7 month update

[thedell19]

Hello my friends, I hope you are all well.

I was thinking the other week that I really need to post my progress- but I think that jynxed me! Overall I have seen a pretty big change by going GFCF in late May. My stomach seems to gurgle less, I have very infrequent times of softer than I would like bowel movements but not D for a long time knock on wood. My weight is still not to wear I would like it to be and I need to try and eat more.

I have, however, grown almost an inch (and I am 24 by the way)- is that heard of? Maybe I didnt reach my full height when I was growing etc in my late teens because I might have been have slight problems with the gluten and casein I was ingesting.

But the past 3 days I have not felt so well- maybe that is because I ate too many sweets this past weekend (Sunday I overdid it) and I think I may have been glutened Sunday or so- watching football over at a friends and he didnt have any tin foil for me to bake some chicken so I used a cookie sheet- granted the gluten should have probably come of when I washed it but is it possible I didnt get all of it? I also ate a Kinnickinick doughnut which I have had before and never bothered me too much... maybe it was the slight glutening, too many sweets, and too little sleep that is making me feel not as good as I should! Granted I am working 2 jobs right now (one 40 hours a week and the other 15-20 hours a week doing tax returns again to make a few extra bucks).

But again if I count out Monday, Tues and this morning of this week, as of late I had been feeling rather well and able to eat more things I was not able to previously. I can now eat eggs with little to no problem, bacon is still iffy so I stick to that on weekends, choclate doughnuts, english muffins, some cooked fruit (bananas and apples).

Veggies I still have trouble with (peppers, peas, carrots, spinach- ones high in fiber-

Also I have noticed that when I travel to a lower elevation than what we live at (7,000 ft) I feel better than at the higher elevation... elevation sickness??? How or what would I do about that- we certainly cant move now b/c we just bought a house.

I have also had trouble finding a rice milk, either in liquid or powder that doesnt have the carrageenan or fructoluctodisaschirdes (sp)... Anyone have any ideas for that?

Meds still taking: 75 mg wellbutrin 2 x day, .5 mg ativan 2x day, calcium at every meal, Digest Gold enzyme at meal, and lowered imodium from 4-5 to 3-3.5 per day (I want to take that part slow).

[harvest_table]

Hi Andrew,

Just a quick hello, gotta dash to the flower shop! Thanks for the update, was wondering about how you are doing.

Take Care,
Joanna

[bobh]

..But the past 3 days I have not felt so well- maybe that is because I ate too many sweets this past weekend (Sunday I overdid it) ...and lowered Immodium from 4-5 to 3-3.5 per day (I want to take that part slow).

For me, personally, "any" sweets = too much. It took me many years to get over that craving, it wasn't easy.

At this point, I am the gatekeeper for what goes in my mouth. If it is a natural sweet (fruit, moderate honey) then it is OK. Refined sweets, even health food "concentrated" sweets (energy bars) are not OK for me - and that may be something to try to see if it helps you too.

Dr. Fine says immodium delays "D" and I found it to be a great "cork" for a day or 2. I used to take it if I knew I was going to be driving all day, or important meetings. If I had to take it day after day... Well, all I can say is that I have never done as well as I am doing now on Entocort, almost 5 months of remission with no side effects that I am aware of. Daily use of immodium isn't going to do that, or provide rest for your guts to heal.

[thedell19]

I understand about your opinion on Imodium... I just want to taper off of it and use it as a crutch for specific days.

I do fine with a moderate amount of sweets a day but when my wife made this apple cobbler I just kinda went nuts...

[mle_ii]

I know how that goes, my wife used to make all sorts of desert type things for me, gluten free of course, but the sugar made me sick every time. Fructose being the biggest part of the problem.

One of the problems with Immodium is that it's effect will deminish over time, requiring more and more of it to take effect. The way it works is through the same receptors as opiates. Another problem is that if it slows someone up too much you leave yourself open to many other problems, toxicity of the bowel contents, bacteria or virus not leaving as fast as it should, bacteria able to grow more and get out of balance.

But I do understand using it, I find myself using it at times when I have to get out and my bowels won't cooperate, luckily for me it doesn't take much immodium and it's effects work for a long time.

Mike

[thedell19]

high fructose corn syrup does me in... but fructose alone is ok as I drink diluted gatorade and that goes over fine

About the imodium I have not noticed that I have had to take more of it as time goes on and I know all about toxicmegacolon and my GI said it was ok to use as long as I at least go to the bathroom every other day... usually I will go once a day two days in a row and then skips a day and then two days then skip etc

what foods are you able to eat? are you able to have milk products? I would love to have some yogurt or something for desert but I cant have casein.

I know goats milk and yogurt is an option but I might react to that as well.

[Polly]

Terps!

Welcome back! I have also been wondering how you are doing, so it's great to hear from you.

That's so interesting about gaining an inch at age 24. I wouldn't be surprised if going GF didn't have something to do with it. Jean reported that her hearing improved and Joanna reported vision improvement - both after being GF for a while. (BTW, both had the improvement documented by tests and wondered if it was due to diet). Of course, many of us have noted the usual improvement in aches, pains, and mental fog, but you three have noticed more unusual findings.

Sounds to me like you are doing extremely well after 8 mo. of just diet and no MC prescribed meds. Congrats! I still had diarrhea 6-8 times a day after 8 mo. of diet alone.

In what way do you feel better at lower altitudes? Do you mean gut-wise or something else? People with anemia might not feel as well at high altitudes.

There are some good recipes for homemade rice or nut milks. I think all of the commercial ones are going to be a problem. Sigh. But you are lucky to have a wife who cooks for you - maybe she'd like to try the recipes. I'll check to see if they are in a the Recipe Room. If not, I'll add them.

Please check in whenever you can. And keep up the excellent work!

Love,

Polly

[mle_ii]

Great to hear it doesn't leave you blocked up too long.

I can eat pretty much anything besides gluten, soy, dairy, fructose/sugar, perhaps eggs. All other things seem ok so far, though like I said when I flare up I can't eat the same things. :( No dairy for sure.

[thedell19]

Yes gut wise I feel better at lower altitudes, I had tests done recently and nothing showed up like anemia but maybe a half an iron pill might do the trick? But thanks for checking in Polly!!! Great to hear from you again!

[thedell19]

Well I had another rough morning this morning and I think I have narrowed it down to a few things.

1. Lays Stax potato chips say they are naturally GF... but they also make sour cream and onion etc that all have dairy- so maybe some CC or maybe I just cant handle more than a handful of chips

2. Apple pound cake- fine the first night, then on second and fourth night had problems morning after

3. Could it be from changing office, computers etc at work? Maybe I need to bring in some clorox wipes and wipe everything down?

4. Just a typical setback to expect in the first year?

[thedell19]

Is Febreze gluten free? Just started to use that.

[tex]

Hi Andrew,

For some reason or other, Stax is not on Frito-Lays GF list:

http://www.fritolay.com/fl/flstore/cgi- ... 364066.htm

Febreze doesn't contain gluten, but it does contain corn

Tex

[thedell19]

Hey Tex-

This is from the link you sent posted:

"LAY’S® STAX® Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Hidden Valley Ranch Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Hot'n Spicy Barbecue Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Jalapeno Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® KC MASTERPIECE® BBQ Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Original Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Pizza Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Spicy Buffalo Wings Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato "

*Our LAY’S® STAX® chips (all flavors) are made on gluten free lines, thus all LAY’S® STAX® products are free of gluten.

However... Stax does have sour cream and onion, cheddar etc so even though it may be GF it certainly can contain CASEIN- never thought of that.

[tex]

Now that's weird. When I go there, none of that appears in any shape or form, on my browser - not a word about Stax, although there are a zillion other snacks listed there. Wonder what's going on.

Just out of curiosity, can anyone else using Firefox see the Stax items?

Tex

[starfire]

I just tried Firefox, Tex, and I saw the Lay's Stax as follows. I copied it from the Firefox screen. Wonder what's going on.

LAY’S® STAX® Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Hidden Valley Ranch Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Hot'n Spicy Barbecue Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Jalapeno Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® KC MASTERPIECE® BBQ Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Original Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Pizza Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Spicy Buffalo Wings Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY’S® STAX® Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato Crisps

Love, Shirley