Posts: 38
2/7/13 12:00 A

Hello fellow GF newbie! It is so great to hear your asthma symptoms are clearing up with GF. It gives me hope that my respiratory problems will go away also.

Where was there gluten in salmon? Was it the seasoning?

Pounds lost: 18.2

0 7.5 15 22.5

30

Posts: 28
2/6/13 11:09 P

I really appreciate all the help and info I've gotten so far. I've been very busy the last few days, but it means a lot that strangers are willing to help me in this new journey. Slachetka, I will take you up on that offer when I can, thank you, and thanks everyone for the contamination info. I have just bought 3 more bags of the Bob's Red Mill GF oats. We go through a lot of those in this house.

I'm finding my biggest obstacle in going gf is accidentally eating it by not reading labels or assuming food is safe. Last night I tried some of my partner's salmon, pre-seasoned with lemon pepper from the meat department at Kroger. Within the hour the pain flare had started, and I was up until 2am hurting. I'm still trying to get that crap out of my system. My next challenge is to go dairy free. I'm finding that emotionally, that is much harder, as giving up my prized Fage greek yogurt has been quite a challenge. I'm trying it for the month of February, so we'll see where that leads.

Thanks again for all the help, it is needed and appreciated!

current weight: 247.5

275 262.5 250 237.5

225

SparkPoints: (21,000)
Fitness Minutes: (4,512)
Posts: 1,300
2/2/13 6:35 A

Welcome to the team. Our household (hubby) has CD. and we have had to cook w/o gluten. Let me know if you need specific recipes and I will see if I can help. Good luck...this quite the journey at first.

80 Maintenance Weeks

0 20 40 60

80

Posts: 928
2/1/13 1:51 A

Welcome to the team! This is a great group with tons of support and wonderful resources!

Pounds lost: 95.4

0 31.75 63.5 95.25

127

Posts: 1,427
1/31/13 3:49 P

GHracena- First of all Good luck and congrads on that good day!
Then may I put two cents in here? I tire easily but also have adrenal fatigue listed as sub-clinical Addison’s disease (continued harm from long delay in getting diagnosed and drastically changing energy limits). My point is when I extend at my current tight energy limits I must still pay the body piper! The doc taught me to watch body temps. Get a temperature reading put into a journal each morning before getting out of bed and again a reading before and after exercise and the day after. These big drops in whole body temp disrupt sound immune rebounding and healthy habits and can help a doc discover any other causes. It may also help you see the patterns of self destruction of unintentional ways. I have a body temp of 97.2F today and it hurts. I know the cause after exercising too much (beyond my personal limit) yesterday. The laughter through the event had me wanting to do more!

Jencorinne is so right. Oatmeal manufacturing varies and we respond differently. Just as oatmeal processed on equipment also used for gluten foods can get a bad reaction for g-f people. Some people can eat organic oatmeal processed on designated gluten free only equipment.

This is seen in rice syrup which is processed with malt (barley) and even though I am not a celiac I react poorly to this assumed non-gluten food. I had some rice milk yesterday (also processed with barley) maybe I should quit using this PROCESSED FOOD, too. My temp dropped from a sweet 98.6F yesterday. It always has a domino effect from doing too much and/or eating questionable things.

I am in food challenge mode for this whole rice verses processed rice foods. So far, I think I do okay with a nice rice protein powder. This piece of my food challenging will get more work and more research on the foods I test myself with. Rice is not wheat but processing can through me for a loop and it is usually not listed in the fine print of a label!

Posts: 28
1/25/13 11:19 P

Thank you so much!

current weight: 247.5

275 262.5 250 237.5

225

Posts: 28
1/25/13 11:19 P

I will definitely be hitting up the stickies. I hadn't heard (or researched, I guess) about the higher fat and calories, so this is definitely something to consider. And you're totally right, giving up the bisquick and such is the best option, and I'm working towards it. My diabetes, we've found, is caused by my pancreas shutting down. I've lost 30 lbs. since diagnosis, and my numbers just went higher (from mid 200s at diagnosis to hovering around 500 now without the pump going). My endo and I have discussed it, and we've come up with several theories but no idea what it really is as of yet. I posted at the ADA site about it, and about how I didn't have good care for awhile, and left more confused than I went in, so I'm sticking to personal knowledge (and endo's knowledge) to try to get it worked out. My partner mentioned that wouldn't it be funny that gluten was responsible for it? Of course we don't know that, so I'm just trying to stay positive and make healthy changes.

Having forums handy is really a blessing, and I appreciate the feedback so far (and thanks for sticking with me after that crazed first post, yikes!).

current weight: 247.5

275 262.5 250 237.5

225

Posts: 30,219
1/24/13 10:44 P

Welcome to the team.

current weight: 240.0

274 235.5 197 158.5

120

Posts: 1,442
1/24/13 10:20 P

That's great news that you are finding such a difference. It will be hard to lose weight without cutting down on the "bisquick shake and bake, muffins and cookies". The gluten free flours (grains) are higher in fat content and calories so I've found I can only eat half as much as the gluten versions.
Check our sticky topics. There is so much information already posted there.
If you are Type 2 diabetes, you may be able to reverse it if you can get your weight down.
Good Luck!

current weight: 144.5

151 144.5 138 131.5

125

Posts: 28
1/24/13 4:01 A

I didn't know this, it's interesting. Thank you!

current weight: 247.5

275 262.5 250 237.5

225

Posts: 1,922
1/24/13 3:52 A

cross react means although the item is GF there is something in the item(Usually protein structure) that makes the body think it has consumed gluten and will feel like you have consumed gluten (or any other allergen if have any others). Many people cross react to GF oats because the protein structure is similar to gliadin, the protein in wheat and barley.

Posts: 28
1/24/13 3:26 A

Thank you for this! I had bookmarked and looked through her blog and seemed to have missed this. Can I ask what you mean by cross react? I read through the post but I didn't see it (though it's 3am so I may have missed it).

As for feeling better, if I'm already bending and sleeping better, I can't wait to see what's next. A friend did ask if maybe it was psychosomatic, and my answer was: who cares? I'll take it, I can bend over! Thanks also goes to the chiro who was one of those suggesting this. I'm waiting to be rid of all the bloat and joint pain, but I'm being patient!

current weight: 247.5

275 262.5 250 237.5

225

Posts: 1,922
1/24/13 3:12 A

to the group,
It's amazing how much your health has turned around so quickly!
Here is a great primer on the different flours and how to make AP flour - glutenfreegirl.com/how-to-make-a-gluten-fr
ee-all-purpose-flour-mix/ P.S. gums are not needed if correctly mixed. I cross react as well as GF Girl.

Posts: 28
1/24/13 2:35 A

Hello all. I am new to the GF lifestyle, as of about 2 weeks ago. I have experienced many of the Celiac symptoms most of my life, and it's been getting worse this last year. Over the last year, I have been in constant pain, completely exhausted, and miserable with no real reason why, other than a Fibro diagnosis. Under the advice of 2 medical professionals I have seen recently, I have eliminated gluten. Exactly one week after stopping cold turkey, I was completely off of the fibro meds I had been taking for a year, which were the highest dose he could prescribe taken twice a day--with minimal relief. I feel absolutely amazing, I have energy, I can take walks for the first time in a year (and have ), am sleeping more than 2 hours a night, no longer having random asthma attacks with "no" reason, and many many other wonderful improvements. I can only imagine how much better things will get.

I have not received any formal diagnosis, and don't know that I plan to seek one. I do know that without any doubt this one thing has been a complete life saver AND changer. My daughter almost cried the other day when I bent over to pick something up from the floor and didn't cringe--she had already reached out to help me up and was shocked that I didn't need the help. Also, I am a nanny and for the past 3 months I have been unable to physically play with the children. I am soo thankful I finally listened to the advice to go GF!!

I'm looking for info and support for living a GF lifestyle. I am also diabetic on an insulin pump, and have been having a very hard time losing weight. I have tried many programs, and am currently 30lbs lighter than when I started in around 07-08, but I have more to go. I'm back to Spark People paying too much money to use a program with no results. We have been focused on eating more whole foods, and lucky for my family I absolutely love cooking. The main switch for me is going to be finding a baking mix that works just as well as AP wheat flour in the things I make. I currently make pretty much everything from scratch, including bisquick shake and bake, muffins and cookies, and this week has started my "flour experimentation" phase. I am researching like crazy and gathering as much info as possible, and thankfully my family is 100% supportive after seeing the changes.

Thank you for letting me write my "book" here lol. I look forward to being active and learning with and from others.

PLEASE NOTE (edited to add): I wrote this at 3AM with no sleep since 6AM the previous morning. While I do feel amazingly better, I still have issues. I am a positive, bubbly person, and apparently I'm even more so at 3AM when sleep deprived lol. I just reread this, and see that I forgot to mention: I see a wonderful chiro who got me started on the GF diet. I am also working with my primary doc, who tested me last May for several seasonal allergies but no food allergies. He is on board with all this. I still have a lot of bloat and stiffness to get over, and I still have more energy to gain back, but I can in fact bend over for the first time in years and I am insanely happy that I'm feeling better. AND I promise not to post while sleep deprived again.

Edited by: GHRACENA at: 1/24/2013 (12:23)

current weight: 247.5

275 262.5 250 237.5

225