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Coeliac later in life

12 replies

Gettingbysomehow · 17/09/2023 22:27

I've just been diagnosed with coeliac at 60. In one way its a relief because I've struggled so long with painful symptoms but on the other a gluten free life sickens me.
I'm already a vegetarian to losing gluten is going to be so hard.
I have a couple of relatives who are coeliac and its always such a pain finding food for them when they come over because they are heavy meat eaters and won't eat anything else.
There goes my weekly cafe cake and coffee with a friend and hello being a pain for everyone to cater for.
Anyone else got coeliac and find the gluten free life ok? I hate the gluten free products so would prefer to eat without using them.

OP posts:
smilesup · 17/09/2023 22:42

Honestly it's not that bad I've been gf about 15 years and my mum for 35. It used to be shit as no one knew what it meant now so many places cater for it and understand it.

I avoid most GF replacements and instead eat things like brown rice, quinoa, potatoes, buckwheat, sweet potato etc
. I can tolerate gf oats so have porridge with chia seeds, walnuts and blueberries for breakfast or Greek yoghurt and fruit.
I have salad with a massive mix of things (anything of lettuce, watercress, rocket, spinach, boiled eggs, avocado, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, feta, mozzarella, blue cheese, roasted nuts and seeds, artichokes, beetroot etc) or brown rice with chickpeas, spinach, feta. Or an omlete with mushrooms and cheese.

Dinner usually rice and veg chilli orr jackets, pad Thai with rice noodles, veg and tofu, Shepard's pie with lentils instead of lamb. There's millions of recipes online.
GF cakes can be great especially if moist (BBC rhubarb and custard cake, just use GF flour works, brownies are the same...)
You will get there.

pastabest · 17/09/2023 22:57

Find a cafe that does a gluten free options- lots do.

I don't think catering for gluten free is that hard but then it's second nature to me as most of my family are coeliac. Invest in some Becky Excell books as a starting point.

its normal to feel a bit down in the dumps and have a sense of loss after diagnosis.

EwwSprouts · 17/09/2023 22:57

Your cafe will have a GF cake option, they all do these days. My DM was diagnosed about 20 years ago. Easting out has become so much easier with better labelling. If you like Indian food, we went to Mowgli a couple of weeks ago and there were lots of veggie / GF options. At home DM mainly cooks from scratch.

This is what I make at Christmas. It's rich and moist. I use orange zest instead of lime.
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/flourless-chocolate-lime-cake-with-margarita-cream

Sunandstorms · 17/09/2023 23:08

I’m about 25 years post coeliac diagnosis now and it really doesn’t bother me too much. Most cafes do a GF cake option these days and most of them are lovely. I find Dove Farm flour really easy to bake with - just substitute it into standard recipes. Marks and Spencer have some really nice GF food too.

Crikeyalmighty · 17/09/2023 23:22

It's really not that bad OP- I started with the issue post covid at 60- I had neurological issues rather than stomache ones. I've been at it for a year now- I'm ok with oats which helps, I've eaten more salad , more oat cakes, cottage cheese, omelettes, scrambled eggs, M&S gluten free fish fingers (freezer section) are better than their normal ones- you can make a fantastic rasberry Bakewell using ground almonds. You can even get a good gluten free pie in M&S or quiche. Sainsburys do a nice stuffed pasta . Sainsburys gluten free gravy granules are decent as are Marigold.

I've actually eaten all sorts I hadn't tried before, more jacket potatoes, less sandwiches as I don't like gluten free bread that much.

Gettingbysomehow · 18/09/2023 07:11

Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better reading your posts. Time to grow up and get on with it. It can't be worse than the symptoms I've been having. Onwards and upwards.

OP posts:
Sunandstorms · 18/09/2023 07:37

The improvement in symptoms was AMAZING for me, I hadn’t realised how poorly I felt. Hoping for the same for you!

VeloVixen · 18/09/2023 07:38

dd is coeliac and also vegetarian. She manages ok. She eats quite a bit of gf pasta. She's pretty much stopped eating bread, but the warburtons rolls or the Schar frozen rolls are the best.

Lots of vegi curries, pad thai with rice noodles, potato dishes.

Most cafes will have a gf option (hope you like chocolate brownie). Good friends won't mind catering. I do all my baking gf now and can't tell the difference.

paradoxically2 · 18/09/2023 11:14

Many cafes but not all have gf cake. Sadly some cafes only have prepackaged highly processed 'cakes' and the ones that do have gf cakes tend to have polenta cake or brownie, neither of which i like. If you can tolerate gf oats then you have more options like a flapjack. Sadly I can't.
The real issue is having 2 dietary requirements. It's hard as so many vegetarian dishes are pasta based or have flour in them. Travelling on a plane is tricky. You choose vegetarian or you choose gf

SoupDragon · 18/09/2023 12:04

I'm not coeliac myself but regularly have to cater for someone who is. It's not too difficult if you cook from scratch anyway - it turned out that most of the things I use are already GF. I have to get GF gravy and soy sauce but the stock I usually buy already is GF.

I would agree that bread and cake are trickier though! I've successfully made GF brownies and millionaire's shortbread simply by substituting GF flour though.

GreenTuraco · 18/09/2023 12:11

@Gettingbysomehow what symptoms were you getting that led you to seek help, if you don't mind me asking?

Crikeyalmighty · 18/09/2023 12:21

@Gettingbysomehow I kind of mentally changed from associating cafes and coffee with cake or biscuits. I carry around a couple of M&S gluten free cookies and whip them out if it's somewhere that has nothing suitable- I also like flapjacks (but am ok with oats)

We have a cafe in Bath that does tons of gluten free cake and cannoli - even cheesecake (god bless Rosarios)

One of the meals I like most is to take a pack of that cauli rice and stir fry it with chicken and stir fry veg and loads of GF soy sauce- add sesame seeds and those crispy onions you get in tubs on top- easy and delicious.

Pinch of noom has some great ones too- my H likes them as well , so you don't end up doing multiple meals

Seriously , if you treat it as a challenge you can end up I think eating better- less cake, bread, biscuits, pies and sausage rolls etc

Many of the substitutes are not that great so I stopped eating them - bread, crumpets etc

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