Hi,
I have "silent" celiac's and my 16 year old son and my mother both have active celiacs. We were all diagnosed about two months ago. My ds was spending most nights in the bathroom and felt tired and achey all day. He wasn't thin or fat. My mom was down to 92 pounds at 5'4" with severe osteoporosis. We're all eating gluten-free now, and both of them are 100% better. I don't notice any difference which is why mine is labeled "silent".
I've found all sorts of substitutions- my ds lived on sandwiches, and thought he would die without pizza (he's 16, remember). After a few purchased loaves of gluten free bread that he declared as good as a cardboard box, he now loves chicken salads for lunch and is the envy of most of his friends who try to trade him their sandwiches
We've also been very creative with corn tortillas (fajitas, mini pizzas), and have mad "pizza nachos". But enough of the junk food!
I've experimented with gluten free baking- I used to bake a lot of bread so it seemed like it should be no problem. Boy was I wrong! Muffins are easy. Bread is not. I finally last weekend, produced my first loaf of GOOD gluten free bread that looks like bread, tastes like bread, holds together, is sliceable, and doesn't end up a pile of crumbs. It's from the cookbook "The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread". Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, it's still a pretty empty carb nutritionally. But ds is happy.
My biggest change eating GF was finding a substitute for the 1/2 cup of Fiber One cereal that I used every morning to boost my fiber intake. I've added 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds to my breakfast, and a teaspoon of psyllium husks to my intake somewhere during each day.
If you try to follow a non-processed, whole foods lifestyle, eating gluten free is not such a huge issue. Processed food and most restaurants are a minefield though if you are very sensitive. The least bit of contamination and my son is sick for 4 days. We are VERY careful. I cook almost everything from scratch, and serve a lot of fresh vegetables, fruit, chicken, etc. Be very careful of any kind of sauce or bottled dressings. There are quite a few restaurants that have gluten free menus, or can accomodate you. I just got the GF menus from Carrabas and PF Chang. When in doubt, I call ahead and ask to speak to the manager or chef.
Here's a website with a support forum which I found really helpful.
http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/
The other source of GF foods that I've found is Amazon. They have a huge selection and you can click through to it from the front page of 3FC and help support this site! I paid the yearly Amazon Prime membership because I'm ordering so much from there. It's a lot cheaper than my grocery store, and it sure is easier to just have the stuff show up on your doorstep
The only cautionary note is that they sell almost everying in bulk packages of 4-6 items. If you're not sure about whether you are going to like something, try paying a little more and buy ONE at your local grocery or health food store, then order in bulk. That way you won't end up with 5 loaves of yucky bread that no one will eat!
Good luck and good health! Feel free to PM me. I haven't been at this long, but I've done a lot of research!
Mel