Diabetes & Coeliac Disease

[suzi]

Hi Everyone,
I've came a cross a few diabetics who also have coeliac disease and parents of children with both.
Thought it would be a good idea to start a thread, to share experiences, how it affects our diabetes, tips on food and lifestyle.
I'll start by saying i'm a parent of a 10yr old son called Andrew who was diagnosed T1 in Feb'06 and coeliac in Feb '07. Last coeliac blood test came back as <21, which i think was pretty good, can't say the same about Hbc a1 it was 8.1, but we've had a rough time of late, slowly getting there, just learning to carb count an on the FABB programme (flexible adjustment of basal bolus) just like the DAFNE programme i think but named to make it Fun!! for kids.
Have found some great ranges of food out there and some which definately were'nt worth it, the wrapper would have been tastier than the contents!
Have found great tasting Aberdeen angus burgers and 1's with cheese in Tesco recently, the whole family love them and there not in the gluten free range, which means they don't cost an arm and a leg, theyv'e also been on offer recently so have stock piled the freezer. M&S do sausages which contain no rusk, in May my butcher made me a large quantity of gluten free beef and pork sausages( i supplied the bread) he made 34lb in total and charged me £85, were still eating them!
Love to hear from plenty
Suzi x

 

[witan]

Hi,

I hope you find lots of support here - it must be a nightmare dealing with both.

My sister has coeliac disease so I've had some experience of seeing how difficult it is to get the right diet at a sensible cost.

I am sure a low carb diet as followed by many here will be ideal for both conditions although care and professional advice will be especially important when dealing with a developing child's nutritional requirements.

My best wishes to you and your son in dealing with this problem.

 

[suzi]

Many thanks Witan,
I've found 2 Mum's on site with kids with both and 1 adult, I'd really like some feed back from them, i need to take note of their names and PM them, but for anyone else out there, it would be nice for them to get in touch. As for your sister Witen i hope she's keeping well
Kind regards to you both
Suzi x

 

[scottishkate]

Hi Suzi,

I was diagnosed with Type 1 aged nine and Coeliac aged 13. Back when I was diagnosed there were absolutely no good gluten free 'replacement' products on the market and nothing, and I mean nothing, was labelled. It has got a LOT easier since then to at least know what one can and can't eat (gluten is in sooo many products!).

I eat very low-carb now for my glucose control so I actully have no issues with eating gluten free but when I did eat higher carb I found that the Tesco free from range was very good - esp. the rolls and pitta breads. To be honest, I never really missed or craved anything with gluten in - their are lots of recipes out there for treats - bday cakes etc. I think the bigest secret of success is in being organised especially with lunches. Get creative with a packed lunch and everything else seems to be a bit easier.

One thing which really showed me just how the times have changed with regard to an awreness of gluten free diets - I was in Southwold in suffolk a few weeks ago and the fish and chip shop of the pier now does coeliac society approved fish and chips!!

Just get in touch if I can be of any help.

Katie x

 

[suzi]

Many Thanks Katie for your reply,
I know the way to go is low carb, but whilst Andrew is still young and needs certain nutrients ect it's not really an option for us at present. What i really need is personnal recipes for the likes of sponge cakes and a batter mix that work. Andrew misses the occasional treat of butterfly buns, especially at birthdays(he hasn't had a b'day cake in 2yrs ) and a good batter mix for fish/pancakes.
I'm lucky in the fact Andrew loves his meat and two veg, any type of fish/prawns ect, but the odd treat would make being Diabetic as well, a bit easier to deal with. I'm not the best baker and find the flours and mixes totally useless(though that's probably me!) And after a session in the kitchen most of my creations result in floods of tears.
As for gluten free foods, i agree Tesco have a good range, but some of the sugar content is so high we just completely avoid them. Asda are good also, and have a lovely Celtic low sugar Gi bar of chocolate and have also bought out chocolate dippers but at 99p each there a rare treat.
Take care
Suzi x

 

[scottishkate]

Hi Suzi,

If you give me a couple of days I'll get onto my mum and get some recipes from her - she makes a fantasic g/f batter and a flowerless chocolate cake amongst other such goodies! We did lots of experimenting when I was growing up and have some really good recipes somewhere

Katie xx

 

[suzi]

Thanks very much Katie,
Your a diamond.
Suzi x

 

[fiona35]

Hi Suzi

I've been diabetic for 8 years and Coeliac for around 5 years and trying to juggle the two diets at first was a nightmare!! Now it just seems second nature!!

Have you tried the Dietary Specials Cake mix that you can get on prescription, I use that to make little fairy cakes in cases and if I want a treat I have one of those - they freeze well so are handy to pop out and they defrost quite quickly!! Although the sugar content in the mix appears high once you've divided it between around 18 fairy cakes its more manageable. Or I sometimes use 4oz Juvela flour, 4oz Butter, 2oz Caster Sugar and 2 eggs, mix everything together and then fill in fairy cases - makes about 18 and set oven on about 180 degrees.

I love the Juvela Fresh Fibre loaf, too much for the diabetes really!! but as it has linseeds and bits in it the dietician said it was one of the better breads for a diabetic coeliac to have.

Fraid I can't help much with the batter as I hate anything fried so this has never bothered me. I use breadcrumbs to make home made fish fingers, just buy some cod and cut into strips, dip in egg and then press the fresh breadcrumbs to the strips and bake in the oven. You could use the breadcrumbs to make scotch eggs, boil eggs, wrap in gluten free sausagemeat - I skin the M&S ones! dip in egg and then breadcrumbs and then bake for about 25 mins - yummy cold and great for lunch with a salad!!

For any other treats I usually buy from Lifestyle Healthcare especially over the xmas period!! I love their mini sausage rolls and 2 of those warmed in the oven are really nice but I only treat myself at Xmas time!!

Hope you and Andrew find something nice to eat!!!

 

[suzi]

Thanks Fiona,
We get juvela white sliced bread on prescription which is the only bread he likes so far, only trouble is i have to order in batches of 8, on the last 3 scripts they ordered me 16, just as well i have an american fridge freezer! :lol:

When Andrew was diagnosed T1 i bought myself a dishwasher, so i could spend more time with him after meals (this is when he prefers to inject) When diagnosed coeliac i bought myself an american fridge freezer to cope with all the extra food.

Thanks for fairy cake recipe, i'll have to hunt at the back of the cupboard to see if i've still any Juvela flour, Andrews fantastic dietician ordered him every mix, biscuit and bread when diagnosed, i ended up with the local chemist delivering 3 very large boxes,Andrew thought christmas had came early that year. Have narrowed it down over the months, think his repeat prescriptions now only contains 10 medicinal and 15 food items


I need to experiment more, but youv'e certainly given me food for thought, thanks.
Suzi x