penguin

Prilosec isn't just for reflux. I'm on it because I have chronic gastritis, which is inflammation in your stomach lining, often caused by too much acid. I don't have reflux. Prilosec is a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) and makes your stomach produce less acid, thereby reducing inflammation. The term to take it is two weeks or however long your doctor perscribes.

It's also gluten-free.

The burning gurgling sounds like gastritis or an ulcer, and the prilosec helps with both.

I am from New York- and still here and lately I've been wondering if living here- with all the smog and craziness is not hindering my healing process. I told you I was just in Miami for a few days and I could just feel the fresh air had a positive affect on me. I can't imagine leaving New York - but I also feel like I need ot do whatever I can to heal myself- it is such a struggle. New York is such a huge part of who I am.

Miamia

That's funny, I always feel better in New York For some reason I can really breathe there, probably because of the lack of trees and such

There's no other new york out there...

Hi all in Rachelville -- I'm still here in Brideville and probably will be until after Saturday. I miss you guys terribly . . . . I feel like my entire support has deflated since not being able to be "in the trenches" so to speak, with you. Got good news . . . Ash DOES want me to give her away at the alter!!! I am so excited about that . . . long, long story. Karen can fill you in . . . she's gotten the story when I was calm and when the only words she could hear were the ones that were in between the sobs!!

Going to have to get off the forum now . . . have to go to the orthopedic guy at 8:30 . . . . my tibia may actually BE cracked . . . . and I have ankles the size of an elephant's!! Good thing I go to the PT tomorrow . . . hoping the compression garments are in so they'll STAY down after treatment and for the wedding! Found a great pair of shoes . . . don't want to have "cankles" wearing them! Going to try to walk down the aisle in them . .. . have been practicing as much as I can. That's going to be an interesting time!!!

Please keep your fingers crossed that I'm not in a full-leg cast for the wedding . . . that would really bite. I already have (still) the huge bruises on my arm -- the little girl Ashley nannies for said, "Ashley -- your mommy has a tattoo on her ARM!!!" Ash had to tell her that, no, it was a big bruise!!! How embarrassing . . . she said it in front of the catering manager for the wedding! Ugh.

Toodles . . . . and hugs to you all!

Lynne

Good luck in Bridalworld! You need to give us all a lengthy report on Sunday!!!

Rachelvillians: I have made a huge decision...

I'M GOING TO CULINARY SCHOOL

The other (larger) culinary school in town called me and said they *might* be able to accommodate me, so I went last night to tour the place. I'm pretty much screwed for the baking section, but I'll wear a mask. In that class they can't accommodate me because they would have to change the entire curriculum. The baking section is only 6 weeks long. Basically, everyone else would taste for me, that's what they do for the vegetarians. This is a really good school, too. Two of their graduates this year work for the food network, one for Paula Deen and the other in their prep kitchens. Another works for Bobby Flay's Mesa grill in NY. I'm shooting for January as a start date, they have start dates every six weeks anyway. I have to figure out three things first though:

1: Get as many scholarships as I can, I already have enough student loans without adding another 45 grand to it.

2: Work with their disabilities office for accomodations and convince them that accomodating gluten-free'ers is a good business decision

3: Transfer in my college credits for the core classes, which would take some pressure off of the schedule.

I'm looking at 18 hour days monday through friday for a year, since I have my day job, then school would be 5:30-10:30 and an hour of homework. But if I'm going to do it, I gotta do it soon, before we move God knows where and we start having kids. Adam is supportive but sad, since we'll have virtually no time together. Illness be damned, I'm doing this!!!!!

Doh! Sorry you got sick

In the US, every single Lindt product I've seen has barley malt in it, even the darks.

I buy the endangered species chocoalte, at least proceeds go to a good cause

In that small of an amount, cornstarch will work just fine in place of flour. Whether or not you can go without a crust depends on the type of cheesecake. If it is a NY style cheesecake that stands up on it's own, then sure, why not. If it's a softer type cheesecake, it might need the crust.

You can use gluten-free cookies crushed up and made like a typical graham crust with sugar and butter. I never used grahams anyway, I usually used nilla wafers or ginger snaps. There are plenty of gluten-free cookies out there if you want a crust

Personally, I like crustless cheesecakes, the flavor doesn't have to compete with a crust

I made this for my husband's birthday, and it was really good! It's massive and doesn't have a crust, make sure to use the biggest springform pan you have! Of course, you could probably halve it. Here's the link to the recipe:

Open Original Shared Link

ERIC'S BEST NY CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS:

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 3/4 cups white sugar

1/8 cup cornstarch

1 fluid ounce amaretto liqueur

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 eggs

1 egg yolks

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIRECTIONS:

Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Place oven shelf in the center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Wrap the outside of a 9 inch springform pan with foil. Generously butter the inside of the pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in sugar and cornstarch. Blend in sour cream and whipping cream. Add amaretto and vanilla. Stir in eggs and egg yolk one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Pour mixture into prepared springform pan. Place pan in another pan at least one inch wider than cake pan and add warm water to the outer pan to create a water bath for the cake (this prevents cracks in your cheesecake). Bake on the center rack of oven for 70 minutes.

Turn oven off and allow to cool with oven door open for one hour. Then remove cake from water bath and chill at least 3 hours before removing from springform pan.

You maybe right - my info is from the beginning of the year. It may have changed. I will double check. Thanks for that info...

Procter & Gamble makes Olay products, and they give a CYA response for all of their products, but the ingredients are fine. I think they will clearly list. At any rate, I haven't had a problem.

Oh, yes, how could I forget that! My husband used to make something for me when I had a bad cold that he called "Rheumatiz Medicine" (Beverly Hillbillies reference!??) that consisted of warmed honey, lemon juice & whiskey! Boy it made colds a lot more tolerable! I guess you'd have to be careful about the whiskey...

Leah

We call these hot toddy's in our family, and we also add hot tea to it. It cures a cold in no time flat! If you drink it when you first feel it coming on, it doesn't seem to progress.

I was reading the burger king site today and there is a statement that the fries are made in there own fryer with nothing else.

That may be true, however, in practice it can be a different story. At any rate, the fries and onion rings go in the same holding bin with a metal divider. Every time I've ever eaten at BK gluten-free or not, there has always been an onion ring in my fries, without fail.

I use cornstarch to replace the tapioca starch in flour blends, and so far it works just fine

Annalise Roberts reccommended to use arrowroot starch in place of tapioca.

Holy Cow ChelsE.....I dont know how you do it! Everytime I read one of your posts having to do with the challenge...I just cringe. You are very BRAVE....I could never ever do a challenge....not even for one day just to satisfy my curiousity. I'm just too damn scared of gluten now.

I envy all that you're able to eat right now but from what I remember when I was sick and still eating pizza and all the gluteney foods....it just didnt taste good anymore. I think because I was so sick...I remember having major cravings but then when I ate what I was craving I felt gross and sick with a bad taste in my mouth. I was always dizzy and spaced out....I think it would be even WORSE now after being off gluten for a long time. Nope...no way could I do what you're doing. I hope they do a really good job on your next Endo and I hope they give you some answers.

How does your sister spell her name??

It doesn't taste good to me anymore either, but since I have this "YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO EAT THIS AGAIN" feeling looming overhead, I'm eating it all anyway. I think I need to eat 50 flour tortillas a day for the next 3 weeks, those spinach me the worst.

Insult to injury - I always wake up feeling sick after eating out. Blech. Thanks for the kind words

Oh...My sister spells her name Raechel, my mom says she spelled it that way because she was 17 and thought it looked cool

indeed!

penguin, dear girl -oral allergy can indeed become serious--be cautious-one day could be a minor itch-next day major problem. Did you decide on the dancing lessons?

Still working on DH about the lessons...I'll get them eventually! Also, I never intentionally eat pecans, walnuts, and the like for that reason. I think this was the first time I deliberately ate nuts in a couple of years, and now I remember why

I s'pose y'all aren't talkin 'bout when you see your grandbabies and you tell 'em "now come over here and gimme some suga??" Also -- y'all can't be southern unless you've had chicken-fried steak with milk gravy and sopped it up with skillet cornbread!!!!!!!!

talk about southern food has to end, folks. I can't take it much more. I want home fried chicken -- the REAL kind -- and homemade potato rolls (I use to use my grandmother's recipe) -- and home-made sage dressing (again, my grandmother's recipe) -- and my mother's incredible apple pie -- complete with BEAUTIFUL lattice-work on the top. She makes the best, flakiest pie crust you have ever eaten in your LIFE. Seriously. I used to get my favorite meal -- fried chicken, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, and on and on and on for my birthday each year. Now -- I have to change to a different menu. The green beans, corn and mashed potatoes just aren't the same without the fried chicken!

Mmmm...chicken fried steak with cream gravy and mashed taters..mmmm! I'll have to make that soon...

Why can't you have fried chicken? I made my great grandmother's fried chicken on the 4th of July and used brown rice flour, potato starch, and corn starch. Couldn't tell the difference! We use the buttermilk and dredge method, I don't know if your family does it different. Seriously, it turned out EXACTLY THE SAME. That flour blend makes great gravy, too

Good morning me fello rachelites, I have a question. I did something really stupid yesterday, I don't even know why. I cheated and knew what I was doing but did it anyway, thinking the worst I would have was pain, the D but that's not the worst. I started throwing up and that was never one of my symptoms. It has just been awful It was a stupid donut, can't imagine what posessed me, they were at work just as they have been many times before, but I just didn't resist.

Could this be a symptom of the celiac? I have no fever, I am just really sick. Still feel really sick to my stomach, but could it be it's a new symptom because for almost 3 years not a drop of wheat has passed my lips, and maybe once in a while gluten in the form of something I didn't know was gluten might of, but this was probably a full on assault of the worst kind

Is thre anything I can do? I am going to a concert tonight and really need for this to pass

Sounds like your body rejecting the hell out of that donut. I hope you feel better before the concert

Well said, Rinne!

You know, I think that rice flour should have the properties of wheat flour in Rachelville (by the way, I have trouble spelling Rachel like that, my sister spells her name weird)

Anyhoo, that's another job for the glittery purple bats. It's because of their pollenation of the rice that rice flour has gluten properties so that I can make croissants and puff pastry and phyllo dough

As part of my last 21 days of gluten eating, I had a GIGANTIC greek meal, and nearly spinached myself because of it! It was good, and I got this dessert that's usually made with pistachios...

It was made with pecans So now my mouth is itchy, I just took some benadryl. The oral allergy stuff is more annoying than anything, although dr's have told me it can get worse with each exposure. Oh well It was at least quite tasty, and my last greek pastry for a lifetime

At least I can make all that good ole' suthrn food gluten-free, and that's way more important

Well, I'll take a slightly different angle on this.

I'm nearing the end (thank God) of a 3 month gluten challenge for the biopsy. I didn't have doctors telling me that I had to have the biopsy, but I need to have it for myself to know that I did all the testing I could. I'm unusual in that my doctors pretty much agree that I have gluten intolerance if not celiac based on dietary response after inconclusive bloodwork. I don't think I could take myself seriously for life without the biopsy (even if it's negative), and my family will certainly have an easier time taking me seriously. Hell, even my mom is counting down the days until my biopsy so I can be gluten-free, and she was quite skeptical before. I also want to know what kind of damage is being done.

If you feel you need it for your own peace of mind, then do it. Otherwise, if you know you feel better gluten-free and you're comfortable with not necessarily having your doctor back you up on it, then don't do it! It's a personal decision, and I hope you come up with one that you're comfortable with!

Grr! Dr. called with the results of my bone density scan and I missed the call Since it's after 3:30, I won't get called back until tomorrow

I mean, surely they're normal, I'm 22 for crying out loud! But still...I want to know!

Hi everyone!

I have been on the gluten-free diet for almost two months now. I am feeling better than I have in 5 years! (I have a biopsy scheduled in 2 weeks).

Anyway, just today, I noticed a dime-sized lump in one of my breasts. Could this be a result of the change in diet? I don't drink caffeine or eat chocolate and I'm under 30. Should I run to the Gyno or wait to see if it changes after my period?

I'd like to avoid unnessary DR appointments since I've seen so many specialists for celiac disease already. Geez, I'm just so tired of DR appointments!

Thanks for the advice!

'

Just so you know, your biopsy will probably be negative because you've been gluten-free for two months. You have to be eating gluten to have the celiac reaction to have damage in your intestine. Just a heads up.

I would at least ask about the lump, never hurts to be too careful. It may be a normal bump that you haven't noticed before. Better to be paranoid than let problems progress

Oh yeah,hear you on the sewing and the ironing !!

She even irons my Dad's socks and underpants!

My brother-in-law is from the UK and while he and my sister were visiting his parents, my sister asked for the iron so that she could iron his pants, and they looked at her like she had 3 heads. She was like, "you know, his pants! They're wrinkled." and they said, "who on Earth irons PANTS?!" Bit of a culture gap there...pants being trousers in the US and pants being underwear in the UK

They thought she wanted to iron his boxers

Cor,an I fort I 'ad rite toned it down mate!!

That's what my BIL sounded like when he first moved over here

Breyers is a unilever brand and they will clearly list wheat, barley, rye, oats. And maltodextrin sounds bad, but it's safe.

Here are the names you posted.

I believe they're both in Dr. Greene's office at Columbia.

I knew that, also. Did you know that ultrapure water (used in labs) will kill you? It's crazy, water is best for you when there are minerals in it.

Oooooh...southern stuff!

Fixin' to

I'll be waiting with cheese on my tonge (baited breath)

I have to second the "swoled up"

chicken fried steak

Green beans (as in cooked to death with bacon)

Chocolate gravy, sweet tea...

mmmmmmm

Lynne: Don't kill your daughter! At least after the wedding she'll be someone else's problem

Okay who's the shucker tonight?

Shucks, I'm all shucked out...we had fresh corn for dinner

OK - How do I get my husband to pay for me to take belly dancing lessons? I took a couple in college but he thought I was too fat to belly dance He didn't mean it that way, but it still hurt. Anyway, screw him, I want to take lessons! Now to get him to pay $64...

It could come out of my spending money...but no

Just so we're on the same page, Post makes the pebbles cereals and is a Kraft company, which means they'll clearly list wheat, barley, rye, and oats, even if they occur in trace amounts.

With all these Southerners here, I know I have a witness.

HallelujahAmen!!

Anyone out there a gluten-free NY lawyer? It would certainly help to have someone who really understands this illness testifying on her behalf . . .

Where in NY are you? The CUNY School of Law in Queens is highly rated for their clinical program, and have a good sized aide practice. This school is very progressive and are easily outraged, I would contact them if you're in/near the city. I think they even have a health law clinic. I would also call every patient advocacy organization that will listen. This is insane!!!

she is SO fat, I'm trying to make her lose weight, my friends are cracking up at her as her head appears to be SHRINKING.....so when she eats 3/4 of a bag of Lay's, and some NUGGETS, mommy is NOT pleased!! (and mommy had better hide her snacks more carefully )

and that's precisely why I have cats

Not that they don't knock over any glass that's standing upright, but that's beside the point