Please, please can anyone help over food allergy costs.

Sandeze

Hello everyone,
I had a food allergy test last week as I have suffered with stomach problems for many years, cutting a long story short I am allergic to Wheat and Lactose (in cows milk) and so had to change my eating habits drastically. As I have to change all my food my shopping bill has nearly doubled from £55 per week to over £95, I simply cannot afford this and hope that someone can help me. My consultant (who I trust) advised me to get all Goats products (milk, cheese etc) and this with other wheat free products has made my shopping bill, well, astronomical.
Please help.

Vindiesel

I can't help i am afraid, but i can certianly sympathise. I am in a similar situation, and find £2 for (half) a loaf of bread frightening! Fresh fruit and veg too isn't cheap, and when you don't live near any markets, you have to buy what the supermarket offers..

On the plus side, rice cakes are very nice- and versatile, and oat cakes, are sooo tasty it's incredible.

Best of luck :-)

DenBo_4

For your wheat allergy I suggest getting a bread maker with a gluten free cycle, buy your breadmaking mix from Asda or health food shops - Doves gluten free bread mix - is the cheapest at only (?) £2 and you can get two loaves out of it. Yep eating with allergies is expensive, if you have a wheat allergy or intolerance but not cealiac disease you cant get the stuff on prescription, which I consider very unfair.

But to make things cheaper you dont have to substitute like for like, Ive virtually given up bread now, even wheat free, and eat different things instead. It makes life more difficult but if you are an orderly person (Im not) you can plan your food ahead. The worst thing is being in town, hungry, and your only choices are sandwiches, cakes, pizza etc.:mad:

littlesos

Sandeze wrote: »

Hello everyone,
I had a food allergy test last week as I have suffered with stomach problems for many years, cutting a long story short I am allergic to Wheat and Lactose (in cows milk) and so had to change my eating habits drastically. As I have to change all my food my shopping bill has nearly doubled from £55 per week to over £95, I simply cannot afford this and hope that someone can help me. My consultant (who I trust) advised me to get all Goats products (milk, cheese etc) and this with other wheat free products has made my shopping bill, well, astronomical.
Please help.

Don't quite understand this as lactose is present in goats milk too! My daughter is lactose and soya intolerant, so we use oat milk or rice milk. It's not too bad.

I'd advise you to start cooking from scratch, buying ready-made wheat-free and lactose-free stuff is expensive, but making your own is much cheaper.

newlywed

Rice milk is available in supermarkets and is nice on cereal etc.

When I did a similar diet. I found it cheaper to not buy the "replacements" for wheat and dairy but edge more towards finding complete alternatives in my diet. Eg instead of that bread-stuff have rice cakes and salads, potatoes etc. You do need to think differently though as there are lots of foods that are then cut out of your diet.

I know everyone is different but, after 8-10 weeks on wheat free, I didn't see any real benefit - the dairy free I found more benefit from, so went back to eating wheat.

full-time-mum

I gave up wheat over 2 years ago and I know what you mean about the cost.

It will take time to get yourself sorted but there are some ways of cutting costs (one of which was eating less - good for the waistline! - amazing how many biscuits that you don't really need).

I've found that I can make cakes and biscuits fairly successfully with Doves flour which works out a hell of a lot cheaper than the shop made stuff. Let me know if you want more baking tips.

Jacket Potatoes, Salad, rice are good basics for lunch times. W/F pasta is acceptable and you need a lot less than the normal stuff - unless in a difficult situation, cook normal for the rest of the family.

I boil new potatoes and keep them in the fridge so when the others have fried egg sarnies for breakfast, I can fry a few of them with the egg instead. Also left over boiled potatoes reheated in the micro with beans (I have cheese too - would some goats cheese work?) or topped with crispy bacon bits.

I haven't really solved the bread issue but do treat myself to the occaisional loaf for a treat. Tesco do a baton style loaf which you bake in the oven although I find it is find if you slice and toast it.

A friend pays me to bake w/f cakes for her so don't feel that you are going to miss out on all the nice stuff. W/F shortbread is, in my opinion, even better than the normal stuff.

It will also take you longer to shop for a bit while you get to know products and ingredients lists but their are a lot of normal products that are OK (and a lot that should but aren't)

meerustar

Take a look on the Old Style thread as they have masses of recipes and you can check the ingrediants to check which dishes are suitable for you.

Make big pots and freeze portions too ... saves on cooking every night and you have your own ready made meals.

soolin

I agree with the others, just substituting 'free from' items for 'normal' items costs a fortune, so change your eating habits entirely and it can be done cheaply.

I have coeliac disease so am completely gluten free, so instead of pre processed foods we all just eat an old fashioned diet like the meat and two veg variety..lots of hot home cooked foods instead of ready meals and shop bought items can actually save money to put towards those extra treats sometimes. Tonight for instance I have shepherds pie, made from beef mince from the discount butchers, mashed potato and Bisto Best gravy granules (they are gf).

Soo

Sandeze

Thank you all for your replies, it is very much appreciated, a good point you brought up littlesos was "Don't quite understand this as lactose is present in goats milk too!" I am told that it is Lactose free but searching on the internet it looks like it does have Lactose in it but a smaller amount, interesting, does anyone know the answer.
Regards.

https://www.informationaddicts.com

AllergyMom

I agree with what a previous posted said. Find products that naturally dont contain your allergens. If you are wheat-free, can you use soft corn tortillas as a wrap for sandwiches. You can get a bunch of those for very little. Or use lettuce for a wrap.

Rice milk is not expensive and works well with baking. Cutting out wheat and dairy at first is a very overwheming task but it does get easier. With time, it will seem like no big deal.

For now, just make as much as you can at home. Make big batches of safe foods and freeze smaller portions for lunches.

Please take a look at our AllergyMoms website too we often have giveaways of cookbooks and other essentials that could help. We also feature recipes that you might like. You can look at our past issues on line there too. It's all free.

Good Luck,
Gina

Fen1

If you have been properly medically assessed as suffering from allergies, especially wheat, you may be able to get wheat-free alternatives via the NHS (prescription stuff from the chemist).
I would also be very wary of just substituting goat's for cow's milk - it still contains lactose. I would go completely dairy free for a month, then try a bit of goat's milk and see if there is a reaction. You may be sensitive to cow protein, but not to goat's, rather than lactose itself.