penguin

I know its not humorus for your cat to suffer, but our obession with feeding CARNIVORS such as cats and dogs with VEGGIES AND GRAINS is pretty funny... Yea, cause you know that dogs in the wild narturaly grow carrots, wheat, and the like to have a nice salad with the animal they just killed. Yep, they do that right after they stop at the store for some barbaque sauce and gravy......yep tis the natural thing to do if your a CARNAVORE!

Well of course they did! The Great Dog People of Milkboneistan were the first to cultivate the land (organically, of course) while us homosapiens were still figuring out how to build a campfire. Early dogs were actually vegan. Raw vegan. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Felines of Catnipdu were known for their puff pastry. Cats were the first known protesters of the fur trade

Dogs and cats were not carnivores until the humans stole their land and the Great Dog People and Fantastic Felines were driven into the wild and forced to eat meat, or else made to be kept as slaves to the humans in their homes. I believe scientists have found that all of this history was burned when the Library at Alexandria was destroyed

Not everybody has instant reactions, or much of a reaction at all. You have a potentially fatal disease, and it is nothing to mess around with! You have to be around for your husband and daughter, and if you're not going to stay on the diet for you, stay on it for them. Stay on it for your mom, who worked so hard to keep you healthy while you were home! You clearly have celiac, no doubt about it, you almost died! You were just too young to remember, and in some ways that's unfortunate, because you don't know about the pain.

I know the difference between plain old upset stomach and glutening because:

Within 10 minutes:

- brain fog, I feel really stoned

- sweating

Within 30 minutes:

- Heartburn

- D-like cramping, though not always D, though I do always end up with an urgent need to use the restroom.

- Depression, though I don't know if that's mental or physical, I may just feel defeated after trying so hard

And then I feel generally crappy, am better the next day, but it takes a week for the brain fog to go away completely.

Mine came up from diarrhea:

1. Celiac

2. Chron's

3. Bowel obstruction

weight loss was definitely NOT one of my symptoms...but still came up celiac! Where the hell was this three years ago!?!?!

That was quick! Here's the response I got from Amy's...

Chelsea,

I am sorry to hear you became ill after eating some of our products. I

would like to talk to you about this in more detail. Did you save the

packages for these four products? If so, I would like to get the lot

numbers so I can send in our retains for testing.

Could you send me your phone number and suggest a time I could call.

Please respond to both e-mail addresses so I can get your phone number

both here at Amy's and at my home (I don't want to take a chance of

missing your e-mail).

I am looking forward to talking with you.

Kind regards,

Marsha Kopral

Technical Service

I didn't save the other 3 boxes, but I saved the one today. Let's see where this takes us...

ChelsE.... how old are your girl scouts? Our troop is 4th grade juniors. Do any of the scouts have celiac, or is it you? Just curious.

Ruth

Mine are 4th grade Juniors, too! I have 12 of them, none of them mine. How funny! I'm the only celiac, although before I came to the troop there was a celiac girl, but she dropped out

Might explain why the girls are so cool about it, though!

I missed lots of class because of horrible pain...so I know where you're coming from! It sucks, sorry...

If you're missing class anyway, sit and moan in the GI's waiting room

Sorry you feel so crappy, I hope you find relief soon!

I just emailed them that I felt betrayed and that I would likely not be buying any more of their products, and how sad it made me. It really does, because the food is yummy!

The endoscopy is no big deal, for me, the worst part was the nasty spray for my throat! They keep you well drugged, and you'll probably say some pretty loopy stuff to the nurses.

I think my throat may have been a little sore and I was sleepy the rest of the day, but I was totally fine the next day. It's a piece of cake!

Make sure someone is with you when the dr talks to you after, I was still coming down from the Versed (amnesiac drug they used) and I didn't really remember what he said. You probably won't remember going home. It's a very wierd experience!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Throw words around like "lawyer" and "HIPPA" and "Better Business Bureau" and "American Medical Association". That should get you your records with lightning-fast speed. I've had similar issues, and no matter what they say, you have right to an *exact* copy of your labwork for a second opinion or for your own records.

I spent a lot of time the other day reading about HIPA.

I can finally make me some cocoa puff treats!!!

Same as rice crispy treats but use cocoa puffs instead and add peanut butter to the marshmallow.

Tastes like it were Reeses treats!

Wow, that sounds pretty good, actually. I've had bad experiences with odd cereal treats (dorm used to make them out of whatever stale cereal they had leftover), but with the addition of pb, sounds awesome!

I know there've been posts about Amy's and glutening, and I remember someone calling the company about it, how did that turn out?

I've tried 3 things by Amy's, two were near the beginning, and one was today. There was one in my freezer and I was too lazy to make anything else for lunch. I was definitely glutened, and I really know that now that I know exactly what gluten does to me. The one today was the Santa Fe Enchilada Bowl.

Now I can't feel my face and I spent 10 minutes in the bathroom at work

And I'm stoned again

Who needs Amsterdam?

Is there anyone that hasn't had problems? I don't have any other intolerances or allergies, except for tree nuts (and that's oral allergy syndrome anyway). What should I do, other than not eat them anymore? Does the company really care?

I hate that products labelled gluten-free really mean "not as likely to have gluten"

I hate that I'm going to a funeral service for one of my friends today. I'm really going to miss her. Training dogs and painting just isn't going to be the same.

I'm so sorry about your friend. Please except my condolances (((hugs)))

I'm a girl scout leader, so I know what you're going through!

When I was a scout and we went camping, we had things like tacos (hard shells) so that's an easy dinner, and as long as all of your ingredients are gluten-free, no contamination problems.

For things more rustic, we used to make pouch meals on the fire with a hamburger patty, canned potatoes, canned carrots, and seasoning. Not my favorite, personally, but kids love it. Individually sized, gluten-free, and each girl can make their own by themselves. Also, the cleanup is amazingly easy!

You could also eat hot dogs, and the other girls can have them with a bun and your daughter can have hers with a corn tortilla.

Eggs with for breakfast are good, but if you need quick, buy individual cereal bowls with plastic spoons for the other girls, and find some cereal your daugher can eat and pack it. When you're trying to clean up to get out of camp, cereal and fruit is the easiest.

It's really easy to be gluten-free while camping, it just takes planning and making sure you do the shopping!

I have a service unit campout to deal with at the end of April, so I'll let you know how that goes!

I go to a lot of the ones you do, and also simply recipes.

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I use a lot of the recipes provided by manufacturers, so I go to their sites!

The IgA is 98% specific to Celiac disease, and I think the TtG is also. If your bloodwork is positive, you have celiac, bottom line. Your dr's are using outdated information, Georgetown or not... Don't do another biopsy!

Here's my story, since you asked:

I'm 22, married, and my 2 kids are covered in fur, have long tails, and meow a lot

I had some stomach problems when I was little and my brother and sister went away to school and I was about 6. They did a bunch of tests and didn't find anything, I just had a sensitive stomach. All throughout adolescence, I would wake up in the middle of the night about once a month, throw up in the bathroom, and go back to bed. It was wierd, but I never thought much of it.

Fast forward to my first year of college. I go home after the spring semester finals, and I come down with horrible fever, pain, nausea, etc. Mom rushes me to the ER, and they find full blown mono. Two months later, I get over that and go back to school, 15 lbs lighter.

During the year, I notice that I have D a lot. Like, almost every day. Just loose happenings in the bathroom. I still don't think much of it, I thought it was dorm food doing it to me. This goes on for a long time, and I rarely, if ever, have a normal bm.

The next year (junior year), I go out to dinner and then I get back to my DH's room (then bf), and my stomach starts hurting, a lot. DH's roomate suggests I try going to the bathroom in case it's gas. It's not, I throw up and am curled into a ball. I go to the ER, they can't find anything wrong, and send me home with narcotics. I would get these pains every few weeks for the next two years. I'm also anemic and have elevated platelets. Nobody can figure out what's wrong, and they tell me it's stress or acidic foods. I move off campus and cook my own food, but still I have D every day. I avoid orange juice, tomatoes, and those kinds of foods and still get the crunching pain in my stomach. It would last days. It was horrible...

I went to a GI doc and he did an endoscopy, he was looking for GERD damage. He found a tiny ulcer (which I know was from abuse of ibuprofin), and irritation in my stomach lining. He sent me home with nexium, and that was that. When the pain came back again near the end of nexium treatment, his nurse tells me I'm taking it wrong, and would never return my calls again. I ended up in the ER at least 4 more times, and each time I got sent home with narcotics and a shrug.

Last summer, DH and I got married and moved to Austin. Once I had a job, I found a new internist (the best kind of GP, IMO) and she at least gave the pain a name "pyloric spasm." She have me phenergan for the pain when it happened and an antispasmodic to take. In January, I googled one of my symptoms and came up with celiac. I went to see my dr and asked her if I might have problems with food. She said it was probably IBS, but that she'd run a Celiac panel. Only my IgG came back positive, and she put me on the diet. She said not to do an endoscopy because it's too invasive and dietary response is just as valid.

I went on the diet and haven't looked back. I went to see her a month after going gluten-free and I explained to her how I was feeling better already and what happened when I had accidentally ingested gluten. That, I guess, was enough for her and she made the official dx. I have almost normal bathroom habits now and I don't have to abandon a shopping cart in the middle of a store to go to the bathroom. I continue to have bad gluten reactions, and I only take the antispasmodics when I need them. I'm so glad it only took three years to dx, I can't imagine the time others have had to put up with.

You'll find all kinds of friends on this board, including me

What is carmex anyway ChelsE?

It's good ole fashioned lip balm, I like it because it's impossible to have chapped lips with it and it leaves a little shine...and it's cheap and gluten-free!

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I've been driving myself nuts with all this. I guess my biggest worry is what people are going to think.

Let's put it this way, nobody is going to go and look up medical records except for a doctor, and another dr will probably look at his file and say celiac. Your girlfriends, family, teachers, and classmates are not going to look up records. They won't question you, and you shouldn't question you either.

Doctors don't like diagnosing this because they don't want to necessarily "condemn" someone to this lifestyle for life, but screw that, they'd rather condemn a child to years of pain than take away their cheerios.

I had inflammation of my stomach lining in my endoscopy, but they weren't looking for celiac. I had that done 2 years ago, and the dr sent me on my way with nexium that didn't work. In January of this year, I asked my internist if my stomach problems might be caused by food allergies, not IBS. She suggested a Celiac panel, and it came back inconclusive. She put me on the diet, and when I went to see her a month later, with positive dietary response, she made an official Celiac dx.

The best indicator of whether he is celiac or not is dietary response. Even if it is just gluten intolerance, it doesn't matter, the treatment is the same.

Do what you need to keep your kids healthy and have no shame or reservation in doing it!

The RARE times I wear lipcolor of any kind, it's Clinique lip gloss (I checked).

...usually I just wear carmex. I do all of my other makeup, just not lips...

So, I'm not adopted, but my father was. He was a twin, and both he and my uncle have died. Their adoptive mom is still around (my grandmother) but she refuses to speak to me. Long story about how my mom kicked out my alcoholic dad and kept me away from him and his family, although she did say if he ever sobered up he could come back. I think you can all guess how THAT one turned out.

I'm trying to figure out where the celiac came from, my dad's biological parents, from what I know, were in college in Eugene, Oregon, and the mom was Swedish and the dad was French-Canadian. The twins were adopted privately by my grandparents in California in I think 1952.

The celiac could come from either side, my mom and sister (previous marriage) are going to get tested.

I know I legally have a right to my Dad's adoption records, and that I have a right to find his biological parents. Heck, I don't really care if I talk to them or not (I don't want to explain that both of her sons drank and drugged themselves to death), I just want medical records. Who knows what other genetic maladies may be lurking out there?

So my question is this: has anyone gone out there to get medical records? How do I do it? Where do I start? Anyone have any experience with the adoption laws in Oregon, or anywhere? Please help if you can!

Save you money for gluten free food. Go over to delphi and visit the "Best of Mirielle". She owns her own gluten free restaurant and she posts all her recipes over there. There are thousands. And they're awesome!

Hugs.

Karen

Karen, you're my hero

Thanks for posting that!!!!!! I'm so psyched!!!

My cookbook method is usually I'll look for one on amazon .com, then I'll search the book for a recipe. I'll try the recipe, then I'll buy the book based on whether I thought the recipe was good. I also try for the library, but they don't always have the ones I'm looking for.

I'm also a huge fan of allrecipes.com

And almost any dinner recipe can be modified to gluten-free pretty easily

What is it, please?

Chelsea, is that your wedding picture. If it is - WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BRIDE you are, or were, or whatever

Thank you! Yeah, that's one of the candids from the wedding. DH and I have been married almost 9 mos! (I know that because my best friend just had her baby, and she found out she was preggers a few days before the wedding )

Heck yeah it's malpractice! Report them to the AMA at least! Or the BBB, heck, anybody. The AMA would be very interested to hear about that kind of talk...

I like doctors that take all of the free crap from the Rx companies and then tell their patients the truth. Example: my allergist- he gave me zyrtec samples for as needed allergies and when I asked if I had to take them for a week for them to work, he said no, that's just what the drug companies say to sell more of them

My problem with Outback is we can't hardly get our foot in the door at the one here in Little Rock. There's always some ridiculous wait time. Last time we tried it, I believe it was 2 hours and 45 minutes. Insane. And they don't take reservations.

The one in springdale is the same way, if it makes you feel any better.

Thanks I will def do that, where do you buy yours I tried at Whole Foods and they didnt have it?

My local megamart has the big tub of plain, but I've seen it at wild oats or sun harvest.

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Hope that helps