Celiac Disease

[newby]

Hi! I was diagnosed a week ago with being allergic to gluten and all dairy and eggs. Needless to say, I'm overwhelmed. I have been researching a lot online and found this:

"individuals who suffer from Celiac disease (gluten intolerance) can claim as a medical expense the increased costs associated with buying gluten-free products"

from Canada Revenue Agency. Here's the link:

Open Original Shared Link

Does anyone do this? Is there any things that needs to be know besides filing the food receipts? Thanks.

Also, can anyone suggest a place to buy gluten free soy cheese, and even better caesin free?

Is there a grocery with a gluten free section in it?

Is there a worry about eating salads at restaurants?

Do you shop at online stores?

Any input would be valuable. Thanks!

[Guest Leidenschaft]

Hi Newby, can I assume by New West you mean New Westminster? Geographic location is extremely helpful in recommending places to shop and other resources since they vary from place to place.

Regardless... my mom Shirley (Viola on this site) does the tax thing because she buys a lot of gluten-free product. I don't buy much so I don't bother. I will let her know about your post and perhaps she can explain it for you. She's also in BC and can probably direct you to gluten-free shopping better than I can.

Most large supermarkets have a Natural Health food section which usually include many gluten-free products. Personally, I have never been a big bread, cereal or pasta person so I don't miss any of it. Although I have to say that the brown rice spaghetti is awesome!! I'm enjoying my hubby's spaghetti sauce more than ever!

Re: restaurants... YES worry about salads, DO tell them that you can NOT have any croutons, etc. Ask to read the labels of the salad dressing for yourself!! If they do serve you a plate that has toast, croutons, dinner roll etc. be sure to let them know that simply removing the offending portion is NOT enough! The crumbs left behind will make you sick.

If you look for my second post in British Columbia, I talk about my Celiac Survival Kit... you may find that helpful if you eat in restaurants a fair bit.

Basically reading through the many posts in this site will give you amazing insight. Some of it will scare the crap out of you too!

Some of it may make you feel fortunate, since there are so many that suffer so much!

I will mention to Mom that you are interested in tax info. In the meantime, enjoy!

[Guest Viola]

Hello Newby;

We used the medical tax break. It works for us because we are in the lower income bracket, and unlike Leidenschaft, I do use the bread & buns etc. So that adds up to quite a lot. Our "Save on Foods" (used to be Overwaitea) brings in the frozen Kinnikinnick breads, buns, donuts etc. If your local store doesn't bring Kinnikinnick products in, it's easy to shop on line for them. I did for years before I finally talked a manager into bringing them in. There are other products of course, those just happen to be my favourite

For the medical deductions, you must save all of your receipts and highlight the gluten free stuff. Then at the end of the tax year, you make out a chart showing the prices of the gluten free stuff, and the prices of the stuff you would normally buy without Celiac, then deduct the differences. If you use the products it does really add up. So even if you don't think your income would make it worth while, I would do it for a full year anyway and make sure. Don't forget, that includes flours, guar gum and anything else for baking. For instance, you can substitute crushed sliced almonds for oatmeal in making matramonial cake etc. And we all know that almonds are much more expensive than oatmeal, although you have to do some figuring on the weights when you compare prices.

You'll find all of this pretty overwhelming to start with, but this forum is a great place to start Hope this helps a bit!

[newby]

Thanks for your help! Yes, I'm from New Westminster. I will try the tax thing for a while, and check about this Kinnikinnick brand everyone's talking about. I don't eat much bread anyways, but I would like to have my pizza and food like that on the weekends.

Thanks for your help again. I will keep searching this forum for more info.

All the best,

~ Newby

[cdford]

Don't know how it works where you are, but in the states we have to keep track of the difference between the cost of the gluten-free item and the cost of an equivalent standard food item. I have the kids run over and jot down the price and number/ounces of the generic item I would have usually purchased. I keep it in a notebook with my other gluten-free listings. When I get home and get ready to enter the purchase into Microsoft Money, I take a minute to calculate the difference and place it into a different grocery category that feeds into the proper field on my tax report. Be sure you take into consideration any shipping and taxes when you calculate. Before I got energetic and use software, I did the same thing and file the receipt in a folder with my other medical bills. I just added them up at tax time.

It only really makes sense to do this if you already have enough other medical expenses to take off your taxes. (There is a minimum amount in the US.) Don't forget to track you r mileage to and from the doctor and pharmacy. It really adds up over a year's time. I keep and planner or calendar in the car and jot it down at the beginning and end of the trip. You must keep a written record in order to use the deduction.

[Guest Viola]

In Canada we are allowed to claim mileage to the doctor, but only if it is over a certain amount of kilometers. We get to claim ours because we live an hour from town, however if you live right in town, that isn't allowed. If you have to travel to a different town for a specialist, travel expenses are allowed. With all the proper documentation of course.

[newby]

Thanks guys for all your help. I will try it for this next tax year and see the results.

But this gluten-free caesin-free lactose-free stuff is expensive!

Thanks again!

~ Newby

[num1habsfan]

Hi!  I was diagnosed a week ago with being allergic to gluten and all dairy and eggs.  Needless to say, I'm overwhelmed.  I have been researching a lot online and found this:

"individuals who suffer from Celiac disease (gluten intolerance) can claim as a medical expense the increased costs associated with buying gluten-free products"

from Canada Revenue Agency.  Here's the link:

Open Original Shared Link

Does anyone do this?  Is there any things that needs to be know besides filing the food receipts?  Thanks.

Also, can anyone suggest a place to buy gluten free soy cheese, and even better caesin free? 

Is there a grocery with a gluten free section in it?

Is there a worry about eating salads at restaurants?

Do you shop at online stores?

Any input would be valuable.  Thanks! 

Yeah I will be claiming my reciepts for income tax...last years expenses were $1344.00 to the penny. Too freaking much..you also need a doctors note to claim your expenses..

To save on costs, I order from Kinnikinnick and Glutino's website. you pay for shipping, but everything is so much cheaper than it is in the stores I find around here(and it doesnt help when you have to travel at least 35 minutes to get food)..

I just suggest to try avoid restaurants if you can. 99% of them tell me "I dont know" when i ask what they have without gluten or flour in it..

I've never seen a gluten-free section in any store, not unless it was specifically made for health food stores..

Hope I was some help. If you ever wanna talk, feel free to add me to any messengers!

~lisa~

[newby]

Thanks Lisa,

Also, thanks for the Glutino info. I've not found that site yet, so that's great! I sucessfully ate at a sushi restaurant yesterday. They even had wheat free soy sauce. Things are looking up!