Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Shells,

I was wondering where you were!!! You're one of my favorite posters.

Ok, listen up; it's NOT the end of the world. Wheat intolerance is very common. Take it from one who has been allergic to wheat since I was about your age, going on over 26 years now. And I mean not just intolerant but down right allergic. I ended up in ER a couple of time getting shots to pull me out of it and stop the esophageal spasms. I'm wondering about your "pimples". You sure they weren't hives? It is common in food allergies. I had them all over, even in my hair and between my toes. Everything itches, and yes, even your eyes. You feel terrible, no energy and like you have the flu.

NOT eating wheat is not going to make you nutritionally deficient one bit, unless you let it. Other than some soluble fiber and something to put your jam on, what is it really contributing? Rice and potatoes and other safe grains can do the same thing. The options out there today are endless, not like when I only had rice cakes to eat, the only thing on the market available at the time. You just have to look around, and be aware of what constitutes the possibility of wheat being in a particular product. The dietitian can help you out there. It may be such things as "modified food starch" that really means wheat. Then there are other things, like soy sauce that use wheat, however La Choy (if you can get it there) doesn't. If in doubt always buy products that say gluten free, not just wheat free.
Join the Celiac.com boards, and there are others. They embrace not only Celiac patients but wheat intolerant folks as well. They also have great food lists�.what you can have, and what you can't, and recipes as well. Get some books that address eating wheat free with recipes. There are bunches of them out there. You are smart and I know you will get even smarter, real fast!!!

(And BTW, for the American folks reading this, there is a great Celiac article in the Feb. 17th issue of Woman's Day magazine, page 58, that addresses one of the main complaints of Celiac patients being bloating. Sound familiar to all of us? It also says that now the stats are 1 in every 133 people who are Celiac, that's means it affects over 2 million Americans of all ages. Like IBS, it affects more women than men. If the rates keep climbing like they are now in a few years Celiac disease will outnumber diabetes and Crohn's disease.)

Interesting that your doc wants you off oats. I assume barley and rye as well? You know what that means don't you? He likely wants you off all the gluten based grains and then will see how you do adding them in one by one. I never had a problem with the other grains, until recently. The more I eat gluten free the better I feel which means I may be Celiac. (And her we go with the heritage factor�being � Irish, the rest English, French and a little German.)

Sounds like you have a good doc you can work with, who is concerned about your soluble fiber intake, and your IBS as well. You are very lucky!!! That's more than a lot of people have.

Don't, please, look at this as a set back. Look at it as an adventure, a challenge. You will be surprised at how much better you will feel in a few weeks if you strictly adhere to the rules.

In the meantime, if you want to e-mail me, feel free. I have more suggestions, recipes, etc. if you want them.

Good luck, Kandee

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