Getting the bad news

[sqbr]

So I FINALLY got to a recommended chronic fatigue specialising GP today. He started by asking what the "Dr" was for, and then when I said maths his whole face lit up and he started fanboying maths (apparently he seriously considered majoring) which was a nice start. He took my history and unlike all the vague handwaving I've gotten from other doctors was all "Ah, I know what's wrong with and how we can fix it" which was both encouraging and discouraging (I'm not sure anyone can be that sure with chronic fatigue)

Anyway, he gave me some vitamins and stuff to take, and suggested a gently increasing course of walking, and then said "Hmm. You say you're intolerant of dairy. Well, you should cut that out completely and also cut out gluten"
"Really? Are you sure? Because it never seems to affect me"
"Trust me"
"And..you mean cut them out completely? Not even skim milk?"
"Yes, sorry, even a little bit can set it all off again"
"But! But!! ...man, this is going to suck, I'm hard enough to feed as it is"

And I went to the supermarket, and it does suck. There do not appear to be any cake or bread mixes (or actual cakes or breads) which don't replace wheat with soy and or milk powder. All I could find was plain flour and rice cakes :/ Are there any high fibre gluten-free grains apart from brown rice and amaranth? I eat a lot of whole grains. Any other gluten-free-living advice would be nice, I may have specific questions after I have a chance to rest and think about it more (shopping was TIRING)

He was fairly understanding, since he has trouble finding gluten free stuff himself. I'd fight it more but afaict it's pretty much the first thing everyone suggests for chronic fatigue :/
Also he said I should try to make sure my meat is organic
Me: "Does kangaroo count?"
Dr (with pained expression) Kangaroo?
Me: Why, is that bad?
Dr: How can eat something that can give you a hug?

Heh. That is SO not my first consideration with food right now :) (And yes, it turns out he's vegan, though he made no attempt to get me off meat or eggs and pretty much implied I should keep eating lots)

Oh, and if you want the doctors details it's Dr. Alastair Nuttall, 6 Burgess Street Midland, 9250 6977.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/doctor_k_/]

Tell him kangaroos don't hug. They'll scratch you, and disembowel you with their hindlegs. The only time they might put their arms around you is so they can scratch your back and tear away your flesh.
In my experience treating kangaroo victims, that is.

Roo is tasty, lean, humanely harvested, and so much more environmentally good than beef or sheep.

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

cupidsbow is gluten intolerant and can probably give you a heads up on foods: location of.

[greteldragon.livejournal.com]

Dr: How can eat something that can give you a hug?

That made me smile, such a cute way of putting it. Not that kangaroos are often nice about their hugs.

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the additinoal constraints. I don't know about gluten, but generally avoiding wheat makes me less worse. I've actually become quite fond of rice flour for pan fry dusting and making potato, fish or chicken patties. I don't really have a baking habit though, so have no advice there.

Actual food thoughts. Don't know if it'll help though.

[greteldragon.livejournal.com]

Oh also, find and make friends with your nearest healthfood shop store. They can do a lot more for you than a supermarket, as supermarkets are restricted in a lot of ways which makes getting (whatever) friendly food in difficult (particularly Coles, I know, we have a really hard time trying to balance, space with what head office tells us to stock, and what our customers are yelling at us for stocking/not stocking).

And don't expect readymade food as anything other than a treat. Unless you like baby food (apparently a lot of that is at least gluten free). That way you don't build up for as much disappointment.

These are the tactics I got told for avoiding gluten and being vegan (not relevant to you but was interesting to me at the time) in a country town though, people tell me its a bit different up here, but I still found this advice useful when I moved. ;P

[alias_sqbr]

Yeah, I thought about making the "Kangaroos really aren't that nice from everything I've heard, and sheep/chickens etc can be pretty cuddly" argument, but decided it probably wouldn't have much weight with a vegan :) I find it more annoying from people who are willing to eat other animals.

[alias_sqbr]

There's several gluten intolerant people on my flist. It's the thing to be! :)

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

*gulps* Now I find out how cool you really are!

[callistra.livejournal.com]

And really, chickens and sheep are about as cuddly as ... well, not terribly cuddly things.
:-)
I think I will stick to stuffed versions made in china if I need a hug from an animal.

[velithya]

oh hai

so you need stuff that does not contain gluten, dairy or soy? have I missed anything? I can have a look at my cupboard and see what I've got.

Places I shop:

1)woolworths health food ("naytura foods") section has a wide range of muesli/biscuits/cake mixes/etc

2)IGA - my local IGA has deli meats marked as GF and you should be able to ask to see the label to check your soy/dairy stuff. It also has bread rolls in the bread section, I don't think I have any atm but I will check ingredients for you next time I have a packet

3)coles should have a selection of frozen foods - red FREEDOM FOODS range and blue PATTIES range, not sure whether they contain milk/soy though

4)Alternative Bites - okay so it's in garden city which is kind of far away but their food is pretty delicious. They only list for gluten and lactose content though, best to phone and find out about dairy and soy.

I have never really checked grains for fibre content. potatos and corn/maize are ok as well though idek how they stack up fibre wise.

Feel free to ask questions.

heh

[thanners.livejournal.com]

Apart from the finding-you-should-avoid-even-more-foods part, it actually sounded like a pretty cool doctor visit. :P

[paperishcup.livejournal.com]

Hallo...

Stumbled upon your entry when clicking on a friend's friends page, and since I happen to be checking my email after work whilst still on the premesis of work*, thought I'd look at the packets on the shelves for you.

Let there be cake, she says! The following things by the brand 'Orgran' (which can sometimes be found in supermarkets) are gluten, dairy and soy (and nut!) free: chocolate cake mix, vanilla cake mix, chocolate muffin mix, lemon poppyseed muffin mix, chocolate mousse dessert mix, custard powder, pancake mix, and apple & cinnamon pancake mix. Some do require milk in the mixing-up of them, but there's always rice milk or almond milk**. There is also bread mix but I haven't tried it so don't know how it tastes.

In other exciting news, a new local producer has started making DAIRY AND GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE CRACKLES and FUDGE, using mostly coconut oil, cocoa and honey...and they are SOOO GOOD.

On the next question.. Quinoa is a fantastic gluten-free grain (it's got heaps of protein, and is the only non-animal product with a complete set of amino acids..)..similar consistency to cous-cous but I think much tastier, and you cook it much the same as white rice. I'm also going through a year-long phase of making whole buckwheat, which is actually gluten free (it has no relation to wheat at all, but is in fact a techically a berry..) and is yummy.

Okay, that's the end of my I've-worked-in-an-Organics-shop-for-way-too-long spiel for now! Good luck with it...and even though the lack of cakes is sad, hurrah for potential getting-better-ness :)

* By 'work' I mean The Earth Market, Organic wholefood shop and cafe, 14/375 Hay St Subiaco. It is The Win for having good allergen-friendly food (and also has organic meat)! Is not always the win price-wise compared to supermarkets due to being a small shop and also having to pay Subiaco rent, though..

** Almond milk is yummy. Almond milk is very expensive. Almond milk is also easy to make, though, by putting almonds on to soak overnight, blending them up the next day, and letting the product strain through muslin.

[vegetus.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you have found a very awesome doctor who actually listens to you though and I know that they are worth their weight in gold!

How can eat something that can give you a hug?

Can I use this as a quote?

As for gluten free/dairy free stuff I know that Leda (purveyor of vegan timtams) do alot of gluten free/dairy free biscuits and cakes (they also do chocolate free stuff too, I know you can't have chocolate either). Woolworths also has their own "Free From" brand and there is also "freedom foods" which you can get in both Coles and Woolies. Many of them are also free from soy.

High fibre gluten free grains, also check out quinoa (which, aside from soy, is the only plant that is a complete protein as well).

t turns out he's vegan, though he made no attempt to get me off meat or eggs

I find it a concern that there is an assumption (in general, I mean, not at you in particular) that vegans are unable to keep their personal beliefs and professional lives separate. I mean people don't jump up and down when an omnivore doctor tells you to eat eggs/dairy etc

[baby-elvis.livejournal.com]

I am so glad that he took you seriously. My brother is also coeliacs, so I'll ask him about brands etc.

[auntpol.livejournal.com]

I made a DELICIOUS cake with almond meal once. But I think it may have had milk. Maybe not. Don't know what you'd replace the chocolate with though (http://ysolda.com/wordpress/2007/10/03/cake/).

I'm glad you're getting somewhere with CF. It must be really frustrating.

[seaya.livejournal.com]

I guess y'all don't have the healthy food superstores we have here (at least in areas near or in cities, anyhow). But it seems there are things you can do. My friend from Germany had an autoimmune something or other that involved her being both vegan and gluten free, and she really liked meat a lot (being German), but if she ate anything beyond that, her skin practically sloughed off. So, she made do. I think that if this makes you feel a lot better, you will quickly get over it. I know I personally have had a hard time jettisoning the food as convenient source of pleasure model, but I don't have a compelling reason beyond the "it's a good idea". I have faith that you can do it!

[flyingblogspot.livejournal.com]

Everything Jen said, and also seconding the suggestion to try quinoa. NOM. :) And polenta! And the San Remo gluten free pasta, is always in the ordinary pasta section instead of being with the other gluten-free pastas in the Weird Food Section.

The Earth Market in Subiaco (in the little shopping complex behind Nandos on Hay St) also stocks an interesting selection of alternative foods and has a cafe attached, but these days it's pretty easy to get gluten-free and dairy-free foods from IGA or even Coles/Woolies.

I'm not particularly up-to-date on what's dairy-free and good, but I'll keep an eye on labels from now on and let you know if I come across anything you might like.

(What's your soy tolerance like? Or sheep's milk/yoghurt tolerance? I have a banana bread recipe that tastes like Delicious Ordinary Food even though it's gluten-free, but I need to think of something to swap in for the sour cream to make it dairy-free.)

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

I recall being bitterly disappointed when I discovered how knobbly and greasy real lambs are. Some chickens are cuddly.

[indescribble.livejournal.com]

Ooooo you work at the Earth Market?! i love that place :)

[evil-megz.livejournal.com]

I've been hugged by a kangaroo. It was a hand reared pet, which will explain the lack of disemboweling, but it does back up his 'can' statement.
They're lovely cuddly friendly animals if they don't think you're going to harm them. But that doesn't stop me chowing down on roo meat at any opportunity.

And Sophie keep in mind that evidenced by this Dr's veganism he's somewhat extremist... I have no doubt that if you minimised your gluten/dairy etc intake, but didn't refuse to go out for dinner if there wasn't a gluten-dairy-animalsthatcanhug-free option, you'd still benefit without having to make a massive massive sacrifice.

[grahame.livejournal.com]

There's also the Earth Market in Subiaco that sells a bunch of gluten-free, dairy-free stuff, and a whacky place on Beaufort street too - not sure what the name of that place is though. It's about half-way between Perth and Mt Lawley on the right-hand-side..

You can get vegan (completely non-dairy) cream cheese at Woolworths that tastes pretty good. Nice on crackers / in sandwiches.

[grahame.livejournal.com]

Oh man, fudge!? This "vegan as a diet" thing was just completely destroyed :-) I really should go by the earth market and buy some deliciousness soon!

[grahame.livejournal.com]

Quinoa is for the win! Everyone should eat it :-) Where do you get polenta though?

[meljane.livejournal.com]

Finding gluten free stuff is hard to find when you first go searching but like others have suggested you just have to know which shops to go to and what sections of shops usually carry the items .

It easier finding gluten free foods and sauces than is trying to find food for a person that has a Candida imbalance .

They have gluten free bread in the bread section , the annoying thing is its frozen before it gets but into the bread section and doesn't keep long and I'm not sure whether it has milk in it or not.

[loic.livejournal.com]

I've had pet kangaroos, sheep, cows and chickens. Let's eat dog!