North Florida Anyone? Destin?

[Guest KG in FL]

How about anyone in North FL- the panhandle? Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Crestview, Navarre, Walton County? I know there are quite a few celiacs here from the health food stores and also hearing from the medical community. I know there is a formal group in Pensacola but I can't seem to make it the hour+ or so over there. Let me know...

[Guest delana6303]

How about anyone in North FL- the panhandle? Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Crestview, Navarre, Walton County? I know there are quite a few celiacs here from the health food stores and also hearing from the medical community. I know there is a formal group in Pensacola but I can't seem to make it the hour+ or so over there. Let me know...

Hi My name is delana, I am in panama city my son has celiac disease. I cant find anyone in panama city that has this disease. Please get in touch me and maybe we can talk.

[Guest KG in FL]

Hey there- I am sorry your son has been diagnosed but it is way better to know than to suffer. I also hope you have good doctors- I had to diagnose myself June 2004. I have learned a lot via the web and Dr. Green's book "Celiac Disease-the Hidden Epidemic" which I had to order. How far into all this are you? How is your son doing? Is he a little one or older? I KNOW there are many celiacs in our area but am just beginning to start to try and find them. Let me know any questions and I'll try and figure how or if I can e-mail you directly. I am new the this forum.

[2boysmama]

I know this isn't helpful, but I lived in FWB from 85-91 !

[Guest KG in FL]

I'll bet it has grown since then - have you been here lately? My doctor's seem to, in the last few months, just seem to be learning about celiac, at all. I am not sure if the medical care here is on the cutting edge despite the growth- haha! We have been here since 2000 and hope to retire here.

Best regards!

[2boysmama]

I'll bet it has grown since then - have you been here lately? My doctor's seem to, in the last few months, just seem to be learning about celiac, at all. I am not sure if the medical care here is on the cutting edge despite the growth- haha! We have been here since 2000 and hope to retire here.

Best regards!

No, I haven't been back since. While I lived there I didn't get the impression they were "cutting edge" either, lol. Though Pensacola is supposed to be pretty good, from what I remember hearing.

[ReneCox]

I live in Tallahassee, Florida

[Guest KG in FL]

I live in Tallahassee, Florida

I like Tallahassee a lot. My son will start FSU in the fall. He is not celiac, or at least as far as I know. How's the gluten-free dining there? The usual or is there any special spots?

[nothing but nicole]

I'm in Jacksonville, FL... too far.... wish I could find people enthusiastic here...

[Guest KG in FL]

I'm in Jacksonville, FL... too far.... wish I could find people enthusiastic here...

Same here, but I know they are all around me. Our Publix added to it's Greenwise section A LOT of gluten-free products at the request of quite a few people locally. But I can't seem to find them! I like Jacksonville as well. I grew up in Winter Park and some students ended up at JU. Now I go there every Janurary for state cheer competition (my daughter cheers). We end up at the Landing. How are the resurants in Jax? Any special gluten-free?

[ReneCox]

The only gluten-free restaurant I have been to in tallahassee is Outback...Its the only one I know of but Im fairly new at this and don't want to risk going out too much:)

[Guest KG in FL]

The only gluten-free restaurant I have been to in tallahassee is Outback...Its the only one I know of but Im fairly new at this and don't want to risk going out too much:)

Yeah, Outback is good to have. I too have not eaten out barely at all. It's too risky. I feel bad for my family though as my hubby lost his dining out partner! I have to keep telling him that "soon" I will be able to go to a restaurant with people, watch them eat all the GREAT stuff, and me order some naked fish! The bread and rolls at some of these places lead me into such temptation!! I would never even step foot into an Italian place! Course Subway even tempts me, so I stay away from that too. I wonder when I will get strong enough to go watch others and not want to cry... or cheat.

[SomaDee]

Hi from Crestview. I have a son at FSU whom we're pretty sure has celiac disease and will be tested when he comes home this summer. Though I don't know how that will work out since we went ahead and started him on the gluten-free diet. His fatigue and brain fog was interferring too much with his studies not to mention the constant stomach pains after eating. He's been on the diet now for two weeks and feels great. We're hoping to see some weight gain as well. At 5'11 and only weighing 115, he could use the extra weight. His aunt is in the process of getting tested as well. We have 5 people in our family (aunts, uncles, grand parents) who all have been told they have either Crohn's Disease, IBS, and one who was told his bouts of D was from the result of nerve damage caused from his back surgery.

As for eating out, we usually head to Ft Walton Beach. The Panda Resturant on the beach is okay, we usually do the Mongolian grill there. I'm worried about the possibility of cross contamination but so far we haven't had any problems. We also ventured out to Chili's which was a wonderful experience. We walked in and asked the waitress for their gluten-free menu. With a clueless look on her face, she informed us she had no idea what that is. lol She got the Asst. Manager and he came out totally unaware that Chili's had a gluten-free menu as well. So I mentioned it was on their web site, and he went in the back and printed out the menu for us. He then sat down with us to learn more about celiac disease and asked if there was any other measures he needed to take in the meal preparation besides the usual steps to avoid cross contamination. He brought out the meal to us himself to make sure everything was as needed. The presentation was wonderful and the food was great. The Asst. Manager, Jarrod (hopefully spelled right), said he would keep the menu handy for when we returned.

My son says the Pollo Tropical on the campus at FSU is good. He just tells them to leave off the bread.

As for Jacksonville, they do have a PF Changs there. I've been hearing good things about their gluten-free menu. I have a sis that lives out that way so we've been checking restaurants that way for when my son visits her.

Sorry for my killer long post here.

[ReneCox]

Hi from Crestview. I have a son at FSU whom we're pretty sure has celiac disease and will be tested when he comes home this summer. Though I don't know how that will work out since we went ahead and started him on the gluten-free diet. His fatigue and brain fog was interferring too much with his studies not to mention the constant stomach pains after eating. He's been on the diet now for two weeks and feels great. We're hoping to see some weight gain as well. At 5'11 and only weighing 115, he could use the extra weight. His aunt is in the process of getting tested as well. We have 5 people in our family (aunts, uncles, grand parents) who all have been told they have either Crohn's Disease, IBS, and one who was told his bouts of D was from the result of nerve damage caused from his back surgery.

As for eating out, we usually head to Ft Walton Beach. The Panda Resturant on the beach is okay, we usually do the Mongolian grill there. I'm worried about the possibility of cross contamination but so far we haven't had any problems. We also ventured out to Chili's which was a wonderful experience. We walked in and asked the waitress for their gluten-free menu. With a clueless look on her face, she informed us she had no idea what that is. lol She got the Asst. Manager and he came out totally unaware that Chili's had a gluten-free menu as well. So I mentioned it was on their web site, and he went in the back and printed out the menu for us. He then sat down with us to learn more about celiac disease and asked if there was any other measures he needed to take in the meal preparation besides the usual steps to avoid cross contamination. He brought out the meal to us himself to make sure everything was as needed. The presentation was wonderful and the food was great. The Asst. Manager, Jarrod (hopefully spelled right), said he would keep the menu handy for when we returned.

My son says the Pollo Tropical on the campus at FSU is good. He just tells them to leave off the bread.

As for Jacksonville, they do have a PF Changs there. I've been hearing good things about their gluten-free menu. I have a sis that lives out that way so we've been checking restaurants that way for when my son visits her.

Sorry for my killer long post here.

SomaDee...your son's name isn't Bret is it? Thats probably a weird question but I to to TCC and I know a celiac at FSU named bret.

[SomaDee]

SomaDee...your son's name isn't Bret is it? Thats probably a weird question but I to to TCC and I know a celiac at FSU named bret.

My son's name is Michael. I'll have to let him know about Bret though. Right now my son is feeling like he's the only one there having to be careful of what he eats.

[ReneCox]

yeah, dont we all know the feeling! tell him he can look me up on facebook if he wants (Renee Cox)

[SomaDee]

yeah, dont we all know the feeling! tell him he can look me up on facebook if he wants (Renee Cox)

I'll let him know. Thanks!

[Wabi]

Well, I'm normally rather fast responding to a phone call and being told to register here haha! I am the son my mom here was telling you about. Good to know I'm not the only one here that's extremely selective on what I'm eating since I dislike the after-effects of it. Nice to meet you Renee. I am Mike, 1st year at FSU and an Information Technology major. I am currently doing a little internship with the TCC Information Technology department on Website Development also so I just happen to be linked to TCC in some way. I think my mom pretty much covered the other basic stuff earlier. I can most certainly say that finding out that a long time of being underweight and lethargic may have been caused by Celiac was pretty much a revelation to me. Since I've started the gluten-free diet over a week ago, I have been far more energetic than I can last remember, and I haven't had any pain after eating also. Though I believe it's going to take a lot more time before I can say the same thing about my weight, heh.

EDIT:-----------------------------------------------

By the way, I'm unable to find you on the Facebook Search.

The name I am going by is Mike W in the FSU Network on Facebook.

[Guest KG in FL]

Hi from Crestview. I have a son at FSU whom we're pretty sure has celiac disease and will be tested when he comes home this summer. Though I don't know how that will work out since we went ahead and started him on the gluten-free diet. His fatigue and brain fog was interferring too much with his studies not to mention the constant stomach pains after eating. He's been on the diet now for two weeks and feels great. We're hoping to see some weight gain as well. At 5'11 and only weighing 115, he could use the extra weight. His aunt is in the process of getting tested as well. We have 5 people in our family (aunts, uncles, grand parents) who all have been told they have either Crohn's Disease, IBS, and one who was told his bouts of D was from the result of nerve damage caused from his back surgery.

As for eating out, we usually head to Ft Walton Beach. The Panda Resturant on the beach is okay, we usually do the Mongolian grill there. I'm worried about the possibility of cross contamination but so far we haven't had any problems. We also ventured out to Chili's which was a wonderful experience. We walked in and asked the waitress for their gluten-free menu. With a clueless look on her face, she informed us she had no idea what that is. lol She got the Asst. Manager and he came out totally unaware that Chili's had a gluten-free menu as well. So I mentioned it was on their web site, and he went in the back and printed out the menu for us. He then sat down with us to learn more about celiac disease and asked if there was any other measures he needed to take in the meal preparation besides the usual steps to avoid cross contamination. He brought out the meal to us himself to make sure everything was as needed. The presentation was wonderful and the food was great. The Asst. Manager, Jarrod (hopefully spelled right), said he would keep the menu handy for when we returned.

My son says the Pollo Tropical on the campus at FSU is good. He just tells them to leave off the bread.

As for Jacksonville, they do have a PF Changs there. I've been hearing good things about their gluten-free menu. I have a sis that lives out that way so we've been checking restaurants that way for when my son visits her.

Sorry for my killer long post here.

Hello somadee- I just now saw your post! I am in Destin and I wanted to be sure you knew we are getting PF Chang's here. It willl be east of Destin in that new shopping center with the other Publix. Past Sandestin. And a Fleming's Steakhouse and a Mitchell's Fish Market (a restaurant). Among others. Another Rave theater too. I can't wait. Was it the Chili's in Destin you're talking about or in FWB? My son is about 5'11 and probably weighs 125 or so. He hasn't had any health problems but I didn't either until I was about 35. I go to Jacksonville about once a year - any more places to eat? My sisters live in Ocala. Do you also have the celiac or your son and family?

[Guest KG in FL]

Hello somadee- I just now saw your post! I am in Destin and I wanted to be sure you knew we are getting PF Chang's here. It willl be east of Destin in that new shopping center with the other Publix. Past Sandestin. And a Fleming's Steakhouse and a Mitchell's Fish Market (a restaurant). Among others. Another Rave theater too. I can't wait. Was it the Chili's in Destin you're talking about or in FWB? My son is about 5'11 and probably weighs 125 or so. He hasn't had any health problems but I didn't either until I was about 35. I go to Jacksonville about once a year - any more places to eat? My sisters live in Ocala. Do you also have the celiac or your son and family?

[SomaDee]

Hello somadee- I just now saw your post! I am in Destin and I wanted to be sure you knew we are getting PF Chang's here. It willl be east of Destin in that new shopping center with the other Publix. Past Sandestin. And a Fleming's Steakhouse and a Mitchell's Fish Market (a restaurant). Among others. Another Rave theater too. I can't wait. Was it the Chili's in Destin you're talking about or in FWB? My son is about 5'11 and probably weighs 125 or so. He hasn't had any health problems but I didn't either until I was about 35. I go to Jacksonville about once a year - any more places to eat? My sisters live in Ocala. Do you also have the celiac or your son and family?

That's great about the PF Chang's arriving there. Figures right after we find out we have to move to Ohio. But yeah, that was the Chili's in FWB. I've gotten into printing out their gluten-free menu from their website to bring in with me to save the waitress/waiter from having to locate the menu there.

Since most of the family seems to be having problems finding doctors who are willing to test for celiac disease, most just gave up and went on the diet since there was a remarkable improvement in how they felt on the diet. My sister-in-law was on the diet for 2 weeks before deciding to sneak some toast right before a trip...big mistake on her part. Let's say now she's convinced she has it. My husband has been doing well on the diet as well but hasn't been officially diagnosed. My son and I are the only ones who's been fighting with the doctors for the testing. My son went on the diet since spring break and has done extremely well on it. But now him and I are eating gluten for the testing we keep pushing for since he's out for summer break. The only bloodwork we could get the doc to run was the CBC and such. So I went to a lab online and ordered the celiac disease screening kit through them and then once we get all those results in, assuming they come back positive, push for the biopsy. It's amazing how reluctant docs are to test for it and how little they know about it. I had to laugh when one PA pulled out a medical book that only contained about 2 paragraphs of information on it and said she doubted I had it since it was rare. I said, "Yeah, I guess 1 in 130 people would be a bit rare but I would like to be tested any way." I don't think she liked me after that. Or maybe it was after I corrected her in front of the nurse about how it wasn't a wheat only problem after she told me I could still drink beer and such since it didn't contain wheat. Needless to say, I haven't gone back to her again.

[taylor-]

My son's name is Michael. I'll have to let him know about Bret though. Right now my son is feeling like he's the only one there having to be careful of what he eats.

hey! i'm starting fsu in the fall. Ill be a freshman and ive had celiacs since i was 18 months old. is it pretty easy eating on campus and stuff? i guess you might not know since its your son, but i've had sort of a hard time trying to find any information on food up there.

thanks..taylor

[SomaDee]

hey! i'm starting fsu in the fall. Ill be a freshman and ive had celiacs since i was 18 months old. is it pretty easy eating on campus and stuff? i guess you might not know since its your son, but i've had sort of a hard time trying to find any information on food up there.

thanks..taylor

He did decide not to get the meal plan for this upcoming school year because he felt there wasn't enough variety in the dining areas for it to be worth it. He also decided to get a single room on campus so he wouldn't have to worry about cross contamination. I'll let him know about your post tomorrow so he can give you more info.

[taylor-]

He did decide not to get the meal plan for this upcoming school year because he felt there wasn't enough variety in the dining areas for it to be worth it. He also decided to get a single room on campus so he wouldn't have to worry about cross contamination. I'll let him know about your post tomorrow so he can give you more info.

thanks so much. i've already decided on an apartment off campus, my parents and I decided it would be easier to have my own kitchen and would save money since you have to get a meal plan now in most dorms.

[Wabi]

thanks so much. i've already decided on an apartment off campus, my parents and I decided it would be easier to have my own kitchen and would save money since you have to get a meal plan now in most dorms.

Hi! I am the son that SomaDee was talking about. From when I checked around the campus dining facilities, most of them had items that contained gluten in them with little or no Gluten-Free alternative. The Suwanee Room and Fresh Food Co., the two main on-campus dining halls, were the places that has the fruit, various drinks, and if the selected lunch menus for the day permit, a dish that doesn't have any gluten might be available. I had checked with one of the Seminole Dining Managers about their food shipments, and she said that Seminole Dining did not have special foods available for those whose bodies reject gluten. It's a gamble with the dining halls, and I personally don't think it's worth getting the meal plans over if you can't eat most of the food in the dining halls. And unfortunately, I do not know how much in $ admission without a meal plan was. The only place that I know of that offers numerous choices that do not contain gluten on campus is at the Pollo Tropical in the Oglesby Union Food Court. That was my main stop during the last month of the Spring for a bite to eat once I realized that the reason I've been very sick was due to my toxicity of gluten.

I do second the choice of living in a place with easy access to a kitchen, and with some space to store stuff like cooking utensils and tools. While each residence hall does have kitchens, the dormitories have one kitchen per floor which is shared. So the ideas of storing kitchen supplies there are invalid. Another problem with that is that there is the issue of space in your dorm. And of course, each residence hall that are dormitories require students to have a meal plan. The only halls that are exempt from that requirement are McCollum Hall and Reagans Hall (I believe those are it), which are primarily Townhouse-style. I did get a single room in one of those halls, though these are called Efficiencies due to those having a kitchen while single rooms in dormitories do not. This was actually the backup due to my not being able to get with any of my buddies, and my original roommates in the Townhouse assignment were a little...uh...not anywhere near my style.

I personally prefer to be able to cook my own stuff over going out to eat. In the time it would take to get a good meal by traveling, placing the order, waiting, then receiving...I can usually cook something up on my own that comes out rather good (to me at least...I'm not too sure how honest my parents are about my cooking since I'm fairly new to it *duck*), and the overall cost is much less than eating out, plus the cook has absolute control over ingredients used, and it actually feels relaxing to me to cook after doing some kind of mental or physical work. If you were to be here last year, you would have had a reeeeeealy fun time trying to find a parking spot in the on-campus garages, hahaha (people I knew there get rather irritable after a while of having dogfights with other cars). However during the later Spring, the campus got a new parking garage up so the problem of on-campus parking was a lightened a bit. I don't think parking here will be too problematic, but I can say the drivers in Tallahassee are kind of crazy and love to cut people off. Just a heads up.

This is about all I can think of for now, if you have any questions about the Campus or whatnot, I'll be mor ethan happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge. Oh, and the Stadium is huuuuuuuuuuuge!