JamesD

Ok you veterans with years of experience being gluten-free. How important is cross-contamination? I have the disease that is mild if that is possible. I have been trying hard to be gluten-free but after reading about cross-contamination, I don't know where to start. I mean you can get sick off a grill if it had something with gluten in it? Or if something touches your plate? I think for the most part it is basically impossible to trace everything from products on the supermarket shelf to your local restaurant. All I do is look for the ingedients and use common sense for the most part. I believe you can't really be 100% gluten free. Is just a little bit going to hurt? I read that some of you cant even share a fork if it touched something with gluten in it. I had the impression you had to eat something in size like a piece of bread or a really small bowl of pasta to have any ill effects on you. So basically what I'am asking is this, if you use common sense and look at the indgredients in your products your most likely ok, right?

Thanks,

James

Maybe Heather you should look at gluten in a more positve way. You keep saying "poison". Look at products that contain gluten as junk food not poison. You keep this poison thinking in your head you will never get through the day. Every single person here gets frustrated from time to time but we all have to get through it. Just think of waking up and not having to worry about stomache pain, abdominal pain or any other symptoms and feeling great. The hardest part of this disease is explaining it to every darn person every single day and then to top it off they think it is just stomache aches you get and thats it! So no more poison!

James

Well from a search I should have done BEFORE I posted this would have told me this has been going on for awhile. I wouldn't have ate the fries but now I know. You might as well delete this thread.

James

This sucks, I just ate some today. I was told they are gluten free. I usually dont eat fast food at all but I always loved McDonalds fries.

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James

Well I have been diagnosed with this disease as well roughly two years ago. For about six months I was on the strict diet. During that six months I did feel better but I'am not sure if it is because I'am healing or eating healthier. Let's rewind.

Now before this all I did is eat junk food, tons of it. I figured it was my diet causing all the problems. The problems included, acidy stomache, abdominal pain, gas pains, soreness and just plain sick. Well I noticed over a period of time that I have been having these problems. I also noticed the abdominal pain after I digested milk. So at the age of 27 I figured it was basically no good to have milk so I stopped using it even in other products like sour cream dip. Problems went away for the most part but still had some of the pains and gas. I would drink coffee and it would give me acidy stomache very badly. So I stopped using coffee along with the milk to put in it.

After awhile it got really bad. I started to eat better, cut down a fried foods, stay away from milk, coffee, soda and even some fruits with high acid like that of oranges. I finally went to the doctor and gave me Nexium, that didn't work. Next was Prevacid which made me run to the bathroom every 20 minutes and that didn't even work. He gave me one more kind which I cant remember and that didn't work. So I get a biopsy done and it comes back that I'am a celiac.

Like I stated above, I did it for six months and got very frustrated being that roughly 80% of food and related products had gluten in them. I wasn't going to eat corn and rice for my whole life and really didn't believe the doctor. So I went back to eating normal foods. Now I still stayed away from milk products and by products, coffee, caffeine, fried foods, OJ and some fruits. I actually stock up on antacids since I would frequently still get heartburn and indegestion. It worked it seems, so I'am thinking that the doctor misdiagnosed me. Everything is good so far I'am thinking other than I determined I'am lactose intolerant even with the lataid pills that didnt work as well. Fast forward to two weeks ago.

Now I'am 30. The past couple of weeks have been brutal. It all has come back, sever pains, acidy stomache and the rest. Now in the past year and a half I gained 14 lbs. Ate my same foods like I always do. To this day I don't think it is celiac disease. Spicy food bothers me. I told him this and told him about acidy foods like oranges. Even when I was on the six month diet, I still got heartburn and indegestion. So I made appointment with a different doctor next month in a different area for a second opinion.

Your thoughts and opinions would be greatly helpful.

Thanks again,

James