Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Hello - I'm New

Ada

By Ada
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

Ada Newbie
Ada
Posted

Hello, I was diagnosed with Celia recently and being trying to be gluten free for 3 weeks.

I thought it would be easier, but it's being hard especially to get use to this diet, especially in

the mornings. I miss my bread and pizza. There're not much choices out there.

How are you guys coping with this?

Thanks.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Ursa Major Collaborator
Ursa Major
Posted

Hi Ada, and welcome to this board. I am glad you were diagnosed, as now you can get well. It takes a while to get the hang of the diet, but you'll be fine.

Check out Nini's 'newbie survival kit', it has a lot of valuable information, that will help you know what to eat, what shampoo, conditioner, lipstick etc. is safe and a whole lot more. Here is the link: Open Original Shared Link. Scroll down to the bottom to find the links to the kit.

You can still eat bread and pizza, just gluten-free ones. See if your local grocery store has a gluten-free section, if not, check your health food store. You can also order many things online.

And of course, a lot of food is naturally gluten-free, like meat, vegetables, eggs, fruit, nuts, seeds etc. Why not eat bacon and eggs and a fruit salad for breakfast? Or buckwheat pancakes.

It will get easier, I promise.

happygirl Collaborator
happygirl
Posted

Ada,

Welcome to the board! This can be very overwhelming. Celiac is a strange disease.

Luckily, there are a lot of products out there. Some areas carry more. Where do you live? Do you live near a Whole Foods?

Have you looked online at www.glutenfreepantry.com, glutenfreemall.com, or allergygrocer.com?

Tinkyada rice based pasta is a great gluten free pasta that many on here love, myself included.

Whole foods has a great line of gluten free baked products, including breads, rolls, pizza crusts, etc.

Kinnicknick also has many great gluten-free products.

Check out some of those sites---you will see LOTS of great gluten free brands. Some are better than others...a lot depends on personal preference.

Hope this helps. Let us know specifically what you are looking for and people will chime in with their favorite brands. Let us know if you have questions on things you see!

Laura

Creative-Soul Newbie
Creative-Soul
Posted

Just wanted to say "Welcome!" This will get easier as time goes by and you learn more about the diet and going Gluten free as a whole. You're going to have to be willing to adjust a bit from the onset...that made things much easier for me. What helps the most is concentrating on what I CAN eat, instead of what I CAN"T. And when I get the urge to feel sorry for myself (which still happens sometimes!), I just remember what horrible symptoms I get and/how awful I feel when I eat a particular food... the urge disappears in no time flat!

Guhlia Rising Star
Guhlia
Posted

Welcome! As everyone else said, it gets easier over time. Now it's second nature to me. Gluten-filled goodies don't even look good to me anymore. I'd much prefer to eat my fresh baked gluten-free treats. I would definitely recommend getting yourself a few gluten free cookbooks to start out... Don't let a few failed recipes scare you off. I personally recommend Incredible Edible Gluten Free Foods for Kids by Shari L. Sanderson, incredibly easy recipes that turn out incredibly well. I also love The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy by Bette Hagman, this book has the absolute best pizza recipe I've ever found (gluten free or gluten filled). The pizza recipe also makes fantastic bagels, rolls, pizza, and mini pizzas. Yum! You can likely make all of your old recipes gluten free. Whenever it calls for flour, use Bette Hagman's rice flour blend (you'll want to mix this up fresh to save tons of money): 3 parts white rice flour, 2 parts potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch... Add 1 teaspoon per 1 to 1-1/2 cups of flour blend. I still use all my old recipes and just sub this flour blend for all purpose flour. They turn out fabulous AND they don't make me sick like they did pre-gluten-free...

If you're really struggling with the diet, try finding the book Living Gluten Free for Dummies. It's one of those yellow and black dummies books. It has some great information and it's a very easy read, great book.

I also use allrecipes.com and epicurious.com for recipes... They have some naturally gluten free recipes as well as some that I sub gluten free ingredients in.

Someone around here has the list of companies that will list gluten on their labels... Kraft is one of those companies, they will list wheat, barley, rye, or oats on the label. Wal-mart's Great Value brand says "gluten free" right on the container if it's gluten free, they'll even tell you if it's produced in a facility with wheat.

Shopping online will also probably help you greatly in the beginning... I love Kinnikinnick.com for my flours, cookies, and bagels. I use shopbydiet.com for everything else. Try Tinkyada pasta if you're a pasta lover.

Chin up, it'll get easier.

white Newbie
white
Posted
Hello, I was diagnosed with Celia recently and being trying to be gluten free for 3 weeks.

I thought it would be easier, but it's being hard especially to get use to this diet, especially in

the mornings. I miss my bread and pizza. There're not much choices out there.

How are you guys coping with this?

Thanks.

Hi Ada - swelcome!

Playing safe with limited variety was important for my husband. We worried about the variety too but every time he tried something, pain was there. At the beginning we thought we could do this diet, but as time passed we learned that he had to avoid milk/cheese/yogurt, soy, red meat, egg, nightshades...etc. since his intestines were sensitive. So, I tried to create new recipes with only few ingredients.

now, he likes "quinva" and "rice pasta" and never has any pain after eating those.

I believe, when he gets better, variety will be there!

SchnauzerMom Rookie
SchnauzerMom
Posted

Hi, I'm glad you joined us. My hubby and I have been gluten free since the middle of October. We weren't diagnosed with celiac but we discovered that gluten is definitely a problem for both of us. We both feel so much better without it. We loved breads and most baked things. I'm learning to make things with alternative flours. The taste is different from wheat flour but it's still good and getting better. An acquired taste, I think. I like quinoa, amarath, sorghum and tapioca flours the best so far. Brown rice flour and potato starch are good too. I have a gluten free cookbook but I have discovered that I can still use my old receipes. In fact, I like them better than the gluten free cookbook.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Mary Contrary Rookie
Mary Contrary
Posted

Hi and I'm really new to this too...and my H is just awesome, he just goes along with whatever I cook and is more than willing to make adjustment so i don't have to try and make two dinners, we are both pretty much on our own for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is a big deal for us.

It hasn't been too hard, been doing it for 2 months now...and I'm going to try making a gluten free pizza as soon as my digestive problems settle down..tomato sauce plays hell with my bowels at the mo, must be too much acid..and good god, I won't be eating popcorn again anytime soon either.:rolleyes:

Creative-Soul Newbie
Creative-Soul
Posted
Hi and I'm really new to this too...and my H is just awesome, he just goes along with whatever I cook and is more than willing to make adjustment so i don't have to try and make two dinners, we are both pretty much on our own for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is a big deal for us.

It hasn't been too hard, been doing it for 2 months now...and I'm going to try making a gluten free pizza as soon as my digestive problems settle down..tomato sauce plays hell with my bowels at the mo, must be too much acid..and good god, I won't be eating popcorn again anytime soon either.:rolleyes:

Hi, Mary! Glad to have you here as well. You are so fortunate to have a spouse that is so supportive of you! You are doing the right thing in taking it slow and allowing your system to heal first before tackling more complex/processed foods; it's best to keep things as simple as possible at first. Good luck with everything, and feel free to ask away if you need to! It's also great to go through all of the older posts...I find most of the answers to the questions that I have (that is, if you have the time to) that way.

Mary Contrary Rookie
Mary Contrary
Posted
Hi, Mary! Glad to have you here as well. You are so fortunate to have a spouse that is so supportive of you! You are doing the right thing in taking it slow and allowing your system to heal first before tackling more complex/processed foods; it's best to keep things as simple as possible at first. Good luck with everything, and feel free to ask away if you need to! It's also great to go through all of the older posts...I find most of the answers to the questions that I have (that is, if you have the time to) that way.

thank you so much, I have been checking out many topics..some make me laugh and some almost make me cry...but it is wonderful to know there are so many of us out here with the same problems...I just figure it isn't a life threatening disease if one takes care of themself...so I know I'll adjust...but I sure found out I need to stay away from peanuts for awhile...Good Lord !!! :rolleyes: ate some last night and am paying dearly for it today...

grannynanny Rookie
grannynanny
Posted

PEANUTS????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

daffadilly Apprentice
daffadilly
Posted

Peanuts - for some weird reason I cannot eat roasted canned peanuts - they make me sick every time. BUT I have no problems with my Smuckers All Natural Peanut Butter. I have a lot of food allergies, so I usually accept these things & go on. I can eat all other kinds of roasted nuts with no problems, so I do not know what the problem with peanuts are. I think maybe mold, cross contamination or golly who knows what!!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. suek54
      - suek54 replied to suek54's topic in Dermatitis Herpetiformis
      7

      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      Wow KK, thank you so much for all your attached info. I had a very quick scan but will read more in depth later. The one concerning corticosteroid use is very interesting. That would relate to secondary adrenal insufficiency I think , ie AI caused by steroids such as taken long term for eg asthma. I have primary autoimmune AI, my adrenals are atrophied...
    2. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to suek54's topic in Dermatitis Herpetiformis
      7

      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      Welcome to the forum, @suek54, I have Dermatitis Herpetiformis, too. I found taking Niacin B3 very helpful in clearing my skin from blisters as well as improving the itchies-without-rash (peripheral neuropathy). Niacin has been used since the 1950's to improve dermatitis herpetiformis. I try to balance my iodine intake (which will cause flairs...
    3. suek54
      - suek54 replied to suek54's topic in Dermatitis Herpetiformis
      7

      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      Thank you all for your advice and the dermatitis herpetiformis article. The latter made me realise I had stopped taking my antihistamine, which I will restart today. The Dapsone has cleared the rash entirely but I still get quite a bit itching, absolutely nothing to see though. I know its notoriously hard to clear and its still relatively early days for me...
    4. trents
      - trents replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      So, essentially all of the nutrition in the food we eat is absorbed through the villous lining of the small bowel. This is the section of the intestinal track that is damaged by celiac disease. This villous lining is composed of billions of finger-like projections that create a huge amount of surface area for absorbing nutrients. For the celiac person, when...
    5. catnapt
      - catnapt replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      thank you so much for your detailed and extremely helpful reply!! I can say with absolute certainty that the less gluten containing products I've eaten over the past several years, the better I've felt. I wasn't avoiding gluten, I was avoiding refined grains (and most processed foods) as well as anything that made me feel bad when I ate it. It's the...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,258
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Tdodge
    Newest Member
    Tdodge
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Who's Online (See full list)

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • suek54
      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      By suek54 · Posted

      Wow KK, thank you so much for all your attached info. I had a very quick scan but will read more in depth later.  The one concerning corticosteroid use is very interesting. That would relate to secondary adrenal insufficiency I think , ie AI caused by steroids such as taken long term for eg asthma. I have primary autoimmune AI, my adrenals are atrophied, no chance if recovery there. But I am in touch with some secondaries, so something to bear in mind. .  Niacin B3 Very interesting too. Must have a good read about that.  Im sure lots of questions will arise as I progress with dermatitis herpetiformis. In the mean time, thanks for your help.
    • knitty kitty
      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @suek54, I have Dermatitis Herpetiformis, too.  I found taking Niacin B3 very helpful in clearing my skin from blisters as well as improving the itchies-without-rash (peripheral neuropathy).  Niacin has been used since the 1950's to improve dermatitis herpetiformis.   I try to balance my iodine intake (which will cause flairs) with Selenium which improves thyroid function.   Interesting Reading: Dermatitis herpetiformis effectively treated with heparin, tetracycline and nicotinamide https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10844495/   Experience with selenium used to recover adrenocortical function in patients taking glucocorticosteroids long https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24437222/   Two Cases of Dermatitis Herpetiformis Successfully Treated with Tetracycline and Niacinamide https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30390734/   Steroid-Resistant Rash With Neuropsychiatric Deterioration and Weight Loss: A Modern-Day Case of Pellagra https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12532421/#:~:text=Figure 2.,(right panel) upper limbs.&text=The distribution of the rash,patient's substantial response to treatment.   Nicotinic acid therapy of dermatitis herpetiformis (1950) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15412276/
    • suek54
      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      By suek54 · Posted

      Thank you all for your advice and the dermatitis herpetiformis article. The latter made me realise I had stopped taking my antihistamine, which I will restart today. The Dapsone has cleared the rash entirely but I still get quite a bit itching, absolutely nothing to see though. I know its notoriously hard to clear and its still relatively early days for me.  The iodine issue is very interesting. I do eat quite a bit of salt because I have Addison's disease and sodium retention is an issue. I also have autoimmune hypothyroidism, not sure how a low iodine diet would play into that? Because of my Addison's I am totally steroid dependent, I take steroids 4 x daily and cannot mount any defence against inflammation. I need to increase my meds for that. Now that I know what is wrong I can do just that if Im having a bad day. Life is very sweet, just so damn complicated sometimes! Hey ho, onwards. Thank you again for your advice.  
    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

      So, essentially all of the nutrition in the food we eat is absorbed through the villous lining of the small bowel. This is the section of the intestinal track that is damaged by celiac disease. This villous lining is composed of billions of finger-like projections that create a huge amount of surface area for absorbing nutrients. For the celiac person, when gluten is consumed, it triggers an autoimmune reaction in this area which, of course, generates inflammation. The antibodies connected with this inflammation is what the celiac blood tests are designed to detect but this inflammation, over time, wears down the finger-like projections of the villous lining. Of course, when this proceeds for an extended period of time, greatly reduces the absorption efficiency of the villous lining and often results in many and various nutrient deficiency-related health issues. Classic examples would be osteoporosis and iron deficiency. But there are many more. Low D3 levels is a well-known celiac-caused nutritional deficiency. So is low B12. All the B vitamins in fact. Magnesium, zinc, etc.  Celiac disease can also cause liver inflammation. You mention elevated ALP levels. Elevated liver enzymes over a period of 13 years was what led to my celiac diagnosis. Within three months of going gluten free my liver enzymes normalized. I had elevated AST and ALT. The development of sensitivities to other food proteins is very common in the celiac population. Most common cross reactive foods are dairy and oats but eggs, soy and corn are also relatively common offenders. Lactose intolerance is also common in the celiac population because of damage to the SB lining.  Eggs when they are scrambled or fried give me a gut ache. But when I poach them, they do not. The steam and heat of poaching causes a hydrolysis process that alters the protein in the egg. They don't bother me in baked goods either so I assume the same process is at work. I bought a plastic poacher on Amazon to make poaching very easy. All this to say that many of the issues you describe could be caused by celiac disease. 
    • catnapt
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By catnapt · Posted

      thank you so much for your detailed and extremely helpful reply!! I can say with absolute certainty that the less gluten containing products I've eaten over the past several years, the better I've felt.   I wasn't avoiding gluten, I was avoiding refined grains (and most processed foods) as well as anything that made me feel bad when I ate it. It's the same reason I gave up dairy and eggs- they make me feel ill.  I do have a bit of a sugar addiction lol so a lot of times I wasn't sure if it was the refined grains that I was eating - or the sugar. So from time to time I might have a cookie or something but I've learned how to make wonderful cookies and golden brownies with BEANS!! and no refined sugar - I use date paste instead. Pizza made me so ill- but I thought it was probably the cheese. I gave up pizza and haven't missed it. the one time I tried a slice I felt so bad I knew I'd never touch it again. I stopped eating wheat pasta at least 3 yrs ago- just didn't feel well after eating it. I tried chick pea pasta and a few others and discovered I like the brown rice pasta. I still don't eat a lot of pasta but it's nice for a change when I want something easy. TBH over the years I've wondered sometimes if I might be gluten intolerant but really believed it was not possible for me to have celiac disease. NOW I need to know for sure- because I'm in the middle of a long process of trying to find out why I have a high parathyroid level (NOT the thyroid- but rather the 4 glands that control the calcium balance in your body) I have had a hard time getting my vit D level up, my serum calcium has run on the low side of normal for many years... and now I am losing calcium from my bones and excreting it in my urine (some sort of renal calcium leak) Also have a high ALP since 2014. And now rapidly worsening bone density.  I still do not have a firm diagnosis. Could be secondary HPT (but secondary to what? we need to know) It could be early primary HPT. I am spilling calcium in my urine but is that caused by the high parathyroid hormone or is it the reason my PTH is high>? there are multiple feedback loops for this condition.    so I will keep eating the bread and some wheat germ that does not seem to bother me too much (it hasn't got enough gluten to use just wheat germ)    but I'm curious- if you don't have a strong reaction to a product- like me and wheat germ- does that mean it's ok to eat or is it still causing harm even if you don't have any obvious symptoms? I guess what you are saying about silent celiac makes it likely that you can have no symptoms and still have the harm... but geez! you'd think they'd come up with a way to test for this that didn't require you to consume something that makes you sick! I worry about the complications I've been reading about- different kinds of cancers etc. also wondering- are there degrees of celiac disease?  is there any correlation between symptoms and the amnt of damage to your intestines? I also need a firm diagnosis because I have an identical twin sister ... so if I have celiac, she has it too- or at least the genetic make up for having it. I did have a VERY major stress to my body in 2014-2016 time frame .. lost 50lbs in a short period of time and had severe symptoms from acute protracted withdrawal off an SSRI drug (that I'd been given an unethically high dose of, by a dr who has since lost his license)  Going off the drug was a good thing and in many ways my health improved dramatically- just losing 50lbs was helpful but I also went  off almost a dozen different medications, totally changed my diet and have been doing pretty well except for the past 3-4 yrs when the symptoms related to the parathyroid issue cropped up. It is likely that I had low vit D for some time and that caused me a lot of symptoms. The endo now tells me that low vit D can be caused by celiac disease so I need to know for sure! thank you for all that great and useful information!!! 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.