[googley]

I was just diagnosed with Celiac disease. It has been a while in coming, but the official test results came in. Now I know what I can't eat (wheat, rye, barley, oats- anything with gluten) but what can I eat? This just sucks .

[lynn P.]

Hi Googley,
so sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis of celiac. Two sisters at my daughters school also have it and it was overwhelming at first for the mom to figure out their diet. Luckily most grocery stores have a special section with gluten free products. You also might want to pick up gluten free cookbooks as well. I hope your transition in knowing what to eat will go smoothlly and I hope you start feeling better soon.

[Rmdctc]

I know that from watching " The View" one of the co-hosts has celiac disease. She wrote this book to help people. Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/G-Free-Diet-Gl.../dp/1599951886 Hope it helps.

[googley]

Thank you both.
I have decided to officially hate food until I can find food that is gluten free that does not taste like cardboard. Is it not enough for me to have to deal with my depression, but now my favorite foods have to be taken away from me. That being social is not hard enough for me, but now it will be even harder because it seems like all social gatherings seem to revolve around food. What about my carbohydrate cravings. I wont be able to cure them with Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes.

((((((((((((((((((Googley)))))))))))))))))))

My son has to be on a gluten free diet. We gradually transitioned into it. So, I started with gluten free breakfasts. Smoothies, GF toast or rice cakes with peanut butter (kinninnick is a good brand of GF EVERYTHING), rice chex (they are gluten free now), fruit, nuts, GF pancakes and waffles (made with Pamela's GF baking mix - yummy), eggs, etc.

After a week or so of that, we added GF lunches. Then snacks, then dinners....

One way to do it that is less expensive and easier is to focus on eating foods that are NATURALLY gluten free - rice, beans, tacos, chili, etc. Lots of ethnic type foods - chinese, thai, indian, mexican, etc. - have MANY gluten free selections. Potatoes are yummy and gluten free.

We would buy one or two gluten free things at a time to try - some were HORRIBLE and some were really delicious. The horrible things we just tossed and the delicious things became part of his menu. We made the transition gradually so we wouldn't go broke!

He's been GF for something like 5 years now. PM me if you have any questions about brands, etc. and maybe I can help

[googley]

Thanks treehouse.
I think part of my problem is that I went cold turkey from gluten. The GI doc is supposed to set me up with a nutritionist, but who knows when that will happen. I think I am trying to make the transition quickly because otherwise I don't know if I would have the courage. Also I am leaving for graduate school in August and don't want to combine both of these huge changes. I have always been a really picky eater and so trying all the new foods is a challenge. I kind of feel like my doctor was like, okay here is the diagnosis, now go figure it out for yourself. I'm glad to hear that you got rid of the food that didn't taste good. I was dreading eating it... I had been not grocery shopping for a while to get as much of the gluten food out of the house as possible since the doctor thought the diagnosis was pretty sure, we just had to wait for the final test results. So in some ways, i had to go grocery shopping (really only had pasta left in the house), but it is still hard. I did find some good cookies today at the store.