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

Newly Diagnosed

mamma-j

By mamma-j
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

mamma-j Newbie
mamma-j
Posted

So I just found out yesterday that I have Celiac Disease. I'm a 21 year old mother of a 2 year old, I'm anemic, I'm a complete foodie, and I also found out I have high cholesterol. Since about December I've been having really bad stomach pains after eating. It'd be very random though, I could eat a certain food one day and feel fine, but then feel sick the next day. My symptoms are my stomach gets very bloated, I feel like its literally turning inside out, and I get extremely tired.

I'm the type of person who, when I get sick, I just like to ignore the problem until it goes away. I finally decided to call the doctor though when one night the pain and exhaustion were so bad that I passed out. Overall I'm actually a pretty healthy person. I may eat a little too much junk food but I'm in no way overweight and have always been very athletic. Basically I've come on this forum wondering from other foodies such as myself how you cope with not being able to eat junk food. Even when I was pregnant, unfortunately, I couldn't help but eat cold lunch meat and drink caffeinated drinks (two of the biggest things you're not supposed to eat/drink while pregnant). I'm some what of a hypochondriac so I'm now psyching myself out thinking I'm going to keep eating things I'm not supposed to and make myself even more sick.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mamaw Community Regular
mamaw
Posted

Don't worry there are plenty of unhealthy junk foods availabe on the gluten-free diet! And yes, you will need to be VERY careful with food so your body can heal & you can be healthy ...with that said you will need to become a label reader with everything so you don't make mistakes. It does take time to learn & to heal the body. I suggest taking it in steps that way you will not become overwhemed & give-up...

Many go through a greiving process very similar to losing a loved one, all normal so if you feel yourself becoming sad, angry, denial why me type of things its okay just vent to us. We all have been at the beginning of this process.It will get better but you need to be strict to the gluten-free lifestyle...no cheating ever. As with a school kid they cheat once & don't get caught they repeat & repeat over & over. Then it becomes a big health issue.Totally not worth it..

Many many companies label there goodies so reading every label you will know what is okay for you to eat. ie:: Kraft, Lay's Snyder,s pepsi, contadina & so on all label.

You will find hidden gluten in products too. ie: soy sauce, beer.Any malt product is off limits.

READ< READ READ< RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH! best advice anyone can give you...

Starting out I will suggest taking it in steps so you don't get overwhelmed & freak out. That is what you don't want or need..You may even feel worse before you start to heal .It does take time no instant relief all better type of thing. But you may notice a slight difference immediately ...

I

It is very healthy to vent your emotions so feel free to let go on here...

There are so many fast food & sit-down restaurants that now have a gluten-free menu. Just google your favorite & what is in your area...

My next suugestion is to buy some ready made gluten-free goodies you already love & keep them on hand. always carry a protein bar in your purse, make a care pkg for your car, office ... Don't deprive yourself just make your choice gluten-free...

Glutino & Snyders both have tasty pretzels ( better than the wheat ones)

celiac specities has donuts & crossiant buns to die for

Joansgf great bakes has pizza, english muffins & bagels -wonderful

Starfidh has breaded gluten-free fish, shrimp

Bell & Evans has gfbreaded chicken

Feel good foods has asain dumplings, egg rolls

conte's ravioli, pierogi's..

Full flavor foods has the very best gravies& sauces.

snickers, hersey kissesjumior mints,& more ( again read label)

breyer's , dreyer's, edy's ice cream no crunchies& cookies...

cheesewhiz, philly cream cheese, philly swirls all okay.

This is just a VERY short list & many of the places I mentioned have alot more product than I mentioned.

Progresso soup has many gluten-free..

HTH

Let us know your tastes&questions & we can help you..

blessings

mamaw

Myself, I'm a gluten-free mentor & gluten-free food tester for many companies...

Victoria6102 Contributor
Victoria6102
Posted

Reeses, Hershey bars, 3 musketeers, snickers, lifesavers, sour patch, Swedish fish, all gluten free!

Oscar Meyer is made by Kraft and has many lunch meats, just read the label to make sure no gluten is listed. If no gluten is listed, it's gluten free!

All Pepsi products are gluten free. Coke is gluten free.

Peeps. On the Border, utz tortilla chips, gluten free! Many junk food options. See?! I know it's very unhealthy but eating sugar is the only way I can make myself satisfied to not eat want to eat gluten! Good luck!

mamma-j Newbie
mamma-j
Posted
  • Author

The hidden gluten totally through me off. For example, last night, had sausage for dinner, one of my favorite meals. Felt awful after and didn't know why. Read on here this morning that sausage has hidden gluten

Takala Enthusiast
Takala
Posted

Food cravings are a part of being malnourished from the damage that celiac causes to the linings of the intestines, so you are not getting all your necessary vitamins and minerals. The caffeine cravings are from the fact that getting glutenned makes one sleepy, groggy, or brain- fogged and the caffeine is a handy antidote.

This means if you stick to a gluten free diet, and take the proper simple gluten free supplements of a multivitamin with the B complex, and a calcium/magnesium supplement, you will develop control over your eating/snacking habits.

While many lunch meats are supposed to be gluten free, and many are labeled that way, there is another ingredient(s) in most of them (except the ultra expensive organics with no preservatives) which really does a number on me. It only took me about 8 years to figure this out (the light bulb went off last summer, finally) that my turkey lunchmeat habit was making my joints in my ankles puff up horribly and my feet swell up further. Now, I like turkey lunchmeat, but I like NOT having my left ankle be plaguing me so much that I could not do things like go for walks in a regular shoe, and I hadn't been able to fit some of my boots on for several years now. It's a trade off, buh-bye turkey lunchmeat, hello being able to get in my Ariats and my ski boot buckled on and having enough stability in that joint to do things.... no brainer. B) It was so indescribably weird to have the joint swelling finally go down. It was coming and going, and then my spouse got into this habit of making hamburgers and homefries for lunch, and I noticed on hamburger days it was better. Duh !

I am way over twice your age, so this is a high maintenance body I am stuck with at this point, but I have another condition which makes me injury prone anyway.

You may find out that as you age, you are less carbohydrate tolerant than the average person (don't worry, your chance of being as grain carb intolerant as some of us is not that high) and you will do better on a higher protein and vegetable and lower carb diet. You may also find that a lot of sweets just makes a sugar rush and a crash that leaves you wondering why you bothered eating it.

There are brands of sausages, Aidell's, that are gluten free, that come in many flavors. Hormel pepperoni is also gluten free.

Archived

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

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,954
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    apage
    Newest Member
    apage
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Jacki Espo
      Covid caused reoccurrence of DH without eating gluten

      By Jacki Espo · Posted

      This happened to me as well. What’s weirder is that within a couple hours of taking paxlovid it subsided. I thought maybe I got glutened but after reading your post not so sure. 
    • Mari
      New Celiac Mama in My 30s

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Tiffany. Thank you for writing your dituation and  circumstancesin such detail and so well writte, too. I particularly noticed what you wrote about brain for and feeling like your brain is swelling and I know from my own experiences that's how it feel and your brain really does swell and you get migraines.    Way back when I was in my 20s I read a book by 2 MD allergist and they described their patient who came in complaining that her brain, inside her cranium, was swelling  and it happened when she smelled a certain chemical she used in her home. She kept coming back and insisting her brain actually swelled in her head. The Drs couldn't explain this problem so they, with her permission, performed an operation where they made a small opening through her cranium, exposed her to the chemical then watched as she brain did swell into the opening. The DRs were amazed but then were able to advise her to avoid chemicals that made her brain swell. I remember that because I occasionally had brain fog then but it was not a serious problem. I also realized that I was becoming more sensitive to chemicals I used in my work in medical laboratories. By my mid forties the brain fog and chemicals forced me to leave my  profession and move to a rural area with little pollution. I did not have migraines. I was told a little later that I had a more porous blood brain barrier than other people. Chemicals in the air would go up into my sinused and leak through the blood brain barrier into my brain. We have 2 arteries  in our neck that carry blood with the nutrients and oxygen into the brain. To remove the fluids and used blood from the brain there are only capillaries and no large veins to carry it away so all those fluids ooze out much more slowly than they came in and since the small capillaries can't take care of extra fluid it results in swelling in the face, especially around the eyes. My blood flow into my brain is different from most other people as I have an arterial ischema, adefectiveartery on one side.   I have to go forward about 20 or more years when I learned that I had glaucoma, an eye problem that causes blindness and more years until I learned I had celiac disease.  The eye Dr described my glaucoma as a very slow loss of vision that I wouldn't  notice until had noticeable loss of sight.  I could have my eye pressure checked regularly or it would be best to have the cataracts removed from both eyes. I kept putting off the surgery then just overnight lost most of the vision in my left eye. I thought at the I had been exposed to some chemical and found out a little later the person who livedbehind me was using some chemicals to build kayaks in a shed behind my house. I did not realize the signifance  of this until I started having appointments with a Dr. in a new building. New buildings give me brain fog, loss of balance and other problems I know about this time I experienced visual disturbances very similar to those experienced by people with migraines. I looked further online and read that people with glaucoma can suffer rapid loss of sight if they have silent migraines (no headache). The remedy for migraines is to identify and avoid the triggers. I already know most of my triggers - aromatic chemicals, some cleaning materials, gasoline and exhaust and mold toxins. I am very careful about using cleaning agents using mostly borax and baking powder. Anything that has any fragrance or smell I avoid. There is one brand of dishwashing detergent that I can use and several brands of  scouring powder. I hope you find some of this helpful and useful. I have not seen any evidence that Celiac Disease is involved with migraines or glaucoma. Please come back if you have questions or if what I wrote doesn't make senseto you. We sometimes haveto learn by experience and finding out why we have some problems. Take care.       The report did not mention migraines. 
    • Mari
      My only proof

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Jmartes71 That is so much like my story! You probably know where Laytonville is and that's where I was living just before my 60th birthday when the new Dr. suggested I could have Celiacs. I didn't go on a gluten challange diet before having the Celiac panel blood test drawn. The results came back as equivical as one antibody level was very high but another, tissue transaminasewas normal. Itdid show I was  allergic to cows milk and I think hot peppers. I immediately went gluten free but did not go in for an endoscopy. I found an online lab online that would do the test to show if I had a main celiac gene (enterolab.com). The report came back that I had inherited a main celiac gene, DQ8, from one parent and a D!6 from the other parent. That combination is knows to sym[tons of celiac worse than just inheriting one main celiac gene. With my version of celiac disease I was mostly constipated but after going gluten-free I would have diarrhea the few times I was glutened either by cross contamination or eating some food containing gluten. I have stayed gluten-free for almost 20 years now and knew within a few days that it was right for me although my recovery has been slow.   When I go to see a  medical provide and tell them I have celiacs they don't believe me. The same when I tell them that I carry a main celiac gene, the DQ8. It is only when I tell them that I get diarrhea after eating gluten that they realize that I might have celiac disease. Then they will order th Vitamin B12 and D3 that I need to monitor as my B12 levels can go down very fast if I'm not taking enough of it. Medical providers haven't been much help in my recovery. They are not well trained in this problem. I really hope this helps ypu. Take care.      
    • knitty kitty
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Fascinating.
    • DebJ14
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By DebJ14 · Posted

×
×
  • 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.