When Will My Celiac Go Away?

[mommy2krj]

That is the question I had to try and answer for my upset 6 year old tonight.

 

After 3 months he is finally processing all of this. I think there are a few things that started this:

 

1. He didn't like his supper tonight. Asparagus is just not his thing....even if it is wrapped in bacon. Crazy child!

 

2. His cousins were in town for the last week (they live a state away) and they got to eat all the stuff he didn't. Add in some rather late nights/early mornings for school and a day long outdoor fieldtrip and you have one tired, emotional little boy.

 

3. He misses bread. Not gluten free bread, mom, the GOOD bread that I LOVED that we used to eat!!! Followed by lots of tears.

 

So, we had a long conversation about diseases and what some of them do. We talked about how Celiac disease won't go away but we can make it sleep if he eats the right foods and takes care of himself by eating healthy (like asparagus!) and exercising.

This is the first time since he was diagnosed that it got to the point of tears (not including being upset about a couple treats...but that was different). He's been really good about it since July once he got it in his head that he is to NOT eat anything from anyone without my permission. (and by that, I mostly mean his friends/our neighbors or kids at school)

 

That was a hard one. I expected it sooner but should have known that, just like his siblings and his parents he's been internalizing his frustrations until he could work out just what he wanted to say.

[1desperateladysaved]

Oh, such a lot to process at 6, but they can do it. I am a mother of 7.   I hope he will notice he feels better.  He may make a mistake and (like me) will be glad he is allowed to eat gluten free.

 

D

[shadowicewolf]

That is the question I had to try and answer for my upset 6 year old tonight.

 

After 3 months he is finally processing all of this. I think there are a few things that started this:

 

1. He didn't like his supper tonight. Asparagus is just not his thing....even if it is wrapped in bacon. Crazy child!

 

2. His cousins were in town for the last week (they live a state away) and they got to eat all the stuff he didn't. Add in some rather late nights/early mornings for school and a day long outdoor fieldtrip and you have one tired, emotional little boy.

 

3. He misses bread. Not gluten free bread, mom, the GOOD bread that I LOVED that we used to eat!!! Followed by lots of tears.

 

So, we had a long conversation about diseases and what some of them do. We talked about how Celiac disease won't go away but we can make it sleep if he eats the right foods and takes care of himself by eating healthy (like asparagus!) and exercising.

This is the first time since he was diagnosed that it got to the point of tears (not including being upset about a couple treats...but that was different). He's been really good about it since July once he got it in his head that he is to NOT eat anything from anyone without my permission. (and by that, I mostly mean his friends/our neighbors or kids at school)

 

That was a hard one. I expected it sooner but should have known that, just like his siblings and his parents he's been internalizing his frustrations until he could work out just what he wanted to say.

It is good that he is talking about it though.

[mommy2krj]

Oh, such a lot to process at 6, but they can do it. I am a mother of 7.   I hope he will notice he feels better.  He may make a mistake and (like me) will be glad he is allowed to eat gluten free.

 

D

 

It is a lot to process, definitely! I think the lack of sleep really contributed to the meltdown part of it. I did try to bring up how he's feeling better....but I don't think he was ready for that part of it. He doesn't have strong reactions and aside from a tummy ache every day from December/January on he didn't really have any other symptoms. We didn't know he was constipated as he was going regularly and the other symptoms didn't show up until he went gluten-free and then ingested gluten again. Those are mostly emotional/behavioral symptoms and I am not sure he notices them right now.

I guess the one other child that was in his class that had celiac is no longer in his class. He must have felt like he wasn't alone with the little girl in there. Poor thing.

I am glad he was talking about it though. We do have conversations about it but not usually anything like that....I usually let him lead instead of bombarding him with information. He knows what he can/can't eat for the most part and he knows what happens when/if he does. The rest I let him do a Q & A type system that way he's getting the information he wants/needs without being so overwhelmed.

[Juliebove]

My daughter doesn't have celiac but was diagnosed with IgG food allergies aka intolerances at age 6.  In her case she was so sick of being sick all the time she was eager to start the diet.  She immediately started feeling some better then at the two week mark became so ill that she had to stay home.  Same thing happened to me.  Apparently the body goes into a detox when you are intolerant to as many things as we are.  And then we both felt like new people!  So in her case, she felt sooo much better that she didn't want to take any chances on eatng that which would make her sick again.

 

Bread wasn't an issue for us at first.  Because I am diabetic, bread was something I didn't eat a lot of so she wasn't really used to eating it.  The problems didn't start cropping up until she was about 8.  That's when the kids at school started poking fun at her lunch.  Casserole?  Ew!  Soup?  Stew?  Ick!  Or just the general, "Your food stinks!"  She began insisting on sandwiches because they at least looked like the other kid's food.  And the one known celiac in her school always brought sandwiches. 

 

The problem for her was that she also couldn't have nuts, eggs or dairy so that really pretty much limited her to Ener-G which isn't the best bread by any stretch of the imagintion.  But she didn't seem to mind eating it.  Perhaps because enough time had passed that she couldn't remember what real bread tasted like.

 

One thing we did do was try all sorts of new foods.  I also let her choose foods at the grocery store.

 

We went to every gluten free fair we could find but...  She would always wind up disappointed because all of her other food issues usually prevented her from eating most of those foods.

 

One food that I did often send in her lunch was popcorn.  I'd pop it in a pan and put it in a plastic bag.  That did seem to help some.  It was a food that the other kids wanted and could relate to.  I had to just remind her that it does no good to focus on that which we can't have.  We need to focus on what we can have.

[mommida]

Needing to be gluten free and fish, shellfish, egg, and pea free turned us into "foodies".  Search out the foods you can eat and go from there.

 

Hummus is my daughter's favorite.  It is used on some of her sandwiches since she can't have mayo (eggs).

 

We look for things that look interesting and try and make it at home.  (Why by caramel when you can make it at home?  Wow it was sooo much better home made!)

 

We have some great recipes and gluten eaters enjoy all of the food at our parties.  (I even had half of a cake walk off with someone!!?  )  Honestly my in-laws don't even like me they show up for the cake!  One particullary nasty guest recently said,  "This carrot cake is too good, she must have bought it".

[mommy2krj]

My daughter doesn't have celiac but was diagnosed with IgG food allergies aka intolerances at age 6.  In her case she was so sick of being sick all the time she was eager to start the diet.  She immediately started feeling some better then at the two week mark became so ill that she had to stay home.  Same thing happened to me.  Apparently the body goes into a detox when you are intolerant to as many things as we are.  And then we both felt like new people!  So in her case, she felt sooo much better that she didn't want to take any chances on eatng that which would make her sick again.

 

Bread wasn't an issue for us at first.  Because I am diabetic, bread was something I didn't eat a lot of so she wasn't really used to eating it.  The problems didn't start cropping up until she was about 8.  That's when the kids at school started poking fun at her lunch.  Casserole?  Ew!  Soup?  Stew?  Ick!  Or just the general, "Your food stinks!"  She began insisting on sandwiches because they at least looked like the other kid's food.  And the one known celiac in her school always brought sandwiches. 

 

The problem for her was that she also couldn't have nuts, eggs or dairy so that really pretty much limited her to Ener-G which isn't the best bread by any stretch of the imagintion.  But she didn't seem to mind eating it.  Perhaps because enough time had passed that she couldn't remember what real bread tasted like.

 

One thing we did do was try all sorts of new foods.  I also let her choose foods at the grocery store.

 

We went to every gluten free fair we could find but...  She would always wind up disappointed because all of her other food issues usually prevented her from eating most of those foods.

 

One food that I did often send in her lunch was popcorn.  I'd pop it in a pan and put it in a plastic bag.  That did seem to help some.  It was a food that the other kids wanted and could relate to.  I had to just remind her that it does no good to focus on that which we can't have.  We need to focus on what we can have.

I can't imagine adding other food intolerances to the Celiac, though I know it's common. We've just recently restricted milk as he's still having some tummy issues and that seems to have helped.

I try to focus on what we can have and not what we can't but I think having his cousins here this week really just made it more obvious that he has to eat different. And having the one other Celiac kid move out of his classroom seems to be a kicker here too.

I always forget about popcorn for the kids because I don't like popcorn (I don't even like the way it smells most of the time!) but I think I will start making some and sending it with him.

[mommy2krj]

Needing to be gluten free and fish, shellfish, egg, and pea free turned us into "foodies".  Search out the foods you can eat and go from there.

 

Hummus is my daughter's favorite.  It is used on some of her sandwiches since she can't have mayo (eggs).

 

We look for things that look interesting and try and make it at home.  (Why by caramel when you can make it at home?  Wow it was sooo much better home made!)

 

We have some great recipes and gluten eaters enjoy all of the food at our parties.  (I even had half of a cake walk off with someone!!?  )  Honestly my in-laws don't even like me they show up for the cake!  One particullary nasty guest recently said,  "This carrot cake is too good, she must have bought it".

 

I made gluten-free brownies for my little guy for my daughter's graduation party this past summer when we were freshly diagnosed. Those were gone before I even got to try one! But I found out later that all of my daughter's wonderful friends refused to eat the cake at the party because little man couldn't and they felt bad. Also explains why I got to make a couple teenage boys very happy by sending over half a sheet cake home with them!

That is a nasty comment for someone to make! How rude! If they only knew that the store bought gluten free stuff tastes nothing like the stuff you make at home! The homemade stuff is soooo much better!

We are quickly becoming "foodies" too. We're getting there. I think the combination of being tired and overdoing it and everything this last week culminated in the tears last night. It's just so heartbreaking when they're upset like that.

[mommida]

Taking more of an interest in making gluten free, safe food can be a way of owning Celiac.  You have a feeling of success when you produce your own cure.

 

The hard work improves the appetite too!  I grated those carrots by hand ya know.    If anyone knows where I can BUY gluten free, egg free carrot cake ~ let me know.  I understand wanting instant gratification when you are hungry!  I do try and double all baking and freeze some for emergencies.

[shadowicewolf]

Taking more of an interest in making gluten free, safe food can be a way of owning Celiac.  You have a feeling of success when you produce your own cure.

 

The hard work improves the appetite too!  I grated those carrots by hand ya know.    If anyone knows where I can BUY gluten free, egg free carrot cake ~ let me know.  I understand wanting instant gratification when you are hungry!  I do try and double all baking and freeze some for emergencies.

Could you take a white cake mix and add whatever is needed for the carrot cake? Thats the only way i can think of to speed the process of making it up a bit.

[mommy2krj]

Taking more of an interest in making gluten free, safe food can be a way of owning Celiac.  You have a feeling of success when you produce your own cure.

 

The hard work improves the appetite too!  I grated those carrots by hand ya know.    If anyone knows where I can BUY gluten free, egg free carrot cake ~ let me know.  I understand wanting instant gratification when you are hungry!  I do try and double all baking and freeze some for emergencies.

 

Grating carrots is worse than grating cheese! Well....maybe not. They both have their separate issues but for some reason I make a much bigger mess when I grate carrots than I do when I grate cheese!

 

I know Namaste makes a spice cake mix....but I'm not sure what all is in it and that would probably speed the cake part of it up a little bit. I just wish I could find a grater that actually made grating cheese and carrots and anything else I need to grate easier! I would like the attachment for my standmixer but am a bit leery of it since it's expensive and looks like it's mostly plastic. Me and plastic don't get along....I tend to break it. :/

[Fourmonkeysjumping]

Simply organic makes an amazing carrot cake! Not sure if it dairy free, though.

This may sound horrible, but when each of my kids were diagnosed, we went out of our way to bake cakes and brownies and sweets, just so they always had something great to look forward to. As they got more used to their new normal, we cut that way way back. Having lots of treats seemed to make the transition easier. I is so hard, though. It's been worse with my daughter. She was a carb loader and is a terribly picky eater. There are days I honestly don't even know what to feed her. I swear that child lives on yogurt and homemade granola bars.

[mommy2krj]

Simply organic makes an amazing carrot cake! Not sure if it dairy free, though.

This may sound horrible, but when each of my kids were diagnosed, we went out of our way to bake cakes and brownies and sweets, just so they always had something great to look forward to. As they got more used to their new normal, we cut that way way back. Having lots of treats seemed to make the transition easier. I is so hard, though. It's been worse with my daughter. She was a carb loader and is a terribly picky eater. There are days I honestly don't even know what to feed her. I swear that child lives on yogurt and homemade granola bars.

I hear ya. My little guy doesn't really eat meat. He'll eat lunch meat (only ham) and occasionally he'll eat some chicken and he'll eat breakfast sausages or hot dogs. That's pretty much it, though. He only eats certain veggies (willingly) so it can be a battle getting those in him as well. I do give him sausages every morning with his breakfast so he has some protein in the morning. I think that helps, some. 

It's frustrating....especially when he's constantly hungry and has had all the snacks, fruit and such you have in the house already and doesn't want any of them any more. Oy.

[Fourmonkeysjumping]

My daughter has one orgain kids protein shake each day. It's the only way I know she gets enough. The only meat she eats is turkey tacos and we can only do that so often. No veggies that aren't hidden in other food and she can be picky about her fruits. She is brutal. She would happily go days without eating to avoid foods she doesn't like. It's a killer.

[mamafish]

He doesn't have strong reactions and aside from a tummy ache every day from December/January on he didn't really have any other symptoms. We didn't know he was constipated as he was going regularly and the other symptoms didn't show up until he went gluten-free and then ingested gluten again. Those are mostly emotional/behavioral symptoms and I am not sure he notices them right now.

 

Aww, poor little dude.  We're not sure we have celiac yet (waiting on test results), but we've definitely dealt with food sensitivities, some with gut reactions and some with brain reactions.  It's *so* much easier for little ones to understand why they can't eat the thing that gives them the tummyache.  (And probably easier for adults, too!). 

One idea - for gluten-free bread, this was Open Original Shared Link - insanely good, even for the non-gluten-free people in our house (we used milk & eggs instead of the subs in the recipe, but this can easily be dairy free too).