<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Dear Listmates, This summary is long overdue! Sorry, but the demands of school do take their toll... At any rate, the 50 or so responses ran the gamut from allergy/asthma responses to possible heart problems. Some said it is a definite gluten response and others said esophageal spasms. Judging from the responses it seems pain and tightness in the chest are very common. As for me, I tend to believe that it was aspiration of fluids AND esophageal spasm. I remember at the time that my esophagus was hurting and I could feel that it was spasming. BTW, to the one member who worried that the attending phys. overlooked my heart... not to worry! When I said "pain in chest and shortness of breath" they took me in first and plugged me into a machine to monitor my heart etc. (under much protest from me I might add). My heart was just fine, but thank you very much for your concern! :) ************** Now as to the awful diet... Being a busy student who is also teaching, I find I most often just don't have time to deal with the demands of this diet. Yet, knowing that the above problems can happen to me with a slip-up, well... suddenly the diet becomes a blessing. Who has time for the symptoms when we can avoid them by diet compliance? I DO GET FRUSTRATED! Oh don't get me wrong on that! When I can't simply stop anywhere I please to eat, or I have to get too creative in the kitchen to find a palatable quick meal (emphasis on quick)..... HECK, we all do. But then I think about days like the above, and the misery I went through, and I get over it. You will forgive me, but sometimes I think : A little gluten misery is as good as a pound of cure. Lynda Swink P.S. My little quip above is NOT a recommendation - only an observation. .. * >\< * * * \|/ [log in to unmask] \|/ \|/ So.CA \|/ _@V