Diabetic and Coeliac

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Permalink Reply by Danny on November 13, 2009 at 2:50pm

There is a group here at TU (Celiac and DIabetes) with 54 members, I do not know if you are aware of it :)

http://tudiabetes.com/group/celiacanddiabetes

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Permalink Reply by Valeria Correa on November 14, 2009 at 2:27pm

No, I didn't realise. I will check it out. Thanks Danny! How was your Blue Day? Here in London it was veeeery windy and rainy, but didn't stop me from my exercise! :o)

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Permalink Reply by Emily Barnett on November 13, 2009 at 4:19pm

Thank you! My son was recently diagnosed with both. We've found very few people or info on both. I had no idea there was a group on here!
:)

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Permalink Reply by Valeria Correa on November 14, 2009 at 2:30pm

Hi Emily, another member has just made me aware there is a group here
http://tudiabetes.com/group/celiacanddiabetes

I have had diabetes for more than 20 years and I have been coeliac for about 4. I can manage but sometimes it is a bit tricky because they don't tend to make a lot of food without sugar and without gluten at the same time. It's usually either sugar free or gluten free, but rarely both.Although I must say in the last year or so I've seen more products out in the market suitable for both conditions.

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Permalink Reply by Annabella Lewis on November 16, 2009 at 1:18pm

I have both conditions. Diagnosed with type 1 in 1961 & celiac in 1971, managing the diabetes became so much easier after I went on the gluten free diet. Nowadays there are so many more gluten free products available, when I started it was rice crackers known to my friends as Annabella's polystyrine, or one made one's own bread etc, luckily I enjoy cooking. The thing to remember is that gluten free bread or cakes etc have more carbs than their gluten counterparts, looking at the food labels I find I need to allow more carbs than stated. But if you use carb counting & bolus appropriately there is no problem on the gluten free diet.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Geer on November 16, 2009 at 2:03pm

Hey! How did you guys find out that you have this condition? Is this a common thing for diabetics to get? I've often wondered if I have it. Any light you can shed on the subject would be helpful. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Nancy on November 16, 2009 at 3:32pm

They test my son for it every year. It is autoimmune and seems to go hand in hand with type 1 - I am told. A friend's daughter has both type 1 and celiacs (She was very small and had stopped growing) THey do blood work to confirm it. nancy -

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Permalink Reply by Valeria Correa on November 17, 2009 at 2:18pm

Hi! I only found out about 4 years ago ( I had diabetes for much longer) by accident really, on a routinary check for my diabetes, I had a few symptoms (like anaemia, bloatedness) and the nurse suggested I did a blood test. On the blood test it said that I 'could' have coeliac disease but to confirm it you have to do an 'endoscopy' (they put a little camera inside your throught to see you gut). That's the only way to be certain if you have the condition or not becasue they can clearly see whether you have or not the velli (I think it's spelled like that, it's the hair inside your intestines). Anyway...the good thing is, if you have the condition all you need to do is stop eating gluten and your intestines will recover (the hair can grow back) and you'll feel muuuuuuch better!

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Permalink Reply by Valeria Correa on November 17, 2009 at 2:12pm

Yes, you are right, if you calculate for the amount of carbs it says on the labels it's not a problem. I found everything a bit easier after I did the DAFNE course (I don't know if you have that in the US) It's a course they do here in UK but I guess it's the same principles you are talking about, counting the carbs and putting X amounts of units per grams of carbs. It's just that sometimes I feel a bit 'guilty' for eating sugar in the gluten free foods, because they don't tend to do them sugar free and gluten free, like I said before, but it's just an old habit of me thinking that way.

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Permalink Reply by Bruce on November 16, 2009 at 4:21pm

I have had diabetes for 38 years, but I'm not sure what coeliac. How long have you had it?

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Permalink Reply by BrendaK on November 16, 2009 at 4:24pm

My mom and I have both. My mom was dx'd with T1D at age 17 and celiac when she was 40. I was dx'd with both celiac and diabetes within 3 months of each other a few years ago when I was 30. My sister just has celiac -- she was dx'd as a baby at 18 months with it.

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Permalink Reply by Valeria Correa on November 17, 2009 at 2:22pm

I'm so grateful for all of your replies. I honeslty didn't know anybody up until now that had both conditions like I had. I don't feel so alone now! Do you guys in US have a coeliac organization? Here in the UK we have Coeliac UK. Their webiste is http://www.coeliac.org.uk/.

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