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Ryno

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Ryno Newbie
Ryno
Posted

My 30 year-old Wife was just recently diagnosed with Celiac's. She has done an amazing job of making the house gluten free, and is doing her best medical student impersintaion with Celiac/gluten-free research, etc...

My Son and I are trying to be as supportive as possible, but with Mother's Day AND her birthday a few weeks away I would really like to get her a special gift. Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations of something that has helped one of your loved ones get through the initial shock or deal with this disease?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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blueeyedmanda Community Regular
blueeyedmanda
Posted

I would make her a gift basket filled with great gluten free goodies, Tinkyada pasta, Pamela's Cookies, Gluten Free Pantry baking mixes.

You can also get her a session at a local spa. This will help her feel real relaxed and nice.

Guhlia Rising Star
Guhlia
Posted

I was totally thinking the same thing as Amanda. A basket filled with gluten free goodies is always a good idea, especially since she's new to the diet. There are places online to buy premade baskets OR you could make your own. I suggest making your own, it's much more personal.

Here's a list of a few items to include:

Kinnikinnick K-toos

Glutino crackers

Glutino pretzels

Gluten Free Pantry favorite sandwich bread mix

Tinkyada pasta

Lara Bars (whichever flavor you think she'd enjoy, they're all good)

Gluten Free Pantry quick mix (Bisquick substitute)

Robert's Gourmet Tings, Pirates Booty, and Chaos

A gluten free cookbook - i recommend anything by Bette Hagman

Gluten Free for Dummies

My other suggestions are a nice bottle of wine, most are gluten free, just double check w/ the manufacturer. A subscribtion to Living Without magazine. It's a great magazine. She will also need a new toaster dedicated to gluten free foods, new cutting boards, new collanders. You will also want to inspect her nonstick cookware and replace anything that's scratched. If you're not comfortable picking those things out, perhaps a gift certificate to the store she would normally purchase these things at. Also, she will most likely need to replace some of her hair/skin care products as well as makeup. Perhaps you could get her sample sized bottles of some new shampoos, lotions, etc. to try. Unilever products will clearly list gluten as wheat, barley, rye, or oats on the label so you can trust their products (suave, dove, etc).

Also, I highly suggest trying to bake her something gluten free whether it be a cake, banana bread, breakfast muffins, cookies, etc. This, to me anyway, would be an amazing gift. I use Kinnikinnick flours because I think they're the best and don't have any funny aftertaste at all. Here's a recipe for a really awesome gluten free cake: Open Original Shared Link

Don't let the mayo turn you off. It's a great recipe and it turns out nice and moist and almost identical to wheat cakes. :)

Perhaps if you and your son haven't gone gluten free yet, you could go gluten free for mothers day and her birthday. That would be special to her.

I hope these ideas help some. If you need recipes, just let me know.

Ryno Newbie
Ryno
Posted
  • Author

Blueeyedmanda / Angie:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful ideas. I was on track with a couple of your ideas, but you have also given me several other great ones! I have to get busy making this an extra-special period of her life!

Again, thank you very much, and if any other good ideas cross your mind, please don't hesitate to post.

Ryan

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

Chocolate?

(*reference my sig below* ;) )

but cookbooks are good, or a collection of printouts from online recipe sources, or other things that will make her life in the kitchen easier (like a cuisinart, if she doesn't have one).

NoGluGirl Contributor
NoGluGirl
Posted
Blueeyedmanda / Angie:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful ideas. I was on track with a couple of your ideas, but you have also given me several other great ones! I have to get busy making this an extra-special period of her life!

Again, thank you very much, and if any other good ideas cross your mind, please don't hesitate to post.

Ryan

Dear Ryan,

I have a list that should really help. This is overwhelming. I went through this with myself six months ago. You spend most of your day cooking and cleaning obsessively. The rest you are on the phone with reps from companies trying to find out what is safe. I decided to save you the trouble!

1. There are a number of things in the regular grocery that are safe. Some things are labeled already. Wal-Mart's Great Value brand has numerous things you can eat.

2. For the love of God use Coupons on items you are allowed to eat. People can get them and print them out online even. Call some of the local stores and ask if they accept online coupons.

3. Check the ads online and in the newspaper. You would be surprised how many people do not do this.

4. Some items like rice flour and rice noodles are safe to buy at the Chinese or oriental market. The merchants are more than happy to help you if you cannot read the label.

Now, here is my list of great things to get you started:

Condiments:

Smart Balance Margerine

Crisco Shortening

Crisco Oil

Pompeiian Olive Oil

Great Value soy sauce

Heinz Ketchup

Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce (all Lea & Perrins Products are safe)

Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce

Kraft French Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Kraft Thousand Island Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Pace Picante Sauce

Ortega Salsa

All Classico Red and *White sauces

All Jif Peanut Butters including Smooth Sensations

Welch's Grape Jelly

Cool Whip*

Philadelphia Cream Cheese*

Miracle Whip

Daisy Sour Cream (fat-free, low-fat, regular)*

Snack Foods:

Utz Potato Chips (Found at Sam

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    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @rei.b,  I understand how frustrating starting a new way of eating can be.  I tried all sorts of gluten-free processed foods and just kept feeling worse.  My health didn't improve until I started the low histamine AIP diet.  It makes a big difference.   Gluten fits into opioid receptors in our bodies.  So, removing gluten can cause withdrawal symptoms and reveals the underlying discomfort.  SIBO can cause digestive symptoms.  SIBO can prevent vitamins from being absorbed by the intestines.  Thiamine insufficiency causes Gastrointestinal Beriberi (bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea or constipation).  Thiamine is the B vitamin that runs out first because it can only be stored for two weeks.  We need more thiamine when we're sick or under emotional stress.  Gastric Beriberi is under recognised by doctors.  An Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test is more accurate than a blood test for thiamine deficiency, but the best way to see if you're low in thiamine is to take it and look for health improvement.  Don't take Thiamine Mononitrate because the body can't utilize it well.  Try Benfotiamine.  Thiamine is water soluble, nontoxic and safe even at high doses.  I thought it was crazy, too, but simple vitamins and minerals are important.  The eight B vitamins work together, so a B Complex, Benfotiamine,  magnesium and Vitamin D really helped get my body to start healing, along with the AIP diet.  Once you heal, you add foods back in, so the AIP diet is worth doing for a few months. I do hope you'll consider the AIP diet and Benfotiamine.
    • captaincrab55
      Finding gluten free ingredients

      By captaincrab55 · Posted

      Imemsm, Most of us have experienced discontinued, not currently available or products that suddenly become seasonal.   My biggest fear about relocating from Maryland to Florida 5 years ago, was being able to find gluten-free foods that fit my restricted diet.  I soon found out that the Win Dixie and Publix supper markets actually has 99% of their gluten-free foods tagged, next to the price.  The gluten-free tags opened up a  lot of foods that aren't actually marked gluten-free by the manufacture.  Now I only need to check for my other dietary restrictions.  Where my son lives in New Hartford, New York there's a Hannaford Supermarket that also has a gluten-free tag next to the price tag.  Hopefully you can locate a Supermarket within a reasonable travel distance that you can learn what foods to check out at a Supermarket close to you.  I have dermatitis herpetiformis too and I'm very sensitive to gluten and the three stores I named were very gluten-free friendly.  Good Luck 
    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      Okay well the info about TTG-A actually makes a lot of sense and I wish the PA had explained that to me. But yes, I would assume I would have intestinal damage from eating a lot of gluten for 32 years while having all these symptoms. As far as avoiding gluten foods - I was definitely not doing that. Bread, pasta, quesadillas (with flour tortillas) and crackers are my 4 favorite foods and I ate at least one of those things multiple times a day e.g. breakfast with eggs and toast, a cheese quesadilla for lunch, and pasta for dinner, and crackers and cheese as a before bed snack. I'm not even kidding.  I'm not really big on sugar, so I don't really do sweets. I don't have any of those conditions.  I am not sure if I have the genes or not. When the geneticist did my genetic testing for EDS this year, I didn't think to ask for him to request the celiac genes so they didn't test for them, unfortunately.  I guess another expectation I had is  that if gluten was the issue, the gluten-free diet would make me feel better, and I'm 3 months in and that hasn't been the case. I am being very careful and reading every label because I didn't want to screw this up and have to do gluten-free for longer than necessary if I end up not having celiac. I'm literally checking everything, even tea and anything else prepacked like caramel dip. Honestly its making me anxious 😅
    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      So you're saying that you think you should have severe intestinal damage since you've had the symptoms so long?   DGP IgG antibodies are produced in response to a partial gluten molecule.  This is different than what tissue transglutaminase antibodies are  produced in response to.   TTg IgA antibodies are produced in the intestines in response to gluten.  The tTg IgA antibodies attack our own cells because a structural component in our cell membranes resembles a part of gluten.  There's a correlation between the level of intestinal damage with the level of tTg antibodies produced.  You are not producing a high number of tTg IgA antibodies, so your level of tissue damage in your intestines is not very bad.  Be thankful.   There may be reasons why you are not producing a high quantity of tTg IgA antibodies.  Consuming ten grams or more of gluten a day for two weeks to two months before blood tests are done is required to get sufficient antibody production and damage to the intestines.  Some undiagnosed people tend to subconsciously avoid lots of gluten.  Cookies and cakes do not contain as much gluten as artisan breads and thick chewy pizza crust.  Anemia, diabetes and thiamine deficiency can affect IgA antibody production as well.   Do you carry genes for Celiac?  They frequently go along with EDS.
    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      I was tested for celiac at the same time, so I wasn't taking naltrexone yet. I say that, because I don't. The endoscopy showed some mild inflammation but was inconclusive as to celiac disease. They took several biopsies and that's all that was shown. I was not given a Marsh score.
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