Wanna Help Me Pay It Forward?

[SGWhiskers]

I have an acquaintence who was referred to me for questions about Celiac. We talked for a while, and she is having all the tell tale signs of possible Celiac. I told her to get blood testing, but because of physician fatigue, she isn't ready to schedule yet another appointment right now. She has been playing around with a hit or miss attempt at an elimination diet. I'm well informed of the pros and cons of starting a gluten free diet without a diagnosis. I'm also aware from personal experience that it may take weeks/months to feel improvement. I've also heard people with GI symptoms say that they felt better within days.

So...

I'm thinking of making her a care package of things she would need for a 4-7 day strict gluten-free diet in an attempt to get lucky and have her be one of the people for whom the gluten-free diet works quickly. I realize that if it does not help, the attempt won't rule celiac out, but it seems worth a try in her situation.

I have some questions about the best ways and items to add to the care package. My goal is to say "Eat/use nothing that does not come out these grocery bags for the next few days. Here are the things I know I want to include. Is there anything else you can think of? I also have some lactose intolerant questions toward the bottom of the message. I'm allergic, so I have no way of navigating the how much dairy is OK maze.

1) fruits and veggies

2) canned fruit

3) soy or lactaid milk

4) cereal

5) Juice

6) Hershey's & Snickers

7) gluten-free trail mix

8) potatoes

9) frozen veggies

10) a few cooked & frozen lunches/dinners for 1 (doubled recipies of my personal cooking)

1) shampoo

2) deodorant

3) random sample makeup from EDM I have floating around

4) lotion

5) Soaps

1) instructions to temporarily eat only microwaved or cold food from glass bowl and metal utensils

2) Rules Rules Rules

3) Pros and cons Celliac testing and starting gluten-free diet

4) Warning that this won't be diagnostic

5) Can opener

She already has the basic information, and we discussed some web sites with good info. Dispite how much I want her to get tested, I just don't think she will do it until she gets sicker. I also realize that she could have any number of other diseases and should be checked out. This just seems worth a try since she is already trying scattered attempts at elimination diets. Oh, and I won't be including meat because she thinks meat is a trigger.

Lactose Questions:

1) Should I buy lactaid or soy milk?

2) Can she use a new stick of butter?

3) Will the milk in a Hershey's bar or other mixed in item cause the big D?

4) Should I include hershey's syrup because lactaid tastes weird the first time? (I've never tried it)

5) Anything else for me to know/include?

Thanks for the help. I had a kind woman give me lots of mixes when I was stocking my pantry. It made the adjustment so much easier. The plan is to pay it forward. Can you help me out?

Oh! and how many days might be long enough if she is a quick responder? I can't buy groceries for weeks.

Thank you friends.

SGWhiskers

[mindiloo]

you're an amazing friend. really, you are.

1) i prefer lactaid milk over soy milk, it tastes almost exactly the same, it's just a little bit sweeter.

2) butter has dairy in it as well, and if she has celiac she most likely cannot process dairy either, at least for now. i would get her a tub of the Simply Smart "butter" spread...it's not too expensive and is made with vegetable and olive oil instead. it says gluten free right on the tub.

3) the milk in other items may or may not cause the D, it depends on how serious her celiac is and if it has destroyed everything that breaks down the lactose enzyme. I would stay away from chocolate with dairy in it. pure dark chocolate is dairy free and you can get her chocolate things that dont have milk or whey in the ingredients

4) i think lactaid milk tastes fine, i love it, but you could get her some chocolate syrup to put in it...the cheaper/store brands tend to be chocolate flavoring and don't include dairy

be careful when you're buying cereals, Rice Chex is gluten free and they're in the process of making all their other Chex cereals gluten free as well but check the box, it'll say so. Pretty much all other "normal" rice cereals contain barley malt flavoring, which is gluten.

Whole Foods has a lot of gluten free frozen meals, and Shaws has a good variety as well.

gluten free food is expensive and will break your wallet, so don't try to supply her for a long time. it'll probably take a couple weeks for her to start to feel better but if you give her some gluten free options hopefully she'll decide she might as well keep trying it.

good luck!!

[mushroom]

Eggs, bacon, rice, perhaps? Don't know what she likes to eat.

I think most people notice some response fairly quickly. If you prolong it too much she might get worse again and not believe. I second Lactaid over soy milk.

[SGWhiskers]

I'm a highly sensitive Celiac, so I'm only passing on food that I would eat with the exception of the lactose free milk. No reason to torture her with soy if I don't have to. I know the breaking the bank thing for sure. I'm going to try to go cheap but safe. I'm glad you said the milk in a candybar could be enough to trigger D. I would have assumed that small amount was safe. I don't want to have lactose intolerance mistakes making her think the diet isn't working. Well who knows if it will even work.

I laid out a menu for 5 days gluten-free with 2 more heavy on the gluten. I'm hoping 5 days is enough for the digestive problems to see a difference. My neuro symptoms take 5-10 days to clear, so this wouldn't have worked one bit for me.

She thinks meat bothers her, so I'll skip the bacon. HEY, WE CAN HAVE BACON??? I also don't want her cooking in anything but the microwave for this trial. There is less chance of CC that way.

thanks for sharing your ideas.

[mushroom]

She thinks meat bothers her, so I'll skip the bacon. HEY, WE CAN HAVE BACON??? I also don't want her cooking in anything but the microwave for this trial. There is less chance of CC that way.

Yes, we can certainly have bacon, as long as we make sure it is gluten free. And I cook mine in the microwave Scrambled eggs can be done in the microwave too, but you do have to stir them 2-3 times.