Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

How Can I Help My In-Laws Understand


Gibbit-43

Recommended Posts

Gibbit-43 Newbie

How can I explain to my mother-in-law what is considered gluten free? We spend at least three to five weeks of the year at my inlaw's house and at least 6 of the meals I get fed make me sick. My daughter has Celiac's as well but is still on baby food so I can protect her from it right now but not always. I've tried to bring my own food but I never seem to bring the stuff she cooks. So it's a huge inconvenience to her. Right now I just suffer in silence. But for my daughter's sake I've got to find a way to get through to her. I've had Celiac's my whole life so it's easy for me to read a label and decide if it's safe for me. But my mother in law is lost. This evening she made meatloaf... with bread crumbs. I try to believe it's not that she doesn't care but that she forgets. But she doesn't seem to undrstand at all. My husband and I have been married almost 2 years... how much longer should I wait for her to "figure it out" Does anyone know of a book I could give her as a guide something that will explain it simply?


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



kareng Grand Master

Maybe you should be responsible for the food you and the little one eat. Buy it and fix it. Fix it for everyone or just you and child. Have her son talk to her about it. Gluten free for dummies is an easy book to read, but that assumes she would spend the time.

Another thought is that now that you and your hub are a family, maybe you could stay home more or invite them to visit.

lizard00 Enthusiast

gluten-free for dummies is a good book. I would make sure it came to her attention, though, as suffering in silence isn't doing you any good. Obviously, I don't know her and how accommodating she is, but my MIL took a while to understand, too. For a while she was insistent on me not cooking when I was there, but now she lets me do my thing. She made some soup on one visit, and then right at the end she put some flour in it. She was trying, but it was just a habit for her. She's pretty good about it now; she won't cook anything until I look at it. But we had to train her ;)

If she's unreasonable, then I say to heck with it. Bring your own food and do your thing! She'll get the hint, and she needs to know now before your daughter gets much bigger.

NorthernElf Enthusiast

Look after your own food. Don't suffer in silence - it won't help her get it. In fact, she'll think that either she is doing things right or the whole thing is in your head. It took awhile for me to get both sides of my family to get that I really can't eat gluten....and stay sane ! :P

FWIW, they have all finally (mostly) got it but I still am looking after my own food. This Christmas my mom even put a yorkshire pudding on my plate. :blink: I got a new plate and she does this whole "I forgot" thing. Hmmm....we're in my kitchen & I even have a "gluten free zone" sign over some counters. The gluten stuff is only allowed on the island, away from the other counters. *sigh*

cap6 Enthusiast

My SIL is the same way. When she visits us she brings me gluten-free goodies but will then ask if I can eat one of her cookies. About the only G food in our home is cereal for my son so she brings her own gluten foods to share (I am the only gluten-free one in the home) & sets them on the counters that I have said are gluten-free only. At first I really got upset and angry but now I realize that it's not that she doesn't care but she doesn't live this every day like we do. We have to learn and we have to live it. It all becomes automatic (more or les !!!!) for us but it's not for them.

lucky97 Explorer

This is the way I've begun to explain it to everyone:

1. No bread anything or wheat anything

2. No barley anything

3. No rye anything

Now, pass me a Strongbow!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - xxnonamexx replied to xxnonamexx's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      32

      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

    2. - xxnonamexx replied to xxnonamexx's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      32

      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

    3. - SamAlvi replied to SamAlvi's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

    4. - trents replied to SamAlvi's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,842
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    aetherwax
    Newest Member
    aetherwax
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • xxnonamexx
      I made it through the holiday w/o being glutened. I had my brother cook with gluten-free breadcrumbs and I didn't get sick. I baked cookies with gluten-free flour and had dry ingredients for cookies in ziplock bag. I also made gluten cookies as well and guess I did good washing to avoid CC. My wife also went to a french bakery and bought a gluten-free flourless chocolate cake dedicated gluten-free it was out of this world. 
    • xxnonamexx
      What do you mean it would not allow any celiac to eat gluten again. I think if this helps cross contamination when eating out at a non dedicated gluten-free restaurant this would be nice not to encounter the pains. But is their a daily enzyme to take to help strengthen the digestive system? 
    • SamAlvi
      Hi, thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, no other antibody tests were ordered. I am a 32-year-old male. About two months ago, I ate pancakes and then developed severe diarrhea that lasted the entire day. At night, I became unconscious due to fluid loss and was admitted to the ER, where I received IV fluids. Two days later, I ate bread again and once more developed severe diarrhea. I ended up in the ER again and received IV fluids. In my country, Pakistan, doctors are unfortunately not very thorough, so they treated me for a stomach infection. I visited three or four doctors, including a gastroenterologist, but it seemed like they just wanted to keep me on medications and IV fluids. Eventually, I did some digging myself and started connecting the dots. For years, I’ve had excessive gas buildup and frequent loose stools, but I never paid much attention to it. I also cannot easily digest dairy products. Two years ago, I had a CBC test that showed iron deficiency. My doctor told me to eat more meat and said it was nothing serious. However, for the past five years, I’ve also had severe motion sickness, which I never experienced before. Whenever I get on a bus or in a car, I sometimes lose consciousness for 10–20 seconds and wake up sweaty, and occasionally I feel the need to vomit. After more research on the internet, I came across gluten and celiac disease, so I got two related tests (TTG-IgA & TTG IgG) done along with a stool test and another CBC. The stool test showed weakly positive blood. Ever since eating those pancakes and bread, I’ve had a burning sensation in my gut. My doctor reviewed my tests, he told me to completely stop eating gluten and started me on IV fluids for 20 days, saying that I had severe inflammation in my gut. It has now been two months since I quit gluten, and I’m still not sure whether this is celiac disease or gluten intolerance. I don’t really trust doctors in Pakistan, so I thought I might get some help here.
    • trents
      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @SamAlvi! Were there any other antibody tests ordered? Particularly, was there a "total IGA" test ordered to check for IGA deficiency. When people are IGA deficient, celiac panel IGA test scores, such as the TTG-IGA, are likely not valid. If a total IGA test was not ordered, I would request such to be done. Note: "Total IGA" goes by other names as well. I will include a primer on celiac disease antibody testing which does a good job in covering the nomenclature variations connected with the various tests. Elevated IGG scores can certainly indicate celiac disease but they are more likely than elevated IGA tests to be caused by something else.  
    • GlorietaKaro
      Thank you— yes, valid and essential— The issue either doctors is that every one I have tried to talk to about this has essentially rolled their eyes and dismissed me as a hypochondriac, which gets discouraging. I believe a diagnosis would help me to be taken seriously by doctors as well as being validating, but can carry on without it.    There are many, probably most people in my area of my age and gender, who avoid gluten, but many just avoid it casually— eating the occasional plate of wheat pasta or a delicious-looking dessert, or baking cookies with wheat flour for gatherings.  That is not an option for me. I don’t eat other people’s cooking or go to restaurants that do not have strict cross- contamination procedures. It can be boring and lonely, and people do look at me as if I am being a bit dramatic but weeks of symptoms after a single small exposure has taught me to respect my experience.    Thank you very much for your response— sometimes I just need to hear that I am not crazy—
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.