Non-celiacs who care for (and care about) a person who lives gluten free have a unique set of challenges. Here are a few ideas that might be helpful. I am on focusing on adults who live gluten free in this article. Parents or caregivers responsible for children who live gluten free have a somewhat different set of concerns. I’ll deal with that in another article.

Step # 1: Accept the hard realities of the situation . Read this article written by a woman responsible for providing gluten free food for her celiac husband and making sure that he stays on the diet. Read the comments given by persons who responded to the article. There is much frustration! Dealing with Celiac disease is difficult — for the patient and for those who love and care for him.

Here is another article worth reading. It deals with the particular frustrations of the asymptomatic celiac — a person who has been medically diagnosed with celiac disease but exhibits no or very mild symptoms.

Step #2: Learn along with your celiac “charge”.

♦ You’ll need lots of information!!!! There are solutuons to most of the objections included in the first letters and comments that you read.

♦ Learn along with your celiac “charge”. Learning together can be a great bonding experience. Watch this ninety minute video stopping periodically to share what is being said. It is quite likely that your celiac will learn as much as you do.

Published 7/23/10