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Dear Listmates,
Does anyone know if Claritine, an antihistamine, is GF in the US?  I took
one dose of the Polish version and soon felt very ill, but I'm not positive
that this is what caused the problem as I've been having a lot of trouble
with allergies and it is difficult to differentiate between symptoms as
they overlap considerably.  However, the symptoms I had were those I get
from gluten ingestion.  If I can get this in a GF version in the US I could
have it sent to me.

Also, is US Allegra gluten-free?  I haven't tried it since going GF since
I'm worried about having a reaction.

And finally, can anyone recommend any GF brands of vitamins, especially
calcium supplements, which are available in the US?  My doctor here wants
me to take calcium since I'm not drinking milk or eating any dairy
products.

As far as finding out the GF status of Polish products - pharmaceutical,
food, whatever - last night I spoke to someone who operates one of the two
GF bakeries in the country.  He told me that last year he sent out over
1,000 letters to different manufacturers, restaurants, etc.  He received
exactly one response.  I don't know much about labelling for GF medicines,
but apparently it's a problem in a lot of countries.

Allergies: Like a lot of other celiacs I seem to have developed an
extremely annoying amount of allergies.  What I don't understand is why
they only surfaced after I'd been on a GF diet for a few months.  I have
problems now with foods that didn't seem to bother me at all just 2 months
ago, such as corn and soy. My gastrologist says that damage to the villi
creates problems with absorbing some substances/molecules/whatever and that
this causes allergic reactions.  He says that this should improve with time
as the villi heal.  He also prescribed a medicine which should alleviate
this, which I'll ask about later as the name escapes me at the moment.

How long does it take for villi to heal?  I haven't had a biopsy due to the
risk of hepatitis and in any case the blood tests came back negative.

My gastro doc also told me this: My lactose intolerance appeared a couple
years before gluten intolerance symtoms.   The lactose intolerance was a
symptom of the damage being done to the villi, therefore the lactose
intolerance could go away as my villi heal and become normal again.  Any
comments on this?  I will summarize.

thanks,

Dan