Category: gluten free

Did Methotrexate Make Me Gluten Intolerant?

Posted on by Grayson

a photo of a clear pill organizer with mostly white pills and orange-yellow ones in Friday's slot against a black table; a yellow overlay with white text: " Did methotrexate make me gluten intolerant? Not Standing Still's Disease "

When I started methotrexate in late 2010, it was rough. I started on the pills and then discontinued them, moving on to biologics. After switching to a new rheumatologist a year later, I tried it again – this time as an injection in conjunction with Enbrel.

About this time is when I noticed that anything containing gluten made me incredibly sick. We ran a Celiac blood test but, as I wasn’t eating gluten, it came back inconclusive.

Since the only treatment for Celiac disease is to maintain a gluten-free diet, I’ve maintained that since late 2012. It’s not always been easy. The advancements in gluten-free products have made it easier. I’ve learned a lot of cool cooking and baking tricks along the way. I have to work more for my food, and that’s a good thing.

Throughout the years, I’ve wondered many things about my inability to eat gluten. Why did it come on so suddenly? Is there a reason it continues to last? Why did it come on when it did?

I recently came across a few journal articles that might shed light on that.

Apparently, there have been cases where gluten intolerance-like behavior has come on as a result of methotrexate. For most patients, this has calmed down after following a gluten-free diet and discontinuing the medication. These patients were then able to restart consuming gluten.

But I wonder – what is it that these patients have received as far as care that has led to this recovery? Are there patients for whom this never cleared up?

I survived on bread for the longest time. My go-to foods were sandwiches, bagels, and garlic bread. From 2010-2012, I practically lived on pop-tarts and on-the-go pastries or protein bars. What else could have changed during that time period to trigger a gluten issue?

I just don’t know.

If you’ve dealt with gluten intolerance after being on methotrexate, has it cleared up? Is it situational or stress-related? I’ love to hear from you.

I’m off to #Healthevoices!

Posted on by Grayson
This weekend, I get to attend the Healthevoices conference in Chicago! I’m actually leaving tonight after work because I love Chicago.
Not just because I get to snag a ton of gluten free Do-Rite Donuts in the morning then.
Chubbs the Adipose remembers
I am SUPER excited!
PS: While Janssen is paying for my travel expenses for the summit, all thoughts and opinions expressed here or on social media are my own… especially regarding donuts.

 

Have you heard of Dinesafe yet?

Posted on by Grayson
Today I want to share some information on an app that I’m super stoked about – DineSafe.
I get nervous when trying out new restaurants sometimes because many places offer ‘gluten-free’ items but mostly cater to those who follow the fad version of the diet – not those like me who really need to avoid forms of gluten.
When I heard about this free app, I got way too excited.
It uses the location on your phone to find the nearest restaurants near you that have uploaded menus. It then automatically puts together menus based on your allergies or diets you may be following (Paleo, Vegan, Halal, etc).
Portland, OR, I miss your food stuffs
The nice thing, too, is that the allergens included are more than just the top eight most commonly included in apps. This is great for those of us with multiple food allergies as well, as many apps out there may only cover a handful of what is listed here.
A great thing to think about is that European countries have already required that restaurants have a list of allergens utilized within the restaurant and in all meals. The allergens listed on DineSafe follow those same allergens. If restaurants get on board with this idea now, they’ll be ready for when it hits the United States.
Those of us with food allergies have all been to restaurants that do have allergen-free meals but get grumpy about actually taking the measures to keep us safe. I have certainly encountered this with my medical need to be gluten free. Customers can endorse restaurants that do amazing jobs thanks to a new update, allowing customers to see more information on how a restaurant handles those with food allergies instead of just that certain meals are devoid of allergens.
Since the restaurants put in their menus, this allows for more accuracy as to what is currently on the menu than some of the websites out there. I know that I have been to restaurants where I just know what I can eat thanks to researching beforehand, but then the items I thought they had were taken off the menu years ago and I wind up eating chips and dip.
DineSafe can eliminate that for me and for others.
You can even create petitions on the app to have your favorite spots join! Since it’s not super widespread right now, I’m really excited about this feature in particular. If DineSafe isn’t really around in your area, this can be a great way to get it started! I plan on fowarding information about this app to the allergen groups in my area and recommending that my favorite restaurants check it out.
I’ve lived here for six years so I tend to know what I can and cannot eat. However, this could be a great tool for restaurants around the university I work at to utilize in order to bring in more traffic and show how willing they are to cater to food allergies and dietary restrictions.
DineSafe also recommends allergen-friendly training for restaurants a small fee as well, helping them to avoid training that isn’t up to par.
You can check out DineSafe on Facebook (where the above photos are from) and Twitter OR download the app via the Apple Store or Google Play.
Compensation for this post was provided by Dinesafe. All opinions expressed here are my own.

 

Gluten Free Living

Posted on by Grayson

I know I’ve touched on here a couple of times about the fact that I am on a gluten free diet. My blood tests recently came back and I do not have celiac disease. However, everything on my body feels horrible after I have gluten – especially my hands and anywhere else my disease feels like hitting that day.

I started this back in September and October, and I feel as though the boyfriend and I have learned a lot about how to live GF. Well, he still has gluten, but not as much. Anyway, I felt like it was a good idea to share with y’all, mostly because I keep seeing questions from people on tips for GF living.

First, get a stand mixer. The bf’s mom got us a beautiful kitchen aid for Christmas and it has really helped our recipes turn out better – and saved our hands!

Second, learn how to make GF breads and pastries. This could be the best thing you’ve ever done. I missed eating pizza, cake, cookies, and everything. But now I just experiment with delicious GF versions. If you’d rather, Betty Crocker (I’ve found so far anyway) makes the best GF cake mix. Otherwise, there are a ton of mixes you can find if you look for them. This is true not only for cakes, but cookies, breads, and even (YES) cinnamon rolls.

Now, baking bread with GF flours is pretty easy. It’s getting the mixing right that’s tricky. Again, get a stand mixer. Also, it doesn’t mix together like ‘normal’ dough. It’s supposed to, instead, look more like spackle. The rules are a little different. Why?

Gluten acts as a bonding agent. It holds breads and things together. When you don’t have gluten, you have to use another bonding agent – usually xanthan gum. Because of this, the chemistry gets thrown off. So just watch yourself! And if you don’t get a recipe right the first time, please try again!

PLEASE READ LABELS!

Seriously. Things you expect to be gluten free might not be, mostly because of seasonings. Arthritis Ashley recently had some nuts that for some horrible reason had gluten in it. She was lucky and was able to not really eat the food, but sometimes that gets really tricky.

Also, sometimes gluten tends to hide. The FDA made it necessary to list wheat in the ingredients on things, but gluten isn’t just found in wheat – it’s also found in things like barley, rye, spelt, etc. Learn the other hidden ways gluten can pop into your diet by familiarizing yourself with the hidden sources of gluten in your foods. I have found this site helpful for that.

For example, I have a potato problem. I love fries, crisps, jojos, wedges, baked tatoes, tater tots – pretty much all things potato… except au gratin. Ew.

Anyway, you have to be really careful, because a lot of fries – which you expect to be not gluten-ful – do have seasonings and things that make them so. Again, please, please, please read labels!

Get rid of all your seasonings and condiments that have gluten in them, even if there are people who can handle gluten in the house. There are still some things in our apartment that have gluten in them, but it’s pretty much limited to when my boyfriend gets pizza from the not GF places or his regular bread.

Make friends with other people who ditch the gluten, whether it’s online or in person. That way you can swap recipes and experiment with foods as a team!

Speaking of, here are some of my favorite GF recipes:

Maple Cornmeal Pancakes – These are HEAVEN. I’m not even kidding you. It’s like a mouth-gasm. They’re SO filling that having sides isn’t even needed. Seriously, you need to make these, like yesterday.

Chocolate Chip Cookies – My mom makes killer CCC. They’ve always been the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted, in the fields of cookies. When I realized gluten was making me want to die, I immediately knew I was going to miss these cookies. Alton Brown sir, you are a saint!

Pizza Dough – Okay, Spelt has gluten, so don’t use spelt. But once you learn more about GF flours, you can modify this recipe. We usually use all purpose GF flours and such.

Mmmm lasagna. Enough said.

Cinnamon Bread – We’ve found that it works better if you put about half the topping in the mix right away, and then put the rest on the top about 10 minutes before it’s done.

Cornbread – Mmmm.

There are a ton more recipes out there, so start looking!

And here are a couple of my favorite GF brands.

Envirokidz – Not only it is Nature’s Path’s answer to GF, it’s geared towards kids so they have freaking adorable animals like koalas and lemurs. And they taste amazing. They have cereals and breakfast/snack bars.

Glutino – The entire company is gluten free. Bread crumbs. Yogurt covered pretzels. All purpose flour. Bread. Oh, and FREAKING FREEZER PIZZA. The feta is the best by the way.

Pamela’s Products – Sometimes you want delicious things like cookies but don’t want to have to put dough in the fridge for HOURS. So I reach for these awesome lil guys. Chunky chocolate chip is the best, especially with vanilla soy milk.

Lundberg – GF couscous, and now super awesome pasta. Mmmm.

Annie’s – Mac & Cheese and fruit snacks. Heaven!

Amy’s Kitchen – GF soups and chilis and all sorts of goodies.

Like I said, there are a TON of options available. Going GF isn’t as hard as it used to be. It doesn’t just mean eating veggies and fruits. You can enjoy normal foods, with a little twist.

If you have questions about going gluten free, or about the kinds of recipes and foods to try, please shoot me a message!

Am I Gluten and Dairy Intolerant?

Posted on by Grayson

I think so.

Since my wisdom tooth surgery, I have been being nicer to my body and getting more protein. Part of that involved paying more attention to my metabolism – which right now is kind of crazy slow. Lame. But I digress. In paying more attention to that, I noticed that certain things make me feel horrible – not just sick to my stomach horrible, but I noticed that my RA starts to flare up more after certain foods. I thought maybe it was junk food. So then I cut back on that again and felt a little better. But the healthier I eat, the more I notice other issues.

When I eat things with a lot of wheat, or really any bread, my asthma picks up. And then about 20-45 minutes later, I feel crazy sick to my stomach. So I stopped eating bread. And then I noticed eating cereal did the same thing. I love cheese, and noticed the same thing while eating some.

And it occurred to me that what I’ve heard from people for years about dairy and wheat agitating RA could be right. So I stopped eating those things as much and have noticed that my arthritis is calming down.

Gluten intolerance symptoms are here. I’m amazed at how many I experience, and even more amazed that listed on there is juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It’s just crazy. Lactose intolerance symptoms are here. I’ve always had rumbly tummy noises (to quote Pooh Bear), but never really knew why. Now it makes sense.

Supposedly, along with gluten intolerance comes an intolerance to fructose and sorbitol. Sorbitol I don’t really encounter, because it is mostly in gums and diet foods and such that I can’t have because of my allergy to phenylalanine. But frutctose I encounter a lot… because my worst vice is soda. I’ve always used caffeine to help control my pain, and I know that I shouldn’t for many reasons, but I do. Oops. I also noticed recently that soda tends to increase the pain that I feel in my hands. So that’s fun. I’m down to one soda a day (mostly) but have also noticed that I’m drinking alcohol more… which supposedly also helps RA be less intense. And I’m not an alcoholic looking for an excuse – there are studies! I promise!

So in the past few weeks, the boyfriend and I have begun eating at home more, incorporating more healthy grains and vegetables into our diet. We still eat out one or two days a week, but we save it for the weekends (or special occasions) and it’s only one meal a day. We are spending more money at the grocery store, but less money elsewhere, and that is also helpful. It’s not always easy to find foods without dairy or gluten, but I’m finding out the best places to look, and that’s a start. Whole Foods has a lot, but so does Woodmans, a local grocery store.

It’s fun to eat healthier, and I feel so much better lately. The only thing that will make it better is my upcoming job change. Standing on my feet for 8+ hours, the stress, and all the things I end up doing extra are not worth the pain that I then experience… especially since it seems as though my current employers could really care less about the accommodations that I need… which is really sad, but oh well I guess. I could be mean, and take it further, but since I’m leaving I won’t. I’ll just get excited about this being my last real week, save two more shifts the weekend after next.