Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Gluten-free in Australia

Hi again. I've found most of the basics (thank you for the help though, there were quite a few things there I had no idea about). I just find it frustrating that most quick and easy meals (like my favourite pasta sauces and anything I can just throw in the oven and heat) all use wheat as thickeners and flavours etc. I can't handle the bread at all (yuck!) so have been eating a lot of rice crackers for lunch. I called the Coeliac Society who were pretty helpful. I've only been eating GF for a week and am just trialling to see if wheat and/or gluten are a problem for me (which it would seem so far they likely are). Once I know for sure in about 6 weeks I'll pay the membership fees and become a member of the foundation, apparantly I just need a note from my GP explaining that while I don't have CD I do need to follow a GF diet, although he also said I may be able to tolerate small amounts of wheat in the future once my body has had a rest from it, maybe not though.
I'm pretty lucky with dairy. You've probably heard of it being in QLD, I drink the A2 milk. I'm not lactose intolerant but get terrible pain from normal milk. I happened to find the A2 milk at my local HFS down here and tried it and can drink a whole glass without a problem. I'm also lucky in that I can tolerate milk additives in food just not whole glasses or in tea etc unless it's the A2. Mind you I didn't drink milk for about 3 months when starting the diet and then found it made no difference between drinking the A2 milk or avoiding milk altogether. It does depend on the person though. Maybe once you are stable you'll be able to handle small amounts of milk or maybe try the A2 milk?
Thank you for the internet tip. I'll do a search and see what I come up with. And thank you too for your help. It's kinda hard on the boards sometimes as we just don't stock the same things as America does (I think in a lot of ways we are much more limited).
Edited to add: Oops sorry didn't mention SFS. I've tried almost all of them. Benefibre, psyllium, metamucil, those granule things and I always get more D from them too. The safest one to try is probably Benefibre, it's just an over the counter from the chemist. I had problems with it too though and was only taking 1/8 of a teaspoon. Now I pretty much do without but I do take the Lifestream Aloe Vera Juice (or the other brand from the HFS that has Manuka honey in it) twice a day, morning and night (however it's a little frowned upon by a lot of people but I find it makes me feel a LOT better), I also take 2 Slippery Elm tablets with breakfast and again with dinner and they've been the best "sfs" I've ever taken, they help me go without giving me D however they aren't a fibre. I also take 1 dairy free inner health plus capsule every night which has also done wonders for the belly. Hope this helps and sorry I couldn't help with a fibre supplement.

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Amy

Edited by doubletrouble (06/30/05 07:05 PM)

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