Coeliac Prescription: How does it work and which are your favourites?

[noonki]

Hi

I've finally been diganosed as a coeliac and been told I will get prescriptions from the doctor.

I had a look at the list of prescription stuff available from Coeliac UK website.

I need to know a couple of things:

1. Who decides the amount of units I get.
2. How long the prescription lasts
3. If it is worthwhile as I have to pay

4.What are you favourite foods on the list

thanks so much for any advice

Sorry to hear this noonki, you will get used to the diet really quick i promise, and it will soon be second nature reading labels and knowing what is and is not GF

First, join coeliac UK, they will send you loads of leaflets and a book with GF brands of everything from cereal to gravy mix, all the main brands and supermarkets are listed in great detail

1. there are NHS guidelines (you can see on coeliac website) based on age, male/female/whether "active" or OAP, pregnant etc. DD gets 13 "units" a month, a box of crackers is 1 unit, so is a loaf of bread, a box of flour mix is 2. It varies.

1. Most are monthly - some of the breads you can now get are "fresh" rather than "long life", some can be frozen others cannot. The flours and pastas obv long life. I think its up to you and yr GP, once you are settled on which brands you like and how much you use them etc

1. we don't pay for DD (9) but if you are entitled to eg 17 units, buying all those would be v pricey. Take into account all the extra you will pay for GF biscuits etc "treats", you can get the basics on prescription (you can pay quarterly/yearly, which is cheaper too)

4 I am sure everyone has there fave brand/item. You need to contact all the suppliers and they will send samples, otherwise it is trial and error. See if GP will prescribe 1 x lots of different things for a few months, so you can try a range. DD was just given 6 loaves, 6 pastas (like, a years supply!!) and 6 box od plain biscuits at first - but some of it I gave away, we really have had to look around for brands she likes. Some of what you can get prescribed you can also buy
eg dietary specials crackerbread/crispbread (the shop and prescrip one are diff names but same product)£1 in sains/tesco are nice. their multigrain brown sliced loaf is also the only bread DD now eats

you should have seen/be referred to a dietitian, who can give you postcards to send to all the manufactureser Glutafin, Juvela being the main ones - just email them and ask for samples

what area are you in?

as an example of price, when MIL wants to order in "extra" GF flour mix for her to keep at her house, it is £7.50 a box from the pharmacy (about 1kg)

you can just buy GF flour (doves farm is a good brand), but some of the mixes are nicer

supermarket GF pasta is just as nice as prescribed versions. their breads tend not to be as nice though

loobeylou-

thank you so much for all that information, you have answered all my questions brilliantly .

The sample thing is brilliant to know, shall go and email them all tonight.

Juvela Gluten free fresh bread is the best we have found on prescription. `Contact juvela and ask for a sample to be sent and if you like it, you then ask for 8 loaves per month on prescription (they only do it in batches of 8.) It is baked to order and delivered to your pharmacy. The hospital dieticians had done a taste survey and they found it to be the nicest when one of my DSs was diagnosed last year!

The breads you buy over the counter are horrible-the presciption ones are much better.

Get a prepayment certificate for the prescriptions-it will pay for itself many times over.

We get various pastas and pizza bases-even digestive biscuits-on prescription. I have 2 DSs who are coeliac. We use the juvela mix intead of flour for pancakes etc.

I tend to buy other biscuits from the "free from" ranges-Sainsbury's do some nice ones including chocolate chip cookies!

Oh, and Kallo sent us a brilliant pack of samples- a great big box of goodies including rice cakes and luxury biscuits-so make sure you contact them!

thanks tiggiwinkle
that' good to know as I have tried some of the shop ones and they are rank
looking forward to the samples!