Coeliac Disease

Something-Wkd

fairynuff wrote: »

I've lost count of the number of times I've had to send back dishes which have arrived with bread on the plate etc after requesting it to be served WITHOUT. Just picking the croutons out of the caesar salad doesn't do the job folks!

OMG I know what you mean!! I wouldn't be too bad if they ignored you and put the bread/toast on a seperate plate but when they come down to you with it sticking in your beans it's really annoying!

GrewSome

Is Bulmers gluten free?

fairynuff

Yep - nothing added but time allegedly! Bulmers is the great refuge for coeliacs for the times when only a pint full of alcohol will do.....:D

clicli

I can also sympathise =, I have an tolerance to flour improvers, especially soya leicthin, if I eat it, I will be miserable with the reaction for the next 24 hours, no need to go into the symptoms! I avoid all white breads, cakes, biscuits, unless I have baked them myself!!!

soloeffort

i did blood tests after getting this itchy rash on both my arms. The blood tests showed that I tested positive for the endomysial antibodie, which suggests Ceoliac Disease. I then went and got a biospy and this showed no signs of being Ceoliac. My doctor now doesn;t know whether I should go on a Ceoliac diet or not...Anyone got any suggestions of what I should do next?

thejuggler

Good to see fellow coeliacs are out there. As others have said the safest thing to do when eating out is to avoid all sauces and stick to carvery meat and plain veg etc.
there are some nice gluten free bread available. Juvela brown bread isn't bad after you toast it. One of the main problems coeliacs have if they avoid bread is lack of fiber.

One thing that always puzzled me is that in the UK their coeliac society say that kellogs corn flakes rice krispies etc are ok whereas in Ireland the society says that they're a nono. I generally avoid them but do miss them.

EileenG

soloeffort wrote: »

i did blood tests after getting this itchy rash on both my arms. The blood tests showed that I tested positive for the endomysial antibodie, which suggests Ceoliac Disease. I then went and got a biospy and this showed no signs of being Ceoliac. My doctor now doesn;t know whether I should go on a Ceoliac diet or not...Anyone got any suggestions of what I should do next?

I reckon the logical thing to do is try a full-on coeliac diet for a couple of weeks, then bring back wheat and see what happens. If you have a bad reaction, that seems a pretty good way of knowing you should be avoiding it.

Wantobe

soloeffort wrote: »

i did blood tests after getting this itchy rash on both my arms. The blood tests showed that I tested positive for the endomysial antibodie, which suggests Ceoliac Disease. I then went and got a biospy and this showed no signs of being Ceoliac. My doctor now doesn;t know whether I should go on a Ceoliac diet or not...Anyone got any suggestions of what I should do next?

I think you should ask your doctor to refer you to a consultant gastroenterologist. I've been a diagnosed coeliac for about 12 years now and it seems very prevalent in my family on my mothers side. She was a twin and died from complications of rheumatoid arthritis ( auto-immune disorder) and her twin was only diagnosed as a coeliac ( after becoming depressed, which can be a vitamin deficiency because of coeliac disease) in her mid sixties. Another aunt also died of coeliac related condition ( shortly after being diagnosed). I have only one sister and she is also coeliac. I believe my grandmother died of bowel cancer ( CD not diagnosed). The moral of my story is that if you are not diagnosed properly you will not strictly follow the diet and it is in later years that it will catch up with you. Same goes for everyone who mentions from time to time cheating or eating normal food because you don't get the symptoms.

As for the diet, after 12 years you'd think I'd have it down pat by now but there are constant adjustments in life- I don't have as much time to prepare say breakfast or lunch for myself now as I have children and that means those meals are difficult for me. Dinner is fine as I cook or my husband does, from scratch, and we are together so many years he knows as much as I do now. Effectively the majority of the time the entire family eats g-free meals. The only difference is in sandwiches when I use real bread for everyone else ( why subject them to the cardboard g-free bread!).

RentDayBlues

EileenG, a positive blood test followed by a negative biopsy indicates gluten intolerance or latent CD. This means your body is reacting to gluten and producing antibodies but it hasnt got to the stage where you are suffering from villi damage. Count yourself as lucky as this means you've caught it before t has done damage. I would advise you going on the GF diet and sticking on it.

Though bear in mind, the longer you are on the diet the more severe your reactions become so going off it may not be an option. The coeliac society have a good informative website.

Not glad but good to see there are some coeliacs out there who suffer with hypothyroidism as well, I was beginning to think I was the only one

In regard to the thyroid, does anyone know what their levels for TSH and T4 are? Going to get mine checked and my doc is useless so I'm going to ask to get my results and want to know what other levels are.

Something-Wkd

thejuggler wrote: »

One thing that always puzzled me is that in the UK their coeliac society say that kellogs corn flakes rice krispies etc are ok whereas in Ireland the society says that they're a nono. I generally avoid them but do miss them.

It's the barley malt extract in ALL Kelloggs cereals that makes them not gluten free. It's a TOTAL pain in the arse because I pretty much live on cereals sometimes and GF cereals are SOO expensive compared to regular ones. Also, I find no difference in taste between them all, the only difference I noticed is that GF cornflakes are much more golden in colour whereas Kelloggs etc are more of a reddie colour.

If barley malt extract was taken out, we could have all cornflakes, rice krispies etc.

*BAH* I'm getting annoyed just thinking about it! Stupid barley *grumble* malt frinkin' extract!!!

jayteecork

I think I might have celiac disease.

I was having various symptoms for ages, visited many different doctors, all telling me there's nothing physically wrong with me. Some tried to put me on anti-depressants. But of course you know your own body and you know when something is amiss.
Lately I couldn't even have a beer without feeling really ill.
Then it struck me, could I have gluten intolerance? The amount of it in beer would explain a lot, plus the other numerous symptoms I was getting - tiredness, bad breath, restless legs, side pain after eating.

So I haven't touched wheat all week and I feel a lot better. Bad breath seems to have gone(or at least I don't get that bad taste in my mouth). I mentioned it to my doctor and he's testing me for celiac via blood but I hear only a biopsy of the small intestine can really confirm it.

As regards giving up wheat etc, the only problem seems to be BREAD.
I bought some gluten free bread and it was feckin' horrible - like stale cakes.
I can certainly live without everything else.

I'm honestly hoping it will be confirmed as Celiac disease as I can adjust my lifestyle accordingly.

dlofnep

Yes, I can't drink lager or I get ill. It has gluten in it. I now drink cider or vodka. Don't worry about getting "confirmed" as a coeliac. I'm not a coeliac but I am allergic to gluten. It's called non-coeliac gluten intolerant. So even if they don't diagnose you as such, and you feel better on a gluten free diet - stay on it.

aare

Jaytee,

The blood test sometimes gives false negatives (off the top of my head, less than 5%), and doesn't show anything if you have been gluten free for a while, but, as you are, if it's positive, join the club...

...if not, don't rule it out, because your symptoms sound right to me...

Giving up bread is HELL...for the first week or so, after that, I certainly couldn't care less, and I hope you will feel the same too.

I tried gluten free breads, even in some pretty impressive restaurants, and my verdict is:

I prefer my semolina with milk in it.

Speaking of which, you may find that, as you progress along your *gluten free journey*, you will discover other food sensitivities that the malabsorption has been masking...

...and you will almost certainly develop some kind of intolerance to dairy, but that will probably only be temporary.

It's a hard road, and while you won't actually have to "get worse to get better" you probably will feel you have to become extremelly unstable before you stabilise.

But when you realise how great you feel every day you manage to avoid gluten and every other sensitivity...you will KNOW it is worth it...

Oh and, word from the wise, after a month or two you may find it extremelly easy to get drunk. This can either be a great money saver, or very embarassing...

Your call...:D

dlofnep

Gluten free breads are ok, but they fall apart easily.. You're best off to get the bread mix and make it yourself.. The only gluten free bread that doesn't break apart is the white gluten free toast bread.

I get gluten free pizzas (cheese & tomato) - i put peppers and ham on it and it's lush then!

The bread cravings are one of the worst on the gluten free diet.. especially if you were a big bread eater like I was. I used to love warm freshly baked bread rolls with cheese & ham in the morning. The gluten free bread rolls are tripe though! As tough as leather!

If you want to order foods - I use eco direct (http://www.ecodirect.ie/catalog/) - They have some lovely stuff. For cereal, you can get gluten free corn flakes.. The gluten free rice krispies aren't that nice at all.

These are heaven too: http://ecodirect.ie/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=106&osCsid=7c5ffe00d54123baaff9c8f609c08e4f - gluten free pizza bread.. Stuff them full of ham and cheese and let the cheese melt!

Jaysus, I'm hungry writing this post now.

aare

dlofnep wrote: »

I used to love warm freshly baked bread rolls with cheese & ham in the morning.

Don't DO that to yourself! :eek:

People do a lot of imaginative things with almond flour and even oats (but check they are SPECIFICALLY gluten free...otherwise there may be cross - contamination) particularly in the pancake department.

I am guessing but I suspect the standard gluten free bread would make a great base for cheesecake or quiche type dishes? I have certainly eaten some great gluten free shortcrust pastry...

...and where is it written that you cannot make cornbread? (Can you? How does it turn out?)

Slaygal

Hello, I'm wheat intolerant and find eating out to be tough all right but there's an Italian inBallyowen SC Lucan called Prego's, they do GF pizza and pasta, they will even cook you GF Chips. It's about €12 for a pizza and €11 for pasta. The pizzas are very tasty. I find that if you toast the GF bread it tastes a lot better. As for hot roll, I buy the Tesco Free From or Livwell GF Rolls and heat them in the oven I think they are delicious.

Something-Wkd

My mum makes her own GF bread (younger brother is a coeliac too) and it's soooo good!! It goes stale and rubbery after 2days though.

I find that I don't actually miss bread so much as I miss the convenience of it. Sandwiches for lunch are so easy! I have to be a bit more inventive now. Mostly rice cakes (I actually love them!) and some cheese or something. *Yum*

Unfortunately, I'm thinking the cheese will have to go along with all dairy for a while. I'm totally GF but still getting pains etc so I'm thinking dairy Such a pain in the...hehehe!

The nicest pizza base I have found is the tesco free from base. And it's not tiny like alot of GF bases are. Hate that!

Just out of curiosity and off the topic of food...has any developed diabetes or thyroid problems since they found out they were a coeliac? They both seem to be a common development...

jayteecork

Something-Wkd wrote: »

The nicest pizza base I have found is the tesco free from base. And it's not tiny like alot of GF bases are. Hate that!

.

I've never noticed this Tesco Free Form stuff at all.
Where abouts is it? Near the regular breads or what?

Something-Wkd

It's near the organic stuff in my local tesco. Look for the slimfast crap and you'll find the GF food.

That right there is a pet hate of mine btw...every supermarket I use puts the GF food alongside slimfast. I had an old woman 'TUT' me and mumble about 'skinny things' when I was looking at the GF bickies!! Totally annoying!!!

In my local Dunnes, the GF food is behind a pillar! It's pretty much impossible to get at the stuff! :mad:

Now, I'm finished my rant now

aare

It's nowhere near the slimfast in Tallaght or Finglas...

It's round by the Polish stuff...

Slim fast is next to the medicines and vitamin supplements in both...(and NOT gluten free, incidentally)

Just...make sure what you buy is "free from" the correct things...it's not a "gluten free" range as such...