No E Mass / So Nh - Support Groups ?

[lpjourney]

I'm in Chelmsford - I'm wondering if there are any support groups in this area?

Just officially diagnosed with Celiac, have wondered if I might be for a while - no real major symptons - just accaisonal ones, my mother has been dealing with it for about 17 years. I also was started on Type 2 Diabetes oral medication to help keep the blood sugar down and not progress to higher levels. My research has only shown links to Type 1. I requested that my PC doctor run the antibody tests to rule out Celiac - which lead me to be further tested by endoscopy biopsy. So this is my new journey for life.

[munkee41182]

Hey neighbor!!!! I'm actually in Lowell. As far as I know there really aren't any support groups in this area...but there are some in Newton I believe. I have to go digging through old emails to find it though :-)

[lpjourney]

Hi Jami - I'm Liisa - I know there are more people in the area that are dealing with Celiac - maybe it's time to start one around here. But I wouldn't know the first thing about how to go about doing so.

I'd like to get an idea of those that might be interested in participating.

If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, where to get material to share, etc.....

thanks in advance

[Laurossi]

Hi

I am in Bedford. Diagnosed with Celiac 4 years ago by Dr Catherine Cheney of Beth Israel. I am interested in starting a local group.

Lets all put our heads together,

Laura

[John B.]

hello everyone I am john and I was just diagnosed with celiac. Is there any local support groups in or around the Billerica area I can join and find out more about it.

[GFinDC]

7 hours ago, John B. said:

hello everyone I am john and I was just diagnosed with celiac. Is there any local support groups in or around the Billerica area I can join and find out more about it.

Welcome to the forum John!

Try this search:

Open Original Shared Link

Also, we have a "newbie 101" thread for getting started in the Coping With forum section.  This forum is a great place to get information on what to eat and other things that can help.  Think whole foods rather than processed foods.  Foods you cook from scratch yourself are best.  That way you know what's in the food.  Dairy can cause problems for the first several months until some healing happens.  There are lots of gluten-free foods and restaurants now.  But it's best to stick with meats, veggies, nuts and fruits for awhile.  No eating out for 6 months or so.  For a bread sub Mission brand corn tortillas are good and Aldi makes some good gluten-free wraps.  Some people like rice cakes also.  Gluten-free breads are available but should be avoided until you have got some months under your belt.

Cross-contamination can happen when somebody uses a knife or spoon to get peanut butter or some condiment out and then you use the same jar of peanut butter.  Little crumbs do matter to the immune system and it will react, sometimes for months.  So if you are sharing such items with others who aren't gluten-free you need to stop.  Wooden spoons and dishes are too difficult to clean adequately.  Metal is usually fine though.

It's all a steep learning curve at first but it gets easier in time.  We can help you over the rough spots.  We've hit a few of them ourselves.