Wheat/Gluten Intolerance (Long post - sorry!)

[Tabs]

Some of you may remember me saying in the past about how we couldn't get Morgan to eat very much at all, and that about 6 weeks into weaning her Silent Reflux suddenly went into overdrive??? Also that she drinks water like it's going out of fashion (At her worst, she was drinking almost 30oz a day ON TOP of 20oz of milk!!! )

Well, we think we have found the reason why...

Our HV had suggested we keep a food diary for a while, so that she could see just how much/little she was eating etc... She also arranged a referral to a dietician, speech/language therapist, and a blood test to rule out Diabetes (which we're STILL waiting to get an appt for!!!)

Well, after a couple of weeks, something just screamed out at me...

The days she had eaten anything wheat based, ie Weetabix, Bread, Pasta etc... she was getting terrible acid reflux symptoms, was irritable, her belly would be so bloated she looked 8 months pregnant, she hardly slept and would constantly want a drink.

I wondered at first whether I was just looking for something, so as a trial, I left her off all wheat stuff for a few days, and within 48 hours she was like a different child!!! Happier, more settled, sleeping properly, drinking less, no reflux symptoms and suddenly eating three good sized meals...

Then a few days later we tried her with half a slice of toast at breakfast time, and by late afternoon/evening we were back to square one again!

So we've left it out since and she's so much better. I spoke to our HV about it, and she agreed that it really does sound like a wheat intolerance. And it would tally in to when her reflux kicked off once we were getting into weaning, as thinking about it, it would have been around the time we started to introduce baby cereals that contained gluten!!

Well she's got an appointment with her consultant about her reflux next week, so the HV said to discuss it with him and to see if he can arrange for her to be tested to confirm.

The only problem is, finding some alternatives for her. I bought some gluten-free bread the other day.... it is sooooooooooooooooooooo nasty! YUK!! I've got some gluten-free pasta coming in my ASDA delivery later, so I'm hoping that tastes better!!

Luckily, she likes mash and rice, but other than that, I'm at a loss as to what else she could try. I'm hoping this dietician appointment comes through soon!!

Does anyone else have any experience of this?

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the long post!

 

[rach321]

How about lentils and other pulses. I think you can get millet based stuff like breakfast cereal etc from the supermarket. Some of the baby rice cakes are gluten free. If she gets bored with potato then there's loads of other root veggies you can mash up for her. Can't think of anything else at the moment - will have a think.......might be a while !

 

[ALY]

Hi hun my son had posible coliac (wheat free diet ) and his consulatant said to me he has to eat wheat until they have the test done or the test results will come back normal
You can get a lot of wheat free stuff from the coliac website x
In asda you can get gravy yorkshire puddings spaghetti and as you no bread which i agree taste soooo bad xx

sam didnt have the same symptoms tho hun he had slow weight gain not a lot of colour he was always white and constantly sick and loads of nappies a day plus he was soooo sleepy and was sooo unhappy that all he did was cry xxxx

If you need to no anything just ask hun xxx

 

[Angel2Fire]

I was diagnosed as coeliac at 11 months old after being very very poorly. Back then there wasn't much available, and only on prescription.
Some of the bread is nicer than others, try the dietary specialists. It is a different taste but as Morgan is still little, she will get used to the taste. I think bread with gluten in it tastes weird as I've been on it all my life.
If she does get diagnosed, you can get bread/pasta ect on prescription, as it is still quite expensive.

When I was younger my mum used to use gluten free pasta and spaghetti for the whole family so that I didnt have to have special meals. She never made me feel any different while I was growing up, and now I just see it as normal.

If you want to chat pm me

 

[StirCrazy]

tut tut Tabs, you know BnB policy on multiple posting

 

[Tabs]

Sorry SC I wasn't thinking.

 

[Tiff]

https://www.csaceliacs.org/recipes.php

Maybe try making some of the stuff? Then that way you know what's going into it and I imagine it's cheaper than trying to order stuff online.

I know the rice breads might taste gross to us, but your LO isn't going to know the difference perhaps, so it might not be bad to keep trying with it? OH's sister has a gluten intolerance, she developed it later in life and she's been able to switch her tastes to enjoy the rice breads and whatnot.

Hope that link helps!

 

[24/7]

I have coeliac, and found the transition to GF pretty easy, and as a result am a fountain of knowledge. Here are a few useful bits I have found out....

1. Register with the website glutafin, and they will send you a hamper full of their products to try. You can then pick what she likes, and get it on prescription. Also register with coeliac UK as they send you a book, that lists every product in every supermarket that you CAN eat.
2. Tesco do the best bread, and it is by a company called "Genius". It tastes just like normal bread, and the only negatives I have found is that it goes mouldy very quickly if not kept in the fridge and is £2.40 a loaf.
3. Best biscuits I have found also come from Tesco.
4. Bisto do a GF gravey, but it is made on a production line that also handles gluten, so it may be a case of testing to see if it affects your daughter. M&S do a GF onion gravy, which is also pretty nice.
5. I have cornflakes for cereal, or rice krispy type things, but NOT kellogs, you can't have any kellogs cereals, only own brand ones.
6 Sainsburys are great, as on all their own brand prodcuts they have the suitable for coeliac symbol.

Well thats enough yapping from me. Feel free to ask any questions or send me a PM.

 

[Tabs]

Thank you so much for all your help and advice everyone, I really do appreciate you taking the time out to reply.

 

[Fossey]

This must be hard to deal with. You have had some good replies though good luck

 

[Nic1107]

My mom also has a wheat/gluten intolerance. She's found that the rice bread is much more tolerable when toasted! Although she misses "real" bread and pasta terribly, she's reasonably satisfied substituting corn tortillas, homemade cornbread (storebought often has wheat flour), and E. Asian rice noodles. Injera bread (made with teff) is a good option too, but we're having trouble finding it. A lot of unexpected products have gluten in them, like soy sauce, so reading labels is imperative. Good luck!

 

[Akira]

Hi there, I have coeliacs disease, just diagnosed last year, and any children that I have will have a very high chance of this, I found the transition to be hard but as my mother also has it I asked her alot of questions. For the testing (and I know this is hard) it is important to keep your child on a normal diet as the tests will come back negative if you change to gluten free - even if she does have an allergy. PM me if you have any questions, good luck!