Living Gluten Free With Non Celiac Roommates

[nikki182]

Anyone have some advice on how to tactfully inform roommates and college friends about having celiac? When I left college last year I was undiagnosed, and I'm sure my friends have plenty of memories of me chugging beer and insisting that we order late night pizzas. I just figured out that I was gluten intolerant this summer and am feeling much better on the diet. I have talked a little bit about my disease with the people I will be living with, but I'm not sure they are really understanding it. They are happy that I got a diagnosis and that I'm feeling better, but they think that the whole ordeal is over now. They don't really understand how strict I have to be with the diet for the rest of my life.

I know I need to talk to them about rules and stuff for the kitchen so it will be safe for me to cook there. I just don't want to sound psychotic or overbearing by telling people that they absolutely can nott touch my stuff or use my toaster, etc. I was just wondering what other people's experiences were like and if anyone had some advice.

Also, a somewhat related question:

If I have pots and pans that i used to cook gluten containing foods last time I was at college, do I need to replace those when I get back? Or are they safe to use after cleaning? I guess I also need to know if I can share pots and pans with roommates who aren't cooking gluten free. I got myself a seperate toaster oven to use for bread.

[Guest Norah022]

I came back for my senior year this year and am living with my two best friends from last year...I was diagnosed over the summer. My best friend Colleen came to visit over the summer so she understood it a bit but neither of them understood cross contamination so i explained iut to them the best I could.

For nights afterward when I would go to bed they would stay up and MOCK my celiac's disease laughing about how it was not serious

So finally I just said we need to talk and they listened.

Just tell them it is important for them to understand what is going on with you. If they are your friends they will understand,

[lorka150]

This, too, happened to me (diagnosed inthe summer then went back). The girls were really careful, and even one of them bought different dog food for her dog. There were a few issues here and there, but generally, it was fine. I used all of my own things.

Unfortunately, I ended up getting extremely ill, left my apt, moved home, and commuted to finish my degree. To be honest, it was really hard, and I probably would never live with roomates again.

[nikki182]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! Hopefully it will all work out. I've just been worrying about it lately because I know I'm very non confrontational. Plus it's just been irking me that when I tell friends what I have they either say something about how it's so great I have nothing serious, that I just have a little allergy or else something along the lines of how a gluten free diet is no big deal because hey, they tried south beach for a couple weeks once and it wasnt too difficult. I went out to eat with some people the other day and they kept encouraging me to break my diet for just one night so I could have some appetizers like everyone else. I know people dont know better and are just trying to be positive, but grr... And this looked like a good place to vent, hehe. Sorry bout that.

[Guest Norah022]

Yeah I have been having the exact same problems with people not think it is serious...What youhave to do is show them it is serious. I ended up getting glutened and they saw how sick i got and it helped a bit but not much.

Sometimes they are incredibly inconsiderate..I have cravings and there are certain foods I can't have that they just leave around (My family at home had to hide the bagels because i kept going for them almost as if i had forgotten). Right now there are cinnamon rolls sitting on my counter...I am just staying out of the kitchen right now lol

It sucks to have to confront people about it but what I finally decided was I needed to put MY HEALTH before anything else and if that means being mean for a little while until they get the point then so be it.

[Heater]

At first my roommates didn't realize how important it is to be completely gluten free and they thought that since I'd eaten gluten before, a little bit couldn't be too bad. They were really interested in what it's like and honestly didn't know about it. My roommate said it seems there's lots I can eat, but I'm just overly careful at restaurants, so I told her about the cross-contamination stuff and now she understands that better. She's also taken the time to read through one of my books. Now she'll buy gluten free cookie mixes, make cookies and leave notes about how she made them (like 'I used your butter to grease the pan').

I think if your roommates see how seriously you take it, they'll realize it's important.

Heather

[teeta]

I am not in college yet but I plan on having all of my kitchen stuff (even my toaster) labeled and put into a rubbermaid tub with my name on it. I also plan on doing the same for all of my food. ( the fridge will have a container with just my stuff and my name will be on everything) I think by sitting them down and having a "meeting" to explain that you can get sick by sharing butter, peanut butter, toaster, etc then they will realize you mean business. I would even explain/share a time when you did get sick from cross-contamination.

[Mango04]

I'm currently living with roommates. I think the most important thing is just telling them not to use your peanut butter, margarine etc. If you keep all that stuff labeled you should be okay. Other than that I just make sure I use all my own cookware and cooking utensils. If I accidentally put a fork or something down on the counter I wash it well before using it and I always wash any dishes before eating even if they're supposedly already clean (and I use paper towels rather than dish towels to dry them). It's worked out so far.

[katrinamaria]

hello!

i'm not a confrontational person either and i will be moving out of the dorms next year...so i was thinking about how i'd handle this situation & decided that i think i would go the route of NOTES. i think you said that you have already discussed it a little so they have heard straight from you what your issue is. if it were me, my next step would be: post a nice, neat, typed, maybe colorful note on the fridge or wherever warning/reminding people (nicely/polietly) not to use your things. also definatly label everything. and maybe keep what you can in your own room if possible. one of my friends lives with roommates and she keeps some of her things in her room anyway just cuz she doesn't want anyone else to use them...??

good luck & let us know how it goes!!

kms

[whitney728]

Last year I lived with two girls, and it wasn't a big deal because we didn't have a kitchen, but this year I have four roommates and we do, so I've been a little neurotic. I chose to room with 3 out of the 4, so they knew all about Celiac disease, and I just explained it to the fourth. What I've found is if someone bakes cookies or makes something for the rest of the room, just make sure it's bagged or wrapped so the crumbs don't touch anything. Also, like the person above me said, having your own peanut butter and that kind of stuff is essential, but we don't really share food anyway (one of my suitemates is a vegan) unless we're all cooking something together, so it's more or less a non-issue there. The only problem I have is when one of my roommates (the vegan, incidentally, you think she'd be a little more understanding about cross-contamination) doesn't do her dishes, and it makes me kind of nervous to have stuff sitting in the sink for so long, but that's just me. I'll ask her to do them occasionally, but she's seemed kind of annoyed with me lately. However, I will NOT do them myself, because just as a personal preference I won't touch anything that I can't eat. You should just explain to your roommates what the issue is, most of them should be understanding about keeping things clean and separate.

[theprincess]

I am not celiac (but my mom is) but I still kept my stuff seperate from my roommates. I kept a little corner of my closet that had my pots and pans and my toaster oven in it - so my roommates wouldn't abuse the stuff. Its a little annoying to have to go run and get them if you want to cook, but I highly recommend doing it!! GL