Hey this must be the month!! Yeah, the month that you are organized! Almost every month you state, "It's ______________ and I'm still not organized".

Congrats on the organizational feat! heheheeee


Oh yeah Al, am I ever organized. It's October and finally I am organized ROTFLMAO
Anne

I really think I am finally getting better!

Yes Cara it has been a long haul but I do believe all this info on how quickly you will feel good, is really outdated. Maybe for the people that feel great and suddenly get the disease and are diagnosed quickly...maybe they feel great, but it seems that for the majority it takes many months.

I really don't think it was hidden gluten mainly because I am eating all the same things. Also, my husband is also eating the same things and his AGA's went down to 5 already from 20 and 28 while mine are still positive. I am hoping my next tests will show a major improvement.

The strange thing with my husband though is his weird tTG numbers. He started out with 18 out of 20 and that was on a semi gf diet, I had the house almost GF for 8 months. Then he and my youngest were eating a 1/2 bagel a day and both their tTG's went down and they were tested on the same day at the same lab. Once they started their true gluten free diet, both tTG's went back up. So husband went from 18 (pre gf) to 11 (challange) and is now at 14 (totally gf for 4 months). I don't trust the lab that is doing our tests because I have seen different messages like...wrong cap, redo test...another spilled blood, not enough to do test (this one I was never informed of...it was for me and my last Gliadin tests..I thought about making a stink but decided my tTG's were still positive so they would be too.)

The strange thing is with all this is, I thought your tTG's went down before the gliadins...hmmmm

My husband and daughter seem to be following the pattern of feeling much better and now not so good. I accidentally let my husband and I get glutened at a picnic with Turkey cooked in a deep fryer. I checked all the seasonings and was quite pleased we could eat it. I totally forgot about the injection until on the way home. I didn't say anything hoping it wasn't injected but the next day I had MG symptoms and my husband was extremely sick feeling like he had rocks in his stomach. The only good out of this was my husband finally realized he does have Celiac. It took him about 1 week to feel better.

I am really looking forward to the NY conference with Anne and hope to obtain some very valuable information. Hopefully Anne will take the notes because I am still having a little problem with that.

Oh, and the neat thing I am doing now is this mini-medical class at the NEOUCOM. It is about the brain. We are tought like medical students only we don't have to read 100's of pages before the class. I will post later about what I have learned and the sad things that should have been discussed and are not. I have one class left on Thursday and then I can hang out my shingle...LOL.

Valerie, I am so sorry about your loss, you are in my prayers.



I have hardly been at work for months but have now started going for a few hours every day. It is fun to be able to sit at my desk without feeling like I need to lie on the floor to get some energy.

I do still have lingering weakness in my legs and chest muscles. My walk is still slow even though I think I am walking normal. I am still afraid to exercise as everytime I do something happens to set me back. About 3 weeks ago I went to curves and only did one rotation at a very slow pace and still pulled some ligament on the side of my knee which still isn't 100%.

I am checking in after going away for a long weekend with some friends. It was a nice break. The excuse was that some of us have a significant birthday this fall but we decided that we needed to make it an annual get away.

I am looking forward to the fall--my favorite season.

I am sorry about your loss Valerie.

Grace-I hope your "healing crisis" is very short and that you are stronger than ever when you get through it.

--Judy

Valerie, so sorry to hear of your loss.

Kim, I didn't realize your son had had a <mis>adventure. Glad he's doing well!

My 6yo remains gf, vegan, soy-free and corn-free (actually, I slipped up and fed him some pureed black bean soup with fresh corn in it, but it didn't seem to bother him). I suppose I need to challenge the soy - its funny, when he was younger we would do knock-knock jokes about "TOFE WHO? Do you like tofu?", and he would always say "no!". Now he begs for tofu and tempeh. Poor thing. I would love to have Enterolab give me the answers, but I don't know if we can/should swing it financially.

I have been having more energy lately, which is a real blessing. I've been so fatigued for so long, with intermittent remissions. I keep hoping the fatigue is a result of my gluten sensitivity and <presumable> vitamin deficiencies than Lupus (which I still want to believe has been misdiagnosed!)! When I'm bone weary though, I wonder. Some good news - at my annual, my ob/gyn ordered a CBC and all my counts were within normal range! Yea! So definite improvement there. I took myself off soy for 2 weeks (vs my son's 3 months and counting) and that probably wasn't long enough. Its hard for me to measure fatigue - my son's symptoms tend to be more obvious.

I'm here...mostly staying quiet and reading all of your wonderful posts.

Valerie, I, too, suffered numerous miscarriages. Fortunately (?), most of mine were in the first 2 or 3 weeks. I was not producing enough progesterone to maintain the pregnancies. I took suppositories and shots of progesterone and managed to complete 3 pregnancies. Now, knowing that I have a problem with gluten, it makes sense. Harry Delcher, my doc in Atlanta, said that all of your hormones get whacked out when you are gluten intolerant. It still wasn't easy and you have my utmost sympathy. I am now entering what I suspect is early menopause at 43. My estrogen levels are very low.

We are still on the journey to healing my son's brain. He is still struggling at school, which is frustrating as he is a bright boy. He just doesn't care enough to apply himself. When he does do his work, it is "A" quality. It's really taking a toll on our relationship. I would consider homeschooling him, but right now, our relationship is so explosive that I don't think it is a good idea. Physically, he's maintaining, but not really putting on weight. I ask him all the time if he is cheating on the diet and he reassures me he isn't, but his tummy seems too upset to believe him. I can't seem to get thru to him that he has to take some responsibility for his health. I am meeting with the school in 2 weeks to hammer out a SST plan that will probably end up going on into an IEP.


On a positive note, the girls (13 and 8) are thriving! My 13 yo, who was always on the low side in the growth charts, is now just about looking me in the eye after an ENORMOUS growth spurt. (I am 5'9" and hubby is 6'2". ) She aches at times from growing so fast. My 8 yo is also sprouting like a weed.

I am feeling much better as well and think I may be on to fixing my aching joints and bones. I started giving one of my horses MSM and saw such a dramatic improvement that I also started taking it along with a B complex and add'l magnesium. It seems that it is beginning to help even after just a week. My energy levels seem to be improving as well, so I am on a throwing out spree...very liberating!

Allison
Canton, Ga.

Hi Allison! Glad you checked in.

Did you know that 'growing pains' are often the result of a dairy sensitivity (both my Mom and my daughter were cured of their leg pain by deleting all dairy). Obviously in my mother they were not 'growing pains' but the same leg pain that my daughter would get... and she sufferred all her life. It took a year of my dd being cured of her 'growing pains' for my Mom to try it... et voila! no leg pain at almost 70 years old. (Unfortunately she cheats a lot and has decided she can tolerate 'some' leg pain. She doesn't dare complain to me about it anymore though. )

I'm just checking in. It is so nice to hear from everyone. Val - Sorry about your loss. I know how you feel as I have had 2 of them myself. Give your kids some extra hugs and you will get through it soon.

Michael is doing extremely well (finally!). His OT and PT have dropped to once every 3 months and he will be getting his wheelchair soon. Hopefully this month. It is only to use for long distances, but it will be nice to have on hand. He is also growing like a weed. He turned 7 on Sunday and is almost up to my shoulders and he no longer requires slim pants!! I am so excited about that. I used to have to find him slims that also had the adjustable waist. Ugghh! It is so nice to see him gain some weight.

My girls are doing well also. Ellie, 4, is still constipated but it is starting to get better. The GF diet is helping. I think it will take her some time to heal up. Kara, 13, will not stay on the GF diet. Everytime she complains about something, I just tell her how much better it would be if she were to stay away from the gluten.

Rachel - it was nice to hear that you and your son are taking Karate. Michael is interested in that and I am currently looking for a place. I never thought about taking it with him though. I wonder if I can even do a kick.

I hope everyone has a great month!

Lisa~

I am so glad to hear Michael is doing better!! And growing!!

Cara

Its October? Eeek! Just got the rent check mailed off (oops) *sigh* Long month with trying to get our car back (we took it on vacation, and it didn't want to leave) and school and what not.

Dd is dairy free, or relatively so (every so often I slip up and find obscure whey or butter oil in something I gave her. Unfortunately, this has so far proved our point that she needs to be dairy free. Rats.) So, we're still trying to find yummy meals everyone can eat. Rice...rice...and more rice...

We're gearing up for Halloween...Looks like Tinkerbell and Mulan/Ping will be running around here come late October. Trick or treating for no dairy, nuts or dye treats will be interesting.

Crossing my fingers that this fall will go better than last fall!

I will tell Kat that it could be linked to dairy. DS and I are both dairy free, but the girls are not. She also gets the bumpy (tho not itchy) rash on her fanny that she refuses to believe is connected to dairy, even tho mine went away after going DF and comes back if I get a molecule of it. Her symptoms seem to be more physical with dairy, but ds seems totally MENTAL. He gets very aggressive, argumentative, and totally loses focus when he has dairy. A gluten reaction is the horrible stomach ache and diarrhea.

Also, thank you ever so much for your suggestion to use coconut milk in my coffee! I get the lite version (no chunks!) and can't really tell the difference.

Allison