New To This And Hungry!

[alliecr]

Hi all! My name is Allison and I am 20 years old. Before I ask my question, here is my story:

I was having trouble using the bathroom and laxatives were not helping. I went to a GI doctor and he decided to do an upper and lower scope. The results

[Lindaa]

Hi Allison,

Im 23 & had the same eating issues when i was first diagnosed.

Before I say anything else, STOP EATING MC DONALDS FRENCH FRIES!! It has gluten in it. In fact, most fast food fries are UNSAFE TO EAT!!

If you MUST have fast food, I sometimes opt for a Baked Potato

Do you have a healthy food store near you? WHOLE FOODS is wonderful. It has an amazing selection of gluten free foods (even frozen meals, if youre not into cooking) They have waffles, bread, bagels, muffins, pretzels & even pasta. Trader Joes carry some gluten free food as well.

If you live in the LA area of California, I recommend The Sensitive Baker who has the most delicious pastries & breads.

You MUST always read you food labels. Remember that you cannot have anything contains soysauce which SOME BBQ sauce may contain. Try to read up more on what ingredients to look out for.

Im also a college student, so i know how hard it is to find suitable food. But you have to pre-plan and pack lunches to be safe. It takes a little extra effort, but you will feel a difference in your body IF you have Celiac.

FRUITS are always a good thing to keep on hand.

GOOD LUCK.

Hi all! My name is Allison and I am 20 years old. Before I ask my question, here is my story:

I was having trouble using the bathroom and laxatives were not helping. I went to a GI doctor and he decided to do an upper and lower scope. The results

[Lindaa]

I forgot to mention that I get my fast food baked potatoes at Wendys.

Sometimes, I also get the chili which is WHEAT FREE.

Hi Allison,

Im 23 & had the same eating issues when i was first diagnosed.

Before I say anything else, STOP EATING MC DONALDS FRENCH FRIES!! It has gluten in it. In fact, most fast food fries are UNSAFE TO EAT!!

If you MUST have fast food, I sometimes opt for a Baked Potato

Do you have a healthy food store near you? WHOLE FOODS is wonderful. It has an amazing selection of gluten free foods (even frozen meals, if youre not into cooking) They have waffles, bread, bagels, muffins, pretzels & even pasta. Trader Joes carry some gluten free food as well.

If you live in the LA area of California, I recommend The Sensitive Baker who has the most delicious pastries & breads.

You MUST always read you food labels. Remember that you cannot have anything contains soysauce which SOME BBQ sauce may contain. Try to read up more on what ingredients to look out for.

Im also a college student, so i know how hard it is to find suitable food. But you have to pre-plan and pack lunches to be safe. It takes a little extra effort, but you will feel a difference in your body IF you have Celiac.

FRUITS are always a good thing to keep on hand.

GOOD LUCK.

[MELINE]

Hello there! welcome to the forum.

OMG! What are you eating? If you keep eating like this you may add more health issues. It is a pitty since you are so young!

Any way , I don't have the right to judge your choises, I am just trying to tell you that we are what we eat so please just keep that in mind ok?

There are so many options! you can have fruits, and rice cakes, honey, taini, nuts, nut-butters (delicious) and you can find gluten free chocolates (I used to eat Toblerone) and in your local health store you will find many gluten free snacks.

Making some chicken or some beef steak for lunch is not "cooking"! You just put that in your oven, leave it for 15 minutes, and there you go!

You can also have butter and cottage cheese and philadelphia (it is gluten free).

Just keep in mind that IF you have celiac it is wise to eliminate lactose in the beginning. Also , have or not have celiac, sugar is sooooo unhealthy that it will cause you more problems (this goes for the coke). I guess you are eating very often Mc Donalds in US so I cannot tell you to eliminate that too....Feels like your will shoot me if I do!!! lol!!!!

Try to eat healthier if you can! If you cannot, be careful cause I don't know if the chips you are eating or the fries from Mc Donalds are gluten free. There is a thing called cross contamination and also there is gluten hidden in many foods. I suggest that you check it with the manufacturer or with us, before you consume anything that is not simple (I mean with 1-2 ingredients for example eggs, meat, salads etc..are simple)

Generally, people have to eat simple food in the beginning just untill they are able to understand where there is hidden gluten.

Hope this helps you. Didn't mean to offend you in any way. Just telling you some thoughts. I became VERY unhealthy cause I was consuming nothing but sugar for many months. Dont' want to see any one end up like me.

Meline

[lbd]

My daughter is 20 and in college as well. While she is not gluten-free (though I have been pushing her that way), she has cut back on gluten. She is not diagnosed as gluten sensitive, but she definitely has some signs of being so. Do you have access to a kitchen or microwave? If so, you could buy some Tinkyada rice pasta (the best!), boil it as directed on the package, and get some gluten free tomato sauce or pesto sauce, heat in microwave and top the pasta. Add a steamed chicken breast to that and you have a decent meal.

Crispy Cat and many Be Kind bars are good for a quick breakfast with milk or almond milk. If you have a microwave you could have "baked" potatoes and top with cheese, broccoli, onions, any veggie you like (besides potatoes, lol). Let me see if I can be more organized about this:

Breakfast:

Bars - Crispy Cat, Be Kind, etc (check labels!)

Rice Chex or other safe cereals

Eggs, omelets, etc

gluten-free bagels with cream cheese or butter or lox

Bacon - 'wave it

Grapefruit or any fruit for that matter

Lunch:

Salads - minus croutons - check dressings for gluten

Chicken or tuna salad

Is there a Subway near you? You can ask for tuna or their other meats on salad, but you do risk CC from crumbs if they are not careful.

Most dining halls will stock some gluten-free items if you contact them and let them know.

Dinner:

Any meat, veggie, salad, fruit - you name it.

Keep fruit in your room - bananas, apples, oranges keep well

There are packaged meals from Thai Kitchen, etc but check the labels carefully. Most can be heated in a microwave.

Do you have a small fridge? My daughter likes ricotta cheese and chocolate chips. It's not an ideal meal, but does have some proteins and carbs

Fruit roll-ups are virtually useless as food and fast food is just too risky to eat for the most part. Those are just a few tips. Good luck and good grades!

lbd

[lbd]

I almost forgot - you love pizza and burgers! Get some corn tortillas that are gluten-free, spread a little sauce on them, top with cheese, pepperoni, whatever gluten-free stuff you like on your pizza, pop those babies in the oven. They are good!

Burgers: ask for bunless burgers - most places will do that for you. Or if you make your own, top with your favorite toppings (check your ketchup for gluten). I don't even miss the bun.

Not much to sub for bread - most of the gluten-free stuff is kind of bad. You can get away with some of it toasted. I like Chebe bread and Glutino sesame bagels.

lbd

[alliecr]

Just keep in mind that IF you have celiac it is wise to eliminate lactose in the beginning.

Why do I need to eliminate lactose?

---------------------------------------------------------

Also, I do not live in a dorm. I have a house, so I have fridge, oven, microwave, etc.

I am not offended by anyone's comments, I am just really sad. I truly feel like I am dying. This is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with. My Spanish final was a breeze compared to this. My sister had ulcertive colitis when she was 13 and had her entire colon removed. She now has Chron's and is 24--just a little family background.

The chips I am eating are Puffy Cheetos and Tostitos. I didn't eat BBQ sauce at the BBQ because I never do and I cooked and seasoned my chicken with gluten-free seasonings.

I would eat salad like some suggested but I hate salad. I know that I can no longer be picky, but it is really hard. I know I probably do have Celiac because I do feel better since I quit eating gluten.

I am so lost right now. I know no one with this and had never even heard of it until a week ago.

[TearzaRose]

I am very new to this as well-2 days in!! plus i'm lactose intolerant.

so, i can completely empathize, but there are TONS of things you can eat.

1-stick with fresh fruits and veggies-big ole salads. maybe you don't like salad b/c you don't have the right veggies on it-get creative!!

2-chicken, tuna, salmon packs,shrimp,turkey

3-yogurt if you can do dairy ( i can do yogurt b/c of the bacteria in it that eats the lactose)

4-Rice Chex and new Kix cereals

5-rice

6-peanut butter & other nut butters

7-nuts

8-hummus

9-edamame

10-raisins

11-beans!!!

oh my gosh-there is so much you can do! take a day to pre-make and organize your food so it's ready to roll when you walk out the door.

i've had so much today-and all good...

salmon, shrimp, yogurt with chex and peanut butter mixed in, nuts, bacon, gluten free wrap with lettuce and Hormel natural turkey,apple, orange, & broccoli.

this is all "normal" food too-not the uber expensive specialty foods-except for the gluten free wrap.

it just takes a little planning, research and organization. best of luck to you. it can be done and before you know it-it will be second nature!!

[alliecr]

My blood work did not say that I had or didn't have Celiac. I was starting to go to the bathroom normally before my doctor knew the blood results. He then tells me to go on a gluten free diet for a month and see if I feel better. I was feeling better before I stopped eating gluten. No one in my family--back 5 generations--has ever had this. Wouldn't my sister of had it or at least the doctors of seen it when she got one of her many many scopes--at least a dozen.

[GFinDC]

My blood work did not say that I had or didn't have Celiac. I was starting to go to the bathroom normally before my doctor knew the blood results. He then tells me to go on a gluten free diet for a month and see if I feel better. I was feeling better before I stopped eating gluten. No one in my family--back 5 generations--has ever had this. Wouldn't my sister of had it or at least the doctors of seen it when she got one of her many many scopes--at least a dozen.

The biopsy isn't perfect, like many things in life. If your sister has celiac, then they may have missed it by doing a biopsy of a healthy spot vs a non-healthy spot. Not everyone in a family will develop active celiac disease. What I read was about 10% of first degree relatives will get it. The disease was only identified after WW-2, so people before then would not have been diagnosed with celiac. How about other auto-immune diseases though? Has anyone in your family had arthritis, lupus, thyroid disease, fibromyalgia, diabetes etc etc...? If you look up related condition and celiac, you can probably find a list of many that are associated with celiac. In other words, people wiht celiac often have another autoimmune disease too.

[mindwiped]

You really need to get some fruit in your diet since you're having trouble getting moving. Since you said you live in a house, not a dorm, do one big cooking session, once a week, and just re-heat leftovers rather than eat all that fast food, or you'll end up really sick, due to malnutrition. There's a crock pot blog, you could make a big family size portion of something, and then just reheat meal sized portions. Get frozen veggies instead of all those fries, it'll be better for you, or take an hour while you're studying and bake 7 potatoes for lunches, they'll at least have less fat, and if you threw in a couple of sweet potatoes, you'd get a lot of vitamin A. Also, if you have housemates, check your condiments, they maybe contaminating them, be sure to keep the butter, PB, jelly, salsa, and mayo clean and away from the gluten eaters.

Almost all of the blog recipes are gluten-free, but check for changes in the ingredients: Open Original Shared Link

[Rebecca's mom]

Sweetie,

Things will get easier the longer that you are on a gluten-free diet - I promise! Have you contacted your local GIG group for a copy of their Restaurant Guide? In the 10 months since our youngest daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease, our Guide has become our "Bible" - we have a copy in each car.....

I have found that we eat a lot of nuts and boiled eggs for breakfast (and snacks, too). We have played around with different foods over the past few months. The longer you are gluten-free, the more comfortable you will be when choosing foods that you love to eat.

There are lots of good websites and blogs out there with lots of ideas and recipes. Also, more and more food manufacturers are developing yummy gluten-free foods because the demand for these foods is growing by leaps and bounds. I would be willing to bet that in 5-10 years, MOST people will know about gluten-free eating, and there will be more choices than ever all around.

You mentioned that you are in college; check with your dining services representative - most colleges have people on staff who will be able to give you information on gluten-free options that are available in on-campus dining halls. There are plenty of people on college campuses throughout the country who have various food allergies, so you won't be the only person with questions about your new lifestyle food options. Don't be afraid to ask them - that is what they are there for, and they are always happy to help out their "clients" (after all, they want you to spend your food dollars at their facility!).

You may also want to consult a nutritionist who is knowledgeable about Celiac Disease/Gluten Sensitivity and a gluten-free diet. Your GI should have a couple of names; if not, call around to Pediatric Gastroenterologists - kids are much more likely to be diagnosed when they exhibit symptoms (it's harder in adults, unfortunately) - they will probably have a nutritionist on staff in a larger practice.

If you can't find anyone in your area, please feel free to contact me, and I will give you the names of some professionals here in Texas who would be more than happy to talk to you and/or send you some information (we're friendly folks!). I have a daughter in college, and one getting ready to enter in the fall, and I have already had to navigate the college dining scene.

You're going to do fine with this - it is challenging at the beginning, but before you know it, you will be an old pro with all of this stuff -

Good luck,

Teresa Koch

Fort Worth, Texas

[MELINE]

Why do I need to eliminate lactose?

cause if you have damaged villy it is really possible that you have lactose intolerance too. you may go gluten free and see no change until you eliminate lactose too. Also it will be much easier for you body to cope with lactose right now even if you are not intolerant to it. Later , when your villy is healed, you will gradualy re-introduce it!

Meline