questions-starting a gluten free "trial"

[carin3]

Hi-

I am sick of my symptoms and waiting for the doctors to decide if I have celiac or not (i have iron deficiency anemia which prompted a GI work up. The endoscopy biopsy was suggestive of type 2 celiac disease but when the blood work was done it was normal) so after researching I am going to try it for a couple months and see how I feel and how my symptoms are doing then. Anyway, I am feeling very overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to know!! I am married and have three young kids at home (3,4 and 6).  If I am fixing my kids something for a meal (for example making them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or giving them some wheat thins) and I am touching things that contain gluten is that okay or not. If not, what should I do. Also, how do i know if toiletries have gluten in them? What ingredient do I look for?  I never would have thought of that!  There are so many ingredients that you have to avoid on a gluten free diet, I am getting so confused anyway to simplify things or how did you all start when you went GF. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!!

[CalGal]

Carin, start with the bigger things. Make sure if you're making sandwiches for the kids you wash your hands and the counter thoroughly after you've made them and before you put your hands anywhere near your mouth. For instance, don't make the sandwiches then make something for yourself on the same counter space and eat that non-gluten stuff. If you make non-gluten toast, pop your bread into 'toaster bags' for toasting before putting it in the toaster - just shaking the toaster out isn't going to 'decontaminate' it.

With foods, I'm sure you know that you need to worry about wheat, rye, barley, and malt. You may also need to worry about oats for several reason, so in the beginning it's just easier to cut them out completely. If you want to back, try using something like Authentic Foods Pancake and baking flour. It works for all types of products and even your kids will like the cookies or cupcakes it makes - and they'll never know it's not 'regular.' But be careful with flours in general - they're not all alike.

We typically have a specific area in the kitchen for gluten and non-gluten foods. It works pretty well, but I do a lot of counter washing just in case.

Make sure to scrub forks, spoons and knives and plates with hot water and a brush.

Most of all don't get overwhelmed. Try to monitor your diet - that's the biggie - and worry about the makeup/soaps etc, after you've gotten all the obvious and hidden gluten in foods out of your diet. But if you want to find out about cosmetics, send E-mails to the manufacturer's and ask point-blank. There are lists you can check, but E-mailing is sometimes a lot easier and faster.

And at some point in time if you find out you are celiac, you've got to get your kids tested.