Ohhh big hug dear. Big hug. I remember what you're going through like it was yesterday. It is hard in the beginning. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You will start to see it soon.

One of the things gluten can do to people who are gluten intolerant and or have Celiac Disease is cause neurological symptoms like depression and anxiety. For some people the neurological symptoms are much much worse than the digestive problems. It was that way for me. It takes time, but eventually the anxiety and depression fades away. You may be surprised how much better you feel a year from now. I know that's a long time to hang on, but it does get better.

I was diagnosed in Dec 06. To the best of my ability and without the help of the food industry I am 100% gluten free. I eat very few processed foods now, and very little special gluten free things like bread or crackers or whatever. I live on a small income these days as I've just started my own business. So dollars have to stretch. I do it with homemade soups, stews, enchiladas, casseroles, and big batch meals along those lines.

I know some people swear by this GF bread or that one, but I swear they're all pretty bad. When I want a pizza or a wrap I use Chebe mixes. Other than that I don't do bread anymore.

And EVERYONE with Celiac Disease sooner or later cries in the supermarket. It a guaranteed thing :) They are frustrating places for people like us.

Thank you VioletsBlues. I appreciated the hug. I have spent my life trying to fit in and be accepted, and Celiac just seems to be building another wall between me and normalcy. Not much support at home. Right now I'm trying to work through my cabinets and use up
banned food on my husband & daughter, then make something for myself. I'll probably end up giving a lot to the local food pantry. I'm finding a lot of stuff is near expiration so I don't want to give that away, I know they will just throw it away. I don't have a problem using it here.
Depression runs in my family and I have been battling it for years. It doesn't take much to send me to the edge, looking for an escape. I don 't deal well with changes in my life.
I feel I don't have anything left in life to look forward to. Family is small, and I don't do much with the in-laws. Good news is I now have an excuse for not showing up for the Holiday dinners which are always full of ingredients now on my banned list. And I certainly won't brown bag it, just to sit and watch them indulge.

I've gotten a couple of cookbooks and gotten recipes online, but everyone has a different basic all purpose flour mix and it's too expensive to buy all these flours. I've picked one that just has 3 flours to blend, and so far it's working for me. I was able to adapt
a favorite scone recipe, so that has given me hope. Onto Irish Soda Bread next. Thanks again for your support.

My gluten intolerance comes in the form of a lot of neurological symptoms too. It damaged my sense of balance for what I think may be permanently but I feel I have gotten a little better because I went GF. Maybe yours will do the same? I remember how astonished I was when I went back on gluten for a day and felt like crap. It was a big sign of the progress I made and how I don't feel like that anymore. Things you never even thought were related to your disease will disappear perhaps your depression is one of those symptoms?

Also. I feel you 100% on the GF bread and I really don't know how anyone would say it passes for bread. Luckily, there IS a bread that is squishy like bread and tastes like bread. It's from a company called Enter G and they have two types of soft bread Light Tapioca bread and Light Brown Rice bread. Don't get the non-light versions as they are hard like all the other fake breads. And since I have tried both I believe that Light Brown Rice taste the most like bread, and the Light Tapioca isn't far behind.

I made a typo it's "ener-g" breads. And here is their website: http://www.ener-g.com/gluten-free.html

Thank you visc6297 for your input. I've been battling depression for years. There is a history on both sides of my family. I'm hoping my symptoms will eventually lighten. I don't ever expect a cure.

Regarding celiac; When I was eating wheat, there were many items I could eat without any reaction. I've noticed that since I have made
more of an effort to eliminate the wheat, if I do stray and eat the wrong thing, the reaction is swifter and more uncomfortable. I'm guessing that while eating wheat I had some built in tolerance. Now that I'm gluten free, it takes less to "set me off". Before I could eat a plate of pasta with no problem. Now if I eat a cookie, I'm in trouble.
I'm still having a difficult time accepting that this is the way I must live for the rest of my life. I went to a child's birthday party this
weekend. When I heard that pizza was ordered, I had to leave the party. I had brought some GF Irish Soda bread with me, but it was no match against pizza.

Thanks for the site address. I'll check it out.

I used to eat Ener-G bread, largely because I could get it in this small town. But then I became allergic to citrus. Unfortunately Ener-G puts citrus bioflavens in their breads. I tried Udi's once but they use large amounts of sunflower oil, also one of my allergies, so that didn't work. In the end I gave up on bread.

Ener-g's biggest selling point is that it will keep forever in a freezer or frig. Though I'm not sure a long shelf life is necessarily a good thing ;) That usually means more preservatives.

Thanks VoiletsBlues for sharing your knowledge. I've tried Udi's bagels and their bread. Bread was ok for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Bagels were totally tasteless. I'm thinking I'm going to dry them out and make bread crumbs with them.
I've made a loaf of bread from scratch using a blend of three flours. I thought it was better than Udi's. I've used this same flour blend in a recipe for scones that I converted from a regualr recipe. I've used the same flour mix for a gluten free Irish Soda Bread recipe with good results. I'd be happy to share any of these recipes with you.

Hi butterfly,

Like you I have slowly lost more and more of my life over the last 10 years, and depression runs in my family. I put off getting the Celiac test for 14 months because I just did not want to give up ONE MORE THING! But I was close to dieing and ended up in the hospital a week after I had the test, which was positive of course. Fortunately my husband took charge and started the food shopping at the beginning. I just could not face it, like you. Slowly I got with the program. I feel so much better now, it is like night and day. I can leave the house again, after being house bound for 3 months from the Celiac's.

I am reading Elizabeth Hasselbeck's "The G-Free Diet". It is pretty straight forward and easy. She recommends people look up Dr. Peter Green at Columbia University in New York. That is his specialty.

Also I have found that Bob's Red Hill brand of products are very good. He has flour, scone's, pancakes, etc. You can buy them online or at Whole Foods. I was a bread and cookie junkie. I just found out the cookies with no gluten from Trader Joes have put my sugars through the roof, so I have to look for a new substitute for that now, darn it, lol.

Another book that helped my depression, and I have been very, very depressed (I overdosed last July), was recommended on this site. It is called "Get It Done When You're Depressed". It can be bought on Amazon for about $15.00. It has been very helpful for day to day living, especially for people with ongoing diseases. I also have diabetes among numerous other problems that I will live with the rest of my life. So it is very frustrating to have to live with another "thing" in your life, but with time it does get better.

I was diagnosed in Dec., 2010 and don't mind the diet now. I can't believe I waited so long to take the test actually because I was so afraid of changing my diet and losing my favorite foods when I am slowly getting quality of life back. So as Violet says, it might seem that a year is along time to wait to totally get your health back, you will see a lot of improvement in just a few months of you stick to the diet completely. And then once your body has had the chance to heal itself in 6-12 months you will begin to see (I will see it too I hope!) a better you. One who isn't tired all the time, One who isn't as depressed as you have been.

So hang in there. Write to me if you need a hug. We all need a hug. Being sick just sucks! LOL. But we have to laugh it off and keep going. If your Dr. doesn't have enough compassion I would consider getting a new Dr. For people who have multiple illnesses we need all the support we can get. We talk about this a lot on the Addisson's web site. It is really important to have good communication with your Dr's. Good luck.

Hi 22Lynn, Thanks for your encouragement and book references. I already have the name of a new doctor I plan on seeing.
I had a bit of a set back. I had some foods that were clearly labeled gluten free, and I was eating them and getting sicker each day. I finally went back and read the ingredients lists and they all had dairy in them.
I was so focused on the celiac, mind wasn't even seeing the dairy.

I have 3 different gluten free cookbooks, and what amazes me is that none of them have any nutrition information with the recipes. How is a person suposed to know the carb and fat content to keep things in balance with diabetes? Life is difficult enough.

I just heard that a cousin passed away yesterday. He was a month younger than me. My cat is sick,Ttwo more storms are predicted for the next couple of days. i just can't get out from under this mound of crap. Sorry.