Does anyone suffer from Gluten intolerance?

OMG, don't move....
I'll have Colleen help you out.

Ok you can move now, she is asleep, but I am sure she will be willing to get you some good information
Stay tuned till tomarrow.

Added , I have a very bad memory, if you don't hear from one of us, send me an e-mail.

 

My sister has Celiacs disease which is an intolerance to gluten. She has to be really careful, just about everything until recently had some form of gluten. There is a flour that you could try that has only a fraction of the gluten of regular flour, it is called Spelt flour.

http://www.csaceliacs.org/celiac_symptoms.php

check this site out.
Also, there is a blood test that can be done to figure
out if you have this.

 

My sister in law is allergic to , gluten, soy, corn, milk, and a couple other things. Just feels like crap if she eats them. Same symptoms you are describing. She was just diagnosed. She has been eating these things for years but not put it together until recently. Doc says her adrenal glands are shot from eating them for so long, because no one she went to ever diagnosed it. Basicaly she can have meat and some veggies. Nothing proccessed.

 

My son and I have celiac disease, which, as Rebeccahorse mentioned, is an intollerance to gluten. Gluten is found in any food derived from wheat, barley, rye and some oats. We have a completely gluten free home, and have for 2 years. I went undiagnosed for 18 years, and nearly died of malnutrition. Stupid doctors.


Quote:Many people who are allergic to wheat can tolerate Spelt. This is not the same thing as gluten intollerance. If one is looking to avoid gluten entirely, Spelt is NOT a good option. Spelt is, in fact, a form of wheat.

Dictionary.com

spelt

noun
hardy wheat grown mostly in Europe for livestock feed

I have lots of great tips and recipes if you want to talk. If you are in Australia, you might want to check out Orgran products.​

 

I know a bit about Celiac Disease. When my son was a year and a half old, he developed terrible diarrhea and failed to thrive. In 2 years, he only gained an inch in height. After exploring several other options, he was tested for CD. His tests came back inconclusive and his results were sent to a specialist at the University of Maryland for review. From the moment he was tested, he went on a GF diet and remained on it for a year and a half until CD was eliminated as the reason for his failure to thrive. It isn't the easiest diet to follow, but it is totally doable, even more so as more items are available.

Some thoughts. . .

To know for sure whether you have CD, you need to be eating gluten (I know!) and then have the GI testing done. It's a fairly simple procedure and is done on an outpatient basis. The doctor will take a sample of your intestinal villi and look for blunting, which is one of the main symptoms of the disease.

Once a diagnosis is confirmed, you'll need to go gluten-free and stay that way for the rest of your life. There is no cure for CD. It is maintained through a diet free of gluten.

Join a support group. The folks at the Celiac support group at Delphi forums were great. Here's a link: http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/main.asp?webtag=celiac&nav=start&prettyurl=%2Fceliac

Many foods are naturally GF, but do be aware of cross contamination. For example, if others in your household eat gluten containing products, you'll want to have your own supply of mayonnaise, peanut butter, jam, or anything else where people dip and spread and dip again.

Eat some brownies. Yes, that's what I said. The best brownies we've ever had, hands down, were Gluten Free. Check them out: http://www.glutenfree.com/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=126021M Believe me, if they can pass the muster of an entire class of first graders, those are some pretty good brownies!

There are many of wonderful products out there. There are wonderful cookbooks, and some restaurants and grocery stores even put out GF lists. Even Disneyland will have a chef cook you a GF meal, but you do have to call and arrange it ahead of time.

Best of luck to you!
Shelly

 

Quote:Shelly is correct. If you believe you have celiac disease, I would encourage you to get tested as soon as possible, while still eating gluten. If you go GF before the testing you run the risk of healing up enough to get a false negative.

The first step to a diagnosis is actually a group of blood tests . If they are positive, the next step is an endoscopy.


My favorite celiac support group is http://www.celiacforums.com. I am cruelshoes over there too, if you want to come over and visit.

 

Quote:Thanks for correcting that, Cruelshoes. It has been so long that I had forgotten that step. I would also encourage bantymum to do a little doctor shopping first. While CD isn't really all that rare, it is largely undiagnosed in this country because most doctors think of it as a rare disease, which creates a vicious cycle of fewer diagnoses and therefore making it appear to be more rare than it is. Joining a CD group and inquiring there about a doctor familiar with CD in your area would be a good way to get started.