Celiac and type 1 diabetic - DS

[Stormyinacoffeemug]

My son was diagnosed type 1 diabetic late last year. He's doing well - carb counting, insulin etc. He's had no Hope's or hypers since he was released from hospital.

He was tested on admission for other auto-immune diseases and it came back high for celiac so they did a blood test to confirm.
We had confirmation today that he is.

I feel I have good understanding of how things are going to change and how it will effect him/our lives after a long conversation with his dietitian but it is a bit overwhelming.

Do you have any tips, tricks, coping methods to share with me as a parent of a child with celiac? Anything to advise me of so I dont make any mistakes?

TIA

Hope's should say hypo's - sorry

Join Coeliac UK, and spend a few evenings reading their information pages - there's a lot of info available even if you're not a member. They also have a helpline.

Are they diagnosing just on the blood results? Usually a gastroscopy and biopsy from the duodenum are needed to confirm but they have been using a different set of criteria the last 10 months or so.

The two main things to consider are:

• eliminating gluten from the diet
• managing cross contamination

The best thing to do is maybe to spend some time soaking up the information from the CUK website, and then coming back with any questions either you or he may have.

I was diagnosed coeliac about seven years ago. It's a big change, but a positive attitude helps.

Using rice and potato meals if cooking for a family are easiest, I tend to find fresh veg, meat and vegetables form the basis of our diet and avoids all the ‘hidden’ gluten in Supermarket foods.

It seems a nightmare at first as all you notice is the foods they cannot have.
Labelling is really clear now which helps, but shopping takes ages at first, but you soon find your substitutes and it becomes second nature.
In my house DH and both DCs are coeliac so we are a GF house as it's easier.
My main tips would be always take snacks out with you so you don't get caught out.
Once life returns to normal and play dates and parties return send your DS with his own food. I've found people often want to be inclusive and buy things specially for my DC, but often it's things they don't like (and one of my is very fussy). Also my kids are wary of eating things they're not familiar with.
We do eat out a lot (not at the moment) but you do have to check menus before. When going to new places we do often eat in chains we know are reliable (Leon, Honest burgers, Pizza Express, Cote Brasserie are all excellent).
You will make mistakes at first, as will others, but you will all learn. My youngest projectile vomits if he has so much as a crumb! He's been GF for almost 9 years and it's 2.5 years since he last had an incident.
Good luck, I remember it feeling very all consuming at first, but now it's second nature.

Hi OP, Juvella is a gluten free brand that offer a free taster box, we used this to try the different types of bread and flour they offer. We also spoke to a dietician who provided us with lots of information and a list of ingredients to avoid. We joined Coeliac UK also and they regularly send information out. Beware when eating out, the ingredients may be gluten free but how the meal is cooked and prepared may not be. It was a shock to begin with because it is only DS diagnosed with Coeilac but we are all now gluten free and its absolutely fine

Be aware that the Juvella taster box is only sent out to peopla that request it (via their website) and who live in an area where you can still receive gluten-free items on prescription - not many areas these days. Glutafin may also do a taster box.

Definitely join Coeliac UK - it's a great charity to support, they do some great research and have helplines. Their app is fab.
My main advice is to cook all family meals at home GF. We tried doing separate portions of pasta/bread etc with the main meal but it was a hassle, risk of CC from crumbs or splashes of pasta water etc is high and DS felt sad and different to everyone else in the family.
If we do a BBQ we all have GF bread etc so there is no CC risk from cutlery, touching salads etc. The whole event is GF.
DS didn't like the GF bread much so for packed lunches I make lots of savoury muffins and freeze them. I pop a frozen one in his lunch box and by lunch time it has defrosted.
Main problem we have is family or cafes not understanding the CC risk from one tiny crumb.