Gluten Free..not because i want to be

Without having blood tests or any work done, the only way for you to check if you have a gluten intolerance is to cut it out COMPLETELY from your diet for about 3-4 weeks and then re-introduce it and see if you go back to having the same symptoms as before. Gluten is in everything from anything that contains wheat to a bunch of scientific names... most (some do) packages won't say "gluten free" and even if it says "wheat free" it does not mean it's gluten free.

Unfortunately, you'll have to do a lot of research. You'll have to ask restaurants if there is gluten, and if they aren't sure- avoid it. Most can tell you, or chain restaurants will have it posted on their allergy info sheet.

It's a big learning process. I was only diagnosed in August and I'm still accidentally eating gluten all the time.

I use this website a LOT : http://www.celiac.ca/
it has tons of information and will definitely help you out. Good luck!

My best suggestion is just search the forums - there are TONS of other people in the same situation! There are also blogs galore to help you with recipes, lifestyle changes, etc.

Finally, start looking for gluten alternative flours, etc and that way you can keep eating "breads" and other things.

There are lab tests that use your blood to determine your allergy - but as for specific foods, it's just trial and error from what I've heard. Some friends of mine can eat more than others - and some can't even be in the room. It sounds like yours is more mild so it's a matter of how sick you want to be that day.

Look for "gluten free" and "wheat free" foods - you'd be surprised at some foods, so check everything. Fresh fruits, veggies, etc are generally safe. The less processed the better.

Good luck!

I went to the doctor yesterday and found out I may have Celiac's disease, which would require me to go on a gluten free diet. I should get the results tomorrow or Monday. I picked up Elisabeth Hasselbeck's book, "The G Free Diet." It lays out everything in easy terms from what to look at on labels, to what restaurants to eat at. I recommend picking it up.

Hey,
you can actually get tested to see if you are gluten intolerant. and there are lots of foods out there, alot of walmart brands foods are gluten free, the can veggies, some frozen veggies, pastas, pregu spagetti sauce, eggs are, yogurts are, you just have to read the labels a little more carefully but they usually always say if it is or isnt gluten free. Taste is fun sometimes you can tell the difference espically w the pastas, but alot of health food stores and even publix and most grocery stores now are putting labels so you know what is gluten and not. Oh you can also i think go on line to glutenfree.com, celiac disease.com and other sites. and restraunts are even going gluten free now, so many people are dealing with this issue. Sorry if I rambled on and on. Im here if you need more help.
Cybill

My first advice is to double check with your doctor, he may not want you to change your eating habits before you tests, especially if he might check for gluten/wheat issues. If he says it's cool then the key things you need to avoid are wheat, rye, barley and most oats (oats don't have gluten persay but the way they are processed usually results in cross-contamination and/or the protein in oats is so close to wheat that some people can't tolerate them either). I have Celiac and luckily I can have oats as long as they are marked Gluten-Free (Bob's Red Mill for example). Also malt is made from barley so that's out, when I was first diagnosed my doctor recommended avoiding maltodextrin and MSG because they can be derived from wheat. Not everyone agrees with that but I try to limit those things in my diet.

Some good restaurants are Outback, Eat-n-Park (not sure where you are), Applebees, Red Robin and Boston Market. They all have gluten-free menus that help you decide what to order. Also most places now are aware and will work with you.

There are tons of gluten-free items in the grocery stores and health food stores these days. Some are better than others unfortunately it just takes time to figure out what you like to eat and don't. I have used some GF blogs to learn how to make alot at home and now (5 years after diagnosis) my hubby likes my homemade GF stuff better than most store brand things.

I hope that helps. If you google GF blogs you'll find lots of great options. There is also celiaccenter.com which is a great resource for the basics...I'm sure there's stuff I've missed.

Good Luck! It can be tough at first but if you start to feel better it will be all worth it.

Hi Jess sorry you're having problems. Gluten free is not always easy but the main foods you need to avoid are those made from grains containing gluten - the worst offender is wheat, but barley, oats and rye also contain it. So that would mean avoiding bread, pasta, cakes, pastry and many cereals. There are alternatives available. I'm in the UK and we have a brilliant new gluten free bread called Genius bread and a range of cakes by Mrs Chrimbles that are very good. There are also alternative pastas available. I suspected I had a problem with gluten after reading about it and I tried avoiding foods containing gluten. It made a big difference to my symptoms so I've stuck with it. You can usually make a gluten free choice in a restaurant, but you might find there's less choice for you - you might avoid pasta/pizza restaurants, unless you want to just have a salad, and MacDonalds isn't a great choice as everything is bready. It really depends how severe your symptoms are and how strict you're going to have to be - i can get away with the odd slip, and I never worry about small amounts of flour in sauces, I even had a small piece of someone's birthday cake today at work, but I've felt bloated all afternoon since! Hope you get the answers you need.

You should really see a Gastroenterologist. He/she will determine what to do. If they decide it might be Celiac disease (which your symptoms mimic what I had 2 years ago) they will do a special blood test looking for anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA) or anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA). If they find these then he/she will most likely call for an upper GI where they will take a biopsy of your small intestine.

Don't mess around with this. The longer these things go undiagnosed the more harm they can do.

Having your test soon, I would double check with my doctor to see if it's ok to get off gluten for a couple of weeks. I'm on the same path except my doctor is MIA for now, so i'm doing the elimination diet where I eliminated all allergic potential food, after a week I feel wonderful, I will reintroduce it next week, group by group, slowly and then bring that to my doctor and request tests to see if I have an intolerance or celiac (all other tests came back negative so far, i've been in this process at least a year).

If you decide to do it and need alternative recipes, you can contact me, i've created delicious (free of allergens) recipes in the last week.

You should really see a Gastroenterologist. He/she will determine what to do. If they decide it might be Celiac disease (which your symptoms mimic what I had 2 years ago) they will do a special blood test looking for anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA) or anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA). If they find these then he/she will most likely call for an upper GI where they will take a biopsy of your small intestine.

Don't mess around with this. The longer these things go undiagnosed the more harm they can do.

I'm going to a GI doctor very soon, they already sent out a refferal from my doctor, so im just waiting on them to contact me

Good. One word of warning though. If you eliminate the gluten from your diet before you have the tests you may eliminate or reduce the antibodies to the point that the Dr. will say you are fine.

Good Luck

P.S. we have a Gluten Free group on here if you'd like to join us!