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Katerific · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Nebraska

I'm new to this board and new to eating GF. I have heredity against me. My mother and sister have the disease. For years I have felt crummy almost every day. Constipation, fatigue, body aches, sores on my scalp, etc. I found out that a person doesn't have to have diarrhea to have celiac sprue so I thought I would try the GF diet and see if it helped. Within 3 days I had significant relief from my symptoms. I have felt great for 6 straight days and today has been terrible. I feel just as bad as I ever did when I ate wheat products, only this time, I didn't knowingly eat anything with wheat in it. I bought a loaf of GF bread made out of brown rice flour and ate 2 slices of that. I ate 3-4 cups of cheese coated popcorn. I had 1 ear of corn with margerine too. These are the only 3 things that I ate differently than I did the rest of the week when I felt great. Today at noon I finished up the corn and had to go to bed for 3 hours. Looks like corn is a no-no for me as well as wheat. How in the world do you pinpoint what the problem foods are without risking feeling sick?

Katie

maria1223 · Guest

you could be allergic to brown rice some people do have a reaction to rice. I have been gluten free since dec.2004 & I still have problems. you need to get some really good Dr's that know what they are talking about. I had some really bad Dr's in the past that didn't know anything about celiac. now I have some really good Dr's. I have a cancer DR. that is from fox chase center that does alot for me he is great. just keep going on the gluten free diet & u will do just fine. It may take up to a year for you to feel better. this depends on how much damage is done.

GOOD LUCK

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8795 Location: WI, USA

Hi Katie,

Sorry to hear you're not feeling your usual "Katerific" self!

Welcome!! Yup - genetics are against you on this one Sad

There could be a couple of things going on...

1) Maria is right...it could be the rice. But I'll venture to guess that you've eaten rice before w/o problems? Some do react to rice.

2) Have you checked very carefully that cheese popcorn? It might contain some hidden gluten. What brand is it and what are the ingredients?

3) Yes corn could be an issue too.

4) It's not uncommon for people to see improvements right away and then feel crappy again. It's your body purging out the gluten.

With delayed food intolerances, it's never really easy to tell exactly what is causing problems. You could eat something and it may hit you 1-2-5-24-48 hrs later. You can keep a food journal. It's a pain in the butt, because everything you eat you must write down. I kept one when I 1st started out. I also had a rating system as to how I felt (10 - GREAT, 0 - half past dead Smile

).

There are also labs where you can order food testing. I think York is one lab and Great Smokie Labs is another one.

http://www.gsdl.com/home/
http://www.yorkallergyusa.com/

The other thing you can do is an elimination diet. This is where you remove groups of food for a period of time and rotate other groups in and out of your diet. I have not done this myself. Here is a post from some one that has gone thru it and has some tips:http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7188&highlight=elimination+diet

I hope this has helped. Poke around here, you might some other bits of info that might be helpful to you!

Good luck in your knowledge quest and your GF Journey!!!
_________________
Al

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

Katerific · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Nebraska

Thank you for your replies. I am wondering something else. Does eliminating gluten make a person more sensitive to gluten if it is ingested after a time of being GF? If that is true, I may have my culprit. I had a tiny (1/3" x 1/3")communion wafer on Sunday morning. I also had one last Sunday but felt fine. Yesterday was day 8 of GF so maybe I had eliminated enough out of my system to make me hypersensitive. What do you think?

Katie

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8795 Location: WI, USA

Hi Katie,

It's very common to become more sensitive to gluten once it has been removed. Just the smallest crumb can set off a reaction in some people. That communion wafer might be a enough to set you off. Does your church allow you to use GF waffers? Also - don't forget about the wine. If you are using a common cup, it could be a comtamination source.
_________________
Al

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

Katerific · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Nebraska

I see what you all mean by not cheating. It feels so good to get relief that you don't want to do ANYTHING to relapse. I doubt if my church offers gluten-free communion wafers, but you never know. My husband suggested that I bake up some of my own and take them! Or maybe I could be the GF wafer supplier for the church! I just transferred to this church a couple of weeks ago so I'm not very familiar with how things work there.

When I was eating lots of wheat I didn't feel anymore miserable than when I got glutened this weekend and that was only a crumb!

I have been journaling my food and sticking to "farm food". I am eliminating most processed foods and will reintroduce some foods when I am consistently better.

Thanks for your responses. It really helps to have someone to talk to.

Katie

Guest · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:44 pm Post subject:

Hi Katie,

It depends on the demonination your are. Many Catholics are very strict - no gf host period!! I am an ELCA Lutheran. In the past I would bring a circle of a corn tortilla I would cut out. I go sick of that - so I bought the EngerG Communtion Wafers. The altar guild know of my situation and now put out my GF wafer on the altar before the service Smile

I think you will see a noticable change in sticking to "farm foods". I like that term Smile

I usually call them whole foods Smile

I have friend that does so much better on "farm foods" due to other intolerances.

Keep up the good work!

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8795 Location: WI, USA

That was me above Very Happy

Stupid browser...
_________________
Al

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

Katerific · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Nebraska

I didn't realize EnerG made communion wafers. I'm not catholic so that is a good option for me. Where do you buy them?
Katie

Joanjet · Guest

Hello Katerific, Could your allergy possibly be to the lactose in milk? When I really stick to the gluten free diet usually I'm not lactose intolerant but if I eat out in too many restaurants and take too many chances next thing I know I am lactose intolerant.

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8795 Location: WI, USA

Yup! I got mine from a place called The Gluten Free Trading Co. in Milwaukee, WI. It's a store that has nothing but GF (and other "free" foods.

You can also get them here: http://www.ener-g.com/store/detail.aspx?sn=BreadProducts&cat=15&id=21

You might want to get some pretzels from EnerG too if you are ordering...they are pretty good!! Very Happy

_________________
Al

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

Katerific · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Nebraska

Chris · Guest

It is common to have temporary lactose intolerance. This is because lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose, is made in the villi. So until your villi heal, dairy can cause problems!