Off The Beaten Path

My photo
Georgia, United States
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same.

Tuesday, August 26

New Computer

I am in the process of trying to get used to a brand new computer. I am not exactly in love with change that requires redoing all your links and bookmarks. It takes a lot of time to download all the programs and music and pictures. I am about halfway done. I have spent the last few weeks doing this, and I won't move this computer into my bedroom until I am finished. Then I will move my old computer down here in the office. Actually this is a nice quiet room, however the chair isn't as comfortable.

It is still raining, it rained all day. I sat on the front porch for a couple of hours and just watched it rain. I had been feeling pretty good, until the neighbor brought me some chili that she had made. I asked her if it was gluten free, and she said yes, well she was wrong. After conferring with her, she used tomato sauce that was not gluten free. She doesn't fully understand that they put wheat in a lot of things as thickening. She just doesn't get it, I have made up my mind that I will not be eating anything that she fixes in the future. No matter how safe she thinks it might be. There are brands that I can eat, Hunt's is one, but of course the kind that she used wasn't safe for me. It will probably be a very long time before I have my list of safe ingredients. It is all trial and error, for the most part. The only things that I know are really safe are those that say GLUTEN FREE right on the can or jar. I am slowly eliminating all things from my house that aren't safe for me to eat. We even use gluten free pasta now. It isn't exactly like the wheat variety, but at least I can also eat it. Of course the family eats bread, with their sandwiches, but just about everything else I buy, I can also eat.

It takes me almost three days to get to feeling good again after being "glutened." And the backache is terrible......

15 comments:

Bill ~ {The Old Fart} said...

Enjoy your new computer Nea, I know what you mean downloading all the programmes again. It is the same when I have to reload windows.

Hope you are feeling better soon, I have a friend that needs to eat Gluten Free food. Her diet has totally changed.

Neoma said...

Hi Bill, I have had this computer since my birthday, but I really didn't want a new one. the husband insisted on buying me one, he is a computer geek, and he has to buy the newest and lastest, he already bought himself one, so it was my turn. I told him, I do not need a new computer, but he didn't listen. So it has been just sitting, not being used. I am at the age where learning all new stuff is a bit stressful. There is nothing the same of vista as with XP. It is okay, but it is kind of cutesy for me. The new graphics and such. Yeh, being gluten free is a whole new way of life. No more eating out unless you are prepared to spend a few days in bed.

The problem is, the body reacts to the gluten in a way that it effects your whole body. Even my eyes act up when I get gluten. Not to mention my head. I can hardly drive I go into such a fog. So I lay low till I recover. Makes traveling really hard. More and more people are finding out that they have this, they say about 1 out of 133 have it, only 1 out of 3500 know it.

Neoma said...

If it were me and I had a problem that the Dr's have been unable to find a reason for, I would get a blood test and find out. It effects so many parts of the body. for over two years they though I had Lupus. Celiac's also effects the joints....

Neoma said...

haha, well actually it was me, and I did...have the blood test.....and the biopsy.

Queenie said...

NEA- the autistic children I taught were on gluten -free diets. Their mothers made the bread in a bread-maker and more & more placers here accommodate these needs. All our super-markets have gluten-free aisles, and the pricers are going down....
Still can't get your blog to load onto my reader!!!!

Pat Paulk said...

Nea, my grandson is allergic to glutin. I've never seen any of his reactions, but some have put him in the emergency room. I read labels and call my daughter if I'm not sure. They use almond flour in place of wheat. How long have you had this?

Neoma said...

Hi Queenie, yes I have heard that autistic children benefit greatly from a gluten free diet. Not sure if what they have is Celiac's, but I know that Casien isn't good for them either.

Neoma said...

Hi Pat, from what they know, I guess you are born with the condition, it is hereditary. My father's family had it. Anyway about three years ago I started having all kinds of degestive problems. That is how it began.....slowly it manifested to other things, I had eye problems, joint problems, I had a condition called insulin dumping, headaches, brain fog, but mostly this terrible back ache. I told the Dr it felt hot, like I had eaten something hot, and it was just sitting there burning, but it also hurt like I had been kicked. They thought I had Lupus, then in April my father died of small intestine cancer which is considered to be quite rare. The Dr. mentioned Celiac's, and I looked it up and the symptoms were almost textbook of what I had been suffereing. So since April I have tried to stay gluten free. A lot of my problems have slowly gone away, but the trick is staying gluten free in a world that seems to use wheat in things that it really doesn't need them. It is in all cereals, pasta's, a lot of soups, packaged mixes, even things that you wouldn't think like the pasta sauces. Even canned beans has wheat. But they hide it in words like spice, natural ingredients, flavoring, a lot of the time they don't just say it has wheat. I can tell if I have been glutened within an hour, the pain begins, and I cramp like I am having a baby. It was so bad before I got off of wheat I couldn't leave the house. Now I can leave, I have good days when I am almost normal, but just a piece of candy can be all it takes to set me back. We went to the show once and I ate one piece of Nick's candy, before we left the theater the pain had started, and Nick looked on the box, and it said wheat right on the box. He felt pretty bad.

A piece of bread would probably just about kill me now, because since I have been off wheat it seems I have no tolerance at all for it. I have an article a few blog posts back that explains what Celiac's is all about.

Neoma said...

http://neababyblu1.blogspot.com/search/label/Celiac

Queenie said...

Its called a leaky gut they suffer with, which they think contributes to their problems..

Neoma said...

Hi Queenie, that is one of the key elements to having Celiac's....the leaking gut syndrome, but in a Celiac's case it is caused by the wheat protein, and it is only one of three key problems.

By the way, Quilly never could get my blog to load on the reader either, I guess there is something wrong with my blog.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad that you didn't eat the chili!

Have you been to your local health food store and asked about gluten-free products? In Vegas several of the major grocery stores have a gluten-free section as well. You might speak to the manager of your favorite store.

Neoma said...

Hi Quilly, Actually, I did eat the chili, and I have been recovering since. That is when I made up my mind to not eat anything that she fixes, ever again. Because she assured me it was gluten free, but when I pinned her down she didn't really know. To her, it doesn't really matter, and she doesn't really believe me I think that I have it. She tests me, or so she thinks. Then when I get glutened she pretends that she doesn't know what she did. People are very strange when it comes to food allergies. They never seem to believe a person. I guess they think it is all just a joke or something.

I just got back tonight from Harry's market, and they have a wide range of gf products. I spent close to 135. there. But I got a lot of stuff. It was great to be able to have a choice of products.....

Health food stores do have some, but our store here is really small and doesn't carry that much.

Avus said...

Computer's are a bugger at times, what? Mine crashed on me a month ago and I have had so much trouble getting the new one set up (old Windows 95 programs will not work with Vista - so even more expense) that I had given up blogging for a while - I guess the "muse" will return soon.
Have not visited you for some time and I am pleased to find you are well and sorting out the gluten thing.

Neoma said...

Oh, I know what you mean. That is the problem I am facing also. Some of the programs that I know and love are not for Vista, so I am in between the new computer and the old. Luckily my computer didn't crash. When that happens you lose so much. I lost all my music once and half of my pictures. I have never found a good way of backing up my pictures, because I add to my files. So then if I back them up on disc, I am saving them many times. Well some of them. I guess it doesn't matter, duplication.

The gluten thing is on going, because just when you think you got it down, they change their ingredients in the catsup and start adding wheat, for example. You can't go on old knowledge. Some of the gluten free diet information is out dated. But I am slowly getting better. I am hoping that the joint pain will improve in time.