I appreciate both yours and Jen’s information on the May & October gluten-awareness months. I’d say this cause could definitely use two months to increase awareness.

It is definitely a long, hard road when one is first diagnosed. We went from spending $200/month on EVERYTHING (food, diapers, HBA, paper products, etc) because of my super-couponing to spending $800/month almost overnight. That has now evened out some thanks to our co-op, United Foods. Their prices on things such as rice-pasta are TREMENDOUSLY less than those that you an find in the store. I can get Tinkyada pasta for $2/bag through our co-op. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with food allergies to find a local co-op.

Just 3 months ago, I received a diagnosis of Celiac as well. I should have known as I was diagnosed with a “wheat allergy” as a child that I was told I had grown out of. My lack of being GF outside of the home and years of not being GF led me to acquire auto-immune thyroid disease.

Auto-immune disorders are VERY common in Celiacs who don’t go completely GF. The very fact that many with auto-immune disorders don’t go GF because they are improperly diagnosed speaks volumes about our need for awareness regarding this disease; especially within the medical community.

As a nurse, I have witnessed HOSPITALS giving gluten-containing food to patients with a GF diet requirement. It was only MY knowledge due to my daughter’s condition that prevented an infraction in newly-diagnosed patients. That also led to a campaign within those hospitals to ensure foods labeled as “GF” on their menus were INDEED gluten-free.

I have also written many companies requesting that they completely disclose their GF status to those who monitor (such as ClanThompson) and that they properly label their foods as such. I especially like to encourage the use of the words “gluten-free” on products that are; explaining that we would be more likely to purchase products labeled as such. I would ensure every gluten-intolerant or Celiac patient to do the same.

Thanks for the blog. I think I’ll go do the same on my blog.

Amys last blog post..Plans

I appreciate both yours and Jen’s information on the May & October gluten-awareness months. I’d say this cause could definitely use two months to increase awareness.

It is definitely a long, hard road when one is first diagnosed. We went from spending $200/month on EVERYTHING (food, diapers, HBA, paper products, etc) because of my super-couponing to spending $800/month almost overnight. That has now evened out some thanks to our co-op, United Foods. Their prices on things such as rice-pasta are TREMENDOUSLY less than those that you an find in the store. I can get Tinkyada pasta for $2/bag through our co-op. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with food allergies to find a local co-op.

Just 3 months ago, I received a diagnosis of Celiac as well. I should have known as I was diagnosed with a “wheat allergy” as a child that I was told I had grown out of. My lack of being GF outside of the home and years of not being GF led me to acquire auto-immune thyroid disease.

Auto-immune disorders are VERY common in Celiacs who don’t go completely GF. The very fact that many with auto-immune disorders don’t go GF because they are improperly diagnosed speaks volumes about our need for awareness regarding this disease; especially within the medical community.

As a nurse, I have witnessed HOSPITALS giving gluten-containing food to patients with a GF diet requirement. It was only MY knowledge due to my daughter’s condition that prevented an infraction in newly-diagnosed patients. That also led to a campaign within those hospitals to ensure foods labeled as “GF” on their menus were INDEED gluten-free.

I have also written many companies requesting that they completely disclose their GF status to those who monitor (such as ClanThompson) and that they properly label their foods as such. I especially like to encourage the use of the words “gluten-free” on products that are; explaining that we would be more likely to purchase products labeled as such. I would ensure every gluten-intolerant or Celiac patient to do the same.

Thanks for the blog. I think I’ll go do the same on my blog.