Week One

[OliviaB]

It has almost been a week since I was diagnosed with Celiac and became gluten free. I have been managing pretty well so far. I had a very mild HD on my elbows which has almost cleared up, but I am still having GI symptoms. I suppose those will get better with time. It has been hard so far, but I think it will get better. My work had a party on day 3, and that was a tough day. The only thing I could eat were some gluten free chips my friend brought just for me. Lately, I feel like I have been eating to survive more than eating for the joy of food. Which is probably a good thing but sucks because I love food.

On a positive note: My friend at work (the one that brought me the chips) found a grocery store that gave her a list of all the gluten free foods in the store and where they are located. It is 3 pages long! That was kind of exciting! It will make my next trip to the grocery store much easier! My first time grocery shopping took me 3 and a half hours to read all the labels of everything I bought. I really owe my friend! I may have to cook her a gluten free meal in thanks.

[mamaw]

As time goes on it does get better & easier...

When parties you know are coming up make foods safe for yourself & when you find a yummy dessert make it for all to enjoy... Works wonders!

Also have a safe bag of goodies in your desk, in your car, & a bar in your ourse at all times... I know many of my friends love to snack on chocolate, I'm not a big choc. fan so I take pretzels or another snack I enjoy...always ends up they eat my pretzels too... But I do't let them stick their gluten hands in the bag!!!!!!

Keep up the good work on your new gluten-free journey...

[IrishHeart]

I hope that list I also gave you in your Newbie thread (which has now evolved into the "Newbie Info 101" permanent thread in the Coping Section)helped you with the grocery shopping, hon.

In time, this will become second nature to you.

Try to keep YOURSELF stocked with foods you can eat! (You cannot depend on others to provide gluten-free snacks, okay.)

At first, we do eat to survive, then we heal and we eat what we enjoy and it is not a "diet". It's just "natural".

It's a long journey, but well worth it to feel healthy.

Hang in there.

[SugarBiscuit]

Good Luck! I am just finishing my first month of being gluten free.

The first week or two was rough for me. I had a lot more energy and no headaches, but I still had some GI symptoms. It was easy for me to feel discouraged that my symptoms did not magically vanish. I also kept thinking I had glutened myself in the first week, but my stomach was still healing.

Now that it has been a month, I can definitely tell you it will get better. I no longer crave wheat foods and I have started cooking a lost of fresh meals from scratch, which actually taste much better than the sandwiches I used to eat.

Like others have said, make sure that you are buying food just for YOU. I am used to cooking for my husband, so I often would just buy and prepare whatever he wanted. Now I buy my own separate groceries, cook my own meals, and keep my food in a different part of the kitchen, since I also live with my in-laws, who have no gluten issues.

Also, stock up on the snacks! I went from having no appetite to being ravishingly hungry every three hours or so. It's really nice that someone made you a list, I had such a hard time those first couple of trips to the store. I was definitely afraid of chemicals, so I mostly bought potatoes, rice, fruit, nuts, veggies, and dairy, which worked out well. Now I am adding in some gluten free pastas and some soda made with stevia, but for the most part I am chemical free.

I hope you feel better really soon!

[GFinDC]

  On 4/17/2012 at 11:16 PM, OliviaB said:

It has almost been a week since I was diagnosed with Celiac and became gluten free. I have been managing pretty well so far. I had a very mild HD on my elbows which has almost cleared up, but I am still having GI symptoms. I suppose those will get better with time. It has been hard so far, but I think it will get better. My work had a party on day 3, and that was a tough day. The only thing I could eat were some gluten free chips my friend brought just for me. Lately, I feel like I have been eating to survive more than eating for the joy of food. Which is probably a good thing but sucks because I love food.

On a positive note: My friend at work (the one that brought me the chips) found a grocery store that gave her a list of all the gluten free foods in the store and where they are located. It is 3 pages long! That was kind of exciting! It will make my next trip to the grocery store much easier! My first time grocery shopping took me 3 and a half hours to read all the labels of everything I bought. I really owe my friend! I may have to cook her a gluten free meal in thanks.

Yep, reading labels is a pain. I prefer whole foods. They have labels like "chicken" or "green beans" or "peanuts". Nothing much else, except sometimes frozen things will have salt or water added.

Most groceries keep their gluten-free baked items in a freezer section, and many of them use a green tag for gluten-free in the USA. Some of them keep room temperature items in a gluten-free section also. Others spread the gluten-free food throughout the store. Some do both.

If you can stay away from the gluten-free pre-made processed items for the most part and do whole foods instead it's better. Those things are better as treats than every day food.

[OliviaB]

So, I wrote my post in a hurry because I was about to leave for work. I just re-read it and realized how it sounded. I do eat plenty, mostly whole-foods just because I am scared of missing something on all the overwhelming labels, and I do always bring snacks with me (usually nuts and fruit). When I was talking about there being nothing for me to eat at the party besides the chips, I was strictly talking about food at the party. I had brought myself a separate lunch to eat along with some ice cream (normal and dairy/gluten-free) for the party. It was just depressing to see tables of cakes and pies and dips and such that I couldn't have.

And thank you IrishHeart, your list did help me my first time at the store!

Today I think I got glutened (not sure the correct terms yet, I'm learning, go easy on me!) for the first time. My husband had some beer today and I let him kiss me (once or twice ) afterward. Honestly, I have been a little skeptical ( ) of having symptoms from things like someone touching my food after touching bread or kissing me after eating gluten, but now I think I may understand. I have really felt like crap since then and had bad stomach cramps. I haven't felt this bad in a couple of days. Is this probably due to the kiss or just having not completely healed?