LauraTX

Just a fancy name for a fancier blue cheese... haha.  Now I want some steak gorgonzola alfredo.  I better get on it in the kitchen soon!

What exact IV nutritional therapy do they have you on?  

Cocoa and coffee are both similarly processed... and there is a lot of processing involved to take it from the raw plant to your mouth.  While it is unlikely to come into contact with wheat, I would be careful where you source it from, and maybe try to get whole coffee beans you grind yourself.   Also, this is directed at all future readers as a whole, not one person... but if the gluten contamination elimination diet does not work for you and you didn't 100% follow the rules, don't say it doesn't work.  Try some time doing it 100% before considering it a wash.

If you are buying maize flour made in your country, inquire with the manufacturer and ask them if they make anything with wheat in the same plant.  If tortillas are a highly consumed item in Costa Rica where you are, there are probably places that make just maize flour and/or maize tortillas. 

You have been gluten-free for about a month or so, right?  There is more healing time needed to get back to normal absorption and your nails will probably start to look better with time.  They may take extra extra time, since they take a while to grow out and fully replenish the whole nail.

I am sensitive to most makeup products.  I just don't wear makeup anymore unless it is a special occasion like a wedding or job interview.  I know I cannot have cocoa butter, shea butter, and anything heavily fragranced, but other things are harder to pinpoint.  A good way to narrow down what ingredient is causing your issue is to find the ingredient list and go through a process of elimination with other products you use and are okay with.  It can be a lot of ingredients, but usually you will get down to just one or two.  Then you can avoid those in the next thing you try. Unless you have narrowed it down, don't assume it is the sunscreen... there are all kinds of things in makeup that can cause issues with a sensitive skinned individual.  There are also multiple things that could be the sunscreen in the makeup, so instead of avoiding all sunscreen, you can figure out what chemical it is and just avoid that.

As to the question of the BO ~~~ I have always had a problem with very loud BO. I can get out of the shower & within 5 minutes have bad BO. This is what takes care of it for me: Shave your pits every day if that's what it takes. I find the tiniest growth of underarm hair has the effect as if I had a forest growing in there. Mitchum antiperspirant -- nothing else will do. They do make an unscented gel that really & truly does not leave any white stuff. 

I can second the Mitchum... when I was a teenager there were a few years where it was the only thing that helped.  

Welcome to the forum!

When you see your doctor about all this, ask them if they can draw labs for the more common rheumatology factors to check for autoimmune conditions, and see if they will pull a few Celiac labs to potentially rule it out.   Also have them do standard screening bloodwork like CBC, CMP, thyroid, etc that they would do on a checkup if it hasn't been done recently.  Most autoimmune disorders are inflammatory diseases, so the fact that you have inflammation in so many unrelated spots on your body definitely strongly suggests that.   If your doctor is on the fence just say something like another doctor mentioning it being a possibility and you wanting to cover all your bases.

I have lupus as well as Celiac disease, and the person who initially found the lupus blood markers was an orthopedic surgeon... I was about to get a third surgery in a year, and he just wanted to check deep into it because he felt it was odd for a 25 year old to have carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, and tendonitis all over. I was so glad he found that, and also a little unhappy the first doctor and many others did not.  Now I can fix the root issue.  PT just made things worse for me with all those problems and your case sounds a lot like mine.  Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease, and can cause all kinds of symptoms.  Inflamed joints and random aches and pains are definitely some of those, so better to check everything out so nothing is missed.  Many people have no gastrointestinal symptoms before their Celiac diagnosis, just other things, because it affects the whole body when untreated.

Here is a list of Celiac disease lab tests.  You have to be eating gluten regularly for them to be accurate, and the control test must be drawn to ensure no false negatives.  If you want to post your lab results here, we can help you figure out what is going on and if anything is missed, which is very common with Celiac diagnoses.  If any Celiac labs come up positive or borderline, definitely see a GI doctor for further testing and endoscopy before going on a gluten-free diet. So don't trial a gluten-free diet until all testing is done.

Here is a page explaining some of the autoimmune/lupus screening tests.  Your doctor will probably only do a couple and that is okay, but if any of them come up positive definitely see a rheumatologist.  You can have them draw more labs so you have more information at your first appointment, especially if there is a wait to get in.

Open Original Shared Link

Although having a bigger condition is no fun when you are in your 20's, I hope something is found so you can work on solutions to the root problem.  

You're very welcome.  Are you new to the gluten-free diet?  HEB has some great store brand stuff... their gluten-free cornbread mix is really good and I use it often, but other mixes in the brown boxes not as much.  They have gluten-free chicken nuggets and strips... they are in the freezer section in a big blue/tan bag.  Those are my favorite to keep on hand for "oops I can't cook" days and price per pound is about half of any other brand.  Their little brown gluten-free shelf labels made it much easier for me when I was first diagnosed, gave me a place to look first on those vast shelves.  

HEB is a supermarket chain in Texas.  They have Central Market which is their more upscale gourmet place, in the big cities.  They have lots of good store brand stuff and are the best around here as far as labeling store brand things as gluten-free which helps save money on that gluten-free grocery budget. 

You may find this article an interesting read... some people who still have symptoms on a gluten-free diet have gone on the Fasano Gluten Contamination Elimination diet which cuts out basically anything processed.  Some see improvement. Open Original Shared Link

Welcome to the forum Rachel!

I shop primarily at HEB and have bought the blendables things.  HEB has a lot of products that they will put the gluten-free seal on, and that is not one of those.  However, when I have contacted them before, they let me know they are constantly getting new HEB brand products from many manufacturers and are working on putting the brown gluten-free seal on more things, so it not having that doesn't mean it is not gluten-free.  I buy them myself, and just like any other frozen fruit or veggie as long as there is no shared equipment warning, etc, I consider it good to go.  They periodically have sales on those and I will stock my freezer.  Also, if you want something more rich you can make them with milk, or milk and yogurt.

The best information source on medications is the manufacturer, so if you haven't already sent them an email inquiring, go ahead and do that now.  There is a website where you can search medications and their ingredients, which is Open Original Shared Link... and Open Original Shared Link doesn't show anything that would be suspect of gluten.  But contact the manufacturer to verify.

Thank you for your welcome and your comments. 

My three children were tested last week for Celiac and today we learned that all three test results were negative.  The doctor recommended no need for further testing unless we observed symptoms.  But is this the advice most of you received?  One of you mentioned getting the children tested each year.  I guess my concern is that I would not know which symptoms to look for since I never experienced any stomach problems myself.  My mom thinks she has Celiac and believes her mom did as well.  So that is 3 generations of it...causing me to want to be on top of it for my children (the fourth generation.)

I appreciate your input!

The first step recommended for first-degree relatives of someone with Celiac is toOpen Original Shared Link.  If the genetic test

Welcome to the forum, Hasan.

Not all Celiacs get outward symptoms when they eat gluten.  It varys per person.  When your doctor told you to go gluten free because the endoscopy biopsy could have missed it, he was correct.  Celiac damage can be patchy, and they need to take a number of samples to ensure they don't miss anything.

The endoscopy is the only  definive diagnosis accepted by the insurance companies

This may vary from company to company, best to each check with their own plan about what is covered and when.

Cadbury eggs don't contain any gluten ingredients but the manufacturer, Open Original Shared Link, will not put them on their gluten-free list due to potential cross contamination.  Of course this applies to the US, so if you are in another country that may differ. Open Original Shared Link.  It is a pretty hotly debated topic sometimes.

Thanks for digging that up, Karen.  I think I saw a Celiac blogger post about these, I forget who it was.  But said they are decent.  I may try one, looks like a good option for if I am away from home.

I have nothing to add except: Yep, blame the ex!!! 

Welcome to the forum!

I am so glad you fully understand the benefits of getting tested and going gluten-free if need be...no better legacy to leave behind than the gift of health and life.

That is quite profound that he has gone a week seizure free.  Have them run the tests but like you said, if cutting gluten does the trick, then definitely keep it that way.  Weighing the risk versus benefit of putting him back on gluten, this may be one of those cases where it isn't worth it.  

Did the neuro order the blood tests?  Sometimes specialists will refer to other specialists if it is outside of their scope of care.  However, if he has seen him for a long time hopefully he will just order them.

Also, don't feel bad about feeding him wheat bread.  No worse on the gluten scale than regular bread.... they are all bad.  That may not make you feel better, huh?    

Also, when did you guys try IVIG for him?  (for other readers IVIG stands for intravaneous immunoglobulins) If he is still on IVIG that can affect the accuracy of the Celiac blood tests.  If it was something like years ago, then it will not affect it at all, it only stays in the body for 3 months or so.

thanks Laura for posting the correct site..... Would you know why I can't copy & paste on here? This is the only place I can't do this anymore!

Can you use your mouse to highlight, then right click and copy... or highlight with mouse and press ctrl and c at the same time.  ctrl and v at the same time to paste.

Yep that is funny. Kind of long, but funny.

It is a good point that sometimes we can blame things on gluten even if they're not, it can be impossible to tell many times.  Also, did you eat a lot of the mozzarella?  I would eat a ton of fresh, delicious mozzarella, so also could be symptoms from just eating too much of it.  A good way to test that would be to eat an equivalent amount of a safe, packaged brand.  LOL