Celeac Help

[MKamp]

I cant seem to find a clickable smile right now. we just found out my husband has celiac. i never heard of this before now. after going over everything in the house I sat down and cried. im lost i dont know what to do. let me explain I have what i thought was a very healthy husband. 6'4" around 250 Lbs very dutch for all of you that dont know what i meen is he loves his meat, potatoes, and baked goods. now i find myself at a loss i dont know what to buy or where even to start. i went to the groc store and had to leave. right now im jsut mad mad that there is no one that will help me. all ive been told is to look celiac and learn .i jsut dont know what im looking for. i would love some information or any helpfull tips any one can give me.

Thank you so much

[Guest jhmom]

Hi MKamp

I know you must be feeling very overwhlemed right now as well as your husband too. Being diagnosed with Celiac may seem like a "life sentence" but it's not that bad. Yes, you will have to learn how to shop for gluten-free items and learn how to cook all over again but after a couple of months you will seem like an Ole Pro at it!!! This board is a great place it is very informative with very supportive people, so make yourself at home!

In the meantime here are some links that have been very helpful to me, I know more reading... but that is the only way to get a grip on this disease and for your husband to begin to feel better... I would suggest trying to find a local support group, I don't know if you live in the States or not but Click Here for a list.

gluten-free Product List

Open Original Shared Link

Feel free to ask more questions, we are here for you and your hubby!

[MKamp]

I cant seem to find a clickable smile right now. we just found out my husband has celiac. i never heard of this before now. after going over everything in the house I sat down and cried. im lost i dont know what to do. let me explain I have what i thought was a very healthy husband. 6'4" around 250 Lbs very dutch for all of you that dont know what i meen is he loves his meat, potatoes, and baked goods. now i find myself at a loss i dont know what to buy or where even to start. i went to the groc store and had to leave. right now im jsut mad mad that there is no one that will help me. all ive been told is to look celiac and learn .i jsut dont know what im looking for. i would love some information or any helpfull tips any one can give me.

Thank you so much

[MKamp]

thank you so much this is my first step to this whole thing. i am looking forward to learning all i can about this. my husband is like a child right now. he wants what hes not allowed to have and i keep telling him NO. but right now its really hard we have a whole house full of no no's he dosnt want to waste any thing but i want to start this new what do you call it gluten-free diet as soon as possabe. his test isnt till the end of april and he wants to start then but shouldnt we start now? and will this hurt me if i start eating like him? im not sure if i need the G or not? any information is greatly welcome. thank you so much.

[tarnalberry]

he should definitely wait until AFTER his test to start a gluten-free diet. otherwise, the test may return a false result.

as for the diet itself... it gets much easier after a while. well, I think it does, but I tend to cook from scratch and don't buy prepackaged items. (no, I don't spend hours in the kitchen :-) ) this site (celiac.com) has a lot of useful information, and just sitting down with some time and reading over it will help a lot. I pretty much was in the same place, but there's a lot of information available just by googling "celiac" "celiac disease" "gluten intolerance" or "gluten free diet", that you'll soon learn a lot. :-)

[Guest Blackheartedwolf]

Hello there

I know it is VERY overwhelming when you 1st have to learn all this stuff. And he must not go on the diet until he has the test done, because if he is gluten free for a even a week before, he can have a false negative. He shouldn't go gluten-free until he gets his results from the doctor.

The first thing I did when I went gluten free was print out all the safe foods lists I could find, and put them in a 3-ring binder, organized and indexed by food groups.

I take this with me when I go grocery shopping, and that way I can refer to the list as needed.

Don't lose hope, your husband will be healthy again if he stays on this diet.

There is a link in my signature to a good gluten-free foods list.

Since I went gluten free I usually eat soft tacos for dinner, with corn tortillas, or I have stir fry and use gluten free sauces.

Your husband can still have rice and potatoes, and a lot of other good foods. He can still enjoy icecream and candy, if he is ok with dairy. Hershey lists any gluten or gluten sources, so I have been able to have Snickers. I also can still enjoy Kozy Shak puddings- all their products are gluten-free. Haagan Daaz and Ben and Jerry's icecreams both list if their icecream contains gluten sources. Kraft Foods and ConAgra and Heinz list any gluten sources, Yoplait and Columbo yogurts list any gluten sources, all Horizon brand dairy is gluten free, Philadelphia cream cheese is OK, Mission corn tortillas. Most peanut butters are gluten-free, like Jif and Skippy. Coca Cola and Pepsi, Barqs rootbeer, Dr.Pepper, 7 up, Sprite, Mountain Dew, are OK, caramel coloring is not derived from a gluten source.

There are tons of gluten free recipes for all the items he loves. There are gluten-free pizza crust recipes, pie crust recipes, gluten-free cake mixes, muffins, bagels, cookies... He does not have to be or feel deprived. It takes a little more effort, but anything he had he can still have in a gluten-free version. A lot of non-celiac family members feel better if they too go on the gluten-free diet, and there is less risk of cross-contamination. Wheat is an irritant to all of us, some just get more sensitive to it then others. It will not hurt you at all to be on a gluten free diet with him.

My husband is not a Celiac, and he does almost all of the cooking, so he is in your same position. He is actually not bothered about my new dietary needs, and is more diligent than I am about making sure everything is gluten-free. He's made this life change a lot easier on me, and has been my support.

Your husband is going to have some major adjustments to make, and he will need your support and encouragement.

[Dwight Senne]

Great recommendations so far. I just wanted to add that I completely understand what you are going through! It is very emotionally draining at first. Please believe me, it will get better! It is very overwhelming at first, but there is good information on the internet and you just need to give yourself a little time to digest it all. I agree with the earlier post to search google for celiac or gluten free. That was what I did at first.

There may also be a support group in your area. Check with your local health food store. They should also be a good source of information about what foods your husband can eat. Several large chain grocery stores now have in-house dieticians that can also be of great help.

If you are willing, it would be much better (in my opinion) for you to go on the diet as well. Not only will you be supporting your husband, but you can (unless there are other gluten eaters in the house!) eliminate all gluten from the house, so there are no risks of contamination. Your body does not need the gluten, so there are no risks to you to go on the diet.

Your husband is a lucky guy to have someone who cares about him as much as you! I wish I had had someone when I first was diagnosed. It is a difficult thing to go through alone.

Keep the faith - in a few months, this diet will be second nature to both of you!

[gf4life]

my husband is like a child right now. he wants what hes not allowed to have and i keep telling him NO. but right now its really hard we have a whole house full of no no's he dosnt want to waste any thing but i want to start this new what do you call it gluten-free diet as soon as possabe. his test isnt till the end of april and he wants to start then but shouldnt we start now? and will this hurt me if i start eating like him? im not sure if i need the G or not?

What Tiffany said is true. Your husband should NOT go on the gluten-free diet until AFTER his testing is finished. Let him finish the products that are in the house and buy in very small amounts so that when his testing is over then there is not a whole lot of food to throw out (or give away).

As for you also eating gluten-free. No it will not hurt you. In fact you will probably be healthier for it. The gluten-free diet is a very healthy one, as long as you don't over do it on the gluten-free snacks, cakes, cookies, etc. They are mostly rice based and much more calorie laden than their gluten counter parts. Your husband seems like he isn't under weight, although 6'4" is tall, so I'm not sure. But you would not want to start gaining too much weight on the gluten-free diet. One good source of bread that I have found (the only kind I will eat actually) is Kinnikinnick brand. They are in Canada, so I don't know where you are from and if you are international or in North America, but they have a website you can visit. Open Original Shared Link

It will get easier, but it is normal to feel frustrated, angry, and sad all at the same time. Your lives are changing, but for the better. Your husband will be much healthier and live longer once the Celiac is under control with the diet. Eventually you will be grateful that the disease is something that can be controled with diet, instead of surgery, hospitalization and medication. It is not the worst thing to have and you learn to live with it. The good thing is that more and more of us are getting diagnosed every day and pretty soon it will be easier to find good gluten-free foods in all the regular supermarkets. Check out the link to the gluten-free food lists above, they are very informative, but also you will need to start reading EVERY label to check the ingredients. Familiarize yourself with the Forbidden food lists, so you know which ingredients are off limits and which are red flags. Some of the items are questionable and with those you need to either talk to others who have checked on those foods or call the companies yourself to verify their gluten-free status.

And remember that you are always welcomed here. It is a great source of support and knowledge. Knowledge is the key to being happily gluten-free, support is how we get there.

God bless,

Mariann