talk to me about gluten/wheat free living.

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DD2 isn't coeliac. she has had negative bipsy results.
BUT
she only eats wheaty things. her diet is rubbish. she eats bread, crackers, cake, biscuits, and chips.
saw paediatrician last week in dispare who thinks her symptoms may be not coeliac but wheat intolerence. she was very nice and about the only ddoctor we have seen who appeared to take me seriously.
symptoms are constant nausea, tummy aches, stroppyness, on and off constipation/runnyness. gone on for over a year, perhaps even longer. (she's 10)
i really don't want to be seen as weirdy jumping on fake intolerence bandwagon type but have no other alternative but to try cutting out the wheat to see if her symptoms improve.

what i really would like are you opinions.

1. could she be intolerent to wheat? does such a thing really exist?

1. do i cut out wheat entirely or just cut down?

1. is this going to take over and rule our lives?

I have coeliac. Its not just wheat, also barley, rye, oats, soy sauce...you could try Coeliac UK for advice?

Have no idea about whether there is such thing as intolerance but its probably worth a try. Its better generally to be gluten free anyway, the western diet is gluten heavy and it isn't that healthy.
Sorry, probably not much help. But lots of people feel better cutting it out. Good luck.

Hi THere
My dp and ds2 have probs with wheat.They get bloated,fartyCONSTIPATED OR RUNNY ETC and very bad tempered!
I use Doves Farm Wheat free flour and it is fab.I use a wheat free baking powder from Tesco and buy wheat free pasta.I can just about make a passable wheat free pizz but I cut them with a biscuit cutter as they fall apart.[I found the shop ones were full of crap]
I would give the Doves wheat free plain flour a go.The wheatfree bread I make is quite hard but I make biscuits and a fruit loaf is ok.HTH

there are certainly people who have false negative tests for coeliac disease. There may also be people who have other problems with wheat. I know that if I avoid gluten I have the energy to exercise and I am less likely to be depressed. It has to be total avoidance of all gluten for me. If I fall asleep unexpectedly I can trace it back to the wheat I missed when I read the label on the gravy mix or sauce bottle. It does also affect my digestive system.

So - first ask for a coeliac blood test if she hasn't had one. Then remove all gluten from the diet for 2 weeks. Then reintroduce and see if things improve when off gluten/deteriorate when back on it. If that doesn't happen dietary changes probably won't help although you may want to try it again as its hard to spot all gluten when you first do it. If it does help then you'll need to experiment with reintroducing barley to see if its just wheat. I recommend Mrs Crimbles cakes - the gluten free chocolate brownies will please your child and they have cakes with barley but not wheat to test that.

Sorry to write an essay but to do a proper tests you are going to need advice - either here or from a dietican.

There is such a thing as wheat intolerance; my dh and ds have this (dh has never tested positive for coeliacs, I won't even try ds on wheat/oats after a flapjack gave him a really bad outbreak of eczema).

Try it and see if it helps, although as mentioned, you would want to get the blood tests done first if you can.

It doesn't take over and rule your life, although it can make things difficult - eating out, for example. Not impossible but harder. School might be a bit of a problem?

thanks.
ahe has had bloods andendoscopy wtih biopsy so coeliacis ruled out.
am girding myself to attempt cutting ouyt wheat. will be doing it starting monday i think. off shopping tomorrow. am not looking forward to it at all.

Have you had skin prick tests for allergies done?
I am slightly allergic to wheat, used to be much worse, symptoms included being very emotional, as well as headaches and all sorts of aches and pains. It showed up on a skin prick test.

Like your dd, I used to live on wheat, ate it 3 times a day, usually nothing else.

Sainsburys and Tesco both have good wheat free sections iirc, but you will have to read every label until you get a good idea of whats in what.

it will make your shopping more expensive and time consuming but Sainsburys has a good gluten free range, including some frozen food like pizza and fish fingers. Look for the special free from frozen area -small but perfectly formed Also some beef burgers are gluten free and can be served with baked beans (peas if you want to be green) or chips. Check the chips, though, as some have wheat coatings.

Potato and rice are gluten free. Check gravy but some Bisto is OK.

university of sunderland can test for gluten intolerance. it costs £60. All you do is fill in a questionnaire, then they send you a sample tube, you fill it with your childs wee and freeze it, then send it back.

GF is more expensive (MUCH MORE!!!), but we get many things on prescription - flour, pasta, biscuits, pizza bases, rolls etc etc.

You spend a lot of time looking at ingredient lists! It's amazing how much stuff has gluten.

The flour is is BITCH to work with! I've just given up on that.

Once you are into it though, it's no problem.

It is funny that the most of a problem it is for them, the more addicted they are to it!! We have noticed a huge difference in their behaviour since they went gf - and a few times they have accidently had some and - WOW! it has such an effect!

university of sunderland can test for gluten intolerance. it costs £60. All you do is fill in a questionnaire, then they send you a sample tube, you fill it with your childs wee and freeze it, then send it back.

GF is more expensive (MUCH MORE!!!), but we get many things on prescription - flour, pasta, biscuits, pizza bases, rolls etc etc.

You spend a lot of time looking at ingredient lists! It's amazing how much stuff has gluten.

The flour is is BITCH to work with! I've just given up on that.

Once you are into it though, it's no problem.

It is funny that the most of a problem it is for them, the more addicted they are to it!! We have noticed a huge difference in their behaviour since they went gf - and a few times they have accidently had some and - WOW! it has such an effect!

I thought Sunderland would only tests if the child was autistic?

oh yes. that's right.

Look up gluten sensitivity, which is a proper medical term, more so than "intolerance". Coeliac is the most severe subset of gluten sensitivity conditions.
eg. see here

and be warned you can find a product suddenly starts putting wheat into a product when you think it is safe!

You can most definately be allergic or intolerant to wheat but not be a coeliac.

please tell me th effort will stop her being such an impossibly miserable, grumpy horrible person? she is utterly unbearable to live with at the moment. need a miracle cure.

if her diet is as lacking in variety as you say she is bound to feel groggy and lethargic, moody, tired etc even without any sensitivity to wheat as she is lacking all the necessary vitamins and minerals that help all our organs work properly. so try a multi vitamin with iron. does she have dairy products? teenagers (which she soon will be) who do not intake dairy regularly can be prone to osteoporosis later in life. i would advise you to ask to see a dietitian.

but yes, wheat sensitivity is very real and cutting down the huge amounts she seems to eat will almost certainly have an impact on her demeanour and she will feel better for it.

the diet you describe is also high in fats, sugar and salt and low in fibre - she needs to get into better habits

saw dietitian who told her to eat fruit and vegetables. needless to say it didn't work.
have a cupboard of every available form of vitamins. won't take them. doesn't eat much dairy. doesn't do vitamins or minerals.
her diet is indeed shite. i know. i have tried.
plan is to substitute 'normal' bread, biscuits etc with gluten free ones. am hoping it will change her personality entirely. she is impossible.

Does she like fruit and veg or just wont eat them? What about juices?

thanks giraffe. am stretching this over 2 bloody threads now. will stop moaning shortly.
womn't eat fruit or veg. will drink apple juice most days s not all bad. just mostly.

ah thats good if she likes apple juice, was thinking of this sort of thing. depending what you put in it one a day can have a lot of benefit.

poor you, must be a real battle. I DO think drastically cutting down on wheat will have an impact. DD 1 is coeliac, the change we saw in her on going GF was incredible - altogether happier and livlier as well as healthier and growing quickly.

It might be that your DD will then feel better inside and be more willing to try new things. we also have DD 2 who was a really naughty toddler but who was also beginning to experience signs of dairy intolerance.SHE IS MUCH nICER NOW, on dairy free, and has no more tummy symptoms, thick colds or eczema either, so diet can have a huge impact on overall health and temperament

you have nothing to lose by trying!!

GF & WF recommendations for you then -

"dietary specials" do a cracker bread/crisp bread which is wheat and gluten free, and tastes exactly like the "normal" version (sort of melt in the mouth like a wotsit or quaver), these are available in some sainsburys/tescos/waitrose at about £1 a box. "Glutano" do some crackers which are the closest I have found to "cream crackers" they come in 3 little packs (50g/8 cracker in each) sellotaped together for about £2.20 and i have only found then in sainsburys and holland and barrett to date (but DD gets them on prescription and you can also bulk buy online).

DD1 lives on these crackers for packed lunches as none of the GF breads last well as sandwiches, too dry and crumbly

good luck

DD2 is wheat/gluten intolerance and loves Tesco wheat/gluten free crackers- she also lives on these for packed lunches too.

The supermarkets free from ranges are dire, there are plenty of places to shop online where you can get everything in one place. Whether your child is coeliac or not no one should eat wheat every day.

couple of things that may help - Knorr Ragu for Kids is a tomato flavoured sauce with hidden veg. You can buy digestive enzymes that help with gluten intolerance. I've used glutenzyme plus and it definitely helps but is not a substitute for gluten free. I'm probably going to try out others like peptizyde.

When it comes to flour Doves gluten free flours are great. You need a bit of extra water in "normal" recipes. I use xanthum gum as it makes a tremendous difference.