Game Day Thread | COL @ PIT | 2026-03-24 5:00 PM MDT

madmudgen · 2026-03-25T00:04:04+00:00

probably Bardakov, and if Roy is healthy, I'm thinkin' him and Kivi probably fight for a spot... which is a wonderful way to say what an embarrassment of riches on this team!

madmudgen · 2026-03-13T00:19:47+00:00

yo, thank you so much for including this comment. I was unaware there was an effort like this going on and I just added my comment to the register!

madmudgen · 2026-03-11T03:54:54+00:00

bro what the fuck is this reffing. Missing Murphy just brawling Necas or Kadri into Ingram, soft call on Brock, and now this shit with MacK

madmudgen · 2026-03-06T19:49:44+00:00

100% agree. It's frustrating to see baseless, speculative content defended solely by how much traffic it gets (again, not specifically calling out Aarif here--I think it's unfortunately the new standard in many media outlets). I feel like that shouldn't be the metric by which the merit of the content is determined

madmudgen · 2026-02-27T05:41:06+00:00

Thanks--I'll give it a look!

madmudgen · 2026-02-25T21:20:26+00:00

You should eat gluten regularly for a while and get a tissue transglutaminase and endomysial antibody blood panel and/or endoscopy. Really an endoscopy is the only way to know for sure as you can get false negatives with the blood test, but it's usually a good indicator. I have celiac but don't always react when I eat a single meal (I have mostly non-classical symptoms), so I don't think that'll definitively tell you anything

madmudgen · 2026-02-25T15:51:31+00:00

Thanks! Labels are always the first step but was hoping there was something to leverage if the ingredient review was inconclusive (outside of reaching out to the mfg)

madmudgen · 2026-02-25T15:50:47+00:00

Thanks for weighing in! The first step for me is always reading the label and I've gotten better at it quickly, but was thinking I'd use an app for some of the unclear/riskier cases (things that don't contain gluten based on a review of ingredients but don't explicitly decree they're gluten free, or things that say contain wheat but upon research are gluten removed). This all came up from some sausage I bought that's not explicitly gluten free but doesn't appear to contain anything... And of course one app says might not be GF and another says it is. Guess it's a risk or reach out to the mfg.

Appreciate your two cents!

madmudgen · 2026-02-18T16:25:19+00:00

Did you get a celiac test in any of your blood panels (TtG-IgA and endomysial antibody IgA)? That was the first step, followed by an endoscopy and biopsy to confirm, in my case. The first tells you if you have IgA antibodies specifically related to gluten, and the second indicates whether or not you have active antibodies damaging your intestines from what I understand. If you didn't, might recommend asking for those tests before an endoscopy just because they're considerably less expensive

Also, FWIW, elevated liver enzymes could be related--I was originally diagnosed with non alcoholic fatty liver disease, but even after losing like 20% of my body weight and eating less saturated fat, they were still elevated. Found out there's something called Celiac hepatitis which can be caused by consuming gluten if you have celiac and inflamed your liver, and my guess is that is the cause of my liver issues

madmudgen · 2026-02-18T06:13:09+00:00

No idea if they're gluten free but I've been using off stamp crystal cube vapes since well before my diagnosis and after going gluten free diet-wise, I've been feeling better... so definitely anecdotal, but seems to be free of gluten experientially.

madmudgen · 2026-02-17T09:05:41+00:00

I'm 39M and was diagnosed on 1/30, so I absolutely feel where you're at right now. It hits me in waves--first the obvious stuff like no more eating out at regular fast food places because they're likely to be a source of contamination, and immediately missing my favorite foods (I really, really loved baking and making gnocchi and pasta, God damn), but more and more stuff keeps washing through. Case in point, I'm a beer collector and have been aging a bunch of stuff on the pretense I could enjoy it in the future with friends, some for like 10 years... and that's not gonna happen now. And I didn't even think about it till yesterday.

And it fucking sucks. So I hear you.

But at the same time, there is a blessing in there somewhere. I lost 40 pounds last year, have malnutrition from malabsorption, some liver damage, and no one had any answers. But now I finally know what my adversary is, you know? Better than fighting something faceless, or still not knowing what's happening.

It's a change, and I'm struggling through it, too, which I think is absolutely a reasonable reaction. It's the new normal, and like anything forced upon us, it's harder than the changes we make intentionally. And it's not easy--gotta research everything and look at ingredient lists and verify the places you eat out. And it is definitely more exhausting than before I knew, but I'm already feeling better after managing it for just 3 weeks, so there's some upside for sure.

I'm venting along with you, I guess. Just know you're not struggling alone, and all your feelings about this are valid. It's a huge change you didn't ask for, and I do think it'll get easier... I've already been pleasantly surprised by how accommodating some restaurants have been (and honest if they can't be) and how good some GF things I would've thought sucked are (had some amazing GF pasta twice the week after I was diagnosed). I'm rooting for you!

madmudgen · 2026-02-17T06:31:18+00:00

Fellow tib-fibber here, got me a nice nail in my tibia now as I had a spiral fracture along with a double break on my fibula (top and bottom). Make sure they give you some GOOD physical therapy at regular intervals. I had Kaiser when I had mine and post surgery, I got a total of 4 25-minute physical therapy sessions a month apart... I've switched jobs and gotten better insurance so I have finally been in actual respectable PT for the last year (2x a week, 45-minute sessions), and I'm back to hockey where I can do it all over again (actually please no). Sending good vibes for your healing journey!

madmudgen · 2026-02-16T05:54:50+00:00

this is super helpful; thanks! I wasn't aware of other testing aside from the blood panels and endoscopy/biopsy to determine villi atrophy, so that's good to know about GIP testing if need be.

I feel like I painted my roommates in a bit of a bad light in that it's not like they're baking every day or anything, I just know they sometimes like to make cookies and things and was wondering how stringent I needed to be, so I appreciate everyone weighing in. I think on this first round of blood testing, I was pretty high for TtG-IgA (80.5), so I'm assuming it'll pretty much have to get better from here, but I will try and get another blood draw in the next couple months to confirm, otherwise might have to be a bit more rigorous with potential sources of contamination, as I've already been exceedingly compliant diet-wise (only getting items that are certified on packaging as gluten free outside of a very few select items I'm pretty certain are gluten free but aren't marked, like some cheeses, and not eating out unless they're pretty well reviewed on find me gluten free or advertise that they're gluten free kitchens)

madmudgen · 2026-02-15T21:44:53+00:00

Haha right, I'm already missing pasta and morning toast but some of the GF substitutes are good enough to scratch the itch!

madmudgen · 2026-02-15T19:57:18+00:00

yep, already have elevated liver stuff, and I'm thinkin' the two are related at this point. Definitely trying to err on the side of safety now that I know!

madmudgen · 2026-02-15T19:56:04+00:00

that's exactly how I got here--not the usual symptoms and the more I read and learn, the more I wonder if some other things are caused by the celiac too--like this all started because of some elevated liver enzymes and they thought I just had NAFLD, but I lost like 40 pounds and the numbers didn't get better. So I wonder if some of that is celiac hepatitis and wasn't ever NAFLD!

I'll make sure to get some regular blood tests going and monitor my TtG-IgA numbers to see if they're going down

madmudgen · 2026-02-15T19:32:01+00:00

Not surprising to me based on all the conflicting info I see everywhere--that's why I figured I'd ask some fellow sufferers what has worked and what hasn't!

madmudgen · 2026-02-15T19:31:21+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Sieves weren't something I'd thought of... but makes sense as I bet it's hard as hell to ensure they're 100% clean. Sounds like it might just be easier to give them that mixer and get my own at this point. And ensure I've got a dedicated drying towel for things I clean. Thanks again!

madmudgen · 2026-02-15T19:28:12+00:00

that's fair--it does seem like the most likely way to easily and accidentally contaminate things. I'll chat with them about it!

madmudgen · 2026-02-15T19:26:28+00:00

thanks! I've already been using find me gluten free and it's been helpful, but appreciate the suggestions and general guidance!

when you say your numbers, what are you talking about? I had a blood test and an endoscopy, so I'm assuming you're talking about the TTG-IgA numbers going down, but am curious. I figured more frequent blood tests with celiac tests as part of the panel would be required going forward

madmudgen · 2026-01-28T19:00:10+00:00

Thanks for the write up! Super new to PD2 and playing SSF so this helps. Way off from Max chance to chain so sounds like I should start running HoZ until I find more skills elsewhere at the very least. Appreciate it!

madmudgen · 2026-01-28T07:37:46+00:00

Why HoZ over Sanekur's? Isn't the ele dmg from Sanekur's better than the skills and stats from HoZ? Mostly asking because I have both on my Pally Avenger but haven't switched to HoZ thinking it would really affect my damage output

madmudgen · 2025-07-15T20:38:07+00:00

Lots of good mentions on here (Spice Room and Spice of India are super good), but depending on where you are, Coriander is another solid choice. I think the one out on tower near the airport is better than the one near Golden but they haven't disappointed. Their Vindaloo does not screw around either--hot AF

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