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More great info...

"Since you have been living gluten free for a year, it is time to check your serum antibody levels, if you have not already done so.  Hopefully, your doctor instructed you to return at after following a gluten free diet for a year and have a follow-up tTg (anti-tissue transglutaminase) and possibly EMA (anti-endomysial antibody) blood test.  If not, you may need to call your doctor's office and request follow-up testing.  If you have had a follow-up blood test and the result was negative, it means that you are compliant with a gluten free diet.  If you are still having symptoms on an occasional basis, they could be from accidental ingestion of gluten.  If you continue to have ongoing symptoms, however, they could be due to another medical problem.
For more information on follow-up testing, go to http://www.celiacdisease.net/assets/pdf/CDCFactSheetsFollowUpTests7.pdf.  If you have had a follow-up blood test and the result is positive, it means that there are still hidden sources of gluten in your diet, and you do need to keep investigating to find out what the source is.  You might find some ideas in this article:  http://alamoceliac.org/actipsthesharedkitchen.html
or the other articles in the section "Food and Drug Safety Tips" at http://alamoceliac.org/actipsforceliacs.html. Finally, it is not uncommon for celiacs to become more sensitive to gluten as time goes on.  As the intestinal villi heal, they are able to absorb more nutrients from food - including gluten!"

"It's well-known that we get more sensitive as the gut heals, so it's really a good thing. I noticed in your summary that no one mentioned kitchen towels.  I have watched gluten-eaters wipe their hands on kitchen towels after handling bread, because they don't consider it dirty.  So I would use only paper towels in such a kitchen.  Also, kitchen faucets, etc, can be contaminated.  The best advice I ever heard is to treat it like rat poison. I'm a nervous wreck when I stay in an home that's not GF. What about animals in the house?  I now buy GF dog treats, so I don't have to be so careful handling them.  Also, if dogs eat dry food containing gluten, it is on their mouths and whiskers. It's nice that more foods now often contain allergen statements, so at least you can make informed decisions.  I love Amy's GF foods, but they carry a statement that they aren't made in a dedicated facility, which I found in the fine print after getting sick.  I gave up on them after getting sick several times.  I've had better luck with large companies like Frito-Lay.  They don't have dedicated facilities either, but their industrial hygiene seems to be better, and I've never gotten sick eating one of their products that doesn't contain gluten, even though they're not labeled GF.  They're very aware of cross-contamination and thoroughly clean lines between runs. (Cross-contamination of many kinds is a risk in commercial kitchens and must be avoided.) One more thought.  What about the refrigerator?  The door handle can be contaminated, as can the outside of your items if someone with gluten on their hands moves something of yours.  Then you pick it up and it can contaminate your hand.  The risk is small, but real.  I got sick once because relatives brought cookies into my house, even though they and I were very careful, and the cookies were never actually brought into the kitchen."

"I have been GF for 25 years, and I had an initial sensitivity to milk and eggs.  That got better, then came back again.  I understand that additional sensitivities are common, especially with Soy and other grains, and a host of protein containing products.  It seems overwhelming at first, but with the products available in the stores today, it much easier to "cook around" those problem products, although a good substitute for eggs eludes me, and I have no source for duck or goose eggs..."




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