improvement

[saffronhare]

FionaPie reports feeling lots better since Tuesday, which is when our No Moar Gluten experiment began. Her mood seems improved, she hasn't complained of cramping, and her color looks better. I think she's also sleeping on a more normal cycle again. We'll see whether the improved absorption of nutrients from her food helps to alleviate some of the crazy hunger she's had the past several weeks. Aside from the actions she's taken, I think she found having some information and a PLAN to be very reassuring. I know it's calmed *me* down for sure. :) Things we've learned so far:

• There are degrees of sensitivity and/or allergy to gluten. Her blood test results, when they're in, should give us an indication of where she is on the spectrum, but we're guessing she's at least not in the "don't let gluten touch my skin" zone.


• Rice Check and Corn Chex are (duh) gluten-free cereals. I don't intend to let her have cold cereal every morning, but it's nice to know there's a self-serve option if Mommy is tired. :)


• Research and home testing indicate that oats (as in oatmeal) are not a problem, praise heaven. This morning, the girl was up at the same time I was, so she cooked oatmeal on the stove while I supervised as I got ready for work. I don't think I'm comfortable with her doing it totally unsupervised just yet, but it was kinda nice to have somebody else taking care of that -- sure saved me some time!


• Advice from Cousin Nutritionist is to bake our own bread from flours that simply don't involve gluten. Did I already mention that? I think I did. Challenge accepted.

Comments

[katzenfrau.livejournal.com]

Mennonite Superwives mix up six loaves' worth of dough at a time, cook two and freeze four--pull two more out when they need more bread. I guess that's the magic amount of bread dough that it's feasible to knead at one time, because my grandma Nelda (age 99) says her mother did six loaves at a time too.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Good to know.

[zylch.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that things are working out well with self-experimentation and leveling-up skills!

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

Watch out for oatmeal. Cross-contamination is not just common but *rampant*. I think Red Mill has certified gluten-free steel-cut oats available.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

We're learning that...yes, thank you!