Newly Diagnosed, Not Optimistic About New Lifestyle

[Mesadora]

Anne.......I know cyclinglady gave you stellar advice but I have to say something here......you need to start educating yourself on Celiac if you are to lead a normal life.  I have to admit I was a bit offended at the notion that you just want something normal so your response was to not eat.     Celiac's are normal and we eat normally.....we just eat much healthier than most people and eating healthy is NORMAL.  It's the rest of the country who aren't eating normally...they are eating processed crap that is making them unhealthy.  

 

I know you are in shock and any lifestyle change takes a bit for that shock to wear off but you need to start reading books on Celiac so you'll know all you need to know about living normally with it.  You also need to take control of your household and if that means there is no gluten allowed in the house, so be it.  Your family can eat gluten till they burst outside the home.  If you allow gluten food in the home, then you need to set up rules for them to follow so you will get better and stay well.  I could say more but am cutting you some slack here because you are a newbie but you will never be in a good place with this if your attitude stays the way it is.  Take control of the situation and things will improve dramatically.

 

You also need to stop eating out right now and learn to cook nutritious gluten-free meals.  It is still too early in the healing process for you to eat out.  This is so important for you to do.  Colorado is a super state for gluten-free....I have been there and I was impressed with the knowledge.  You live in one of the healthiest states in the country so will have plenty of support.

 

I wish you well and hope your adjustment goes more smoothly but it is totally up to you to make that happen.  We can help you find alternatives for your favorite foods too so just ask!  Be well......

Wow....I was having a hard day and I could relate to the posters life....I didnt mean to offend anyone at all, especially you "gemini"  We all have our times...our issues...our moments and I was having one... It became discouraging when I went to school to be a chef.  i learned to cook certain foods a certain way growing up.  I have a sick parent living with me that has to eat HIGH calorie foods including gluten bread....and massive starches....It is hard when you work 70 hrs a week in your car and travel constantly along with having 4 children who wont eat gluten free if I held them down and smashed it up their noses and down their throats.....I apologize once again.

The biggest step for me was getting on this site in the first place..I make one posting and am having a rough moment and I get smacked on the hand for feeling sorry for myself....yes, I probably did need it but I really didn't intend for any of it to be negative...I just needed some help....My daughter in law has her doctorate in Nutrition....she constantly is telling me she will sit down and help me figure out what to do and what to eat....so far this hasn't happened and she is very busy, so I understand...Its not her responsibility...It is mine...so therefore we come back to me signing up by learning off of the website. 

I will go to Newbies and see what I find....I will see what info I can learn from others that have been dealing with this a lot longer than I....however....somedays I will have a moment...I will wish i could have something like i USED to have...something for instance...like a sub from my favorite sub shop...No they r not gluten free, nor do they have any options....sometimes I will miss those days but i haven't recovered enough to know the feeling of goodness that comes from being gluten free....so please be patient...I will get there eventually and I will be much more tactful when replying, if i ever do again, to other postings....

thank you for the reply and thank you for the ideas...anne

[w8in4dave]

tonalynn , 

How are you doing? I am so curious to know if you found a group , how your gluten-free new life is? You know very one always says diet , but truly gluten-free is a life change!!  So I am wondering how your new life style is going... Hopefully as wonderful as mine new veggie ideas new cooking ideas , just alot of new ways to cook and live let us know how your doing  

[Gemini]

Wow....I was having a hard day and I could relate to the posters life....I didnt mean to offend anyone at all, especially you "gemini"  We all have our times...our issues...our moments and I was having one... It became discouraging when I went to school to be a chef.  i learned to cook certain foods a certain way growing up.  I have a sick parent living with me that has to eat HIGH calorie foods including gluten bread....and massive starches....It is hard when you work 70 hrs a week in your car and travel constantly along with having 4 children who wont eat gluten free if I held them down and smashed it up their noses and down their throats.....I apologize once again.

The biggest step for me was getting on this site in the first place..I make one posting and am having a rough moment and I get smacked on the hand for feeling sorry for myself....yes, I probably did need it but I really didn't intend for any of it to be negative...I just needed some help....My daughter in law has her doctorate in Nutrition....she constantly is telling me she will sit down and help me figure out what to do and what to eat....so far this hasn't happened and she is very busy, so I understand...Its not her responsibility...It is mine...so therefore we come back to me signing up by learning off of the website. 

I will go to Newbies and see what I find....I will see what info I can learn from others that have been dealing with this a lot longer than I....however....somedays I will have a moment...I will wish i could have something like i USED to have...something for instance...like a sub from my favorite sub shop...No they r not gluten free, nor do they have any options....sometimes I will miss those days but i haven't recovered enough to know the feeling of goodness that comes from being gluten free....so please be patient...I will get there eventually and I will be much more tactful when replying, if i ever do again, to other postings....

thank you for the reply and thank you for the ideas...anne

Anne....you do not owe anyone an apology so stop doing that!  You have Celiac and your number one priority is yourself.....not all these other people.  You cannot take care of anyone until you take care of yourself and that's what I meant when I said you need to take control and make rules.

Actually, that is harder than following a gluten-free diet!

 

My suggestion on the sick parent who needs calories and starches......feed them gluten-free.  gluten-free bread and starches have much higher fat and calorie counts

than wheat stuff.  You should not be handling wheat and food you're intolerant of if you are not feeling well and being cc'd.  I mean this.....get some Canyon Bakehouse bread because it's delicious and higher in calories.  You also need to know that maybe your sick parent might have Celiac...it's genetic.  If they need to eat that many calories to gain, there might be another Celiac in your family.  Ditto for your kids.....they need to be tested.

Don't give them a choice....this is your health you are dealing with.  I have a different attitude than many today.  In my house, if I am cooking the food, you eat what I cook or starve.  This was the rule when I was growing up and I went to bed hungry only a few times because my parents meant that. I am not criticizing anyone's parenting methods but for goodness sake, if you are chief cook and bottle washer, they eat what you make or go hungry!

Having a Celiac diagnosis means a family meeting to set up boundaries. Otherwise, you will not heal and won't be able to take care of anyone.

 

I also understand crazy work hours...I work long hours too so I get the stress from that.  But take your health seriously because you are important to your family.  Make an appointment with your daughter-in-law soon and get help on the food front.  Tell her how important this is and you really need her help.  Don't feel guilty about it, either!  

 

Let us know what you really like to eat and we'll help come up with solutions.  Anyone can re-learn eating habits and they don't have to change that much, except include more healthy stuff.  But there are many gluten-free versions of comfort foods that you have yet to discover.  You really can do this.

Your family are going to have to learn to help you out with this because it's that important.  So, take a deep breath and relax.......you'll get help from us and your family are going to have to learn some new things!

[GFinDC]

I am so glad I came across this thread! My mood is down in the dumps and I didn't care about my celiac or following the diet in the past. I have a motivation now that I want to get pregnant. I worry sometimes about how much damage I did to my body. Part of me not wanting kids earlier was that I didn't want to bring a life to this world because I won't be able to take care of it due to low energy and depressed mood. But this gives me a lot of hope. Hopefully my mood and energy goes up by giving up gluten. I am also planning to stop dairy as per suggestions I received from the forum. Hopefully this helps me heal! 

 

Good for you Famgrl!    It seems to me the first couple months of eating gluten-free are the most intense.  After 6 months or so it becomes more 2nd nature and not a big deal for many people.  Learning to eat differently just takes a little time is all.

 

I think it was Dr. Peter Green's book that suggested around 6 months of gluten-free recovery before attempting pregnancy.  You might want to check that out.  It takes some time for the vitamins and minerals to recover to normal levels sometimes, after the gut heals.  You can have a doctor check your vitamin levels now though and see if you are low in anything.  People with celiac tend to have vitamin issues due to the mal-absorption, but that goes away after they get on the gluten-free diet and heal their guts.  And start absorbing nutrients properly again.  It may take several months to get feeling better, healing is not instantaneous.  More of  a slow improvement sometimes.  But it gets better!

[GFinDC]

@Tonalyn,

 

I hope things are starting to work for you Tonalyn.  Once you get used to the changes, gluten-free is not difficult.  The adjustment can be a bit of a bear though.

 

@Mesadora,

 

Welcome Anne, it's good to have you here!

 

Don't worry about asking silly questions, or having a little rant now and then.  We all do it sometimes.  It's all part of the adjustment and learning process.  Gemini is right, eating out is risky when you new to the gluten-free diet.  What you want is to have control of what you eat, which means knowing the ingredients in the food, and how it is prepared.  Cross contamination of foods is a potential issue in many restraunts.  There are some that are good, but you always need to ask if the particular location is trained on gluten-free food prep.  I think I've read reports that people had ok results at Red robin in the past.

 

It is safer to make your own food at home if possible.  Eating whole foods vs processed foods is good.  The fewer ingredients in your food the fewer possible gotchas.  One processed food though that always worked for me is Mission brand corn tortillas.  They are made on a dedicated line and have very few ingredients.  Great for wrapping a burger, although you may need to use 2 of them kind of offset a bit.  Rudi's makes wraps that are  a little larger.

 

Here's some threads about, of all things, eating!

 

What's For Breakfast Today?
https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/81858-whats-for-breakfast-today/

What Did You Have For Lunch Today?
https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/87765-what-did-you-have-for-lunch-today/

What's for dinner tonight chat?
https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/75238-what-are-you-cooking-tonight/

Dessert thread
https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/93840-whats-for-dessert-tonight/page__pid__802399#entry802399

Easy yummy bread in minutes
https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/56641-easy-yummy-bread-in-minutes/

 

[NoGlutenCooties]

Tonalyn -

 

I'm newly diagnosed and going through some adjustment as well.  I haven't braved eating out yet.  But given that you have Hashimoto's, fatigue, depression, and insomnia - it doesn't sound like you've been asymptomatic at all.  Just undiagnosed.  Try to look at it this way... once you get the gluten out of your body, the things that you're doing to try to remedy all of the other things that are bothering you may actually start to work.

 

Good luck.