corinne

I have a lot of food sensitivities and I'm on a very restricted diet. I'm trying to figure out some Christmas goodies to make so I'll have something to munch on while everyone else is eating delicious-looking stuff. I can't eat any grains (including corn or rice so no corn syrup), most starches including tapioca are out, no fresh fruit, no citrus or acidic foods, no dairy. Eggs are okay and as of two weeks ago I started eating potatos again so potato flour is probably okay. Any suggestions? There must be something I can make for treats.

My periods were very heavy. I used to go through a super-plus tampon in as little as 30 minutes during the first 2 days and my periods lasted for 12 to 14 days. I also had very strong cramps (passed out twice at work). I was on birth control pills for this for about 10 years so that I could get through school and keep my job. I've been gluten free for almost a year (since Jan. 2 last year) and things are SOOO much better. I have taken a naproxen only once for cramps in the last 6 months and my periods are now relatively normal. A super plus will get me through at least 4 hours and my periods now last 5-7 days.

The "increased intraepithelial lymphocytes extending to the villous tips" suggests to me that this may be lymphocytic colitis. This type of colitis is very rare (1 in about 100 000) so your doctor may not be familiar with it. There are very similar symptoms to celiac and it can often be treated with a gluten free diet.

Me too - I'm intolerant of all grains (including rice), dairy, soy, yeast, beans, nuts, most veggies (except squash and carrots), most fruit (except bananas, avocado and non-acidic canned fruit). With time I have come to find things I really enjoy (carmelized squash - yummy). I take citracal for calcium.

Gluten-free is the last thing I tried. My mother is celiac and I grew up eating mostly gluten-free. When I left home, I started eating gluten. A few years later, I started getting D etc. I went into the doctor and tested negative (blood-test) for celiac so that convinced me that gluten was NOT the problem and that it was just a coincidence that my mother was celiac. The doctor said that the blood-test was 100% accurate. I continued eating gluten for the next 10 years. I eventually got fairly sick with daily 2-3 hours bouts of D and vomiting. More tests eventually led to a diagnosis of collagenous colitis. I then took medication for colitis. The medication quit working after a year. I tried eliminating a wide variety of foods from my diet. Eventually, I tried gluten-free thinking that since I wasn't sick as a kid, maybe it would work. It did (after eliminating a bunch of other foods). If only I had known that the blood-test isn't a guarantee. I wish I had just tried the diet much earlier.

Caffeine is a stimulant and as such can also stimulate your intestinal muscle cells which can cause food to move through your system faster. So for now you might want to minimize your caffeine intake until you heal. I also react to acidic foods. I don't tolerate tomato juice, organge juice etc. Nuts, popcorn and other foods with significant amounts of insoluble fiber can be hard to digest (I can't eat these either) The best healer is time. For some people, it can take many years for the gut to return to normal. It may be too, that you have other intolerances.

My food costs have gone way down, but then I have been eating only naturally gluten free. Example today - breakfast - pancakes (made from a banana and an egg), snack - a pear, lunch - carrot and chicken soup, snack applesauce, dinner roast beef and squash, snack - grape juice. Food cost for the day - $3.20. (bought the meat when it was on sale, bought the veggies in season/on sale) Prep time - breakfast 5 min., lunch 15 min. 3 days ago, dinner 10 min.

I'm Canadian (from Calgary), but I'm working in California. I phoned my parents (in Calgary) yesterday and told them about the weather here and about going to the beach yesterday. That was a bad move. They disowned me and I'm no longer welcome home for Christmas.

I don't think it would change things for me. I actually have collagenous colitis, not celiac, and it can be treated with drugs (Asocol etc, worst case Prednisone). After tooth damage from medication, I have chosen to manage it , like many others with this type of colitis, by going on a gluten-free diet. I'd rather do the diet than take the risk of side effects from taking medications for life.

I too can eat very few foods (8) and squash is one thing that is ok. If you have a microwave, you can cook squash fairly quickly. I stick a whole butternut squash (or acorn or turban etc) in the microwave for 4 minutes when I walk in the door from work. After I sort the mail and change, I flip the squash over and microwave it for another 4 minutes. Then I split it in half and remove the seeds and it's ready to eat.

As a few people have said, I would check why your doctor wants to do biopsy. He may be able to find other similar conditions through biopsy. My mother is celiac and I had very similar symptoms (diarrhea, weight loss, cramps etc), but through a biopsy, the doctor was able to determine that I have collagenous colitis not celiac (collagenous colitis is one type of refractory sprue). A gluten free diet helps this type of colitis. There are several conditions which mimic celiac and a biopsy can help diagnose some of these.

I'm gluten intolerant but not celiac. In my case, I have collagenous colitis. I am negative for celiac by both blood-test and bowel biopsy (which found the colitis). There is no proof that gluten triggers this type of colitis, but when I eat gluten-free (and free of a bunch of other foods) I have no symptoms.

Unfortunately, I get sick from almonds (all nuts except peanuts), coconut, soy, rice, corn and potatoes. So that pretty much eliminates all dairy alternatives.

I was really hungry yesterday so I ate a big piece of cheddar cheese and I've been sick today - cramps, nausea, D, so I guess that's the answer. I was hoping so much to add something new to my diet. Too bad dairy is still off limits.

Thanks for the paper and info. That's what I've been debating is whether it's caseine or lactose. I'll try some lactase for now and see if that helps. I'm hoping it's just lactose. I love milk especially puddings, creme brule etc. I can't substitute for milk either because I don't tolerate soy or rice (for now anyways).

I've been on a very restricted diet (no dairy, grains, starches, soy etc) for 10 months and I've been feeling 100% for about 3 months. Now, I'm starting to try out some new foods. I've been slowing introducing some dairy. Butter is ok now. As of last week, I started eating hard cheeses. I get gas about 4 hours after I eat the cheese. It only lasts for about an hour or so and I have no other gastro symptoms - no D, no cramps, no discomfort or nausea. So I'm trying to decide whether dairy is okay or whether I could be causing damage by eating it.

I wasn't getting better so I went on a very strict diet for about two weeks - boiled carrots, lean meat and applesauce. I now (going on 10 months) eat no raw veggies or fruit, no high-fiber veggies, no soy, no dairy, no grains (including corn and rice), no potatoes or other starchy foods, no sugar, no acidic food, no spicy foods.

Honestly, I feel so much better that it hasn't been as hard as it sounds. I snack on bananas or applesauce or avocaodos. I run, hike and climb and I eat about 6 meals a day to make sure get enough calories and don't get hungry.

I do go out to eat with friends. Most of the time I eat first (have some applesauce etc in the car) or some places I know I can eat safely. A few favourite restaurants will steam carrots for me and will clean the grill before cooking either meat or fish.

I do get a lot of questions from people who don't know me. Mostly, what DO you eat?

It really is wonderful. I love the outdoors and couldn't give up being outside (and was fortunate enough to have the energy to continue my favourite sports at some level) even when I was at my worst (hence the amusing mishaps). It is so nice to be able to go for a run and not worry about carrying TP or go for a climb and not wonder if I'll make it through without a mishaps.

We always did them as kids, but my mom had us separate the seeds from the strings. She said that she would roast as my seeds as we could find (and we loved them) and that we had to get the strings off so they wouldn't taste yucky. I thought it was fun and that mom was being nice to let us find the seeds. She tossed them in olive oil then sprinkled them with salt. She roasted them on the lowest setting with the oven door open so they wouldn't burn.

Fat contains 9 calories per gram and there are 454 grams in a pound so there are 4086 calories in a pound of fat.

Just for interests sake - protein and carbs are both 4 calories per gram and alcohol is 7 calories per gram.

Being a geeky scientist is occasional useful.

Losing 1-2 pounds a week is great.

Consumption is tuberculosis. Most cases of diarrhea were because of dysentry, cholera and other microbial water-borne illnesses. I'm glad to be living in a country/century where water treatment is almost universal.

I'm just reintroducing dairy now after 9 months gluten free. I can tolerate butter and hard cheeses so far. Initially, I reacted to even 1/4 tsp of butter so this is a huge improvement.

If you enjoy the classics, you can read/download many of them online for free (can't remember the name of the website right now). The public library where I used to live had thousands of online books. You would "sign one out" by downloading it onto your computer, you couldn't copy it and it would self-erase at the due date. Modern technology is amazing.

There are 4000 calories in a pound of fat. So just to lose 2 pounds a week, you need need a calorie deficit of 1100 calories a day. That is, you need to burn 1100 more calories than you consume each day. Unless you are very overweight, losing more than a few pounds of fat a week is not healthy. Patience! Also, are you excercising? Walking a half hour a day (or something else you enjoy) can wear off 1400 calories a week plus will up your metabolism.

Two come to mind. One snow camping. Multiple trips out of my warm sleeping bag to go behind the nearest snowdrift. Not fun (and ran out of TP). I now carry at least 2 rolls of TP.

The worst - while doing a long rock climb (before I realized oatmeal for breakfast was a bad thing) and having to figure out how to wiggle the pants quickly while staying safely tied in a harness. My poor partner.

Well I made it through the first week and really enjoyed it. The first day, the class was very quiet and didn't respond to any questions, but by Friday, they had loosened up and were really participating.

I taught a lot of labs in grad school, but I never had a chance to lecture. I have a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to the long path ahead. I'm glad I was that prepared. The students here are very bright and actually have corrected me 3 times in class this week (and they were right)