eleep

My head just about exploded with all the "newness" last spring and it's only now that I'm starting to feel like there's enough room in it for me to start having opinions about anything but my diet and health again!

eleep

Everyone else is giving great advice, so I'm just going to chime in to say that I also don't spend nearly that much money on supplements either and I take quite a few of them as well! I did consult with my doctor, but I also used this board to do research on the kinds of supplements that might be most effective for me.

eleep

I'm really fond of the Manna from Anna mixes -- although they're a bit more like a nice whole-grainy bread than a soft white one -- I thin they're excellent for sandwiches, however!

Of course you could buy a whole live eel, the season's coming up.

Actually, that sounds like fun to me, but I'm kind of an adventure-freak when I'm not feeling ill! I think I might need a friend to help me wrangle it, though.

I honestly can't tell whether I'm having/will have/have had a reaction to that eel last night or not -- I did take charcoal about an hour after leaving the restaurant and had some insomnia last night, but today has mostly been a good, solid-feeling day. I have been kind of worried, but I've got a lot of stuff to worry about these days, and it hasn't been overwhelming. Dunno. It could also be that my body's done a lot of healing between the quitting smoking and the acupuncture so the reactions aren't as strong. Or, I could just be feeling the calm before the storm -- come to think of it, I have been a bit gassy for the past hour or so...........

eleep

Well, I ate a piece of eel sushi -- wasn't thinking. First time eating out in 4 months -- at a place with confirmed packets of gluten-free soy sauce, where they were great with my Triumph card and everything, but I'm pretty sure this eel wasn't "safe" -- and I, stupidly, didn't question it or do any research before I ordered. I guess I just got overenthusiastic or something -- I've been terribly relaxed and happy lately (acupuncture has been working wonders) and my guard was a little down, I guess.

How could I have not checked up on the eel before I went out and ordered it? I'm a cook -- how could I not have been aware of the possibility of wheat-containing soy sauce in the eel? I've been so cautious and haven't been glutened since May except for one episode of cc:ing.

I was just falling in love with feeling healthy!

eleep

Okay folks, my life has gotten a bit to full (and my roommate a bit too pissed off about lack of space in the fridge) for me to be effective doing a rotation diet to figure this stuff out right now.

My student insurance this semester doesn't cover allergy testing, but there'll be a new policy next semester that may cover some of it.

What are the options for getting tested for other food allergies and intolerances? How much do they cost? Are any of them "affordable" (in the sense that the $360 Enterolab test was a wise use of my money even though the insurance didn't cover it) if I decide to do something on my own? How accurate do they seem to be?

eleep

Welcome back!

Believe me, I know how the "oh great, now no cheese" thing feels! If you are lactose intolerant (and not casein intolerant), you may find that you can tolerate yogurt since the bacteria have consumed most of the lactose -- I have had no problems with plain yogurt, butter or buttermilk -- all of which are low (or no) lactose. I use Lactaid milk in my coffee.

It's kind of an experiment-and-see thing -- however, I did find it useful to get the Enterolab panel that included casein intolerance because I was reacting severely to dairy for a while and found it quite alarming!

A friend served me soup with a tomato-cream base a few weeks ago (he'd gone out and specially gotten gluten-free ingredients for me) and I had no Lactaid in my purse. I was so happy to have someone cook for me that I took the risk and had the soup anyway -- I didn't react very strongly at all, although I did get home later that night and feel a little off and somewhat insomniac until I took some Immodium, so I do know that the lactose thing does seem to be disappearing!

eleep

I was about three weeks in when I started noticing that I was reacting to lactose myself!

eleep? (did you meet yet?) Casey (Karen) speaks much better French than I do but she specialises in 13C French literature and as she gets progressively drunker she slips further into 13C French....with which she is most comfortable....

Wow -- I missed this thread, but it's a good thing since I'm a graduate student in English right now and about the worst lame pickup line I hear from guys these days runs something like: "I'll have to watch what I say around you!".

Anyway, Steve, I haven't heard from Casey -- but have you heard from her since she came to UF? The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is imploding right now -- the provost is trying to dismantle it but we've got a really active and vibrant resistance going among the graduate students and faculty. I'm actually doing my RAship with the GA union this semester, so I'm in the thick of it!

There's also another celiac UF graduate student on this board from Romance Languages -- maybe she knows Casey? Wow -- I need to start making good on these celiac connections so I have someone to eat Thanksgiving dinner with when I get stuck in Gainesville in November!

I'd have to agree about having other people cook for me being my biggest risk right now. Although, eating dairy right now is kind of a risk for me -- I've been reacting less and less to lactose when I do eat it, so I've been more likely to risk a tiny bit of hard cheese here and there over the past few weeks -- the last time, however, I paid for it with a night of sleeplessness.

Yipes -- Mango -- did you have a reaction in the woods? Having a reaction while I'm backpacking is one of my worst nightmare scenarios. Although, ironically, I think that the sustained exercise of backpacking kept my reaction symptoms in the past down to a minimum -- even though I might have eaten whole wheat pita for lunch, I'd really mostly just feel a little worn down later in the afternoon.

eleep

I would second the "try to be patient" thing. I don't know whether I can claim adrenal fatigue or not, but my body body pretty worn down and that made it difficult to build up to working out for me as well. I just tried to keep my hand in for a while -- I'd go for short walks outside and do some gentle yoga.

Sometimes the hardest thing is to learn not to push myself the way I used to.

I've actually gone in for acupuncture recently (and I know Carla's doing this for the adrenal thing) and it's slowly starting to make me feel much stronger and more grounded -- so I've been able to start running again. I've been waiting until the end of the treatment to post on how well it's worked for me (because I'm still seeing improvement from week to week), but I can definitely recommend it for helping speed up the de-stressing process.

eleep

Oh my gosh, how weird -- but it's good to see you back! I don't know anything about that drug, but might Claritin be a suitable alternative to Benadryl? I don't know if it works on topical reactions or not, but I have less side effects with the Claritin.

I'm making salsa and black beans this week and want to use them in fish tacos one night and then have them to snack on later in the week. Haven't bought tortilla chips since the diagnosis -- what brands are safe?

eleep

molten acid!

hahahahahahahahahahaha! snort! hahahahahahahahahah!

eleep

Yeah, I think that's what's going on -- it's weird, though, because it's a week early and I'm on a low-dose pill (which I've been taking faithfully) and I'm usually right on schedule.

But there's all sorts of weird stuff going on with my body right now. I'm actually doing quite well physically, although still healing -- have gained weight to the extent that I've gone from Olive Oil to Jessica Rabbit in about two months, the acupunture is helping tremendously with the anxiety and exhaustion -- I'm focused, doing well, etc... I'm back to working out 4-5 days a week and that's really good.

I'm not at 100% however and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there's just a lot of stress going on in my life that I don't have control over because I'm supposed to be focused on making my body stronger -- but it's hard not to be able to meet all the other challenges I need to meet right now! I'm healthy enough for the Type A side of my personality to be coming out, getting frustrated and stomping its feet with impatience!

Haven't been on the board much because I'm genuinely sucked up into the rest of my life -- which is good, but I do miss everyone!

eleep

Whoops -- I should have said a particularly bad, crampy period -- not PMS -- I was typing fast. I've actually just had a moment to look this stuff up and I think that's what's going on!

So,

I've been super-careful cooking all my own food and there's no risk of cc -- I've been rotating foods around as well. However, I've had a bit of a bad bout on the toilet the last couple of days -- as well as an unusually heavy set of pms symptoms (a week early too -- even though I'm on the pill).

This could all just be about the period -- right?

I hope this isn't TMI for this board -- I'm just a little frustrated about this today because I've been doing quite well!

e.

I agree -- I saw no revisions and almost choked with envy! Major congratulations!

I live in a huge university town with a plethora of fashion-conscious sorority girls -- which tends to skew my sense of style at times (as I discover whenever I actually leave to go up North). Anyway, I swore I wasn't going to do any 80's fashion again, but I actually found myself trying on a pair of leggings the other day under an item of clothing that was too long to be a tunic and too short to be a dress (it was this gorgeous embroidered kimono-type top -- not in my size, however).

Just narrowly escaped buying the leggings, but I'm starting to wonder how long I'll hold out?

Beverly -- it's good to see you back -- I'm glad you're moving even thought it's such a stressful thing!

Thrush is candida, so you probably want to be aware of the possibility of candida problems from the antibiotics -- I think that means you should at least take a probiotic to help restore the good bacteria in your system. However, there are a lot of other, better informed, people on this board who've dealth with candida, so you should do a search and see what you turn up.

Wow, I thought it was only my local musician friends who made a big deal out of this on the other forum I frequent. It seems that I'm surrounded by pirate-loving goofballs no matter where I go!

Aarrgh!

e.

I thought the Red Bull effect had to do with the B-vitamins -- or is there something else that helps as well?

eleep

I've had no issues with the non-flavored McCann's quick-cooking oats in the last six or so months and I eat them nearly every morning. I stay away from other oat and oat-containing products, but these seem to be just fine for me.

eleep