New Here - Sad And Overwhelmed

[foodiegurl]

Hello everyone!

Two weeks ago, after my yearly physical, and me telling my Dr I was having reflux....she did a bunch of GI blood tests, and a week later, the nurse calls, and tells me I have h.pylori, everything else looks fine. I then ask how my gluten test was...she said, "oh yes, it says positive for celiac". I was in shock, totally in shock!! She just told me to make an appt with the GI dr. I did, and it is for this coming Friday.

My sister found out she had a wheat allergy a year ago, so I had the blood and skin test done for that last summer, and I was fine. But yes, I know Celiac is not an allergy. I didn't at the time though.

It seems so ironic to me, because since having my daughter 4 years ago, I have been very careful about foods. I am a vegetarian who eats fish (so, not really a full vegetarian =) We eat very limited processed foods, and try to eat many whole grains and whole foods, No trans fats HFCS, fast food, no artificial sweeteners, colorings, etc... I love baking (and cooking) and bake like crazy around the holidays with wheat and organic ingredients. And I thought I was doing so well, and then bam!!

I didn't even feel bad during the holidays with all my baking. The time I did feel bad with bad reflux was after eating some gluten-free waffles, I bought from Trader Joe's by mistake!

So, now I am still eating gluten, since I still need to go to the GI dr. I never thought I had any symptoms....I have always had constipation issues my entire life as does other family members and I just thought it was how I was. Maybe I have had more gas lately. The reflux, I am assuming is from the h.pylori. And I do have slightly low iron, which I have had since pregnant 4 years ago.

I am pretty sure I will refuse the biopsy, because I am really not wanting anything invasive and something to cause more damage to my insides. And as for the h.pylori..well, they want me to take 14 pills a day, 7 of those are 2 different types of antibiotics. I am already allergic to 3 antibiotic families, and I can't even imagine the havoc this will cause my system...so I am holding off until my dr to take anything. Though, I am taking omeprazole now.

I am sorry this is so all over the place. I am just really freaked out. I am freaked out when I read about complications, and other issues that can happen with Celiac, and just a wreck. My daughter's bday is in 3 weeks, and I don't want to cut gluten out until I can enjoy the princess bday cake I am making her. We travel to France regularly, and now I can never have a french patisserie again

I know things can be so much worse, and when I get in this dark place, I tell myself that.

I have so many questions....

Is Celiac something that can flare up? I know the first time I ever had tummy issues was like 2 years ago, but after a month it went away..perhaps it was the h.pylori (gosh, I am a mess).

How do most people quit gluten...cold turkey? or do you wean yourself?

I was really wanting another baby, but I also had pre-eclampsia with my daughter, and I know that it is more likely to happen in the presence of an autoimmune issues, so now I am even more freaked about trying again.

Am I going to want to cry at social events?

Are there many vegetarians who are celiacs?

I spent a couple of hours at the book store the other day looking at gluten-free cookbooks ... to read how alternative flours worked...and one things that really depresses me is that, I have spent these last few years eliminating refined flour and sugar...only to be told now....the only "flours" i can have are refined from rice, potato..and these are not good And then I try and investigate what this xanthum gum is, and to me it looks like something that is like an artificial sweetener....definitely not something natural or 100% safe, and something that the current me would not use.

It makes me not even want to bake or try to imitate things I loved, but to just stay away from them all together.

I hate that I am relating food as something more than something necessary for life, but I just never suspected this. I want to just live life easy-peasy as everyone else who crams dunkin donuts and McDs down their throats

I am currently living 45 min from Chicago (we just moved from there 2 years ago, and will be moving back this year)...and so I am meeting with a GI dr here, but I read University of Chicago has a great Celiac group. Can someone recommend a dr for me there?

Again, sorry for the garbled post, I am sure I will have a million more questions. Thank you for reading.

Anne

[rinne]

Hi.

It is overwhelming in the beginning and it takes time to learn the gluten free diet but you will get there.

The Omeprazole stops absorption of Vitamin B, if you haven't had your vitamin and mineral panel checked, deficiencies are common, it would be a good idea.

I was so ill that the day I learned about gluten was the day I stopped.

If you are a baker, you will bake again. I have spent most of my life in kitchens and it was a shock but once I adjusted I found I could still bake delicious treats.

[ravenwoodglass]

I know you feel overwhelmed right now. It's going to be okay. It is a hard adjustment to make for many and you can use the time while you are waiting to see the GI to learn all you can and get ready for the changes you will need to make.

Celiac is something that can often pop up. Usually it appears after a stress either emotional or physical. For many women it is triggered by having a baby. It can at first have sporatic symptoms and it can effect much more than just the gut. It can effect our moods, energy levels, brain well pretty much any system. Some are surprised how good they feel once they get used to the diet. We do tend to think a lot of stuff associated with celiac is just 'normal' and many don't realize how impacted they were until that impact is gone.

It is great that you were diagnosed before you went through years of declining health. The choice to do the endo is up to you. There are no nasty preps for it and it could be a good idea to check out other stuff also.

The best way to quit gluten IMHO is cold turkey. You want to stop the antibody reaction and some will experience a bit of withdrawl and moodiness in the first week or so. If you keep taking small amounts of gluten the antibody and withdrawl reactions will be drawn out much longer.

There are a lot of great gluten free mixes and stuff that are available. I use a variety of ready made mixes. Pamela's makes some good ones, so does the Gluten Free Pantry (their french bread mix makes great pizza dough), Tom Sawyer's Gluten Free Flour is great for scalloped potatoes and there are of course more. There are also a number of ready made breads, Kinnickinnick is a fav of a lot of folks here. If you have favorites that you like to cook just ask if someone has a recipe or check out the recipe section of the board. Gluten free eating doesn't have to be tasteless. We also have some vegatarians here so feel free to ask them what they like and trust.

Welcome and ask any questions you need to.

[I hate gluten]

Welcome to the club. There are so many different stages you are going to feel before you can say you are ok with all of this. Anger was the big one for me. I look at my sign in name every day and realize how far I have actually come in one month. It gets easier i promise! The people here are great and you can talk about anything without feeling stupid!

There are a few things I want to tell you. Before you get your biopsy The one red flag i see is your anemia. Get your vitamins checked ASAP. B-12 defeciency and anemia run hand and hand sometimes. Vit K deficiency is another it is a vit that helps with clotting your blood. Alot of people who have Celiacs have can not absorb. D either. I am 29 and was told that only gereatrics have vit defeciencys. Be greatful that you have the doctor you do. ( i had to beg my doctor to run my blood work) Alot of us here including myself had to find our own diagnosis and as you stay on the forum you will see how valuable a good doctor actually is. Another few things. Usually when you have one auto immune dz eventually you may develop another. I come from a family that has 3 people with multiple autoimmune issues. You know your body, when you feel off keep tract and talk to your doctor. Now you may not realize you have some symptoms and some of the symptoms you have may start to disapear within days or weeks of starting the diet. I had a pain behind my eye and some dizziness that went away 3 days into the diet. It is a blessing in that you like to cook and bake. This is very important. I hated it, am much beter about it now. Once you get the hang of it it comes very easy. Unfortuanatly we had to get all new kitchen cookware for me and my son due to crosscontamination, but it is well worth it. I went to Trader Joes and talked to the manager and told him what was going on and 4 of his employees were Celiac or on a gluten free diet. So they helped me and my son around the store telling me what was good and what was not ( taste wise and pointed out foods- saved hours of searching) So if when you go to the health food store ask an employee if anyone eats gluten free. Other than steak once in awhile I eat 95% veg. There are bakerys around, I live in St. Louis and found one I am sure there is one in Chicago.

Unfortuanately cold turkey is the way to go. As for healing wise. Any small amount can damage your villa. Good luck- hang in there. You will look back weeks from now and say WOW I have come along ways. It may not seem like it now but it gets tons easier. Plus we are always here if you need support.

[foodiegurl]

I did have all my vitamins checked in this last appointment, as I do every year since I don't eat meat. I have always done this for me, and my daughter. Of course, maybe the nurse left that out, but I did ask, specifically if anything else was out of range. And I do know I asked the Dr specifically to check iron, vit b and folate. As well as my thyroid function, liver, kidneys.... But, maybe they didn't tell me everything. Can you tell, I was already a total hypochondriac before this? The pre-eclampsia I had with my daughter caused me major PTSD.

Coincidentally, I have also had tons of blood clotting testing done in the last year because of my history with pre-eclampsia and considering to try and have another. They also did some testing for autoimmune stuff at that time, and it came back negative. Though, I know this doesn't mean that something won't pop up in the future.

Thank you for everyone's feedback

[Tallforagirl]

Going by what I have read, once your celiac disease is under control (blood levels have normalised through gluten-free diet), there are no additional risks with pregnancy, but it's important that it is under control before you get pregnant.

I'd recommend you read: Peter H Green: Celiac Disease, a Hidden Epidemic, and Jules E. Dowler Shepard: The First Year: Celiac Disease and Living Gluten-Free: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed.

The second book, as well as lots of medical info, has recipes to get you started, and a recipe for a flour mix she says you can use for anything.

[finlayson]

So sorry to hear that you're feeling sad. I was diagnosed in November of last year (pretty much out of the blue - definitely did not expect that diagnosis). My whole family is vegetarian (husband and three children). We also have a peanut/tree nut allergy thrown into the mix. Like you, at first I was overwhelmed. For the first couple of weeks I found myself crying for no reason, and very angry, but here I am three months further on in my journey and I am managing the change well. I know the goodies I bake are not as nutritious as they used to be, but I am finding we are actually eating fewer treats now and do not seem to be missing them. I do still buy wheat products for my family - we are definitely a blended family (mixture of gluten and non-gluten). This in itself is a challenge in the beginning and I did not believe people when they said it would get easier - but it really does. After a while it becomes second nature to make meals a certain way. So far I have avoided eating out at a restaurant or at someone's house, but I know I will have to take on that challenge soon.

Anyway I just wanted to give a shout of support - being a vegetarian is not a hindrance to gluten-free living. Many of the recipes I use are pretty gluten-free to begin with. Hang on in there - you are not alone.

[foodiegurl]

I like to laugh and say, well I have always preferred rice to pasta and bread, and that is the truth. I love rice. Seafood risotto is my favorite ultimate dish. But, the past 2 weeks, I have eaten rice like crazy (mostly brown rice), because it is the one thing that will make me feel better if I have an upset tummy, and I am so worried to eat too much wheat now. I may be getting sick of rice

I can't let that happen!

Maybe there was a reason I was never a huge bread person, and always took the insides out of the sandwich. I hated wasting space in my tummy with bread. But that doesn't mean, I want to be forced to eliminate it

[curlyfries]

I weaned myself off gluten. Partly because I didn't have this site as a reference at the time and partly because I was overwhelmed. The medical info sites make it seem much harder than it really is. I understand those that feel you must get off all gluten immediately.....maybe I would have if I had found this site in the beginning....but I must say that my transition into gluten-free living was much easier than a lot of the newbie posters I see. The key, I think, is not to mourn over the foods that you will miss, but to replace them with new gluten-free favorites.

[Takala]

If you're really a foodie you may end up enjoying this as you discover that gluten free eating is better than mass produced fast food, and as you find all the different sources of gluten free carbohydrates that can be prepared in tasty ways.

Of course, right now you may want to just smack me for saying that, but try to think of the best possible outcome- you are healthy, mentally better organized, you don't have an ulcer, and you and your family enjoy your cooking.

The best gluten free recipes use flour mixes which contain an assortment of different flours, to provide taste and texture. There are lots of gluten free flours which are more nutritious than plain old rice flour. Sorghum, millet, amaranth, teff, kasha(buckwheat), quinoa, flaxseed, sunflower seed, nut meal flours such as almond, coconut, pecan, walnut, etc can all be used in gluten free baking besides the usual rice, tapioca, cornstarch, and potato starch.

Cake is easy to make where nobody knows it's gluten free, unless they are a "super taster" with extra tastebuds, or a professional chef.

Changing your diet to cut down on the amount of grain carbohydrates you are consuming, and increasing the fat and proteins and vegetables is going to change the pH (acid balance ) in your stomach and intestines, and make it more difficult for the h pylori to find places to hide. The more grains you eat, the more acid the stomach tries to secrete to process and digest the stuff. This can result in acid reflux. Not everyone gets reflux or ulcers from eating gluten, but you should notice a vast improvement when you switch into a gluten free diet.

The omeprazole is already helping to cut down the amount of acid. The h pylori think it's okay to stop lurking and burrowing into the damaged lining trying to get away from the acid.... then the antibiotics are then sent in for the kill.

You don't have to use xanthan gum in some recipes, as there are substitutes, such as extra eggs or egg white, gelatin, boiled chia or flax seed gels, but you don't have to be afraid of it, either, it's not that bizarre a substance, it's made by a bacterium that is happily fermenting away on a corn sugar type solution.

[I hate gluten]

found this in another post and thought of you. Good luck

QUOTE (kenlove @ Feb 9 2009, 06:27 PM)

Hi Lobita

Can you pass on the address of Da Luciano's? I Only get there once a year but it would be nice to eat someplace besides Bone FIsh or my mothers house!

thanks

ken

Absolutely. Their address is:

8343 Grand Ave

River Grove, IL 60171

(708) 453-1000

You also might want to check out Rose's Bakery, too. It's all gluten-free. They have awesome eclairs (if you manage to snag one, I don't know why they don't make more of these! They go too fast). They make a pretty fine gluten-free pizza, too. Their address:

2901 Central St.

Evantson,IL 60201

Tel: 847-859-2723

www.rosesbakery.com

I hope this is close to where you live so you can drop by and enjoy. Hang in there.

[caek-is-a-lie]

I had a baking phobia, too, for a long while, but lately have been finding amazing replacements for old favorites that I haven't had in years. Plus I finally started trying to eat out at restaurants and have had remarkable success (knock on wood!)

It's so frustrating at first--I wanted to just stop eating altogether!--but it gets easier once you figure some basics out, like what the safe brands are, etc. Then when you discover new treats, life gets really exciting! There are lots of cookbooks and gluten-free flours you can find in your grocery store. I even saw a cooking show recently that was all gluten free (oooh man it looked so good!)

My new advice to the newly diagnosed is...if you're feeling down in the dumps about those schmucks eating Dunkin' Donuts in front of you (curse them!,) go to Outback Steakhouse and get a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under. Drown your sorrows! It's gluten free! Then go to the store, get a bag of M&M's, a carton of Cherry Garcia ice cream, a big bottle of American wine (foreign barrel sealant can have gluten) and your favorite movie. Go home and drown in more sorrows. Hopefully the next day you'll realize it's actually not so bad! Well, if you don't have too much wine, that is.

(you can tell Outback is my latest blissful discovery...lol)

I hope you feel better soon. Celiac is not the end of the world. It only feels that way sometimes.

[wildwood]

There is a celiac vegetarian forum -- vegiac.com. You may find that helpful. I go on there to look at recipes. We are not vegetarian, but my older daughter's fiance is. When my younger daughter comes home from college to visit I like to be able to prepare a vegetarian/gluten free meal to meet both of their needs. Since my daughter was diagnosed (she is in college now) we are all eating much healthier. It has been a process for her and initially the only thing she would eat outside of our home was salad. Now she is becoming much more comfortable explaining her needs when she goes out and has had good luck. I have enjoyed exploring new foods and every weekend I choose another gluten free recipe to try so that when my daughter is home, I can prepare the successes for her and she does not have to endure the failures I wish you well as you begin to heal.

[foodiegurl]

found this in another post and thought of you. Good luck

QUOTE (kenlove @ Feb 9 2009, 06:27 PM)

Hi Lobita

Can you pass on the address of Da Luciano's? I Only get there once a year but it would be nice to eat someplace besides Bone FIsh or my mothers house!

thanks

ken

Absolutely. Their address is:

8343 Grand Ave

River Grove, IL 60171

(708) 453-1000

You also might want to check out Rose's Bakery, too. It's all gluten-free. They have awesome eclairs (if you manage to snag one, I don't know why they don't make more of these! They go too fast). They make a pretty fine gluten-free pizza, too. Their address:

2901 Central St.

Evantson,IL 60201

Tel: 847-859-2723

www.rosesbakery.com

I hope this is close to where you live so you can drop by and enjoy. Hang in there.

Thank you! Are you in Chicago as well?

I will actually be in Evanston tomorrow (and we are also planning on moving there this year), so I will stop by and check it out!!

[TES]

I had a baking phobia, too, for a long while, but lately have been finding amazing replacements for old favorites that I haven't had in years. Plus I finally started trying to eat out at restaurants and have had remarkable success (knock on wood!)

It's so frustrating at first--I wanted to just stop eating altogether!--but it gets easier once you figure some basics out, like what the safe brands are, etc. Then when you discover new treats, life gets really exciting! There are lots of cookbooks and gluten-free flours you can find in your grocery store. I even saw a cooking show recently that was all gluten free (oooh man it looked so good!)

My new advice to the newly diagnosed is...if you're feeling down in the dumps about those schmucks eating Dunkin' Donuts in front of you (curse them!,) go to Outback Steakhouse and get a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under. Drown your sorrows! It's gluten free! Then go to the store, get a bag of M&M's, a carton of Cherry Garcia ice cream, a big bottle of American wine (foreign barrel sealant can have gluten) and your favorite movie. Go home and drown in more sorrows. Hopefully the next day you'll realize it's actually not so bad! Well, if you don't have too much wine, that is.

(you can tell Outback is my latest blissful discovery...lol)

I hope you feel better soon. Celiac is not the end of the world. It only feels that way sometimes.

Are M&M's safe to eat? I haven't had any chocolate or candy forever, thinking they were unsafe. I'd walk a couple miles for a good piece of chocolate!!

[CeliacMom2008]

It's going to be OK. Really. Truly. It does take some time to get a handle on the diet and to go through the emotional stages. I've had to go through them for my son - who by the way barely went through any "stages" outside of the intial first two days of confusion! He'll tell you eating gluten free is easy and tastes very good. Now, the amazing part of this is that prior to his diagnosis I was a mediocre cook at best. I'm good now! Maybe even great! He's found a healthy life and I've found a great hobby.

You will definitely bake again! We bake all the time. That was one of the bad outcomes of his diagnosis. Prior to his diagnosis we didn't have cookies around hardly at all. Now that I find it fun to be in the kitchen and we love the results we have cookies more than we probably should. We aren't the most healthy family that you'll find here, although I've always thought we ate very healthy. We like a good mix of fruits, veggies, lean meats/fish, with some bread and sweets tossed in here and there.

We too had tried to avoid the refined white flour. You do find a good deal of rice flour in gluten-free foods, but you can also use brown rice in your own recipes. My advice for the first few months is to do what you have to get comfortable with the diet. Then after a month or two start spreading your wings and making it the diet you want. For example, at first we used bread mixes and cookie mixes. Now we use more bread recipes (using helathy ingredients like sorghum, millet, chickpea, brown rice, flax, etc.) and I make most of our cookies from scratch (although I still use two different chocolate chip mixes that we really like).

Don't be afraid of xanthan gum. It's not an artificial sweetener. It helps bind your doughs together and tries to help mimic the effects of gluten.

45 minutes from Chicago! That's fantastic! Rose's Bakery has fantastic bread. Our homemade recipes try to recreate her recipes. They are very healthy and very yummy. Unfortuntaley we live 4 hours from the bakery. There's also the Gluten Free Grocery which has a great selection. Whole Foods and Trader Joes have lots of gluten-free products - ingredients, mixes, pre-made, well labelled, etc. And if you go to the glutenfreeclasses.com website you can find out about cooking classes offered at many Whole Foods locations. They had a 2 day class last fall that was outstanding and well worth the money. I'd recommend it if they do it again this year.

My last advice is to not fight the emotions. Cry when you need to, be angry when you want to, and then be happy when you're ready for that as well. And you can be. I was devasted when my son was diagnosed. I could see his whole life ahead of him WITHOUT and it broke my heart. But we've been at this over a year now and it's more than OK. So many good things have come out of it. From the health perspective - he grew 4 inches and gained 4 pounds in one year, his mood swings that I just thought were part of him are gone, his stomach doesn't hurt, his allergies are better, and the kid that was regularly at the doctor's office hasn't been sick in a year! You mentioned that you always thought you were sick - well you were - you have Celiac! But great news - the cure is within your grasp!! From the personal perspective - I think Celiac has brought us closer as a family. We always ate dinner together every night before, but somehow it is different at our own kitchen table vs. a restaurant. And we are much more creative with dinners - we have fun nights (like our recent meal where we made shish kabobs, fruit salad, etc. wore shorts, played Jimmy Buffet music and ate on the patio furniture in the basement on the summer plastic plates!) and pizza and a movie night (our one night a week to park in front of the TV and watch a rented movie while eating homemade pizza). And we spend a lot of good quality time in the kitchen together - either planning, cooking or cleaning. And it truly can be quality time. My son and I spent last night making monster cookies and talking about the cruelty of puppy mills (he's decided he wants to help animals this year for his charitable cause). He was learning several valuable life lessons - how to feed himself, how to love all creatures, and hopefully how valuable time spent with your mom is!

Sorry this is so long. You'll quickly find I'm very long winded. But I think it's so important to reach out to newbies and tell them it's going to be OK. Oh, if you make it to Rose's eat one of their berry tart things for me. Oh those are good!! (I told you I had a big weakness for baked goods, didn't I??)

Welcome to the family!!

[foodiegurl]

Thank you everyone for such a warm welcome, and encouraging words.

CeliacMom2008, thanks for the tip on Rose's Bakery. I am actually going to be in Evanston tomorrow, so I will stop by there for sure!!

And I know I mentioned eating Dunkin' Donuts and McD's, and I was just using them as an example of how it is ironic that people who eat that stuff can get away with it, and the people that try to eat healthy, end up with issues. I can't even remember the last time I have eaten either. Though I will admit, Chipotle is my guilty pleasure. Good thing, I like the burrito bowl.

Yes, I will need to venture out, and try stuff beyond rice. I love quinoa, and know it is super healthy, but the last 2 times I have had it, I had the worst stomach ache. Not sure I am brave enough to try it again. And I think they were from different packages too, so it is not like it could have been a bad batch.

Last night, without even thinking, I made fish tacos with rice and black beans, as I normally would, and it is nice to realize many things I cook are naturally gluten-free. And thank goodness, my favorite ice cream of all time is Cherry Garcia, which I read is safe.

I try and talk about this with my husband (who I also want to be tested since he has always had way more tummy issues than me with headaches, and mouth sores), and he is telling me I am overreacting, and should be grateful it is not something worse. And I don't disagree...but when I tell him this is something I need to mourn over, he is basically rolling his eyes at me

Again, thank you for everyone's response, it really does give me hope.

Anne

[I hate gluten]

Its ironic how things like that work. I have a friend that eats only organic and never fed her children anything but with no exceptions and one of her kids developed ALL (Leukimia at 3). (doing great now has his last chemo in july this year !) Things happen and we dont know why. I hope you enjoy the bakeries.

[foodiegurl]

Its ironic how things like that work. I have a friend that eats only organic and never fed her children anything but with no exceptions and one of her kids developed ALL (Leukimia at 3). (doing great now has his last chemo in july this year !) Things happen and we dont know why. I hope you enjoy the bakeries.

My thoughts are going to your friend and her child. Reading that makes me feel very silly for even getting stressed about this. I have a friend, whose daughter was diagnosed with AML at 3 as well, and just received her bone marrow transplant 2 weeks ago. I cannot imagine the strength it takes for those families.

[CeliacMom2008]

Anne,

My son has always been such a healthy eater. He is not picky (he'll try anything at least once!), he loves veggies, loves fruit even more, hates fried foods, doesn't salt anything, well, you get the picture. We felt like you when he was diagnosed - then we said to ourselves, can you imagine how bad off he would've been if he ate like a normal kid??

I have to admit that the first few months we (ok, I) overcompensated for the loses I thought he was having to endure by buying Snickers and Reese's and M&Ms. I still do bake a lot, but again, that's more for fun and I'm the only one in our family who has trouble with portion control in the cookie area. My hubby and son are both content to eat one cookie and be done. In fact, IF I can get my husband to try a cookie he'll eat a couple bites and be done with cookies for weeks! Anyway, once we got comfortable that gluten free wasn't the end of the world we stopped overcompensating.

Another interesting thing between you and my son - he never liked sandwiches (although he'd eat the insides by themselves), he used to pick breading off chicken nuggets or popcorn shrimp if I ordered them for him, and he didn't like cake or cookies. I swear his body was telling him what to avoid. Now he loves his gluten-free chicken nuggets (Bell Evans is the brand we use) and he likes cookies and cakes. Sandwiches still aren't high on his list though.

Quinoa - Ancient Harvest Quinoa pasta is a wonderful pasta alternative. Many people like Tinkyada, but it is rice based. I preferred the quinoa because of nutrition, and our whole family really likes it - way better than the whole wheat pasta we used to eat!

Lastly, one thing that helped me tremendously in the beginning was to make a list of all the food I knew how make (I broke it down by main dish, side dish, snack, dessert, breakfast). Then I went through to see what I could still make without changes, with minor ingredient changes, or with gluten-free products (for example using gluten-free spaghetti). It would help me to plan the week's menus and create a shopping list.

I'll be thinking about you at Rose's tomorrow!!!

[foodiegurl]

Another interesting thing between you and my son - he never liked sandwiches (although he'd eat the insides by themselves), he used to pick breading off chicken nuggets or popcorn shrimp if I ordered them for him, and he didn't like cake or cookies. I swear his body was telling him what to avoid. Now he loves his gluten-free chicken nuggets (Bell Evans is the brand we use) and he likes cookies and cakes. Sandwiches still aren't high on his list though.

Quinoa - Ancient Harvest Quinoa pasta is a wonderful pasta alternative. Many people like Tinkyada, but it is rice based. I preferred the quinoa because of nutrition, and our whole family really likes it - way better than the whole wheat pasta we used to eat!

Lastly, one thing that helped me tremendously in the beginning was to make a list of all the food I knew how make (I broke it down by main dish, side dish, snack, dessert, breakfast). Then I went through to see what I could still make without changes, with minor ingredient changes, or with gluten-free products (for example using gluten-free spaghetti). It would help me to plan the week's menus and create a shopping list.

I'll be thinking about you at Rose's tomorrow!!!

That is interesting about picking apart sandwiches. Whenever I order a sandwich anywhere, my plate usually looks like there is more food on it than I started with, since I always pick away the bread. I always just felt it was needless filler Unless the bread was amazing, of course

I also love quinoa and its nutritional value, however, the last 2 times I have had it, I had a horrible stomach ache afterwards, and I am not sure I am ready to brave it again. It is weird though, because I used to eat it often, and have a great recipe for a quinoa and edamame dish I would always make for company: (and it was already gluten-free - hehe)

Open Original Shared Link

I guess my food blog is going to have a change a bit now

[caek-is-a-lie]

M&M's and all Dove chocolate are safe to eat. I love the sugar free Dove Chocolate Cremes when I don't want too much sugar. They are just to die for!

[foodiegurl]

For dinner tonight, we had an Amy's rice crust pizza. I expected to take a bite, spit it out, and cry...but I actually liked it more than the regular Amy's pizza...hooray!!!

[pele]

Anne

Welcome to the forum.

I see you have gotten some excellent advice from other posters. Let me add a couple of things.

Ask your doctor's office for written copies of all of lab results. The fact that the nurse first said everything else was fine and missed the celiac is alarming. What else did they not tell you?

Second, if you have been diagnosed with celiac, then chances are your daughter also has it or will develop it. Please get her tested and no matter what the results (blood tests for celiac often miss it), bake her a gluten-free birthday cake.

[foodiegurl]

I went to Rose's today, and all I have to say it AMAZING!!!

It gave me hope and made me happy =)