get it, go make an exact replica of it with gluten-free pasta and try to pass it off as the original one.  Maybe ask the teacher to borrow the same paints and string used, etc.  Of course that is a little overboard, haha.  But I completely understand how you feel- I would not wear it either.  

I would call back up there and speak to someone in dietary.  They are going to be the ones that supply the recovery area.  If the popsicles there are questionable they may be able to order something in and deliver it up for her to take it off you.  The nurse definitely brushed you off.  

If it is a small surgery center and with a small staff, call back up there and ask for a charge nurse or surgery supervisor to call you back to discuss it. 

Most soft serve at fast food places is okay if you get it in a cup, usually easy to look up on their website.  Chik fil a, Mcdonalds, Dairy Queen, and Sonic come to mind.  Anything scooped is generally going to be CC'd.  Braums in TX and OK has gluten-free soft serve frozen yogurt I like to get-in a cup.  Some places that have an ice cream line, if they aren't busy, may be able to get you a scoop out of an unopened container in the back with a clean scoop.  But I don't have faith in how well they wash the scoops (when I worked at a ice cream/burger place in high school they never washed them!) and its a pain, I can just buy a half gallon and eat it at home, haha.  

As far as the frozen yogurt places go that serve multiple flavors, I generally avoid those places as there are a lot of knock off places that make many dubious health claims about their product, and I don't know how well they clean the machines.  If it is a chain and you are able to get some confident answers and there are no gluten containing products used in the machines, I would eat some but definitely avoid the little toppings bars that people make a mess in.

I have heard costco's phone customer service is really good, you can give them a ring in the morning. 

I noticed your username. Have you tried any of the gluten free "seitan" recipes out there?

OMG I am in tears from laughing so hard over here after I google searched seitan.  LOL.... you win the prize for best name ever.

I also don't use certified dried legumes, the packages of my store brand don't have any CC warnings and I always rinse them.  But I totally understand wanting to go with a safe bet if you are extra sensitive.  Canned beans I buy Bush's beans.

Hi Barbara and welcome!  I took your reply to that years old topic and made it into a new one for you so you will get more responses.  You definitely at least have a gluten intolerance like you said, but because you were never tested for Celiac disease the possibility of it actually being the case hasn't been ruled out.  A lot of people get neuro symptoms when they are glutened and hopefully a few will chime in here.  Some people find that after being away from gluten for a time, their exposure reactions seem to get more severe, so that could explain the leg problems that you just notice now.

Some people also color code things, so if you are going to go get a few new plastic items and can find a color like red or green that will mark them easily as the gluten-free ones (Can also just use a sharpie), a lot of people on here have found that to be helpful.

 ....I started doing some research and saw that a lot of people who have hair dye also have celiacs. I then realized I react when I drink beer or wine but I don't if I drink captain Morgan which is gluten free. Also in January I started going to the gym and doing low carb. When I did low carb it was like the rash really really really simmered down. What are thoughts on this??? Could it be celiacs? I would upload pics of the rash if I could. But when I looked up celiacs disease rashes it looks identical to some of the images.

Just to poke at a few points here, beer generally contains gluten, but wine does not.  A low carb diet is not gluten free, and a gluten free diet is not low carb.  However, a low carb diet can result in a decreased intake of gluten, but since gluten is not exclusively in high carb foods, it won't do the trick if you have a problem with gluten. Were you also generally eating healthier and not consuming alcohol at this time?

If you feel like you may have celiac disease then you need to get in to see a GI doctor and get tested.  However, the symptoms you describe with reacting to hair dye have nothing to do with celiac disease if you have it as well.  A lot of people react to body products like PPD in hair dye, and some reactions can last a very long time, although it is rare.  (For those reading, PPD is a chemical common in hair dye that causes a lot of people problems.)  I would highly recommend being very careful of what products you use on your body.  Because you are having unexplained skin reactions to something, you may want to see an allergy specialist who can test for common skin allergies.

At the ER they are only going to do what is necessary to stabilize your condition.  If you do want to get tested for celiac disease, get in touch with your primary care doctor and ask for a referral to a GI doctor.  You can also make an appointment yourself, but some insurance plans will require a referral.  A lot of rashes will look very similar and I recommend not self diagnosing too quickly before you get further testing done by a GI and an Allergist.  

For celiac screening to be accurate, you need to be consuming gluten, so don't go on a gluten-free diet until after you are seen by a specialist.

I generally buy mccormick spices, and I don't buy any of the target house brands because they don't label gluten-free items and they are really hard to get info out of when you call them.  If you are a super sensitive celiac and react to things other celiacs may not react to, you may want to check out some of the solutions people have come up with in the super sensitive category here in the forum.  Although it is a pain in the rump to do so, you may want to consider only using fresh garlic and other things like onions and herbs instead of getting the dried processed kind.

Stick the bag in your purse!  I can be your little secret, they don't have to know.  LOL

I worked in a burger place for two weeks when I was in high school.  Then my pizza place called me with a counter offer and I went back there cause they loved me so much.  You would be very surprised at how many people will bring in meals from other places and then use another restaurants tables, wifi, condiments, and other resources and not buy a darn thing.  And they usually are not shy about it.  That plus the health thing.  So some places have strict policies on that.  I think your experience was probably just an odd one.

If you have to buy fresh crab legs a lot of seafood counters will steam them for you for free.  The only time I have made sushi is with my japanese friend.  Check out youtube, there are some good cooking videos on there.  I can't track down the name but there is a Chinese guy who posts videos of traditional cuisine and that is where I learned how to make my own chinese takeout.

I will take in a bun in a plastic baggie and just slap it on there myself once I get it. I wouldn't involve them in it.  Same way I bring my own bottle of gluten-free soy sauce in my purse to Genghis Grill... heeheehee.  

Hi Ravenra,

You posted this new question on a 2 year old inactive topic, so I made it into a new one in the hopes you get some helpful replies.  What kind of bumps are you referring to, eczema or DH?

There are just some things that you need to see a doctor for, and rectal bleeding is one of them. I understand money is an issue, but I implore you to use any and all resources available to you in your area, beg, borrow, steal, whatever it takes to get that looked at.  This is definitely an issue other than Celiac disease.  It sounds like you may have either bad hemorrhoids or an anal fissure, but the only way to tell is to have a doctor look at it because there are other more serious things that can cause you to have blood when you pass stool.  If you can definitely tell that it is coming from the immediate area and not elsewhere, especially if there is a painful spot somewhere on the exit point, then that points to a fissure, and a doctor would be able to tell immediately upon a glance if that were the case.  You can do an internet search on that for more info.

But seriously, you can even go to the ER and they can't turn you away, and get a medical exam.  You want to rule out anything serious before it gets more serious.  Even a simple hemorrhoid issue or anal fissure can develop into a serious problem needing surgery if not treated correctly.

I wouldn't use the spread in the tub in that situation.  Just wouldn't be comfortable.  But when you think down to it and there is a pristine top still on the other half, you should be fine, but it isn't devoid of risk.  There is also the perception problem of people seeing you use the same tub as the bread crumby knives were in and not being taken seriously later.  Or passing off a bad habit to a kid out of misunderstanding.