penguin

HAHA! Alright, who's read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy??? Between the mice and the dolphins, we're beat...especially since the answer is 42

I have a girl scout troop....but with me going to school in Jan, I don't know what'll happen

I'll work something out!!! I have to!!!!

Scouting of any kind is always fun, then there are your head starts, blood banks, food banks, hospices, services for the blind & deaf, tutoring...the possibilies are endless

Nope

Make sure you don't take any allergy medicine, though

Moonmaiden,

it's just all one giant CONSPIRACY isn't it? Who else, besides the FDA, doctors and drug companies, do you think are in on it?

I'm sorry, was that comment really necessary?

IMO, red skinned potatoes should not be skinned, not to mention they're the nutritious part of the potato.

Hmm, I always cube the potatoes first

Anyway, waiting until they are cooler will help the skin adhere more to the potato, but I say leave all potato parts in! You aren't going to have any more skin in the potatoes than what came with them

Those potatoes are all going to fall partially apart anyway when you mix it up, so don't worry about it

If gluten-free doesn't improve your hypoglycemia much, then you may have a thyroid problem.

But I have hypoglycemia, which is more dangerous than hyperglycemia. I've been eating a ton of carbs, up to 500g/day, but it doesn't seem to have much of a difference on my blood sugar. I just think my body isn't absorbing it. My intestines are probably so bad I would have to be fed glucose intravenously.

I've only been gluten-free for about 3.5 weeks now. Improvement is slight, but I want to feel like the way I felt before.

You need protein and carbs and fat to be able to not be hypoglycemic. All tons of carbs are going to do is cause peaks and crashes, which is terrible for your system. Actually, I also believe hyperglycemia is more dangerous than hypoglycemia, and is harder to control.

But still, people still react to a less severe degree.

Like in one case a girl in Canada died while kissing her boyfriend's lips after he ate a peanut butter bar. For me, peanuts causes an unsightly, but non-life threatening and non-serious, rash.

I can consume a few peanuts without harm, mostly non processed peanuts, but my body barely reacts to it. So I do think quantity is important and not necessarily like dominoes as some people point out.

Let's make sure we're clear on something - celiac disease is NOT an allergy. It's an autoimmune disease like diabetes in which the body attacks itself.

The body recognizes gluten as poison, and creates antibodies to attack the gluten. The body then gets confused and thinks the villi are gluten, and therefore poison, and attacks those cells. It takes 1/48th of a slice of bread (a crumb) to cause damage in a celiac, regardless of symptoms. Not everyone is symptomatic.

Tiffany is right, it is a self sustaining reaction. The crumb hits the duodenum, and that's where the rection first occurs, and then the crumb continues to travel down the 22 ft. of small intestine on it's way out the body, still causing reactions throughout the intestine. It's a hyperactive immune system thing, not an allergy. The antibodies cause by an allergy (IgE) are completely different from the antibodies created by an autoimmune disease (in this case IgA, IgE, and TtG).

The amount is irrelevant, the reaction occurs just the same.

It might be that your eating habits didn't change, and since you can absorb more nutrients, you might be gaining weight because of that. Other than that, I don't know!

I'm 5'6" also and my "normal" weight is 175, and I had to go back on gluten for a biopsy, and I've gained 25 lbs in 2 months, the first 20 the first month, so I'm with you there. So if you think you look like a cow, yeah. Weight watchers, here I come!!!!

Do we not teach nursery rhymes anymore? No little red hen? With the picking, and the thrushing, and the grinding....

Seriously, what do people think white bread is made out of?

I always read labels too, but that may be because of my chef-y tendancies. Screw catering, when I'm done with school, I'm going to make it my personal mission to teach kids how to cook

Personally, I'm just glad that there are doctors out there like Dr. Green that are researching celiac disease. At least he doesn't say it's rare, and medical opinions don't change overnight. Things are turning around in the celiac disease field, but we aren't there yet. If it weren't for Dr. Green, my doctor wouldn't know to take 8 random biopsies and that dietary response is a diagnositic tool. I was impressed when both my dr and his pa said that "even if the biopsies aren't positive, you could still have damage further down that the scopes miss. Either way, gluten obviously makes you sick...."

There are good doctors, bad doctors, indifferent doctors, doctors that think they are gods...it's an industry just like anything else, and there are good ones and bad ones. You get honest mechanics and crook mechanics, unfortunately, medicine isn't any different.

I don't take a doctor's word as gospel, and I don't always take their advice. The give opinions and advice, but you know your body best, the doctor looks at it but he doesn't live in it, and that's the rub. If I had listened to all my doctors, I'd be on a steroid inhaler everyday, when I don't even have athsma problems when I'm not sick.

That interview was also from 2 years ago, more research has come out since then, so I'd take it with a grain of salt

"how am I suppoesd to know what wheat is?"

Because in second grade there is a unit on grains and where they are grown...

And, you know, those handy dandy ingredient statements...

I could go either way. For me, it's great to have a dx because now the culinary school I will be attending will accomodate me since it'll be a documented disability. This is obviously hugely important. For me, the dx is worth it for that reason alone, because when I was dx'ed, I NEVER THOUGHT I'd ever be able to attend. Now I can

They've had people come through, already in classes, that ask for accomodation but they say things like, "oh, I never had it documented" or "it's never been formally diagnosed"....so it ties their hands, and that of the student.

I'm a fan of diagnosis, but I understand why people self-diagnose. I mean, if I had different doctors that were more ignorant of celiac, I'd be in the same boat.

Kraft's modfied food starch is corn unless otherwise stated. They never hide gluten in things like natural flavors, they don't hide gluten at all!

So if wheat, barley, rye, or oats aren't on the label, they're not in the product. Based on that, it's safe

OK, you have your opinion. I don't think anyone on here was actually rude to the servers, and we come here to vent because, yeah, it's frustrating to eat out as a celiac. I don't think anyone expects anyone at your average resaurant to know a thing about celiac. It's a common bond we share, that frustration. Personally, I think it's a sad state of affairs that people don't know what bread is made out of, I mean really, turn over the loaf of wonderbread and read the ingredients. In spite of my awe at people's ignorance of what dietary staples are made out of, I'm never rude to anyone about it, it's a chuckle I have with myself later on.

If rye bread is made out of rye, and wheat bread out of wheat, then what is white bread made out of, white?

Chelsea, great news about the cooking school. The only question I have is whether or not it is possible for you to skip the baking part altogether? I wonder if they would let you apprentice in a gluten free bakery. I bring it up because I started getting migraines when I worked in a bakery at the age of 23. I know you will be wearing a mask but I wonder if you will ever even bake with regular flour. Sorry, don't want to be a downer, I think it is wonderful that you will have the opportunity to study cooking.

No, can't skip the section. You know what though? It's only 6 weeks, and screw it, I'll do it for six weeks. It's not worth throwing away the rest of it just because of that. I'm already comprimising huge, pre-dx I wanted to do the pastry program

Sorry for all your trouble When it rains, it pours!!!

Might I suggest a skateboard?

Or perhaps a razor scooter

Infinite hugs!!!

This won't help, but at my wedding, I was walked down the aisle by my mother who had had both knees replaced in December, and my 88 year old grandfather with a hip problem. I, of course, was on 4" stillettos on brick. I don't know who was walking who anywhere, we were all holding eachother up

And then my uncle the minister with the recently amputated foot presided...it was a comedy of orthopedic disaster

How were you diagnosed?

Usually my own words.

Amen!

As for glutening, I have a red bull as soon as I know it happens for brain fog, and then I ease off the starches, since I find those make the fog worse when I'm glutened. I guess I eat a lot of peanut butter and yogurt when that happens.

We don't skin either. We use red-skinned potatoes, and follow the same procedure as carla. I smash a clove of garlic or two and put that in while mashing, along with butter, milk, sometimes cheese or sour cream, whatever I feel like at the time. Just mash and add stuff until it tastes right.

Imagine

..........."How was your day dear?"

......... "Oh I went downt he mall and did some shopping but then half way round the aisles in the supermarket I got stomach cramps and started sweating .... then my stomach started gurgling and I was almost doubled up in pain... but luckily I abandoned the trolley and walked in very smnall steps to fins the loo and then I had explosive D ... I thought it was finished until I stood up then again... but I went back and half an hour later my trolley was still where I left it so overall a good day .. how was your day?"

I think the best method for this is to explain why we didn't go into the symptoms, remember some really embarassing times etc. like "that time we were at XXXX and I ran off to find a loo I actually pooped myself and had to leave my underwear in the bin for sanitary towels! (I actually have a little 1" swiss army knife I use for cutting the underwear - I guess people get the point)

Get out of my head!!! On the first account, I have had that conversation with DH, almost to the letter. There's nothing like having to reshop everything all over again because you had to abandon your cart And there are few things in this world worse than a wal-mart bathroom.

And there's nothing like going commando after an accident

And DH thought I was just trying to be sexy

I'm still on the Farewell to Gluten Tour since my blood test will hopefully be tomorrow. I've been eating all the things I think I'll be missing. Last night's fried chicken almost killed me. I'll take the diahrrea over the stomach cramps and heart burn any day.

I'm on a challenge eating everything I think I'll miss before my biopsy. Those pancakes this morning nearly killed me

I too, am dreading the holidays. My mom has already said that we're pretty much doing gluten-free thanksgiving so that I don't have to have two seperate turkeys and the like. We'll see how that goes, but I'm bringing all my own pans

Kraft Marshmallow brand is Jet-Puffed, not "stay puft". Just didn't want somebody getting confused.

-Jessica

LOL !!!

Thanks, I'll fix it. Got my wires crossed and thought of Ghostbusters

Damn brain fog

If they're the Kraft JET-PUFFED brand, they're safe! Actually, any kraft product with ok looking ingredients is safe. They will clearly list gluten.

Hershey's is the same, they will clearly list gluten, and regular hershey bars are safe. Enjoy!

Wow Chelsea. That sounds great but tiring. How long is the full schooling and are there breaks in between? You will have to make sure to nuture the marriage every chance you get, like weekends. Your time will basically be your jobs, school and hubby's aside from much needed sleep. Obviously it can be done, but I'd never be able to subsist on so little sleep for so long. My hubby only get about 5-6 sleep a night. Once in a blue moon he'll get 7. He's up anywhere from 3-5 am during the week.

Schooling goes for 12 months, no breaks. Hopefully all of my core classes are covered by my university degree (for heaven's sake, they should be!) and that would give me breaks in the evenings every other six weeks. It would be rough, but I've had that kind of schedule before, when I was in undergrad. I'd work from 5:30-10:30, go to class until 2:30, work from 2:30 to 6, go home, eat, and work again. I nearly killed me, to be honest, but if I'm going to do it now's the time.

It's times like these I really wish I wasn't married, just so I could kill myself working without having to worry about anyone else. It's only a year, and yes, nurturing the marriage would be on the weekends, and maybe we'd make it a point to eat breakfast together in the morning. Don't know the logistics yet. I bet I'd lose a lot of weight just from not having time to eat

True, its very effective but I get every damned side effect on the warnings. Aching muscles/back and headaches....

it does work really well though and I put up woith the side effects for 2 months and it made a big difference but i wouldn't take it long term.

Sorry you get the side effects

I don't get any of them! I have so much chronic inflammation in my stomach that I'm at risk for cancer, so it's important for me to keep the villagers happy