new to board, FI, need help for 2 daughters

[busybee224]

hello all,
i have 2 children, ages 5 and 10. long story, but both have just been diagnosed with fructose intolerance, basically through a breath test. 5 year old's score was quite high. anyway, feeling very overwhelmed. went to visit the hospital's dietician who handed us the standard "foods to avoid" "foods that are o.k." list and told us "good luck". we had many, many questions of which her response was "i don't know" or "try the internet"! so here i am. read many of the posts and am feeling overwhelmed. the 10 year old is handling it well, the 5 year old is not. i would be interested in hearing from anyone via email who has been through this before, and i would be interested in having TAMMY contact me via email if you feel comfortable. i printed off the travel tips (for vacation, visiting relatives etc.) and the "quicky" foods list. does anyone have a great cake and frosting recipe? and what about pretzels??? are they out? what flours do you mostly use????my 5 year old is really, really upset about giving up her sweets. don't know if it's HFI or DFI, i was told it didn't really matter since the end treatment is the same. also, dietician said not to worry about the toothpaste since they don't eat it, but after reading these boards, i'm questioning this. any input for this overwhelmed and a bit confused parent set would be greatly appreciated.
thank you so much!
[e-mail]

[Tammy]

Hello and welcome.
I am by no means an expert in the medical aspect of this, but I've got some of the "Mom" questions under control. I've sent you an e-mail but thought I'd answer here also just in case I messed something up with that. I do tend to be a little more long - winded in my e-mails. So if you want to shut me up sooner, then I"ll have to answer on here.

So fire away.........I'm always glad to give my opinion, even if someone wants it or not!
Tammy

[lisa]

I'll e-mail you the list that Karen put together. It is really extensive and talks about amounts for acceptable foods.

I haven't really looked for a cake recipe yet, but have actually found a sugar free (SF) angelfood cake at a local health food store that is OK. If you are short on baking time, you may want to check for one in your area. I am planning to top that with SF pudding and home made whipped cream for my son's birthday next month.

You could also find a "from scratch" cake recipe and substitute aspartame or dextrose for the sugar. You can find dextrose at any home brewing store.

My son has been struggling with the desire for sweets too. Pixie Stix and SweetTarts (not all varieties so be sure to check) are usually made with dextrose and I have found SF rootbeer candies that are OK as well. If she likes red vines, there is even a sugar free, artificially flavored strawberry version you can try.

My son eats lots of pretzels. We buy Snyders of Hanover and the Goldfish ones. Some brands are made with unacceptable sugars so every pretzel is not OK. Cheese Its and Cheese Nips are also common purchases for us.

As I've learned over the past 4 months there are lots of options out there. It just takes time to memorize the acceptable ingredients list and get used to scanning packages every time you go to the store. Initially it took me 1 - 2 hours in the store to come up with a week's worth of food that a toddler would actually eat. Now I may spend an extra 10 - 15 minutes if I'm looking for new and unfamiliar foods. Don't be discouraged. It gets better.

[laurie]

i haven't been able to find pixie stix here (south carolina) that aren't made with sugar, but hunter loves smarties. (smarties are safe)
as far as cake goes........we made a cake using bisquick and then used sugar free pudding as the icing. it was like a big pudding pancake, ha ha, but hunter loved it.

laurie

[nancyrandall]

I have a 5 1/2 year old son with Fructose Intolerance (diagnosed with breath test). I was also told that it did not matter if it was DFI or HFI just follow the diet. I don't talk much on this board but, to check in every few weeks. I have found great stuff. My son is not as sensitive as some the others. He gets diarea and moody when he goes off his diet. We do use normal tooth paste with out a problem. When I started out I took it away and have added it back. I (with help from grandparents) bake lots of sweets using Dextrose (I purchase it online). I usually add extra Dextrose sugar to a normal cake recipe. I have made donuts, cup cakes, cake. I also purchase sweet tarts, pixie stix (I found them at JoAnn's and cleaned out the shelf, smarties. I have also found a few candy during the holidays at the grocery store and target. It is the stuff that comes in kids cell phones, flashlights, cars, ect... You have to read the label but, some use only dextrose as sugar.

Would love to hear you long story about your 5 and 10 year old being diagnosed. My son was diagnosed in September but, I have been following the diet for about 1 year. I may be able to help give you some hints on dealing with the 5 year old. I make and keep lots of sweets on hand, in car, purse, ect.. I also offer a candy or toy swap for all non-approved sweets. His teacher has a stash of approved candy and cupcakes at school for the days they have treats. I make syrup our of water and dextrose. You can also make a chocolate syrup for pancakes ect... I will post some of the recipies for you. Feel free to give me a e-mail.

I have followed the HFI diet with great success. When we tried to add back in a few items that they say you should be able to tolerate if you are DFI we have problems. The one thing I would like to try but, play to wait tell summer vacation is table sugar. At this point any time he slips off the diet he misses a day of school (due to diarea) and is not very focused at school (teacher notices).

Nancy
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[Tammy]

I've posted this before, but with Easter coming, it's a good time for reminding.
There is a little local candy shop near me that has sugar-free chocolate. Rabbits, lollipops, crosses, lambs, eggs, etc. It has sugar alcohol in it. Some question the sugar alcohols, but all my old tried and true charts said it was ok and we've used it for years. It may give some diarrhea if you eat too much at one time, just as it may any NON-HFI person, also. My papers say it's as safe for HFI as it is for anyone. It does NOT have sorbitol.

With that said, anyone who would like to try it, can order it online at:
www.puritycandy.com/
The only thing to keep in mind is that it's ONLY the chocolate that is sugar-free. If it is covering something, that is probably NOT. Example, they have sugar-free chocolate pretzels, but only the chocolate is s-f, the pretzels are not. So just get the solid chocolate things and you'll be fine.

You may have to call them as I don't see the s-f in the online store, but I"ve talked to them and they are glad to ship it for you. The number is on the web site.