Just Diagnosed

[BARLEY MISSING]

Hi just thought I would say hi and that I have just registered with celiac.com.

I have just been diagnosed with celiac on Friday have not seen a dietitian yet and the Dr. gave me some information on it but not very indepth.

So I get home and start looking in pantry just to find out there is very little I can have.

It has been a very depressing weekend

Anyone with some good advice or tips it would be very much appreciated.

[StrongerToday]

Hello and welcome! Yes, it is very overwhelming - that's a perfectly normal reaction. My first recommendation would be to just relax, breathe and start reading up. You'll find lots of great advice here. For me it was easier to take the "one day at a time" approach. Allow extra time at the grocery store to read labels and meal plan. Take your diet to simple naturally gluten-free foods: rice, potatoes, veggies, roasted meats.

You'll find a lot of great help on this site, maybe even more then the dr. or dietician will have!

[little d]

Barley Missing

Welcome to the board, hopefully this will help you. Your regular grocery store has a few gluten free items and no one will know enough to help you but if you go to your local health food store depending on where you live, Whole Food, Central Market. I have Whole Foods to go to they have given me a whole list of foods that are aceptable to eat. I think that it was 8 - 10 pages long everything from milk, to meats, to spices, to goodies like cookies. and depending on your locations one of the WHole Foods store has a chef with Celiac Disease and makes Gluten free food there in the store, but I think that it is somewhere on the East Coast. They also have Wheat free and Gluten free little pamlets through out the store. Also if go and ask one of the clerk on the floor if they have had something like one of the Gluten Free breads, cookies, different kind of milk that your not sure if you would like it or not. They will mark it for you free and the people at the register will make sure that it will not be scaned, and will get it for free, it is really cool, espically if you are not sure about it or not. So far I have gotten Brownie mix, rice milk and a number of things. Hope that your new diet helps, it has me.

Donna

[rinne]

Welcome, and yes there is life without gluten.

A gluten free diet is challenging but you'll find lots of support here and plenty of delicious recipes.

[alamaz]

Welcome! This is a great resource.

The easiest thing to do is stay on the outside aisles of the grocery store. Fruits & Veggies, unprocessed meats and fish are easy in the beginning. Rice is also okay to help fill in the carbs. Most people say to stay away from the processed gluten free foods in the beginning so you have a chance to heal. Cooking your meals at home is the safest option. Do you have a crock pot? Those are wonderful to help cut down on time spent in the kitchen. Also, for an easy treat you can find the quic and super easy recipe for peanut butter cookes - it's one cup peanut butter, one cup sugar and one egg. it takes 15 minutes to make and they are good!

Good luck!

[Guest j_mommy]

Welcome!!!!

We have all been there or are there!!! It's scary at first!!! I freaked out once it settled in thet I have celiac! But now I have accepted it! This board is great!

Things that have helped me:

1. This board

2. Learning how to read labels.....print off the forbidden food list from the homepage of this site and take it shopping with you!

3. Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Dana Korn and Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Dr. Green. You can buy both at amazon .com

Living GLuten free for dummies has some great starter recipes and is has a humerous ways of tellign you all the info. The book by Dr. Green is more technical but loaded with info.

Good luck...it does get easier and not sooo overwhelming. It's still hard for me...i was dx'd 4-1 but in that month and a half i've learned alot form this board...even if you just need to vent!!!

[pedro]

Hi and welcome. You come to the right place. Here you will find lots of help.

Gluten Free diet is overwhelming, but there are lots of foods that oy can take. I started my diet with fresh meats, fish, vegestables, rice. Little by little, and add one food at a time.

I found out that I am allergic to other things as I started the diet. The main offeding protein was gluten, but other things were hiden behind the gluten.

Relax, and please ask as many questions as you can. You will feel better soon, when you stay in the gluten-free diet. You body will begin the journey of healing.

Others will post lists of foods that you can have, foods that are easy for you find at the local supermarket.

Remember start simple and take it one step at a time.

Best regards to you, and take care.

[kbtoyssni]

Welcome! There is a HUGE learning curve with this diet that can be very stressful. I suggest starting with just eating a few things (like maybe plain chicken and veggies) and everyday research one or two new foods to find out what brands are gluten-free. Once you figure out the brands, you'll find that you can eat nearly everything you used to and shopping and eating is no big deal.

[Emily Elizabeth]

I was just diagnosed as well on 5/15/07 and was very depressed when it finally sunk in. A friend of mine told me something positive that helped. He said, "Just think, you are going to feel better then you have ever felt in your life!" Whether that is true or not, it is nice to believe it. Though the diet is VERY overwhelming (especially with hidden glutens at restaurants, etc) pretty soon I look forward to my symptoms going away and being able to lead a much fuller and healthier life (outside the bathroom)!

[moonlight]

Hi

My husband has been having this gluten problem for the last 2 years, and actually, first time in 2 years he is feeling good!

Thinking about what we have learned so far, here are few advices -

(1) 100% gluten free (Walmart has many gluten free products, also co-ops, bloom, and local gardens try to use origanic)

(2) eliminate digestively challenging foods for sometime (such as milk, yogurt, cheese, meat, chicken, tomato, eggplant, egg)

(3) "stay out of processed foods!" We learned that something with a Gluten-free label does not mean that it is good for you.

(4) Become best friends with legume, green vegetables, turkey, fish, nuts, olive oil, and meat. They will help your body repair itself -

(5) no simple carbohydrates for a while! also limited rice.

(4) saw a nutritionist, have your mineral levels checked! use supplements if necessary.

(5) no exercise for some time.

(6) positive mood.

I hope you can shorten the healing time and everything gets better for you!

[JNBunnie1]

Hi

My husband has been having this gluten problem for the last 2 years, and actually, first time in 2 years he is feeling good!

Thinking about what we have learned so far, here are few advices -

(1) 100% gluten free (Walmart has many gluten free products, also co-ops, bloom, and local gardens try to use origanic)

(2) eliminate digestively challenging foods for sometime (such as milk, yogurt, cheese, meat, chicken, tomato, eggplant, egg)

(3) "stay out of processed foods!" We learned that something with a Gluten-free label does not mean that it is good for you.

(4) Become best friends with legume, green vegetables, turkey, fish, nuts, olive oil, and meat. They will help your body repair itself -

(5) no simple carbohydrates for a while! also limited rice.

(4) saw a nutritionist, have your mineral levels checked! use supplements if necessary.

(5) no exercise for some time.

(6) positive mood.

I hope you can shorten the healing time and everything gets better for you!

I'm not really sure I followed this post. You put meat on the 'eat' and 'do not eat' lists. Also, chicken is typically easily tolerated by most any stomach. Lots of water and limited exercise are very important to recovery, it's important to improve your circulation as opposed to letting it stagnate.

[johnsoniu]

I was just diagnosed as well on 5/15/07 and was very depressed when it finally sunk in. A friend of mine told me something positive that helped. He said, "Just think, you are going to feel better then you have ever felt in your life!" Whether that is true or not, it is nice to believe it. Though the diet is VERY overwhelming (especially with hidden glutens at restaurants, etc) pretty soon I look forward to my symptoms going away and being able to lead a much fuller and healthier life (outside the bathroom)!

Hello and welcome!

Yes it is true, you will feel better than you ever thought possible. I've been gluten free for a little over 3 months and I never knew you could feel this good. It just takes a little time.

You've already received some great advice, the main things is to start slow and go with the basic bland stuff and work your way up. I'd highly recommend keeping a food journal of everything you eat and how you feel each day. Makes tracking down potential culprits much easier and will help if you have any additional intolerances, which many of us have.

Good luck.

[kbtoyssni]

I'm not really sure I followed this post. You put meat on the 'eat' and 'do not eat' lists. Also, chicken is typically easily tolerated by most any stomach. Lots of water and limited exercise are very important to recovery, it's important to improve your circulation as opposed to letting it stagnate.

I think this means to find the foods that don't sit well for you - for some that may include meat. Beef never sits well for me, but I still recommend a newly diagnosed celiac eat plain meat because it's easy.

[Teacher1958]

It sure is overwhelming. For awhile, you will just keep running into all of the things you can't have, and you'll go to familiar restaurants where you'll see menu items that you used to love. I've been on the diet for about five weeks now, and I guess I am fortunate to have had so many awful symptoms, because, truthfully, I am pretty happy just to be feeling normal for the first time in my memory (I'm 49). If I had no symptoms or minor symptoms, I would probably be pretty depressed.