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I feel I may be gluten sensitive and am ready to do the 3-4 week self test (but have questions)

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Celiac Disease
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disintegrateddisorder
New Member
Joined : Jan 2013
Posts : 2
Posted 1/9/2013 10:26 PM (GMT -7)
Hello all,

First I just want to start off with a little background as to why I am wanting to do this test and am serious about it. I am a 25 year old male and weigh 165 lbs 6'0. Mainly, I have been dealing with fatigue and bouts of tiredness throughout the day for as long as I can remember. But I would say in the last couple of years it has become more apparent. People will say "Well you are just getting older and you don't have as much energy as you do when you are a teenager". But even as a teenager I felt very under-energized. And then again I don't know if those people really know what I mean when I say I don't have energy. It affects my work and my social life...because when I'm tired, it affects my personality.

I have tried many different things to come to this point. I have quit smoking (it's been one year now), and though I admit I can tell the difference and it is better....I still feel the same fatigue I always have. Also I have tried changing my eating habits, such as eating a healthier breakfast and not eating before I go to bed. I have drastically increased my water intake. I have also consistently exercised 6 days per week for about a year now. I have even tried changing my sleeping habits. Such as going to bed the same time every night, waking up early, sleeping 8 hours every night. Then I tried just sleeping 7 hours every night because I thought maybe I was sleeping too much. Still, nothing seemed to have changed. Last month I went to my primary doctor and had a blood test to check my thyroid levels, and everything was normal.

I just need to find the answer to this because this problem really is affecting me living my life to it's full potential, and am afraid this is only going to get worse as time goes on. So when I heard about these stories of gluten intolerance, I thought I would give this a chance. I was told that I would need to cut off gluten 100% for 3-4 weeks, and then reintroduce it to see how I feel.

I want to start this in the next couple days (despite it being my birthday next week lol). So I have been planning ahead and thinking about what I would need to buy, but I have a lot of questions. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could answer these:

As a general rule of thumb, it is safe to say that as long as I stayed away from wheat I would be avoiding gluten? I have heard that there are small trace amounts in bubble gum and such, but is it really enough to make a difference? And when I go out to eat, would it be safe to say I could order as if I was on the Atkin's Diet?

For breakfast, what are some options that I could get from a regular grocery store? I have thought of eggs and bacon? Should I also add something else to this?

A potential problem I saw was what would I bring for lunch at work? I usually am used to eating frozen TV dinners and never cook, but am willing to. What do you guys bring to work?

I figured for snacks I could eat fruits or vegetables like celery and peanut butter...do you have any other suggestions?

For dinner I have come up with maybe some chunky soup (GF of course) over a bed of white rice. Or another idea would be some rice and pinto beans with a side of vegetables (frozen). Any simple/easy to make suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am also trying to keep this as inexpensive and non time-consuming as possible.

Another concern I have is that with the absence of bread in my diet, I assume my consumption of carbohydrates will be greatly reduced. Because of this, should I expect to feel a lack of energy for the first few week or so? And what is the best source of carbs for someone who is on a GF diet?

Thank you for reading this lengthy post and thanks to anyone who can answer even just one of these questions.
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kazbern
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Joined : May 2010
Posts : 8384
Posted 1/10/2013 6:53 AM (GMT -7)
disintegrated - I did a gluten-free trial about 1.5 years ago and I remember finding it a bit challenging at first also.
The kind of gluten that celiacs avoid is present in wheat, barley and rye. Oats can also carry some of this gluten, but you can find gluten-free oats in the health food section of most grocery stores (sold by Bob's Red Mill). When I first went gluten free, for breakfast every day I had eggs scrambled with onions and corn chips. It was delicious! Now I usually have gluten-free cereal with milk (I like Bakery on Main cereal and gluten-free corn flakes). Today I had gluten-free oatmeal.
There are gluten-free frozen dinners that are delicious (look for Amy's in the health food section - I like the tex-mex meals from that company and also the lasagna, but I don't recommend the lasagna until you've been GF for a while - the texture difference in the pasta will bother you). For lunch I usually pack leftovers and fresh fruit - today I am bringing GF mac and cheese that I made last night for dinner.
There is a big change away from carbs when you go GF. I was hungry a lot in the beginning (but not really tired or anything). I tried some GF crackers and pretzels, but meh. I now pack a KIND bar, or bring a couple of GF cookies to work, or some mixed nuts, potato chips, for an afternoon snack. Yogurt is nice, too. The benefit of fewer carbs is a slightly smaller butt, LOL.
I would recommend that in the first few weeks of a GF trial you be really strict about staying away from gluten, even in things like candy. After that, you can probably try a bit here and there and see what bothers you. I find I can have one bite of something with gluten (like cake or a cookie or a piece of lovely bread) but more than that and I will pay for it the next day or days. I do not have celiac, so it is really an intolerance and nothing more. But it made a huge difference in my life.
Good luck.
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kazbern
Veteran Member
Joined : May 2010
Posts : 8384
Posted 1/10/2013 6:54 AM (GMT -7)
Oh, and has anyone tested your vitamin D levels? Low vitamin D is very common among Americans and can make you very tired.
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disintegrateddisorder
New Member
Joined : Jan 2013
Posts : 2
Posted 1/10/2013 12:56 PM (GMT -7)
kazbern, thank you very much for your advice. So I guess it would be safe to say that when I go out to a restaurant that is not clear on the whole GF principle, I could simply just order things without bread or noodles. And yes I was afraid of becoming hungry all the time, but hey I am willing to deal with anything to combat this daily feeling of tiredness and exhaustion. I do take a vitamin D supplement with other multivitamins and I do spend quite some time in the sunlight due to my job...but then again it could be a symptom of gluten intolerance that I'm not absorbing the nutrients I need.
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kazbern
Veteran Member
Joined : May 2010
Posts : 8384
Posted 1/10/2013 1:10 PM (GMT -7)
No, you cannot eat at a restaurant by just avoiding bread and noodles. Wheat flour is used quite commonly as a thickener and as a coating for all kinds of cooking. You really do need to ask for a gluten free menu. Most higher end restaurants can accomodate you now.

A big surprise for me was that soy sauce (and a lot of umami flavorings) have wheat in them. You can get the same from tamari, but most asian restaurants will not have this. I haven't eaten chinese food out in a long time.
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Hammer34
New Member
Joined : Jan 2013
Posts : 5
Posted 1/29/2013 12:32 AM (GMT -7)
Are you kidding me!!!! Gluten free means gluten free!!! Come on now guy.... Read all the labels of whatever you are eating cause CHUNKY soup is not gluten free..... If you want to do this make a careful judgement on everything that goes on your plate and research it...and don't stray as the other person has said a little bite won't hurt.... Duh!! Research it and you will see a little bite will hurt if you are a celiac...

Hammer
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Help pleeze
New Member
Joined : Jan 2013
Posts : 7
Posted 1/30/2013 2:17 AM (GMT -7)
Hi...I am gluten free for one year now...and have seen many benefits, however when I eat any kind of read meat, I get bloated, gas, and pain in stomach. I seem to only feel well when eating, chicken, fish or turkey...I wonder why my body reacts to the red meat this way, when I was younger I did not have this problem. I age a factor? I am in my fifties.
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applevenus
Veteran Member
Joined : Aug 2011
Posts : 934
Posted 2/2/2013 10:11 PM (GMT -7)
Dear Help pleeze,
Maybe try eating only grass fed beef. If the cow is eating grain then you eat the cow, you are getting grain in a round-about way.
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Recoveryme2day
Regular Member
Joined : Jul 2012
Posts : 335
Posted 2/6/2013 2:57 AM (GMT -7)
Yes, I think there is some correlation between age and red meat but it could also be the damage done to your intestines after ?yrs of gluten/wheat and what applevenus said too about the grain fed cattle. I would just do like you did with the gluten/wheat diet, start eliminating things until you are off All the meats, fish etc., then add them back in 1 at a time starting with the red meat and see what happens, hope this helps and keep us in the loop. smile
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mrsbugzy
Veteran Member
Joined : May 2012
Posts : 641
Posted 4/21/2013 7:09 AM (GMT -7)
Disintergrated,
How did your gluten free trial go?
It can be quite overwhelming...Check your local hospital for a support group that can help you.
Almost everything by Glutino is good, Udi's and Schar breads are the only ones that I find don't have to be toasted first to enjoy them for a sandwich. Also, Udi's has GREAT hamburger rolls and hot dog rolls...they are the BEST by far!
For breakfast, Chex cereal..and I use it for snack a lot too..
Hope you made out ok..
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