Just diagnosed - bad doctor communication, please help

[shelbygf94]

Hello, I’m 24 years old and I just received the results of my biopsy. When my GI doc initially called me she said the villi were fine and wanted to do a genetics test. However, I looked at the report myself and it clearly said there was some patchy flattening of the villi. I called back and she admitted she didn’t see that part. She then proceeded to schedule me for an appointment next week and gave me no additional information. So here I am, alone, confused and scared.

 

I started looking at this forum when I knew celiac was a possibility, but I kept hearing all these horror stories that have been contributing to my anxiety. I don’t exhibit any symptoms while eating gluten so I’m afraid I’m going to mess up. I’m also afraid of the changes in my social life. I live in Seattle and I know it’s definitely an easier place to live in with celiac but I could use some guidance from anyone. How do you handle this?

 

Thanks,

Shelby

[tessa25]

I have been accused of being too blunt so if I offend sorry in advance. It's up to you how easy maintaining the diet is. Where I live it seems that everybody is either on one diet or another so it's very easy here as it's just another diet. And there are gluten-free equivalents that taste very good for most things or there is a good recipe out there.

findmeglutenfree is a great app for finding safe restaurants. They have a celiac friendly option.

If you're currently on a meat, potato, and veggies diet then relax because this is gonna be easy. If not you might want to switch to a meat, veggies, and potatoes diet at least for a while.

So here's what I found out regarding food:

Note: insert the words "gluten free" in every item mentioned as some of the companies also sell non gluten free stuff. It's tedious to write that phrase all the time.

Get a chest freezer to store all of your frozen gluten-free foods. Makes things easier.

Bread:
  - Canyon bakehouse without question is the most realistic tasting bread. They have white, fake rye, multigrain and bagels (the bagels are fantastic).
  - Schar baguettes are decent.
  - Katz makes an English muffin that, after toasted, reminds me of a real one provided it has stuff on it like butter. I think that's the brand.
  - Etalia has a good boule if you prefer artisan bread. (Colorado)

Pizza crust:
    - Schar makes a good thick and chewy crust.
    - Udis makes a good thin and crispy crust.
    - Etalia makes a great New York crust. (Colorado)

Pasta:
    - Barilla makes the best pasta. Tastes like normal pasta. Spaghetti cooks the best.
    
Flour:
    - Pamelas all-purpose flour is great for making gravy and batter for fried foods.

Cereal:
    - Envirokidz Gorilla Munch cereal is a yummy equivalent to corn Pops.

Cookies:
    - Goodie Girl mint slims - fantastic girl scout mint cookie equivalent
    - Kinnikinnik makes a decent Oreo equivalent.
    - Kinnikinnik makes a good nilla wafer
    - Mi Del makes a great ginger snap.

Cake:
    - Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix tastes the same, but you have to get the cooking time exactly right. It is a very small window of time. Too long and it's too dry.
    - Udi's blueberry muffins after 8 seconds in the microwave are addicting

Frozen meals:
    - Udi's Chicken Florentine is addictive and Broccoli Kale lasagna is a good white lasagna.

Restaurants (not from personal experience, just from research)
    - Chinese – PF Changs. Employees are supposedly trained in gluten free.
    - Burgers – In N Out. The only thing here that is not gluten free are the buns so it is very easy for them to do gluten free. They are also trained in it. They are only out west. Road Trip!
    - Outback steakhouse. Employees are supposedly trained in gluten free. How good they are depends on where you live.

 

If you are willing to cook from scratch it's fairly easy to make a good gluten free equivalent to your favorite foods.

 

 

[Ennis-TX]

Read the newbie 101 thread, will help you learn to read labels, and decon your kitchen, you will have to replace certain utensils, scratched pots/pans, colanders etc. Change to a whole foods only diet to make things simple and avoid processed foods....DO NOT even try gluten free breads for a few months til you forget the flavor/texture...then you no longer care and are content with the new ones you can find.
Simple meals like Sheet Pan Meals, crock pot meals, soups, stews, omelettes, stir fry, salads, etc. are great, go with simple certified gluten-free seasons at first you can venture back into sauces, condiments when you learn to read labels and find gluten-free stuff you can trust.
Quick start for safe cooking/prep. Nordicware makes microwave cookware cheap like omelette makers, steamers, grill plates with splatter covers so you do not have to rush to replace all cookware, and they are disposable if you mess up at the price.
Foil line baking dishes and sheets for a safe cook surface and easy clean up same applies with crockpot liners
Butcher paper/freezer paper for counters for safe prep area and easy clean up
I have composed a list of options for sauces, meats, breads, mixes etc that I update quarterly, should be seeing a update next month.
https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/91878-newbie-info-101/

https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/121148-gluten-free-food-alternative-list-2018-q2/