Hi everyone! Glad to have found a nice substitute. A lot of us hooked up over at glutenfreeforum.com and so happy to have The Gluten File online. Thank you for that work, it is gorgeous.

I'm still struggling with Ankylosing Spondylitis. And the meds I have been taking for it don't seem to be working quite as well as they were. I need to follow the paleo diet very strictly for awhile and see if that helps me out. It is always one of those "next week I'll start" things.

My gut still isn't 100% great. It might be the small amounts of dairy I'm still consuming occassionally, or perhaps I've got other intolerances. I've already nixed soy and most dairy (occassionally getting wee bits on things like cheetos, which I eat maybe twice a month). I know I am gluten free. Or it might be legumes or nuts causing the problem. Like I said, I really need to get stricter with the diet.

Wow, I'm so glad Brain Talk is back up, even if just temporarily. It crashed during a time of crisis for me, so I was bummin' not being able to ask questions of the BTers. I was getting increasingly frustrated with my digestive problems. I found Laura from the Gluten Challenge website, and at least e-mailed her. I started on the SCD diet out of desperation to try to help my digestive problems, and joined a couple of SCD forums. The SCD diet made gluten-free, dairy-free, & corn-free look like a cake walk. I lost 5 pounds on that diet in about 6 weeks, and I'm not someone that needs to lose weight. I also got tested for parasites - nada.

Then, I did a food sensitivity test (IgG) through Metametrix Lab at the end of July. The results came back: moderate sensitivity to lamb, soybeans, almonds, and sesame; mild sensitivity to peanuts, cashews, and sunflower seeds. Not convinced that these sensitivities were my problem, I started eating other carbs (except for my other know sensitivities) and drank New Grist beer, in an effort to induce diarrhea. I haven't had any since I stopped eating these foods I tested sensitive for. I even ate a whole box of Pamela's chocolate chunk gluten free cookies on day (hey, I was celebrating my 40th b-day and my hubby wasn't going to bake me a gluten free cake!), with no diarrhea! I'm soooo happy to be able to eat more food and not be hungry all the time.

My doc still wants me to do a colonoscopy, but I don't want to do it if it doesn't change my treatment, i.e. leaving foods out of my diet.

Hey Al, I wish I'd know you were coming through Colorado. I live in Boulder. You're welcome to stop in anytime.

So besides starting to resolve my digestive problems, I hope, I turned 40 and my cat that I'd had for 14 years passed away, or I should say, she got carried away. She made a nice snack for the local fox. Her hearing was going, and she got nabbed one night when I didn't bring her in. All I found was a pile of fur in the neighbor's yard. Sad, but true .

Claire

Thank you Doc. Hope to see John around soon.

We have been busy.

We got married and it was wonderful. The rest of life is a total blur right now, but I am so happy about finally marrying this man. My kids are happy too. They love calling him dad.

Claire,

We will be in Superior/Louisville, Colorado, over Labor Day weekend for my neice's wedding. Pretty sure that is just outside of Boulder. We should exchange phone numbers at least. I'm not sure how hectic things will be, but we might be able to sneak away for a quick meeting. I don't want to promise before we get there, though...as my days might be planned for me already!

Cara

I LOVE THE PICTURE...happy, happy!!!!!

Congratulations, Mrs. Bear, teehee!

Cara

Hey Bear...Contrats!!

It's the bear family...Mama Bear, Papa Bear & Baby Bears....

Thanks Claire!!

Like Cara, it was a family trip with a pretty tight schedule. I'll remember that for the next time. Maybe for a really vacation...now there's a novel idea LOL!!

Oh no, that's terrible.

Hey, the IGg test sounds interesting. I'm still having issues with diarrhea. Is there any sort of testing I could order outside of my doctor?

I heard Dr. Fine speak in San Diego a few weeks ago and he mentioned they're going to be doing a much more exhaustive intolerance panel once they work out a few more glitches. I will definitely have it done, I'd like to get beyond this diarrhea.

I got my copy of "Garden of Eating" in 10 days to 2 weeks. You have to order directly from their website. It's a huge book with a lot of reference info. I like a couple of the recipes from it. I wonder how much of the book I'll really use, but my husband thought some of the information was really interesting. Now that's saying something!! Here's the link:

http://www.thegardenofeatingdiet.com/

Claire

I'm sorry to hear about your cat

But congratulations on your birthday and the expanding diet

We went on our first family vacation...I drank a ton of soup and ate rice cakes. (Yes, I know, thats not really enough...but on that limited diet I felt pretty good and managed to do Disney with a 4 year old ) I'm more certain than ever that absorption is at the root of my problems.

My dd got tested (Yay!) but her ped only ran the Ttg and total IgA and gene test. I think he ran the wrong gene test, but don't want to call him on it. The ttg and IgA were normal, yay! She still complains of tummy aches pretty frequently though, so we're planning to take dairy and probably gluten out of her diet. We're working on the dairy...wanted to get through Disney first.

I think thats everything. Somedays I still feel generally icky...but when I take the time to look over how I used to feel, I can't believe how far I've come. Maybe I do just need to be patient and let my body heal from gluten. (And corn)