Check-In August 2008

[windinthetrees]

Diagnosed as Celiac late July 2008. Kitchen has been re-organized to accomodate this. Family is supportive. Ate out for the first time Aug 2 since being diagnosed. Great experience; did my HW first! Have been successful at Trader Joe's Whole Foods, and found the Red Mill site for ordering staples. QUESTION: how many of you by the gums for cooking?
Thank you so much for this forum. I have been reading daily.

[cruelshoes]

[windinthetrees]

Thanks so much. I will order soon,

[donald]

Hi all, it has been a very hectic summer. My son and daughter-in-law are doing accountant internships, as well as summer classes, so I am watching my very active 2 year old granddaughter. I am looking forward to vacation in the fall. This forum has provided a wealth of info for those of us new to this diet, thank you all very much.

[Torrey]

Oh, wow, I am glad that Peg is all right! And I agree, as many people have mentioned, the car can be replaced!

Congrats on the wedding anniversaries, you guys! My little brother just got married this past Friday, so I was out in San Francisco for that. It was a BEAUTIFUL day in Golden Gate Park, and the ceremony was performed by one of their best friends right in Shakespeare's Garden. It was a wonderful day.

I just started a new job today...in NYC, so I am getting used to riding the train again, and my cats are adapting to not having Mommy home during the day anymore (I had been out of work for 4 months...).

Right now, I'm getting a little sleepy, and I hope all is well with everyone! I will check in again soon.
_________________
~Torrey

August 24, 1975
GF BD July 12, 2004

[Fidissimus]

We are having a most excellent summer! I quit my job in mid June and so have done nothing but hang out with a lot of visiting company, friends and their kids, my kiddlet while traveling, gardening and quilting and generally being excessively happy. It's all super till I have to pay the bills - Totally worth it still even if we don't have quite the income we used to. Plus I love the warm weather and sunshine. I haven't been glutened in months and if Sophie could just shake this cold she's had for the past week - we'd be in business.


My daughter and niece one day out at the lake at the end of last month.
_________________
Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

[zip2play]

JEN, I love that pictures at the lake, amazing!

For the record, I have watched LOST from day #1...I love it!

Monica

[aklap]

[nancw]

The heat finally broke today. It's not supposed to get over 90 which is nice because it's been over 90 for over 3 weeks straight!

I survived a week of travel (6 airports in 7 days) with no food mishaps whatsoever thanks to the diligence and understanding of my SIL and brother, as well as my foodcase. I was able to find the only natural foods store in South Bend, Indiana, which saved my butt for the lake house trip with my in-laws. It was cool to check out the Amish, and eye-opening to see the fields of soy & corn, and corn & soy .

I keep running into more people with food issues. DH's cousin's 2 year old son has had multiple food allergies since birth, and another relative has CFS and multiple food intols. At least I had people to share info and stories with while we sat in the heat and humditiy by the lake.

Gardening both at son's school and home, cleaning up and tweaking my newly acquired 1970's Schwinn cruiser bike, and trying to squeeze in as many Rockies games and trips to the pool as possible before school starts on the 18th.
_________________
Nance

gluten, dairy, soy, rice, yeast and 99% grain-free

[caseygirl]

So I think I should introduce myself since I joined a couple months ago and have been reading all your posts. My name is Julie and I just graduated with my masters in clinical psych. I start a new job next week at Hopkins as a mental health therapist. I'm nervous but excited!

I don't have celiac but have been having lots of stomach and other issues the past 5 or 6 years. I just recently went gluten free (June) and have noticed a lot of my symptoms have subsided. (Was having excessive gas, bloating, stomach pain, lost my appetite at first then became excessively hungry, etc) I just ordered tests from enterolab to test for soy and gluten intolerances. I'm still getting tiny amounts of gluten (like I don't have a toaster so I use my roommates who toasts bread and stuff in there). I know that even that little amount can cause problems; I'm kinda just waiting for my enterolab results to come back and if that confirms that I really am gluten intolerant, then I will buy my own toaster and stop licking envelopes haha.

My other symptoms are sort of disconcerting: I have missed my period 3 out of the last 4 months. I saw my PCP from home in Massachusetts who gave me the pill for 10 days to try to bring on my period. It came last month but I'll have to see if it keeps up. I bruise extremely easily and just moved last weekend. I currently have 15ish bruises all over my body....and I didn't even lift furniture or that many boxes- we hired movers! Also I just got my haircut and she said my hair looks like it's damaged and broken. I'm always tired, even though I'm not working and get enough sleep. I'm wondering if I have some sort of vitamin deficiency. Who knows. Once I start work, I'll have health insurance again and am going to make an appointment with a PCP in Baltimore to get bloodwork done.

So that's where I am. It's a little frustrating to be playing the waiting game because right now I don't have a doctor. My insurance will start Sept 1st so I'll be making an appointment ASAP after that! And also I'm very interested in getting my enterolab results back. You guys are a wealth of knowledge -- I'm sure you've heard it before but thanks for being so very supportive!! Even if I'm not the poster, I've found support on here and I've become very knowledgable over the past 6 months about celiac.

[aklap]

Hi Juile,

Welcome to the board! Hopkins! Cool!

Bruising can be a symptom of Vit. K defic. I've got a bunch of info around here on Vit. K. K is a fat soluable vit that celiacs do not absorb when their villi is damaged.

As for your other sx's - yes CD or Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity is something to explore! Are you on any meds that would cause bruising?

Gotta run..

Here's the link: http://forums.glutenfree.com/topic2760.html

http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/medcare.html

[donald]

Al, thanks for asking about the diet. Since I started the GF thing in early May, I've had 2 accidental glutenatings, both times I can trace back to food items my grandkids have shared with me. Since I can't seem to say no to them when they want to share, I have made sure we only have GF snacks at the house.

[aklap]

Hey, I'd say you're doing pretty well then! Glad you figured out how to "out smart" the grand kids

Keep up the good work!!
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[caseygirl]

I'm not on any medication right now, just probiotics and fibercon. My last endoscopy showed "mild blunting of the villi" but my doctor said I don't have celiac. My blood tests came back negative. I don't know the numbers but I know they did the main ones for celiac. My doc never mentioned gluten sensitivity to me and never explored with me going on a gluten free diet....I just read up on celiac and the symptoms and diet, etc. I do think I have a lot of the symptoms of the disease, although my main complaints had to do with GI symptoms and I know celiac disease affects many more systems. Since going gluten free, almost all of my GI symptoms have subsided so I am starting to become convinced that gluten is some or all of my problem.

In my last semester of school right before I decided to go GF, 3 different professors on 3 different occasions told me I "look like sh*t" (as one of them so kindly said!) and that I looked washed out. They kept asking me if I was okay; I think they thought I was physically and emotionally drained. Of course school was stressful but I've been going to school forever and was not any more stressed out than I ever was. After all their comments, I decided I really should try the diet and in the matter of days, most of my symptoms went away. I did think I'd feel less tired once I went GF but I am still really tired. And missing my period is not good. It could be that I still get very small amounts of gluten or it could be that something else is my problem. I've always been extremely healthy all my life (minus frequent minor stomach problems in high school and undergrad - docs said IBS) so this is definitely a change for me, having a lot of symptoms.

Last question -- I know that DH is associated with celiac. What about eczema? For about 2 months now, I have very small red and itchy bumps on one of my fingers. It is very strange, they are only on one finger, but this finger is extremely dry and rough. All my other fingers are normal. No matter how much hand lotion I apply, it's still dry. And just the ther day, a patch of dry skin appeared raised on the side of my wrist (the same arm as the affected finger). It looks like a small patch of eczema but I'm not totally sure. Is this strange?? Thanks for reading my long post It's challenging trying to find out what's wrong with you....I'm not a very patient person!

[aklap]