emi-220

I'm a freshman in college right now too! I was diagnosed the fall of my junior year in high school, and I'm still having some difficulties adjusting, so I can't imagine how hard it must be for your daughter. Luckily, the dining services at my school have been pretty good about finding food for me. They can only do so much when preparing gluten-free meals though, so it does get kind of bland eating similar, plain meals every night. And I've definitely gotten sick a few times because of cross contamination or confusion about ingredients. I have some crackers, soup, instant rice, etc. in my room, although I try to avoid eating in my room as much as possible because then I feel like I'm missing out on the experience of eating with my friends in the dining halls. One thing that's really helped me is that I've met 3 other people with celiac disease in my dorm, and a few others around campus! I never knew anyone my age with celiac disease before now, and it's great having the support (it also makes it easier to approach dinning services when there are so many of us). I don't know if I'm just lucky that I happened to find these other people or what, but especially now that celiac diseased is becoming more and more common, it's likely that there are some in your daughter's dorm as well. Tell her to keep an eye out for people who look wary around the salad bar, or who bring their own cereal boxes to breakfast, etc. It's amazing having someone to bond with over this, and for your daughter especially, meeting people who have had celiac disease for a while would be really helpful. Also, packages with gluten free baked goods always cheer me up. I hope it's starting to get a little easier for her! I know (as we all do) how frustrating it is.

I was diagnosed about 4 months ago with celiac disease and was the first one in my family diagnosed so my parents were told to get tested also, even though they don't appear to have symptoms (although i know it's possible they still have it and are asymptomatic) . Both my mom and dad tried calling their doctors to see if insurance would pay, but they were told insurance wouldn't pay because it was just a "screening" since they didn't have symptoms. Then yesterday, my dad went for a physical and the doctor pretty much refused to test him, saying, and I quote, "if you're asymptomatic, then what difference does it make. There's no reason to stop eating gluten because there's no effect." My dad then inquired about the damage to the intestine and long term effects such as cancers, but the doctor replied that that you wouldn't get the intestinal cancer if you're asymptomatic.

Everything I've read and heard makes me think this doctor is completely mistaken, but I just wanted to make sure before I tell my dad to change doctors! It is so frusterating when people don't understand, especially if they're a doctor and should know about this stuff! So is there any truth to what he said or should we run as fast as possible in the other direction? I really want my family members to get tested but so far there doesn't seem to be much hope.

I didn't know there are any teas that aren't gluten free! Are there a lot of them or are there brands to look out for that aren't safe?

Thanks for the input- I think I'm gonna try the allrecipes.com one this weekend! it looks really good.

My mom actually made a cake for me before I told her about this thread. She made it from Pamela's Baking mix and it was really good! A little dense, but my friend (who doesn't have celiac) said she thought it tasted like a normal cake! So I reccomend pamela's if anyone else is looking for a recipe, but I'll be trying the allrecipes one this weekend so I'll let you know how it turns out.

Also- does anyone know if there are any commercial frosting brands that are safe? I checked the ingrediants of some I saw, but a couple of the ingrediants were questionable so my mom ended up having to make some from scratch. Thanks again!

This is my first birthday being gluten-free so I've never had to make a gluten-free cake before! Does anyone have any good recipes or mixes for birthday cakes (preferably yellow/vanilla) that they've tried and would recommend? thanks!

oh no!!! luna bars aren't gluten free? I just had one today after I read the label and I didn't see any questionable ingredients. does anyone know if the "luna sunrise (blueberry yogurt)" is gluten-free even though the others aren't? help!

I was curious about how it worked as well but now I see and that makes a lot of sense. That is a very good idea!

I'm new to this also (i was diagnosed last week!) so I'm also trying to figure this out. I love soup and for canned soup I used to eat progresso but now I'm not sure if the ones I like are okay. I did hear that a lot of their soups are gluten free so I called the company to ask which ones. They didn't give me a very straightforward answer though. The woman said she knew it was there policy to label gluten ingredients on the label (don't most companies do that though? ) so she said if there isn't malt, barley, or wheat listed then it's okay, but I'm supposed to check the ingredients myself. I might call back though and ask if she knows specific types that are safe so I'll let you know if I find out.

thanks for the input! that's very helpful. now I just have to get used to all this and the new diet ...

I've had sleep problems my whole life. I could never fall asleep and I was always so fatigued (though I'm not sure if the always being tired part was related to the celiac or just because I didn't get much sleep to begin with). I've only been on the gluten free diet for about a week and my sleep hasn't improved much. It sounds like it will get better though according to what everyone else has said so that's good.

I was just diagnosed with celiac disease last week so I'm still learning about and trying to adjust to the gluten- free diet. I went to the store and saw that products say that they are gluten free right on the label and I was just wondering can trust all of these products just from that claim? I read that the US doesn't regulate the labeling of gluten free foods. I assume these companies know what they put in their food and what they don't so maybe this is a stupid question but I just wanted to be sure.

Also, if there's nothing on the label that says gluten free, but none of the ingredients are gluten in any form (even the "hidden"/questionable ones) is it safe to say that it's gluten free? or should you always call the manufacturer to be sure?