had it confirmed now I have celiac as well as pbc, anyone give me some advise on living gluten free, please xx
celiac: had it confirmed now I have celiac as... - PBC Foundation
celiac
12 Replies
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I found this gluten free recipe book online. There is some good stuff in it. There is quite a lot of good information available free on line. Look on facebook too - I am sure that there are coeliac pages and support groups on there.
Hello angel74.
Usually a coeliac has to have gluten-free foods prepared in an area of manufacture where there are no glutens present. Now my brother's lifelong pal who is in his late 40s now was diagnosed as a coeliac about 15yrs ago. He seems to just eat foods that are gluten-free but I don't think he goes overboard in buying the manufactured foods that are stated as gluten-free (ie produced in a factory where it is all gluten-free). He seems to have got a grip on it all over the years. My brother was filling my son in what his mate does and doesn't eat awhile ago as it was thought my son just had a wheat intolerance due to over-use of antibiotics as nothing was found to be wrong with him but eating certain amounts of wheat like bread, etc did cause and still does cause him to have odd bouts of diarrhoea due to it.
I've been finding though I do buy gluten-free cereals (I like them too!) and I also buy cereals I know do not contain gluten (ie rice krispies - I check the pack as if not branded, some do contain gluten) but my son has had no problem here even if the product not stated as gluten-free but is (ie rice, corn/maize). (The label of gluten-free can apparently only appear if the product is made where there are no contaminants from products that do contain gluten.)
I recently stumbled across some gluten-free cereals called Mega Sunrise here in the UK (but they do sell them in the US - not sure where you are). They contain several cereals, one of which I'd never heard of - amaranth - until I looked it up. My son (he is 25 by the way) didn't like the cereal, said they were something you'd pick up in the bird section of the pet store (well they did contain millet!) but I tried them and thought they were pretty good. I've now bought a box from the same company but the new one has maple syrup.
There are a lot of cereals (quinoa is one as I recently found) that are gluten-free. I buy gluten-free flours myself these days, we have all got used to having that in recipes now. Flaxseed can be thrown in with flour, etc to add extra nutrients and fibre.
You'll be surprised as I was how many foods out there we eat without thinking about that are actually gluten-free. do you have a local library at all as when I was in mine only yesterday, I did see a gluten-free cookbook that had just been returned that day.
Good luck, hope eating gluten-free now you have been informed you are a coeliac really improves your health as I am sure that it will do in a number of ways. Please keep me posted.
thanks for your responses... its a time factor thing as well, working full time, single mum suffering from fatigue . I can't be bothered cooking from scratch all the time.. . the last few months have been hard trying to accept having pbc now I have to get head round this also. its a whole change of lifestyle.. but it could be worse , there are a lot of people in tougher situations than me xx
in reply to
Hiya angel74.
You'll find you don't have to 'cook from scratch all the time' to enjoy your food. I make simple foods for our evening meal most of the time and due to my son having a problem if he overloads with wheat I swap certain kitchen cupboard ingredients for gluten-free (ie gluten-free flour, cornflour, etc).
Boiled, mashed or jacket potatoes that you make yourself are pretty good (I prefer jackets myself, cooked in the oven not microwave might I add - I have a potato baker so it cuts down cooking time). Team with some skinned chicken breasts or fillets cooked in a very small amount of cooking oil and add vegetables. Any sauces you make use cornflour or gluten-free flour.
I buy fish a lot. This week we had boneless rainbow trout that Sainsburys sell. A retired lady friend of mine told me how to cook whilst on holiday last year, said to place between 2 plates with a bit of butter and seasoning and cook for about 5 minutes. I have perfect results there. I serve this with either rice or vegetables.
My late mother used to make cauliflower cheese when I lived at home and over the years I too have made this. I now use the gluten-free flour to make the sauce and we have this instead of potatoes with our fish, chicken or occasionally some red meat.
Noticed woodbine on her has mentioned the 'free from' in supermarkets. Yes I have bought a few of the foods as I do like but I find them rather over-priced and expensive. I think if you are a coeliac then you'd have to experiment with foods that are gluten-free (ie rice) bought from the normal shelving in supermarkets and test that as to how you are.
I know my brother's friend who is a coeliac (I ask my brother at intervals about gluten-free and eats out with him and several others), he will opt for jacket potato as opposed to chips (of fries) due to a lot having some coating on them that isn't gluten-free. He tends to have gammon a lot of the time due to the fact pies are made with wheatflour. I know in desserts when I occasionally buy something as a treat for after the evening meal, I'd opt for meringue for my son.
You should be able to get some foods on prescription. As two of my grandchildren have it I have learnt that most supermarkets sell free from items also there is lots of help on the internet. Hope is of some help Pam
My mum has it she gets her bread from the doctor and makes her own pies and buns things like that's there is a site online that u can join like this one and they send u books that tell u who and there sell things u can eat she can eat the cheaper makes of food more than anything have a look online for the site n if u can't find it il try find out what it's called for u don't get me wrong I think she found things a bit hard at first but she's doing really well with it now x
Although not officially diagnosed coeliac I was scheduled for a biopsy but couldn't wait the 4 months it took to get, so changed my diet immediately. Until I developed pbc I was the healthiest I could ever remember being. If you eat out then just stick to plain foods without the sauces, and I know it's a bind having to cook every night,but you can always make an extra portion and freeze it. From a takeaway point of view I seem to be able to get away with either an Indian curry or a thai meal. Hope this helps.
in reply to Pooche
Ditto Pooche.
As a lot on this site and myself included, I thought I was looking after myself exceedingly well until I started to itch and was fatigued in 2010.
Agree ther, ditch the sauces. I've NEVER gone for sandwiches, salads, etc with what I call funky dressings, definitely cannot stand. I'm no gravy fan either. Now the one thing I do not go to is take-aways. Can't remember the last time I did go to one but was probably a Pizza Hut on holiday year before last! Then these days at Pizza Hut you can have half cheese as I remember we got one of those, a vegetarian one it was, I think the best one they do.
Tonight we had pasta and a bolognese sauce I made. The pasta we tend to get these days is the gluten-free one and usually made from corn. I used pork mince for the first time and it was pretty good as there was no fat on dry frying it first. I threw pepper, fresh tomatoes and onion in and a jar of a new discovery, Original Ragu bolognese sauce. (Have tried others in the past, not keen.) Now that tea tonight was gluten-free and it would serve 4 though there was only 2 of us. You can put the pasta and the bolognese in a covered dish and either use it following day (my husband normally takes any leftovers to work and microwaves for his lunch) or put it in the freezer for another time.
My friend is a full-blown coeliac and she has to be incredibly careful. If you are in the UK there is a coeliac society, who will be able to give you a regularly updated booklet about exactly what foodstuffs are safe to buy and eat. You don't have to make everything from scratch, but you do have to be careful about sauces and anything manufactured as loads and loads of processed foodstuffs (eg ice-cream, dressings, soups, sausages ...) can have wheat or wheat products in them. So you do need to be careful. You should have had some of this advice from your health provider - if they have not offered it, then insist - although the Coeliac Society was ace for my friend when she was first diagnosed. However, do check it all out, as there is a world of difference between being just mildly gluten intolerant, and having a full-on coeliac condition.
Take care, hope it goes well.
Hi there,
Im not a coeliac but I follow a gluten free diet due to my hashimotos (auto immune thyroiditis). I was so overwhelmed at the start and didnt know where to begin but its actually easier then it looks. I dont really buy any special gluten free stuff apart from pasta, bread, flour and biscuits from time to time when Im too lazy to bake my own! I spent a bit of time looking at every thing I bought at the supermarket the first one or two times when i began then it became easier to grab stuff every other time as I knew instantly what to avoid and what was okay. If in doubt I always phone the brand helpline to double check if in doubt.
Give yourself a couple of weeks of googling recipes, checking out the library and hunting through the supermarket familiarising yourself with products and you will be away laughing 
Our family of 5 are all gluten free at meal times but the kids eat whatever they like at school / friends places and as snacks as they can tolerate gluten. It does get a lot easier.
Good luck!
hanks for all the responses, has bother getting on for couple of days......
xxx
Flymccoll in reply to
You should be seen by a dietician but it can take some time depending on where you live, Good tip I got was to search gluten free on the internet and email the companies that come up like glutafin and juvela etc and they will be more than happy to send you some free samples which will help you get started. The range of stuff available is getting bigger every day. If you need advice on anything in particular please feel free to contact me. I have pbc and I am coeliac and my daughter is Coeliac too so have come a bit of practice at it!!!n Good luck, as advised def contact Coeliac Uk as their site and info is a great starting point. Best of Luck
Mcfly
