Newly Diagnosed 14 Year Old

[momofbll]

My 14 year old daughter was diagnosed three weeks ago. I am so overwhelmed. I am having a difficult time just knowing where to start. any and all advice is welcome, from cooking, to shopping, to making relatives understand. My daughter is pretty receptive to the changing diet, but people make me feel like I should have all the information right now. Please help.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Just learn as you go. That's the only way to do it. It is good to make sure your daughter is learning with you. I was on my own with figuring it all out at 17 and then my Mother and Brother were diagnosed. He is a little bit younger than me and takes no part in learning what he can and can't have. If it doesn't say gluten he will eat it and he usually doens't care if he gets sick. Go to your local health food store and look around. Ask the people who work there where their gluten-free products are what they know about them. I did well sticking with a basic diet- fruit, vegetables, and meat (which I don't eat anymore) until I got the hang of everything else. This is a new life for her and the diet is meant to be forever. She and you will make mistakes and it is okay. Just take it all one meal at a time.

[Jnkmnky]

Open Original Shared Link

Here's a link to lots of ideas

[Kingschild]

Girl, I am right there with you. My 11 year old daughter just started her gluten-free lifestyle after her positive biopsy last week.

She does well at home but has eaten stuff with gluten the past 2 days at school. *sigh*

At home, I cleaned out a cabinet and drawer for her. Then I went to several stores and bought about $200.00 worth of safe food.

I talked to the school nurse and Christian's teacher about Celic. And the school nurse said that I could put frozen dessert type food in the school's freezer for when there's a birthday party or whatever. I'm putting Snickers Ice Cream bars - which I still can't believe are gluten-free.

Christian also has permission to go straight to the bathroom if she starts having diarrhea cramps. She doesn't even have to ask permission.

I've talked to everyone in the house about bread crumbs. Even after someone makes a sandwich and cleans it up I still go behind them and make sure it's all gone.

I also talked to the familly about the jelly. No more double dipping with the spoon or knife after it's touched the bread. I have a seperate peanut butter for Christian, and will get get her her own margarine, jelly and other foods that could be cross contaminated.

I bought the different flours so I can start trying out recipes. And I bought 3 cookbooks and 2 books on Celiac. I want to learn as much as possible like you. But, finding the time to read is very challenging for me. *rolleyes*

I live across the street from our school so I told Christian to call me if she's wanting ot eat something unsafe or if she's mad that she can't pizza or whatever. Then I said I'll talk to her and bring her something safe if she needs me to. You may live to far away to do that. I'm also a stay at home Mom, so it makes it easier.

Oh, I have seperate cheeseballs for her too. I didn't want her digging in the same bag as her brothers.

I have a gumball machine at my house and I filled it up with Skittles the other day. I also bought her some Tootsie Rolls from Sam's Club - the big ones. Now I just have to find some safe candy corn. LOL Buying her some "junk" food seemed to really help her attitude.

I'll see if I can remember anything else and post later today.

Hang in there...we'll get the hang of this eventually.

(((hugs)))

Mysti

[Jnkmnky]

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Kinnikinnick breads, bagels, donuts, pizza crusts are great. Worth buying. Shipping is a mere $10 on orders up to $200. I buy $200 worth of food and store stuff in a freezer in my garage. It's worth it and I'm a frugal person so I'd tell you if it wasn't worth it.

Chebe is pricey as far as shipping is concerned. Kinda turns my stomach to hit the order button. But it's worth it due to the versatility Chebe offers. You can roll chebe around a hot dog and make corn dogs, you can roll Chebe flat and fill with any number of diced foods for "Hot Pockets" just like you'd find in the store. You can toss pepperoni, chicken, ham, cheese, pesto, garlic salt, olive oil, mozzerella, Taco sauce, colby jack cheese, green peppers, onions, ANYTHING into Chebe, roll it into sticks, bake, serve with a side of spaghetti sauce, bbq sauce, sour cream, ANYTHING and have a fun meal. Also makes great buttered buns for stews and soups.

We prefer the garlic onion chebe to the red origional bag. I always add extra garlic salt and oil.

[Merika]

There is a book you can get from amazon, and maybe even this website, called Personal Stories on....Celiac. It 's short (3-5 page) stories from different folks on their experience being diagnosed. There is a whole chapter from teenagers in it. You will find it an interesting read yourself, I'd bet - my dh said it was very helpful in giving him a clear picture of the health and psyche's of folks diagnosed celiac.

It also may help you as the mom to read the chapter on teenagers, as they seemed to have the hardest time adapting to the diet.

Best wishes,

Merika

[mom of a celiac]

There is a book you can get from amazon, and maybe even this website, called Personal Stories on....Celiac. It 's short (3-5 page) stories from different folks on their experience being diagnosed. There is a whole chapter from teenagers in it. You will find it an interesting read yourself, I'd bet - my dh said it was very helpful in giving him a clear picture of the health and psyche's of folks diagnosed celiac.

It also may help you as the mom to read the chapter on teenagers, as they seemed to have the hardest time adapting to the diet.

Best wishes,

Merika

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[ryebaby0]

It's really hard to get the hang of this at first! Hang in there! You might want to limit the amount of information you try to read at first -- there's just sooo much. Try reading some of the "what do you eat for lunch" threads to get some good ideas, but don't over read!

Make up two or three "menus" i.e. meals that are gluten-free. It will give you something to rely on while you learn. Remember that simple is best -- chicken, veggies and Ore Ida plain crinkle fries makes a great supper. Baked potatos for lunch, Oscar Meyer hot dogs, fruit, Yoplait yogurt..... RealFoods corn thins (we get ours at a health food store) are kinda like really thin popcorn cakes, and we use those as "bread" for pb/j to take to school.

At first, I would not buy more than 1 of any one kind of gluten-free food. It's kind of expensive, and your daughter is going to develop a taste for certain things, especially breads. We eat EnerG Tapioca bread, which many celiacs don't like but hey -- we do! My point being that you have to allow a lot of experimentation and waste before things settle. It can be fun if you treat it like an adventure. Check out www.missrobens.com for gluten-free foods.

My son made a list of all his favorite foods, and one by one we found a gluten-free version, a substitute, or a mainstream "safe" product.

I would recommend Roben Ryberg's Gluten Free Kitchen cookbook, or the Incredible Edible Gluten Free Kids cookbooks. The Gluten Free Gourmet books by Bette Hagman are always mentioned but I find they are full of weird ingredients or difficult directions. I just want to make lunch!

We have a three-ring binder with printouts of the major gluten-free food lists, med lists, and other products in the kitchen. I don't try to remember on my own. The Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG-- search for them on the web) makes a little plastic card (sized like a VISA) with the common good/bad ingredients. I bought several, use them when I'm shopping. If I'm not sure about a product, I bring it home and put it on the "not sure" shelf until we have time to check it out.

Welcome to better health, and a brighter future. Don't be surprised, though, if you and your daughter spend some time grieving for the "good ol' days" of delivered pizza and unkempt kitchens That's normal too. Let us know how it's going.....

Joanna

[nelsonmyers]

My 14 year old daughter was diagnosed three weeks ago. I am so overwhelmed. I am having a difficult time just knowing where to start. any and all advice is welcome, from cooking, to shopping, to making relatives understand. My daughter is pretty receptive to the changing diet, but people make me feel like I should have all the information right now.   Please help.

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Hi

We are new to this whole diet too, as our daughter who is 4 is now on a glutten free diet. Trader Joes - a health food store is wonderful with sooo many glutten free products and lists of what is acceptable. I don't know if there is one in your area, but they are wonderful.

Erica