In the few short days since my post on my daughter Sofia and her life with Celiac Disease, I have been approached by so many people with feedback. To me the word feedback sounds kind of scary and negative but in this case the feedback has been awesome! The comments I have been receiving are mostly that people had no idea what Celiac entailed. Many just figured it was a food allergy like any other food allergy, and didn't realize it was so in depth. Not to down play food allergies at all, because they are and can be very serious if not handled correctly and in some ways I'm very thankful that Sofia doesn't have a food allergy. But that's a completely different post. The purpose of this post is to further inform all of those out there that still might have questions about Celiac.
Frequently I am asked questions about Celiac and what Sofia can and can't have. I also get the more in depth questions about the medical side of it. So here are the top ten questions I get about Celiac Disease and there answers.
1) Is Celiac a wheat allergy?
A) No, Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease that effects the digestive system.
2) Will Sofia ever outgrow Celiac?
A) No, Celiac is something Sofia will have for her entire life. She will never outgrow it no matter how old she gets.
3) Is there medicine that Sofia can take to manage Celiac?
A) No, unfortunately at this current time there is no medicine to treat this disease. There are been research and I have heard encouraging news that there is something in the works but it could still be many years before something is developed.
4) What happens if Sofia eats wheat?
A) If Sofia eats wheat you will start to see the effects within 45mins to an hour. She will get very lethargic and then she will get physically ill. It takes a few hours for her to bounce back for it and feel herself again.
5) What are the symptoms of Celiac?
A) Symptoms vary from each person. Sofia's symptoms included weight loss, fatigue, distended belly, grayish/fatty stools, dark rings around the eyes, and just and overall failure to thrive.
6) How sensitive is Celiac Disease?
A) More sensitive than you would think. Not only is eating wheat, barley or rye a threat for Sofia but there is also a threat of cross contamination. For example a knife that you use to butter your bread with you cannot use to butter Sofia's bread. If you stick the knife back in the butter after buttering your bread then you have to use a different butter for Sofia.
7) What do you do with Sofia when you go out to eat?
A) It has taken alot of research and experience to be able to eat out with Sofia. We are limited to where we can go and what we can eat. There are alot of restaurants that have special menus to cater to people with special diets and you can also look up most ingredients online.
8) Doesn't Sofia feel left out that she can't eat the same things as everyone else?
A) Fortunately we found out that Sofia had Celiac at a very young age. She really doesn't know the difference. Thankfully the growing trend of health food stores has really given us a wider selection of foods for Sofia. There is basically a replacement for anything that she would want to eat. Plus Sofia knows that she has a special belly and she also knows what will happen if she eats something she is not suppose to.
9) Does your whole family have to eat gluten free?
A) No, considering Sofia can eat meat, veggies and potatoes it's relatively easy to plan family meals. The parts that get tricky is when we have spaghetti, pizza, that sort of thing. We usually make Sofia the same meal we are eating just modify it to be gluten free. Gluten free products are pretty expensive so it's not really in our budget for us all to eat gluten free.
10) With all the planning, label reading, precautions that have to be made, isn't it hard for you?
A) Of course it took sometime to get used to, but hard NO! Considering the alternative to not living the gluten free lifestyle it isn't hard for me at all. Sofia is the one that has to live with Celiac. She is the one that has to learn what she can and can't eat, which she is so good at. She is the one that has to suffer the consequences when someone makes a mistake and gives her wheat. So it is not hard for me at all. I don't mind at all explaining to everyone what it's all about and make sure everyone is educated to prevent any confusion. She is my special girl with the special belly:)
These are the top ten questions that I hear most often. I welcome the questions and I'm happy that people are curious and want to know more about Celiac. So if I didn't cover a question here that you would like to know the answer to, please don't hesitate to ask.
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