anyone on the gluten-free diet?

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coolclimates
coolclimates Posts: 29
in Food and Nutrition
I've been on a strict gluten-free diet for the last 2 years since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I was losing a lot of weight due to it and am just recently having to watch my weight again, as I'm finally healing. Celiac Disease, however, is a life long thing and you have to be on the gluten-free diet the rest of your life. There are unique challenges of being on this diet. Contrary to what the media says, this is not a "fad" diet to lose weight, get smarter, stronger, etc. Some people choose to be on this diet. I wouldn't be on this diet if I didn't have to be. It's very very hard. Are there any other people on here with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance?
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  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
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    I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease last year and I'm really struggling maintaining gluten free. Some people get it, others don't. Sometimes I get so beyond frustrated because I'll get sick from cross contamination at times. It's especially hard eating out.
  • coolclimates
    coolclimates Posts: 29
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    yes, it is extremely frustrating. A lot of people just don't get it. However, I do not get sick if I eat gluten. But it harms me in the long run. So it's even harder for me to know if I accidentally ingested gluten :(
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
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    Hi there :)

    There's a great gluten-free group here on MFP, might wanna check it out :)
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/112-gluten-free
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
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    yes, it is extremely frustrating. A lot of people just don't get it. However, I do not get sick if I eat gluten. But it harms me in the long run. So it's even harder for me to know if I accidentally ingested gluten :(

    I sometimes have a reaction, I sometimes don't. I was at the hospital for three days and the food people didn't get it. They kept acting as though I was a diva for not wanting them to touch my food with dirty tongs, not like I was allergic to it. I've just started to refer to it as a food allergy.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i have allergies and it definitely affects me. i eventually get headaches then my face and ears get really warm and itchy. if it's really bad then i get hives and my face and throat swell.

    basically what i do is make 99% of my meals at home OR if i do eat out i only get stuff that i know is gluten free .

    at the moment i can get away with 1 or 2 servings of gluten a week, but i try not not to even get that because it's in many of the foods i miss like pizza and donuts and sandwiches made with real bread that doesnt crumble away :laugh:
  • coolclimates
    coolclimates Posts: 29
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    it's taken me nearly 1 1/2 years on the gluten-free diet before I started noticing my health improving. Although I'm feeling a lot better now, I'm also having problems gaining too much weight now. It's really frustrating because now not only do I have to watch that no gluten is in anything, I have to watch my calories as well. I find that I just seem to be getting totally obsessed with food and diet. Anyone else feel that way?
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
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    it's taken me nearly 1 1/2 years on the gluten-free diet before I started noticing my health improving. Although I'm feeling a lot better now, I'm also having problems gaining too much weight now. It's really frustrating because now not only do I have to watch that no gluten is in anything, I have to watch my calories as well. I find that I just seem to be getting totally obsessed with food and diet. Anyone else feel that way?

    Absoloutly. I have to read all lables, my family makes fun of me.
  • coolclimates
    coolclimates Posts: 29
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    that's horrible that your family makes fun of you for reading labels. I'm sure they would like it if you made fun of them for a disease they couldn't help :(
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
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    that's horrible that your family makes fun of you for reading labels. I'm sure they would like it if you made fun of them for a disease they couldn't help :(

    That's the problem... they have the same thing. I'm the only one who follows the diet.
  • Numptcakes
    Numptcakes Posts: 145 Member
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    I'm currently having to eliminate wheat (initially) from my diet in order to find out the root of my food intolerance. Should that not be the issue, I'll remove gluten completely, and dairy next. I can't get over how expensive gluten-free stuff is - almost like a punishment for something you can't help having!
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
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    I'm currently having to eliminate wheat (initially) from my diet in order to find out the root of my food intolerance. Should that not be the issue, I'll remove gluten completely, and dairy next. I can't get over how expensive gluten-free stuff is - almost like a punishment for something you can't help having!


    Honestly a lot of fresh things are gluten free and I haven't noticed too much of a difference in my budget. I just don't buy the specialty items and switched to things that are naturally gluten free. So I rarely buy bread, cake mixes, crackers etc. If you're used to eating a lot of startch it takes some getting used to but if you just eliminate those items it's not too bad. My issue is bread. I love toast in the morning so once in a blue moon I'll buy a loaf.
  • yesthistime
    yesthistime Posts: 2,051 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/112-gluten-free
  • xNJAx
    xNJAx Posts: 170 Member
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    Wheat and gluten intolerance here too! (Also intolerant to dairy, potato, avocado and animal protein).

    I've eaten pretty much all those things at least once or twice over the last three weeks (a LOT of animal protein especially!) and am now feeling really unwell from it. The difficulty is that someone else (who doesn't seem to 'get it' has been cooking and I've eaten the food to avoid offending her, which is stupid of me). I'm now cutting it all out again from tomorrow and have (hopefully) made it very clear this time!

    Where I live you can get food vouchers for gluten free products, except I don't qualify because it's 'just an intolerance'. Never mind that it's an intolerance that makes me sick and fall asleep at my desk! It's just not understood or taken seriously enough.

    I find it very hard to stick to an intolerance-free diet while everyone around me is eating all my favourite foods, but needs must and at least it'll keep my calorie count down. I also love cooking and baking so I make the most of the positives as much as possible! :)
  • leykisgirl
    leykisgirl Posts: 25
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    yea, Im celiac too. I've had a few relapses and I've paid for them dearly.
    If I didn't have to be on this diet, I wouldn't be.

    I am also intolerant to milk/dairy products as I'm figuring out by process of elimination.
  • Cindio
    Cindio Posts: 74 Member
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    I'm currently having to eliminate wheat (initially) from my diet in order to find out the root of my food intolerance. Should that not be the issue, I'll remove gluten completely, and dairy next. I can't get over how expensive gluten-free stuff is - almost like a punishment for something you can't help having!

    I've done the same thing. Gluten, dairy and egg! It's so hard!!
  • Numptcakes
    Numptcakes Posts: 145 Member
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    Honestly a lot of fresh things are gluten free and I haven't noticed too much of a difference in my budget. I just don't buy the specialty items and switched to things that are naturally gluten free. So I rarely buy bread, cake mixes, crackers etc. If you're used to eating a lot of startch it takes some getting used to but if you just eliminate those items it's not too bad. My issue is bread. I love toast in the morning so once in a blue moon I'll buy a loaf.
    Bread is my only weakness but it's like triple the price of a normal loaf! I'm making everything else from scratch - fresh produce, etc, nice and cheap! I'm trying hard not to follow a completely gluten free diet though, as I want to find out if my issue is solely with wheat. I don't want to steal the thread, but what can I eat on a wheat free diet that I couldn't on a gluten free?
  • xNJAx
    xNJAx Posts: 170 Member
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    There's loads more you can eat on a wheat-free diet rather than a gluten-free one!

    Gluten is the protein found in a lot of grains, so if you were on a gluten-free diet you'd pretty much to have avoid anything containing most grains. (So no wheat, oats, barley, rye, spelt etc). That cuts out a lot of wheat-free bread substitutes!

    On a wheat-free diet you'd only have to cut out things containing that one grain and its derivitives (gluten from wheat), so there are lots of alternatives (i.e. those you couldn't have on a gluten-free diet) still available to you.

    You'll have to do a lot of label reading for a while until you get to grips with it, but sometimes there'll be at least one brand of food that isn't 'as bad' as the rest. For example, I know that when I was following a wheat-free diet rather than gluten-free I still couldn't have most brands of porridge oats, but there was one flavour of Quaker porridge oats that didn't contain wheat and I was ok with just that one kind. Small victories like that can make a world of difference!

    Hope that helps a little bit! :)
  • coolclimates
    coolclimates Posts: 29
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    As far as I know, I do not get sick or get a bad reaction when glutened. Although this sounds great (and I am blessed with this), it's also a problem because I can't tell when I'm continuing to ingest gluten. I think that's why it's taken nearly 1 1/2 years for my antibody levels to finally drop and for me to start feeling better. I don't have GI issues except for acid reflux, which has improved a lot but hasn't gone away. Some things have gone away: sinus pressure and "allergies," and others have gotten much better but haven't completely resolved: fatigue and lack of energy, acne, bruising, anxiety, brain fog, restless leg syndrome, nose bleeds...But they are much better than before. I'm hoping as I continue on the GF diet, that some of these problems will diminish completely.
  • ChasingSweatandTears
    ChasingSweatandTears Posts: 504 Member
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    I eat 99% gluten free... every once in awhile I break down and have something but I always pay for it.
    I am not a diagnosed celiac, but by way of an elimination diet a couple of years ago, I found out I am sensitive to it and feel so much better without it. When I eat gluten I feel horribly bloated and I get fatigued. It almost always causes IBS symptoms as well. I felt this way my whole life and it makes me sad that I thought how I felt was "normal"! I was posioning myself and didn't even know it. I ate a very healthy whole grain diet, but still felt miserable.
    Have not lost any weight due to going gluten free though, as I eat whole fresh foods and I know I get my calories in.
    I don't have problems adhering other than special occasions, dining out, etc because I make 99% of my food at home.
    The worst part is that I miss the convenience of sandwiches/wraps/ etc.. gluten free bread is just not worth it in my opinion. But the way I feel outweighs any minor inconvenience I may experience!
  • angng
    angng Posts: 137 Member
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    Also celiac. I was misdiagnosed as NOT celiac at first (blood test came back ok the first time I had it) and continued eating wheat for another year. I still cheat sometimes and always regret it; even if I don't get painfully sick (usually), I always get painfully bloated.

    My family isn't the greatest about learning about what I can/can't eat so I have to just do it myself. I don't mind gf bread (the Udi's stuff is okay for things like French Toast) but I miss GOOD bread (like a nice baguette, good bagels, hoagies etc). I don't miss pasta or anything like that at all.

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