eleep

Now that the NIH has launched an awareness campaign, perhaps we could get more attention? I'm just thinking that it sometimes takes multiple tries to get the right kind of publicity.

Actually, I might add that it seems like a lot of these kinds of public awareness campaigns seem to be tied to the release of specific pharmaceutical products. Depression didn't become a publicly-discussed issue until the advent of the SSRI era. Heh -- so it might be that the development of Zonulin has some effect on all of this.

I like the Newtree dark chocolate barsthey do have several "flavors", but the black currant (which is sitting in front of me right now) is completely fine for me. I imagine that a bunch of these single-source bean dark chocolates have very few added and possibly dangerous ingredients.

I think this is something I could only imagine using as a prophylactic against cross-contamination were I eating out a lot or travelling or something like that.

I keep dreaming that someone's offering me a giant platter of cookies and brownies and I have a panic attack because I'm starving but can't eat anything in front of me.

Leave it to a butter company to do this. Mmmmmmm butter....

Actually those muscles are the ones I've been skipping exercises for over these past few months! Ha -- I will make an appointment to get the knee looked at as soon as the infirmary re-opens.

Tiffany -- I've got a Kelty coyote pack -- so there are a plethora of things to hang some collapsing poles from. That's good advice.

I'm going to head out to get some moderate, knee-careful exercise -- I think I might be starting to get kind of whiny from lack of activity!

Na, I'm sensing you're using any excuse to avoid writing!

Oh, I can never seem to find friends who won't see through to my true motives in no time!

Yes, I'm procrastinating. However, I was supposed to be on vacation and travelling this week anyway, and that whole plan got squashed by a number of problems that have since been solved. I'm spending the week trying to gain weight, working for the union, getting my muscles back in shape and generally enjoying myself.

I'm only spending about three hours a day on the prospectus/exams, and right now I'm trying to take my advisor's advice that the best way to deal with it is to avoid treating that stuff as though it's life or death -- her recommendation was that I should treat perfecting a pie crust as life or death and treat the writing process as something I do for fun.

Did I mention that I quit smoking last week as well? That was the last unhealthy relic leftover from my days as a theatre geek in college. I've quit about seven times before (sometimes for as long as two years), but it's never been so easy as it has been after going gluten-free.

Defensive, defensive......

Adventure! hmph! Excitement! hmph! A jedi craves not these things!

Someone should put me down....

I could have guessed you'd bring up the trekking poles, Tiffany! I've actually been relying on my hobbit-esque walking stick -- picked up on the same trip after I'd injured my knee. There's quite a story there about my boyfriend taking my half of the food out of my pack and hauling it around a lake taking pictures for me while I scrambled my way along a boulder-strewn trail completely oblivious to what was around me. I still look at those pictures and can't actually remember having been there!

Yes, it's probably time for the poles.

Nars cosmetics are all gluten free and they have beautiful, highly pigmented lipsticks -- they're kind of high-end and an indulgence for me as a graduate student, but I don't wear lipstick that often. There are plenty of other gluten-free lipsticks out there, I'm sure -- and you can do a search on the boards for other people's favorites.

Welcome! I felt much as you did at first, but I've actually come to realize how lucky I am that this was all that was wrong with me! I also feel and function better than I have in my entire adult life after five months into this -- I should look a lot better too once I've put some more weight on! I'm a huge food person and this felt like an irreconcilable loss for me, but that's actually what's made it easier to get through the change in habits -- if you know how to love and appreciate something, that doesn't go away even though the way you love and appreciate it might have to change!

Well, I was hoping to go on my first solo hike fairly soon, but I was having weird, wonky slight pain in my knee the other day and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't go out there alone if it's likely to get worse.

I originally developed this on a hike in the Adirondacks when I was going down a mountain with no walking stick of any kind and a 32 pound pack on my back -- it's never been a huge deal other than that -- I think I just torqued it a little bit. However, I don't want it to develop into something worse.

For the last few years since then, I've been doing a careful free-weight routine with lunges to build up the muscular protection around my knee. I also went to a physical therapist who gave me some pilates-based core stuff to do on the exercise ball. The combination really stopped any knee complaints I ever had while hiking -- and I also started jogging as well with no problems.

However, since February I've had to slack off on working out (except for yoga) because I've been healing and trying to get my weight up -- I think I may need to spend some more time getting my muscles back to where they were before, but I also don't want to aggravate this knee problem.

Does anyone know how long I should wait and baby my knee? There's no swelling and the weird feeling is gone today (although it felt weird yesterday after a run the day before). I hesitate to call this an injury, exactly -- although it could be an injury waiting to happen if I'm not careful!

eleep

Avocados are great in scrambled eggs or omelets (I don't recall seeing eggs on your allergy list). I've also been eating a lot of avocados with a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and cashews or other nuts as a salad.

I also make chili and heap chunks of avocado on top (instead of cheese or sour cream). Actually, leftover bean chili and avocados make a great omelet stuffing, come to think of it -- and there's lots of weight-gain potential there.

Having written this, I think I might need to go have a second breakfast.

eleep

Right now, it's looking an awful lot like my dissertation is about this board -- I must have posted enough on here already for at least a chapter! Gotta stop keeping this window open while I'm trying to write!

I talk about my research a bit in this thread:

Open Original Shared Link

Thanks everyone for the great encouragement and advice! I think I need to tuck my theoretical boy-problems under the radar for now, though! I promise to post if anything exciting comes up, but right now I will seriously suffer if I don't churn out some work!

eleep

If I were doing this again, I'd just go for the Enterolab test first. I only lasted a week trying to "gluten challenge" before my blood test and it was inconclusive. I ended up paying about 2/3 of what the Enterolab testing cost even with the copay on my insurance (but I've got kind of crappy student insurance).

eleep

I would suggest maybe seeing what happens when you taper off the Ritalin. A doctor put me on that stuff when I first thought I might have ADD (the symptoms have all gone now that I'm gluten-free), and I have to say I think it's a really gnarly drug. It actually made me more irritable and stressed than I was even with untreated Celiac -- it also caused me to hyperfocus on entirely the wrong things sometimes. I switched to very tiny amounts of Adderall for a short while -- which was a much more effective and less-stressy drug for me, although I don't need anything at this point.

Also, going gluten-free seems to cause withdrawal in a lot of people -- and that was my experience with lots of stress and insomnia and stuff. Part of it had to do with the fact that it took a while to get all the gluten sources out of my life (took me two months to actually read "gluten" in my multivitamin's list of ingredients!), part of it had to do with my system adjusting. I also had a lot of other stress going on at the time, so it was hard just to snap into a new and brilliant eating and cooking routine.

eleep

Well, actually, he was the one who moved out -- it was a complicated and messy and sudden situation I don't have time to go into right now. I have been a bit guarded in my posts about how deeply I care for him. I think the safest thing to say is that we had a really rough year last year -- we _both_ deserved better from the other, but there was a lot going on.

I think now, it's time for each of us to reflect on what we want and what we'd like to go differently -- we've both got old patterns that I think we need to change and break to really be healthy -- we spent a lot of time in counseling together and I do feel confident that he was honest with me about wanting to make changes in his life -- I think, now that we've had a chance to talk, I feel confident that he can see how determined I am to continue to make changes and improvements in my health.

I agree about the ambiguity being a problem. However, right now I really need to focus on myself -- and I know that he really needs to focus on himself. I think I did make it clear to him how much I care for him -- I am unlikely, in the space of three months, to get involved in anything that would threaten that -- for all my bravado about dating, I'm not really out there very much -- more interested in friends and my work than anything else. I think he knows that about me. I kind of have to assume that he's in the same position if he still feels as though he might want to restart our relationship.

Sometimes you just have to trust -- and right now, I think that's the best thing. Sure -- either one of us could meet someone else, but we were together a long time and were very serious about wanting to make a real commitment. That's not something that changes so very fast -- moreover, if we each really want it to work, we'll think twice about starting up something that could threaten that.

For all the advice about getting out there to meet the other fish in the sea -- well, I know those fish are there and if they want to come find me, they can. It's nice to know that I'm still appreciated as a dateable woman. However, I'm not going to wither into a bitter old spinster in three months. I'm not so insecure about my ability to attract men I'm interested in that it would be such a great loss.

I might add that, as I keep healing from the celiac AND the breakup, I kind of feel like I'm getting better and better, so it's nice to be in my cocoon for a while letting this process happen and letting my wounds heal -- there will be a time for me to bust out and be glorious again, but it's not right now. Then there'll be mischief on the horizon for some guy, I can assure you!

If he _doesn't_ know that I'm unlikely to seriously date other people right now, he does occasionally read this board and knows my username -- so he could know now! I may, after exams and such are done, get in touch with him to let him know that more clearly -- although Carla's advice is important too. Today is not the day for me to decide that, however. Today I need to be where I am and working on the things in front of me.

eleep

I'm definitely glad I did the Enterolab thing -- I was only trying to "gluten challenge" myself for a week before the blood tests and those results turned up inconclusive. By the middle of that week, I could barely get up off the couch. Frankly I don't want to do any more damage to my body than has already been done and I don't have the time to put my life on hold while I'm sick -- I've been feeling sick long enough.

eleep

I posted it yesterday in its own thread -- do a search for "lobio" and you'll find it. Enjoy!

Anyone sleep alot in the beginning? I woke up at 2:30 today still feeling tired.

I was a sleeping machine -- my semester ended a few weeks or so into going gluten-free and I had a couple of weeks where I decided to mostly heal and rest. I would get nappish immediately after breakfast and sleep in the hammock in the backyard for a while. I think my body was just really using a lot of energy just to start healing.

Now I seem to be able to sleep perfectly normal 7-8 hour nights and, when things are busy and I only get 6 or so, I'm tired, but not anywhere near as tapped out as I used to be on that little sleep. My mornings in general are much much better now as well -- it used to take me multiple hits on the snooze bar just to get myself out of bed. Now I'm just up.

eleep

You look great! That's a wonderful thing.

I got glutened last night by some Amy's and I just put my coffee cup in the bathroom sink and walked away.

This sounds exactly like me on gluten!

eleep

I definitely lost my sense of humor from brain fog! I was also really irritable and had trouble making decisions -- even at the most minute level. For instance, I would literally find myself occasionally getting into a tizzy about whether I wanted to make breakfast or shower first on mornings when I didn't have somewhere to be immediately!

eleep

Dark leafy greens are a good source of non-dairy calcium -- it's easier to absorb as well. Collards are particularly cheap (can you tell I've been living in the South?), but other greens are good as well -- kale, etc...

I could pretty much eat this stuff for days on end right out of the bowl:

Lobio (from one of the Moosewood cookbooks)

3 cups cooked red kidney beans (two 14-oz cans)

1 cup minced red onions

3 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed

3 TBL red wine vinegar

2 TBL olive oil

3/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp ground coriander

salt and ground black pepper to taste

Garnish ideas:

romaine or leaf lettuce

fresh cilantro or parsley sprigs

sliced radishes

tomato slices

If using dried kidney beans, sort and rinse them, cover with a generous amount of cold water, and let them soak for several hours or overnight. Discard the soaking water and simmer the bens in 2 quarts of fresh water until just tender, about 1 hour.

Drain the cooked beans and place them in a bowl (if using canned beans, rinse and then drain them). Toss with the onions garlic, vinegar, olive oil, walnuts, cilantro, parsley, and coriander. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the Lobio sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Serve on a bed of greens, garnished with cilantro or parsley sprigs, sliced radishes, and tomato slices.

I left out the part about the toasted pita bread wedges for obvious reasons

eleep

Hah -- I must get off this computer. I confess that I did celebrate a bit too much at a wine-tasting party last night and I'm feeling the effects -- haven't been drinking anything lately, so it hits me hard if it's more than one glass.

eleep