How Careful Do You Need To Be?

[Shamilton]

My older daughter has recently been diagnosed as a celiac (her symptoms were loose stools and small stature). We have eliminated all major sources of gluten as well as many minor sources, but my husband is having a hard time being convinced that we need to eliminate every little bit of gluten. For example, we have left over rice cereal from Arrowhead mills that is possibly cross-contaminated, and he is concerned about not using it up first before using the grinder we bought to . He couldn't believe that we needed to get special Vanilla. My daughter is 4 and 1/2, so it is difficult for her to communicate her feelings about what she eats. She does complain about stomach aches still (almost more since we have gone on the diet!), and her stool is still a bit loose, but she has also been diagnosed with a casein allergy and we have not eliminated all cheese yet yet (we are getting there..). I guess what I am looking for is information about the sensitivity of celiacs, and if they are all sensitive to every molocule of gluten or not. Information that I can share with my husband so we can be better informed.

By the way, my younger daughter has not been tested, but she had horrible rashes and diarhea for so long while she was brestfeeding exclusively, so we finally figured out what I neded to eat, and she appears to be a celiac as well. This has, of course, led me to the conclusion that I am probably one too, and that might explain the red cheeks i have had for the last twenty years.

Any help would be appreciated!

[tarnalberry]

Regardless of her symptoms, if she ingests any gluten (yes, you read that right, any), damage will be done to her intestines. The body's immune system is a chemical machine, one that will recognize virtually everything you send through it, so yes, ALL gluten that can possibly be eliminated should be eliminated.

[Connie R-E]

Well, I'm a celiac who is soooo super sensitive that I definately cannot have any molecule of gluten!!

I am lucky in a way, at least I react--many people do not, so they don't know if they are getting gluten and harming themselves or not!!

When I first went gluten-free, I didn't react very much, but the longer I have been gluten-free, the more sever my reactions have become!

Now, if I have the tiniest bit of cross-contamination, I have the "World's Worst 9 Hour Stomach Ache Imagianable". (It's soooo bad, I've even named it! )

I hope your husband will come to understand that the tiniest amount of gluten is stripping the villi from you little daughter's intestines! It sounds crazy, but is true...

Good luck with those hidden glutens!

Connie

[wdavie]

The simple answer is that you need to eliminate all Gluten. If your husband is having trouble believing than tell him the possible implications of continuing on Gluten.

For example, infertility and intestinal cancers. Whenever I feel it is too hard I remind myself of this.

I certainly do not want to sit Grace down one day and say "Sorry sweet but maybe the reason you cannot get pregnant/you have cancer is because the Gluten free diet was too hard, so we kept feeding you Gluten". Very harsh and in your face but that is the reality of Celiac Disease.

Please for your childs sake educate your husband and eliminate Gluten from the diet.

Wendy

[wclemens]

Shamilton,

Judging from the way my 10 month old Celiac grandson reacts to even a few grains of wheat, it is very important to eliminate all sources of gluten. He becomes irritable and fussy, has diarrhea, cannot sleep, has stomach cramps, and is a completely different baby after accidentally getting gluten into his system. It takes at least 3 days for him to feel better.

My Celiac comes out in the form of Asthma, which sets in within 15 minutes of eating any gluten-containing food, or any product containing milk, dairy, casein, whey, egg whites, or yeast. Welda

[lovegrov]

As the others said, eliminate all gluten. Period. Research has shown that even low-level exposure increases the risks of cancer and other problems. Both you and the child will make enough mistakes that gluten exposure will occur anyway.

BTW, you don't necessarily need special vanilla. I went out and bought health food store, "gluten-free," expensive vanilla the first time, only to discover that every single cheaper vanilla I've checked on since has been gluten-free. This includes McCormick's, Kroger, Frontier, Penzey's and on and on.

richard