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i had an unfortunate accident with my computer and sent all the responses
to my olean posting to Cyber Heaven, so i will do my best to summarize
based on memory, but if i forget anything, or if anyone has anyone they
want to add, please let me know and i'll do a resummary.

In response to my MSG question, many people responded saying they too
have problems with it, some as severe as mine, and some that are getting
worse as time goes on.  for the most part those who responded said there
wasn't much they could do in terms of over the counter  medication, and
did find relief with muscle relaxants and anti-spasmodics. I received one
posting stating that msg did contain gluten and one stating it did not,
so the jury is still out on that one.  regardless, all agree it's a nasty
additive, and you know, i often wonder if it would have been removed from
food prducts already had it been a herb...but i digress.

when i was having the pain often, twice a week and not having a clue as
to what was causing it, i would find myself in emerg every third night or
so.  they tried demerol and morphine, without results, twenty minutes
later i would still be in pain AND completely doped up, something i
loathe.  i had a hard time convincing the doctors i wasn't an abuser,
actually.  then one brilliant dr gave me a shot of thorazine, which is
used as an anti-psychotic, but it's also used to relieve migraines as it
blocks the pain receptors in the brain. finally, i was pain free, and i
didn't feel horribly doped, but the side effects were as such that i cut
out everything but brown rice and peas in my diet to remove my reliance
on the drug as quickly as i could.

the second question i had is about olean, or olestra.  one person said it
was derived from oats, i was under the impression it was derived from
soy.  the general consensus to that  was, if it's man made it's probably
not all that great for one. as one person wrote, and i'm paraphrasing
here..."if i didn't kill it or grow it or make it i'm not going to eat
it". lots of people wrote and told me there were potato chips on the
market that were gf, lays and lays lites, ruffles, and someone mentioned
Michaels, but that one isn't available here. i guess if we stick to the
plain ones we should be okay, it's the flavoured chips that have all the
nasty additives. i was actually referring to pringles when i wrote that
posting, because the plain ones used to be gluten free, but not anymore,
sadly. someone also suggested there's a product that slices potatoes
really thin and if you microwave them you get fat free chips that are
very tasty. i don't remember the product's name, could the sender of that
post please let me know the name again?

concerning soy sauce...someone confirmed that both Chun King and China
Lily are gluten free...i'm not all that sure what chun king uses in it's
caramel, but as i said i've never had the slightest problem with it, even
when i had elliminated everything out of my diet and was relying on rice
as my staple food back in the diagnosis days. someone also suggested
there is a sauce you can get in health food stores, and i'm sorry but
that letter was one of the letters that were lost, so could the sender
please let me know what the product is? they said it was better tasting
than soy sauce and i'd like to give it a try.

I apologize for the length of this post, and please...if i've forgotten
anything, as i'm doing this by memory, resend your posting. sorry as well
for the inconvenience of those resending anything i might have missed.

and thank you for all of your responses...people on this list are so
helpful and willing to share information...i really appreciate it:)

elizabeth powell