Dr. Schwartz talk

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,I was bummed I had to miss the Saturday morning talk thru Oakland Celiac Support group, and wondered if someone has anything to report.  I had particularly wanted to go although I went to Green's talk, because I'm looking for a new primary care doctor.. have not had much luck with them for years.

Green mentioned some things that are thought to hold back people not responding to the diet.  One is a bacterial overgrowth.. which they can test for with a special " breath test " .  It is quite a pain to do.. takes about 3 hrs and you can't eat anything 6 hrs beforehand nor take even a sip of water 3 hrs prior (but you can drink water during the test).  I learned just beforehand that I had in fact been glutened several times this year so I decided to cancel my test but just thought I'd share.  FYI if you ever eat at the Irish Bank in SF the Shepherd's Pie is not GF.  I was unsure if I'd gotten a mild reaction in the past, and last time I was there happened to notice this obscure condiment on the table called HP I believe.. w/ rye flour in it and some other gluten ingredient.  I noticed it sitting right there next to Old English malt vinegar, which says nothing about gluten on the label (for you newbies), but is also said to contain gluten.  So of course right away I thought they put the HP in the minced meat mixture..  but just a little bit mixed the the ground beef and ketchup.  Waitstaff is not knowlegdeable and if you just asked if it's gf, or " what are all the ingredients? " you would not learn that's in there.

At least having more info is a step forward.  There's been talk on here of B12 shots before, and Dr. Green said he does suggest them if you have a blood test that says it is low.  I'm not sure if it's included in the bloodwork I've had in the past.. and another substance that may be supplemented if low is something like " cartinine " maybe?  Would be a great guess if  I spelled that right, but anyway it sounds something like that.  The doc said this also should be supplemented if the bloodwork shows it is low and thus may improve upon related Chronic Fatique Syndrome symptoms.

Finally, I am curious if there is anyone out there who is very sensitive to gluten, had always been underweight, and despite having trouble with the diet was able  to gain a significant amount of weight after some time.  If so it would be great to pick your brain a little or maybe learn something from your experience.

Hope everyone has a great holiday, and excellent GF indulgences!

Naren