Learning to live without gluten

Feb. 27, 2009 – Pancakes. Pasta. Pretzels. Pizza. Pie. These staples of the North American diet are off-limits for people
with celiac disease. Sufferers cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in
wheat, rye, and barley (and their many derivatives). Symptoms can be
painful.

Feb. 27, 2009 – Pancakes. Pasta. Pretzels. Pizza. Pie. These staples of the North American diet are off-limits for people
with celiac disease. Sufferers cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in
wheat, rye, and barley (and their many derivatives). Symptoms can be
painful.

“He had the embarrassing gastrointestinal symptoms,” said Linda
Kramer of her husband John Shaw, who suffered from celiac disease until
he started a gluten-free diet in 1987. “You get a lot of gas with this.
Diarrhea, gas-especially younger children-you’d get to where there’s
this huge bloated stomach filled with gas. It’s an unpleasant smelling
gas. It’s something that never goes away. He had the stomach problem
and it never went away.”

Kramer herself was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2000. She was
suffering migraines, mouth sores, “crushing fatigue,” and eosinophilic
fasciitis, a painful condition where white blood cells abnormally
collect between skin and muscle. | READ MORE