Firstly I want to say, I have NOT been diagnosed with coeliac disease , but recently have noticed that anything that contains wheat, the second it hits my stomach I can feel it tighten and give me pain,also gives me a load of wind and actually pain in my chest and sometimes in my neck. Does this sound like coeliac instead of NCGS as don't have the classic yellow, smelly,fatty diahorrea that supposedly signifies coeliac disease. Also if I want to go gluten free, I'm worried this is going to be too expensive as I'm currently on benefits due to severe mental health problems and not likely to go back to work anytime soon. I've looked at Celiac UK website but I feel unable to follow any meal plan as I don't and can't cook and my husband thinks it's all in my head, so that in itself is a barrier.
Any advice gratefully accepted.
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sobs1962
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Firstly, it sounds as though it would be a good idea for you to be tested for coeliac disease. Although the diarrhoea you describe is the classic symptom, we do all vary, and you certainly sound as though you have a problem with gluten.A positive test, and the resulting instructions from a doctor and/or dietitian, will help to convince your husband that it is not "all in your head". Without this, you might find it difficult to get him to be careful enough about not cross-contaminating your food if he doesn't understand the importance.
If you ask for a test, do it soon, before you give up gluten, because you need to be eating gluten for the test to give the correct result, and going back on it would be more painful than not giving it up!
If you are going gluten free you will definitely find it much cheaper to make the effort to learn to cook at least some of your food. You can then cook ordinary main meals, just without any gluten-containing ingredients. If meals are based on meat, fish, cheese, eggs, beans and lentils, plus potatoes or rice and veggies, they won't cost any more than usual.
Ready made gluten free food is expensive, and the breads, cakes and biscuits don't taste brilliant.
I typically don’t trust gluten free bread. It’s poor quality and expensive. So going without bread is my first rule for myself. I substitute corn tortillas as I live in the colonies and it’s cheap and readily available. Forget sourdough as it is wheat.
Substitute vegetable or olive oil for butter. Mayonnaise is also a good substitute.
Almond milk or avoid milk altogether. No yogurt or cheese.
I order burgers with out a bun. Some places serve it in a lettuce wrap and others serve it in a bowl to eat with knife and fork.
It’s hard even when you have support. I’m lucky as I can cook everything myself. That way, I know that I can trust it.
I was never diagnosed with celiac but have all the symptoms when I eat either gluten or dairy
Sorry, why are you advising to substitute oils? They contain no gluten and are generally very safe from gluten contamination. Also, if one is fine with milk/dairy products, absolutely no need to start substituting with fake milk products (which are way more expensive than normal milk). Equally if you are recommnending to cut out milk/dairy products, why would you then substitue oils for butter? You don't get coeliac symptoms from eating dairy as coeliac only happens in response to gluten. What you may have is milk intolerance which can be side effect of coeliac - if villi damaged they do not produce milk-digesting enzyme, but this can fix with time. Or you may be dairy intolerant (which is common) independent of whether or not you have coeliac.
Ceoliac/celiac is an autoimmune condition that results from the body's reaction to the gluten protein in wheat/barley/rye. It has absolutely nothing to do with reaction to milk/milk proteins or any other component of milk. Because the villi become damaged in coeliac some people may develop dairy intolerance that can resolve when the villi heal (the villi tip is where the enzyme for milk digestion is produced). For some the intolerance remains. You can also be allergic and intolerant to diary but not have coeliac. There is no need to give up milk/dairy products if you have coeliac but are ok with dairy/milk. Nor is there any reason to avoid olive, nut or seed oils unless you have a specific intolerance or allergy to those for whatever reason.
Hi Pvanderaa - I agree with you about going without bread. The mass produced GF ones contain additives I don't trust as well as being, as you say, expensive and poor quality.
However, as Benjamin123 says, coeliac itself does not include dairy, it is purely gluten (which is bad enough!) We need to put all our energy into avoiding gluten in all its forms, without avoiding other good, natural foods, including dairy. We need all the calcium we can get, as pre the GF diet, we have all absorbed too little calcium and we need extra to avoid losing bone strength.
Many coeliacs, including me, do have a problem with the lactose in some dairy products, but this tends to improve with time on a GF diet, once the villi heal. The problem is because the antibodies to gluten attack the area of the small intestine where we produce lactase, which enables us to digest lactose.
There is no problem with butter, as this does not contain lactose, which is in the "skim" part of the milk, rather than the butterfat. Hard cheeses or live yogurt are also better than fresh milk, since both these involve most of the lactose being "digested" in the process of making them. I cope with my lactose intolerance by buying Lactofree milk (which is reduced lactose rather than totally free). I cannot drink ordinary liquid milk, or eat soft cheeses, but this is slowly improving.
You are braver than me ordering burgers without the bun - I daren't eat anywhere that is routinely handling the buns, and my butcher tells me that the flavouring spices used in most burgers is unlikely to be GF. I totally agree that cooking your own food is the safest way.
Around 50% of coeliac's are dairy intolerant, but not all. It's simply a common intolerance though, there's no rules to say all coeliac's must avoid milk (it's helpful if they don't actually, as a coeliac has higher calcium needs than the general pop)
Try world foods area of supermarket. Big bags lentils and gram flour and quinoa
And yellow sticker veg cabbage etc
Make soups and stews
Do not cut gluten out until you have been tested for coeliac. The symtoms of coeliac vary greatly, and disgestive aspect is only one of the symptoms. If you cut gluten out before testing, the testing will not work properly. If you do have the test, but negative, still open to interpretation as the blood test is questionnable.
Mental health impact can be part of coeliac and non-coeliac gluten intolerance. The wider impact includes depletion of Vitamin D and B vitamins, so if and when you do go gluten free, worth asking your doctor to run a blood test on your vitamin/mineral levels.
Gluten is also in barley/rye, not just wheat, so may be worth checking if those two grains also have the same impact as wheat. If not, may just be a wheat allergy, not gluten specifically.
If your husband believes it's 'all in my head' then the problem is not with you, the problem is with your husband. Do not allow anyone to gaslight or negate you on your physical health, physical health symptoms and wish to improve your health/wellbeing. That is not acceptable, nor should you tolerate that.
I would take first steps first before worrying about diet - get a coeliac test, ask for blood test to measure vitamin/mineral levels, and then approach the diet. The diet can be expensive if you opt for lots of commercial gluten free products - these are not actually entirely free of gluten and not very healthy (lots of addiditives). Some areas of the country still have limited access to gluten free products on prescription if you are diagnosed coeliac. Buying your own gluten free flour (Dove Farm) and making your own bread is an option, if you can tolerate the gluten free grains. Beyond that, it's just managing food budget as normal: coeliac.org.uk/information-...
Also contact Ceoliac UK if you need specific advice and direction. They have a helpline.
Thanks for all replies, I think the fact I have BPD and have had severe depression and anxiety for over 30 years is probably the reason my husband thinks it's all in my head as I'm always googling things and potentially convincing myself I have certain conditions but I do have Hashimotos and once you've got one autoimmune condition there's a high chance you'll get another and the most prevalent autoimmune condition that occurs with Hashimotos is Celiac. Thanks for all tips and advice will try to get tested but honestly, my medical practice are very poor and I haven't seen a doctor face to face for 18 months now always using covid as an excuse (whether that's the case or not)I must admit I am finding the thought of all this extremely daunting and my BPD makes it nearly impossible for me to treat myself with care and kindness, so here we go!!!😬
Forget the labels doctors like to put on people to make them feel bad about themselves, and get yourself healthy. You have a good support network on here, and bet you a pound to a penny you will feel like a new person once you go the gluten free route. It's not so difficult once you get into it, and you'll find youself getting more adventurous with your menu and meals. There is no autoimmune condition that does not improve with the elimination of gluten and that's fact.
I have Hashi's too (since 2007). I was dx Coeliac Nov last year. I didn't actually see a GP. I sent an e-consult saying I was bloated/loose stools/gut pain for some months. A GP phoned me to discuss symptoms, one of which did happen to be fatty yellow stools, and I was sent a blood form for quite a few tests incl Coeliac which I'd been tested for before. This time it came back positive.
If I'd known in 2007 what I know now, I would have cut out gluten and saved myself a world of feeling cr@p, but I would recommend that you get tested first.
One thing that really struck me as odd was that over the past few years my Levo requirement went down. You'd think that malabsorption would have meant it would have gone up. From 2012 to 2018 I was on 200mcg, which is quite a hefty dose for 9 1/2 stone. I'm now down to 125mcg (same blood draw as the Coeliac), and think I may require another drop soon. I haven't been able to work out the reasoning behind it.
My adult daughter has complications from being a type 1 diabetic, and I do all the cooking etc. I'm not a fan of cooking, and most of the time I try to do things that don't take much preparation/clearing up, and this makes me feel much happier than spending hours in the kitchen. I'm much more likely to make something like lemon and herb (dried), or honey & mustard (dijon tends to be GF) chicken breasts (on tin foil in a tray) with jacket potato (again on tin foil) maybe even with corn on the cob (in the oven in tin foil with butter and paprika) than lasagne which is a heap of work, even if I can freeze half of it. So, what I'm saying is.......if somebody is cooking for you it will help if you can think of things that are easy and quick to do.
I have found that my grocery bill has gone up, but I am really still a newby and buying GF bread etc. Most of it is just urgh, and I can't eat any of it without toasting it first. Everybody deserves a biscuit now and again, but they are expensive.
Casseroles are easy, and the only thing you need to change is the flour. Knorr stockpots are GF, not sure about cubes. Supermarket burgers and sausages tend to be GF now.
Just to add, try and get tested for coeliac disease if you haven’t already, to rule it out before taking wheat out of your diet. But the fact that you have Hashimotos autoimmune . suggests you’re likely very sensitive to gluten regardless of a coeliac, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity or wheat allergy diagnosis.
The immune system creates antibodies to gluten that cross reacts with the thyroid in genetically predisposed people. It’s called molecular mimicry.
A gluten free diet is recommended in people with thyroid disease.
It sounds like what you're saying is, not to bother getting tested and just go gluten free, but if it turns out I'm not coeliac, then potentially I'm missing out on a lot of food which I enjoy and believe me if that happens, I'll feel very resentful and as I already struggle with everything in day to day life, I'll be asking "why me" due to my mental health and the fact I'm one of the unluckiest people on the planet(sorry that's my bpd talking).
It can be hard sometimes, but mostly it doesn't bother me at all, and that has surprised me. If you feel that you can't be GF without a positive diagnosis, I would say get tested every few years. Fortunately, its one of the cheaper tests at about £20 every few years.......worth peace of mind and body.😊
No definitely get test for coeliac. Just if negative you still can’t rule it out in the long run. Like Nellie237 said retest every few years.
At the end of the day you’re in charge of you. and the choice of what you eat is up to you.
Mental health can also be helped tremendously with the right diet too. Here’s a great website that has helped me personally to look at food differently. by Dr Ede in the USA.
Just to add. In terms of budget friendly gluten free diet. Stick to basic foods, meat, fish, veg and salad. Buy what’s seasonal and on offer the cheapest. Tinned meat and fish and frozen meat and veg for example. Fatty cheaper mince and meat is fine and contains more fat soluble vitamins which are beneficial especially to heal the gut. Commercial gluten free products can be expensive and there’s far more nutrition in basic foods - ok for an occasional treat if they agree with you as additives in them can be an issue. Eggs are a good cheap protein source if you tolerate them. 8 mins to boil an egg! Or egg scrambled makes a good breakfast better than cereal.
The best way is naturally gf food like fruit , veg & meat , like salads , potatoes it’s surprisingly cheap if you don’t buy into the gluten free pieces as it’s overpriced and disgusting 🤢
Yes essexgirl quite agree, disgusting and very expensive, and full of STUFF to try and make them edible, not sure if the STUFF is any better than gluten.
A gluten free diet need not be expensive. A lot of what you eat will be naturally gluten free and the rest is just a case of reading every allergy advice box on a product. This is a lot better than having to read every ingredient on the list. Hope this helps
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Oh, I'm 'super sensitive' don't you know......gluten free labelling of a different type!
3 Year old Gluten Free Diet?
ILL from gluten free food. Again.
Gluten Free Bread
