Good News And Bad News

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:55 pm

Hi Tex,

Those results sure are surprising - sorry you now have to deal with giving even more attention to what you eat, and I would assume you can no longer hope for a return of dairy :(. Hope this new information will help you get a handle on some of the ancillary issues you're dealing with.

I have a feeling you are on target when you speak about gluten cross contamination, and our sensitivity to tiny amounts. I have found quite a few new restaurants with gluten free menus in this area, which has pleased me immensely. However, I think it's impossible for a restaurant kitchen that handles mostly gluten and dairy filled meals, to avoid cross contamination. So in order to continue healing and marching towards remission, I have to rethink how often I eat out (I probably should stop all together) !!!

Lots of luck on your continuing MC journey, and thanks so much for sharing your experience here - gives us lots of "food for thought".

Love,
Kari

P.S. I agree that MC seems like a mystery disease even with all of our collective first hand "knowledge". However, one thing is irrefutable, namely that we feel better when we drop gluten (and sometimes other things) from our diet!!!

P.S.S. I also wonder if you might have an issue with corn???

Post by **tex** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:03 pm

Kari wrote:P.S.S. I also wonder if you might have an issue with corn???

Well, corn is another food that I avoided back when I was going through the healing process, (because I seemed to react to it, at a lower level, and on a delayed basis), so it's certainly not impossible, I suppose. It doesn't seem to cause D or any other type of GI distress that I can detect, but then, neither does casein.

I can't argue with anti-casein antibodies, though, since that removes all doubt. I wish that Enterolab had a definitive corn test.

Hmmmmmm. If I'm not careful, you're going to have me back on that very restrictive diet that I followed for a couple of years.

Love,
Tex

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:46 am

Tex, you said casein does not cause any GI distress. How do I/we know we are having a reaction to it?

Paula

Post by **tex** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:12 am

No, I said it doesn't seem to cause any GI distress for me. Most people who are sensitive to casein are not asymptomatic, though I seem to be. For most people, it can cause symptoms similar to gluten, except that the D that it causes is often what we refer to as "battery acid" D.

The other way, is the way that I found out, by means of an Enterolab test.

Tex

draperygoddess · Post by **draperygoddess** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:01 pm

Paula,

FWIW, my casein reaction is the most immediate and spectacular of all my sensitivities. Reminds me of "Alien" -- something inside you wants out and it is going to rip you in half to do it!

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:13 pm

Cynthia,

LOL - I think you just described my "dairy challenge" reaction perfectly. You seem to have a way with words :).

Love,
Kari

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:17 pm

Tex and Cynthia - Thank you for clarifying that for me. Sorry, I am still having a hard time figuring all this out. But, I am still on my gluten-free die, and for now I will focus on that. In looking at my calendar I find that it's been a month of being on the gluten-free diet. I have noticed some changes, but still having to go 4 to 7 times daily. I am assuming that it will just take more time.

Thank you all for answering what may seem like "stupid" questions. All of you appear to be very knowledgeable.

Paula

draperygoddess · Post by **draperygoddess** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:36 pm

No such thing as stupid, or silly, questions! We ALL were once where you are now, and we all asked those same questions. This forum is the only place you can ask them!

If you've been GF for a month and are still having issues, you might want to cut out dairy and see if it helps. I believe a majority of us are also sensitive t0 llactose, casein, or both. I started out just avoiding gluten and lactose, and I was better, but the casein showed up about month #2, and it's worse than the lactose now. It might just make a big difference for you!

Don't give up--it may take some time, but you will figure it out! It can be very frustrating in the beginning, but perseverance is the key.

Kari--I even believe we get some of those "Alien" sound effects, don't you?

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:11 pm

Cynthia, thank you for saying there are no stupid questions. Some days I feel like they are because all of you who regularly comment seem to speak easily about all of this. And... I see you just became a member the end of Aug., 2011. You sound like a quick learner!

I believe I have already cut out dairy as well as soy when I went on this gluten-free diet (although I might be wrong). I still eat hard boiled eggs - is that a dairy as well? Otherwise, other foods I neat are natural like meats, potatoes, brown rice, vegetables frozen for the most part but also occasionally canned carrots, almonds, dates, dried cranberries, rice cakes with peanut butter or just dry, herring in wine sauce, bananas, rarely do have Lays potato chips and tortilla chips,. I no longer have any cheeses, milk, cottage cheese. I'm just rambling on with what I do seem to eat on a regular basis. If there could be any suspect foods in there, please let me know.

Hope you and everyone else is having a good day.

Thanks again.

Paula

hazel · Post by **hazel** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:09 am

Haven't been around lately. Are you better? (I hope so)

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 7:53 pm

Paula,
Eggs (not dairy) can cause reactions. And hard boiled eggs are notoriously hard to digest. That would be the next thing I would cut out and see if you get better. 4-7 times a day is a LOT! And you might not be absorbing any nutrients. Are you still losing weight?

I am far from OK. I am often in pain, no energy, bloated, gassy, but I don't have D, and when I DO have a BM I am not passing undigested food. I have also put on some weight, so I am absorbing nutrients.
You need to get to the point where you are not passing all your food in your BMs, and are absorbing it

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:22 pm

Hi Paula,

I'm a newbie like you and it took me awhile to see results. I went gluten free Oct 1 and had zero joint pain Nov 30th so I think it took about 8 weeks for me. I was on entocourt which was no picnic for me (although not so bad for others.) If you can achieve things by diet alone you will be way ahead of me. Brandy

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:53 pm

Kathy wrote:Haven't been around lately. Are you better? (I hope so)

Hi Kathy,

If that was directed at me, yes, I'm doing much better, now.

Thanks,
Tex

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:07 pm

Tex, I am glad to hear you are doing "much" better. I know I am in the early stages of healing. It will be interesting when I am more stable with the D, and then experience eating something with gluten (unknowingly of course), and find out how obvious the reaction is. Your reaction was surprising (with only having such a minimal amount of gluten).

Wishing you continued improvement.

Paula

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:13 pm

Paula,

Thanks,
Tex