Including phpbb file loses login data?

hi, I not sure where to post this, so if it is the wrong forum, sorry. Any way I am guessing this is more of a php/session/cookie question. I have included a file at the top of my gallery that does certain things if the user is logged in to phpbb. If I access this file directly or put it in a iframe it can tell if the users is logged in or not, but when it is included directly on the page it is always logged out. Is there anyway around this?