Gluten Free/dairy Free

[yogini]

I have decided to take a stab at going gluten free and dairy free. I will be getting my flu shot next week and will ask my dr for a celiac blood test. Regardless of whether I test positive, I'm going to try gluten free because I have constant bloating and gas. And I am hoping it helps my POTS symptoms. It is really hard because I LOVE to eat and cook.

I've read through old posts, but had a few additional questions. Are there a lot of foods with hidden gluten and lactose? Do you constantly have to be reading labels? Does it ruin everything if you accidentlaly eat something with gluten? Because I had sushi tonite and noticed that the soy sauce has wheat in it! Good thing I haven't started the diet yet. I'm planning to live off of sushi, but hopefully I can find a wheat free soy sauce.

Also, are there any good websites with info? The ones that I've found seem to be places to buy gluten free foods. I'm planning to eat rice, corn and potatoes. I don't really want to invest in any specifi gluten free foods at this stage (and if I do it will be from my nearby Whole Foods). I just want an informative, non-commercial website.

And how long should I try this for?

Thanks!

[Sophia3]

Have you seen these sites? the info is legit.

http://www.gicare.com/pated/edtgs06.htm

http://www.celiac.com/categories/Frequentl...%252dFree-Diet/

http://www.celiac.org/

How 'quickly' you see results will depend on how badly GLUTEN makes your body feel.

A family member of mine has been with the same beau for over 10 years. He was always very skinny and hadstomach problems. He hates doctors after being in a severe auto accident years ago and hated his medicalcare. He signed out AMA (Against medical advice) and never went to a doctor again. HATES them.

So he went to alternative people or self dx himself with a gall bladder problem when he had flare ups. Then he heard about Celiac disease. Within a few DAYS, the intestinal pain stopped, the bathroom trips stop. He was finally able to gain weight.

It's been years now and his health has STAYED GOOD. He never strays off the GF diet, as many people do, because of the severity of his pain and bouts of diarhea. He has sense found out his siblings were tested and have it as well. He is very strict about EVERYTHING he eats. ALWAYS. He may have some things that have a bit in it in a meal, like soy sauce sometimes, and it does not cause a problem. But that is only if they go out to dinner and you can NOT always know the sauce content.

He takes NO medicine but meds can contain gluten and there often IS no alternative to the meds. So you have to use common sense here. some folks get fanatic but have no 100% improvement or even 50% in anything.

This guy I mention has more energy and no digestive complaints since going gluten free. He also does eat dairy sometimes but as a rule I think he drinks rice milk.

He was always a handsome guy but now looks stronger as he no longer looks scrawny.

If you have such SERIOUS ISSUES that the celiac disease kept you UNDERWEIGHT, you should see a quicker improvement. Few people with CRITICAL celiac issues are over weight. Everything they eat went right thru them.

But mileage may vary. Good luck. There are many great Gluten Free things on the market now. Trying to substitute the 'junk food' such as cookies or cakes or pizza can be pricey. But 20 years or more ago it was a MAJOR MAJOR product to cook Gluten free. It's much easier now though can be hard on the family budget when the whole family goes GF.

Good luck.

[cnm1]

Hi

My daughter Rachel, has wheat (not gluten), dairy, soy, peanut, legumes, and milder egg & corn allergies. All but the dairy are newly dx as of July 07. It has made a huge difference for her. She has struggled with severe IBS sx as part of her illness. Some of the sites we like are

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

http://www.godairyfree.org/

http://www.glutenfree.com/

Louise

[yogini]

Thanks for the information. I wouldn't say that my symptoms necessarily severe, but I do have really bad gas and bloating and my POTS always seems to act up when the stomach problems are at their worst. I also had reflux for years and took prescription meds, but it has improved in the past year or two. I really think I must be reacting to something I am eating, I just need to figure out what.

Louise, how did your daughter determine to get tested for food allergies? What type of doc did she see and what type of testing did she have?

The more I think about it, I think I need to see my gastro before switching over to gluten free. I've had him for several years for the reflux. I don't want any invasive testing, but maybe he could do some blood tests and give me some guidance on the dietary changes.

[cnm1]

Hi

Rachel was originally dx with whey allergy by a GI doc. She had a colonoscopy, endoscopy, blood tests etc. That was in 2002 when they were ruling out Crohns( she got sick in fall 2001). Before Rachel started experiencing severe fatigue, weakness, increased hr, she was having stomach pain and diarrhea.

At that time the GI doc said the dairy allergy couldn't cause many sx. She was eventually dx with CFS and then POTS. On the John Hopkins CFS web site, I read that they thought that (for those with food alleriges), controlling the allergies was important. Rachel would not only have diarrhea after eating but increase fatigue, mouth sores. She avoided dairy for a few years but she didn't eliminate completely until Dec 2005. SHe was like "dairy alarm". It took us years to realize dairy was in McD's fries cooking oil, seasonings etc - places we didn't look. GEtting rid of the dairy helped her. She is also on lots of meds but if she had dairy ( she spurged for her HS grad and had a big set back for a week), all her sx would flare.

Last year, she started suspecting other foods because she would feel so sick (brain fog fatigue, tachy, and mouth soresafter some meals. She went to see an allergist/immunogist at large teaching hospital. I liked him. He discussed the difference between traditional food allergies (immediate IgE based - hives, anaphylaxis) and delayed reactions - (IgG based -fatigue, GI problems, brain fog). He did both skin tests and IgG blood test.

This whole area of testing has alot of controversy. My impression is that the tests are only guidelines. Your reaction to the food is the ultimate test. He started testing the foods that she felt were problems - beef, eggs, corn, peanuts,dairy. He added the foods she ate the most of - soy, whaet, gluten, oats and legumes. Boy were we surprised. No problem with beef which bothers her alot (probably the fat) but the worst tests were wheat and soy!!!!!!

She decided to give it a try - she is very strict about her diet. She feels much better. The combination of both meds, diet and life style management is critical to how she feels. It really is the total package that make the difference for her. Rachel was home bound for 5 years. She is not "normal" health wise but she is able to do alot now. The diet has only been part of the picture but an important one for her. She does not mind the limitations of the diet - it is not nearly as limiting as being stuck at home for 5 years.

Oh, she also started on probiotics too recently. Her doc said it might help - might not. It was worth while trying. There is a list of good ones some where - I'll try to find it. Some probiotics studied showed no active ingredients. We bought Jarrow Formulas Jarro-Dophilus EPS Vegetarian Capsules from amazon.

Sorry for the long post - but it has been one more piece of the puzzle for Rachel.

Good Luck

Louise

[ajw4790]

Interesting post! It is informative to see stuff on this topic.

I think you made a good choice to wait and see your dr.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[EarthMother]

A few years back my Doctor ordered some food sensitivity blood tests ... came back I was producing anti-bodies to almost everything I was eating. For the next year+ I was wheat-free (not gluton-free), dairy free, egg free as well as some common veggies like zuccini and mushrooms which I was probably eating with regularity at the time.

As a vegetarian who was getting protein from dairy and eggs, the change was a challenge. But I learned a lot about alternative grains, lentils, beans etc. during that creative time of cooking.

Within the first few months I had another blood test for systemic candida and it turned out this was probably the culprit to the outgrowth of the food allergies. So now I had to completely detox from sugar as well.

The next 9 months were hard, but my health improved greatly. I now keep a 'rotation' diet -- for instance we eat dairy on Tuesdays and Fridays, Wheat (more likely Spelt) on alternate days ... the same with eggs and soy products. Rotating foods separated by 24-48 hour breaks helps my body not build up the allergy symptoms (anti-bodies) again.

I do believe the diet changes helped my POTS greatly at the time, and the food rotation we still do at our house in addition to minimal sugars helps everyone. Unfortunately with auto-immune diseases there are often new challenge that come up ... and I am certainly facing a new health journey (unrelated to diet) at the moment.

I have a website with free recipes that I developed during that time and since.

Http://coolkarma.com/Foods/

Good luck on your healing journey.

~Em

[MightyMouse]

The celiac.org site has a safe and unsafe foods list, and info about foods that have hidden gluten like soy sauce, gummy bears, cheerios, mosts commercially produced cereals b/c they have barley malt as a flavoring agent, beer, veggie burgers and franks (tons of gluten), saitan (a wheat product that's used in health food to create a meat like texture), whiskey, scotch, sake, etc. Yes, they do make a wheat free soy--you'll probably find it either at the health food store, or you can purchase online--celiac.org has a store online and you can buy in bulk.

This topic has come up a few times before and I posted many links and ideas--try a search to find the old posts with suggestions for pasta and bread that tastes like the real deal.