Celiac disease

There is a coeliac chat thread where people shared lots of products they have found useful https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/autoimmune_disease/5019243-would-anyone-be-up-for-a-coeliac-chat-thread

I love this loaf!!

No problem. My eldest DD was diagnosed as a coeliac in 2021. My youngest DD was diagnosed in January from a blood test but, according to the consultant, an official diagnosis can't be given without an endoscopy in Ireland. It's frustrating as he said there was no other reason for her high blood result but wasn't able to officially confirm it. I'm now so used to checking labels I find myself checking them when I'm only buying for myself.

If you like pancakes, Dunnes and SuperValu sell Odlums gf pancake mix in the run up to pancake Tuesday. My DD uses gf flour to make them at other times. It can take a bit of trial and error baking with gf flour but the end result is lovely.

Just in case it’s not been mentioned lots of the Tesco finest range sausages / chipolatas etc are gf and always on a deal as are lots of their burgers and meatballs .

A lot of Aldi products use rice flour now, like some burgers and meat balls. They aren't marked as gf but are. If you're in Dublin, the Dublin Meat Company do a lot of gf products, including things like goujons.

Dunnes, SuperValu and Tesco have decent 'Free From' ranges. I find the gf pasta in Tesco reasonably priced. Dunnes has nice gf stuffing for roast dinners. I buy their gf breadcrumbs to make stuffing at Christmas. It's very tasty.

I know you said you don't eat much bread but fyi, my daughter also found a soft white bread in Tesco that she liked and Aldi do nice gf bagels.

I was only diagnosed in the last few years and hated it at first but now l have adjusted. I would not put the whole family on gluten free as they will become intolerant of gluten unnecessarily. I get violently sick now if l eat gluten so that would be unfair to them.
Agree that pasta and pizza are horrible. But you can have most normal dinners . If you like gravy buy gluten free. Dunnes stock McCambridge gluten free brown bread..its on the shelf just above the normal McCambridge and clearly marked. I toast it and its decent. Actually l toast all bread as horrible otherwise. Aldi have a few decent things. I also like Deliciously Ella cereal from Dunnes but it is very expensive. Dunnes also have gluten free Clonakilty sausages which are nice...you can't eat any other sausages. They also do monkfish in gluten free breadcrumbs and gluten free chips. Sounds like l eat a lot of that stuff but l don't but it is nice to get a change sometimes. My biggest difficulty is eating out. I have lost all interest as the joy is gone out of it.
But remember fish/ meat/ fruit etc is fine.

Ireland is actually quite good as such a large percentage of population have it - cafes & restaurants tend to always have a selection and Aldi/dunnes and SuperValu have good bits - you may need to do shopping in a few places to get all the bits you want! Make sure you claim too - there’s a tax rebate or allowance for those in Ireland, can’t remember exactly how it works but citizens info will have the details.

Oddly specific but if you’re ever in Gloucester the cafe in the cathedral does a gluten free coffee cake to die for. Good luck - it does get easier.

@Loveduppenguin for Thai sauces I use the red and green curry kits from Blue Dragon or Spice Tailor.

@Pineapplesunshine i made Becky Excell’s GF cinnamon buns from her book. Not sure if it’s the same recipe as you can find online - but the one in the book was amazing!

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I'm 34 and was diagnosed aged 5. There wasn't a blood test at the time and I had to have a camera down my throat to get diagnosed. I was so ill the doctors told my parents I probably had leukaemia!

I can imagine it's harder to be diagnosed as an adult as I don't really remember what gluten products were like (apart from weetabix as that was my absolute favourite ironically!)

It is so much easier nowadays, I used to have to get bread and flour etc on prescription as nothing was available in shops!

There are loads of apps and things. I don't generally eat bread now as it's not that nice. I opt for things like soups, salads, omelette etc at lunch times. Be careful of shop bought sauces, soy sauce and check labels. You can get scanning apps to easily check things. Homemade cakes are way nicer than shop bought!

Promise multi grain gf loaf (£3.60 ish) is the only GF bread that tastes nice. The rest either taste like cardboard and have a strange texture.

It’s a very overwhelming at the start but you do get used to it and things have improved even since I was diagnosed 3 years ago. I feel so much better since diagnosis and it explained a lot!
That’s not to say I don’t get frustrated at times!
It can be hard when you’re out and about and need to grab something on the go. I so took this for granted before! But there are worse things to have-I was convinced I had bowel cancer so it was a relief to know it was only coeliac disease!

Schar frozen rolls are my favourite-stick them in the air fryer on ‘bake’ and job’s a good ‘un! The Old El Paso wraps are good too and I always carry a little pack of Nairn’s GF biccies with me.

Good luck with your GF journey!

Yeah, I get that must be hard.

And don’t get me started on GF being lumped in with low calorie or vegan food too. Infuriating, and the portions are made for pixies.

It's not so fun when you weren't overweight to start with, I struggle to keep weight on now.

Often gluten free options in restaurants are also promoted as healthy options so have half as many calories as other mains, treat food is often 50% of the size, sometimes you aren't catered for so meals are replaced with emergency handbag snacks etc etc.

I will add though that a diagnosis of coeliac isn’t all bad.

it was actually the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Before I was diagnosed almost 5 years ago, I weighed 27 stone (at 5 foot 4), and I lived off junk. Takeaways everyday, I could, and would eat, 4 Greggs sausage rolls each day with that, I ate and ate.

Obviously, not being able to eat gluten put a stop to my fun. I’m now 15 stone lighter and the healthiest I’ve ever been because I can’t just eat all the shit I want, day in, day out and couldn’t afford to eat the gluten free alternatives to all that junk anyway - and now don’t want to as it’s even more full of shit than normal food.

@Debtfreegoals I’m not coeliac but am NCGS - I’m ok on small amounts but the minute I eat something like say a pizza or cake with gluten I get wobbly legs and very sore eyes- most bizzare. Came on when I was 60 post covid. I agree with you about Sainsbury’s- best GF section by far - I actually don’t mind ‘promise’ bread - they do those lovely cheese nibble biscuits and I use a lot of nairns GF cheese oatcakes plus Schar crisp bread - pasta wise I like M&S GF spaghetti best, but Sainsbury’s isn’t too bad.

Sainsbury’s do some quite nice escalope things under the white rabbit brand and M&S GF fish fingers ( in freezer) I think are better than anyone’s non GF ones.

i eat an awful lot of Longley farm cottage cheese which I get from Poundland!

to be honest one thing about having the issue is it made me eat different things and be more creative .

I’ve found it’s hit and miss for monitoring.

I was diagnosed privately, but as my health insurance doesn’t cover any ongoing monitoring of issues, I was referred to the nhs dietician clinic. They contact me every 18 months to 2 years asking if I want bloods and if I want to stay under their service. I usually do have them. Mine are always fine (I’m mainly carnivore so there would have to be something very wrong if I was deficient in B12 or iron, I live off red meat 🤣).

I also had a dexa scan when I was diagnosed, and they said I will have one at certain ages.

other people I’ve spoken to get nothing going forwards.

You can buy gf soy sauce from everywhere. Tastes the same.