16 hours ago, TicTac said:I can't sufficiently express the gratitude to you all for taking the time to post and share your experiences. It means a lot.
@kayb - Thank you for sharing. It must have been a rough 20 years growing up not knowing why she felt the way she did, until one day, such a significant change...one thing that I am curious about, which is hard to find concrete data on, is how people react to cross contamination or even minute amounts (if a mistake is made) - I have heard everything from very minor tummy aches, all the way to 2-4 day hospitalizations.
Certainly lots of learning and experimentation to do. My recent purchase which has been quite well received was Sweet Potato noodles. Made a nice Korean dish with them, and a noodle soup as well.
There were a lot of health issues that befuddled us. She had her gall bladder removed at age 19 (none of the usual risk factors; not middle-aged, never been pregnant, not overweight). She had a thyroid issue (will be on synthetic thyroid hormone the rest of her life). But the thing that almost drove us over the edge was constant anemia. She went a hematologist in Memphis who simply treated the symptoms (iron infusions every three months, when one should last for more than a year!). I got a different hematologist in Memphis to see her. He took one look at her labs and said, "I would be willing to bet you have celiac disease," which neither of us had ever heard of. She went to a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy, and sure enough, there it was.
I'm glad you caught this early. Hopefully you will avoid the worst of the associated health effects.
It's my understanding people suffer from different levels of sensitivity. My daughter's got much worse, for instance, after she had her second child. Her reaction to exposure to small amounts now is usually stomach upset and bloating, and inflammation in the joints of her hands.