No Symptoms After Reintroducing Gluten

[krixem]

I have been a frequent on this site for several months now but this is my first post. I started having symptoms over a year ago. At first it would be about once a months or so and they would last for 5-7 days. I would have bloating, gas, brain fog, insomnia and then extreme fatigue, etc. My period has been non existent for 14 months now even though I am only 32. The symptoms started to get worse to the point of every couple of weeks, then every week, then daily. I couldn't eat much, no matter what I ate made me sick. The IBS symptoms started as well and the brain fogs were debilitating. Dr was still convinced my hormones were causing all of this but friend suggested I try gluten free and doc approved saying it wouldn't hurt. The road was bumpy but it did make me feel better. I was following the diet very strictly for me but was cooking with gluten for my child and husband w/out testing the food. Then I realized that my symptoms were still present in a milder form, mostly brain fog, then joint pain, bloating... I had same reactions to watermelon, peaches, cherries, carrots and the number of other fruits and veggies as I had to gluten. I went to a doc to see if I was just getting very sensitive to gluten or if this was something else. I had to do a gluten challenge for total 4 weeks. I did have D and constipation, bad gas and bloating but I only had brain fog like 3 times towards the end of the challenge. I had stomach pains, at times pretty bad but most times I could tolerate them. Anyways, I did not feel as bad as I anticipated and I am starting to doubt that I have gluten intolerance. My test results will be available in 2 weeks but doc did not see an immediate damage during endoscopy. He told me to go back on gluten free and I have been for 4 days now. I had weakness, cold sweats, fatigue and some brain fog the first 3 days and today I woke up with horrible joint pain like a flu without the fever. So weird that I would go back to my symptoms after stopping gluten???????

Has anybody experienced this? I am sooo desperate, I just want answers so I can move on with my life.

Sorry for the long rant...

[defeatwheat]

  The short answer is yes. Have you officially been diagnosed with Celiac? There are a lot of stomach issues out there. Unfortunately I have a lot of them. Some of them I understand, some I

[defeatwheat]

 Sorry, some of them I do not understand. I would find out for sure if you have Celiac via a blood test. IGA/TTG is the test I was diagnosed with. I had half of it years prior but not the other half so there were extra years of misery. I don't understand the others reasons why people do a gluten free diet other than Celiac, but it  would find out for sure if you have it. Knowledge is power, so find out all you can medically. There are setbacks even if you have Celiac and are following the diet. I hope I am at the end of one of them. When you are first diagnosed, one is so delicate and about anything can set ones stomach off. It's really a marathon. Hang in there, follow this forum and make posts. It is a great resource. Doctor's don't know all I wish they did but there are many knowledgeable people on this forum.

[IrishHeart]

Hon, you said this:

 

I had to do a gluten challenge for total 4 weeks. I did have D and constipation, bad gas and bloating but I only had brain fog like 3 times towards the end of the challenge. I had stomach pains, at times pretty bad but most times I could tolerate them. Anyways, I did not feel as bad as I anticipated and I am starting to doubt that I have gluten intolerance

 

 

You have some intolerance for gluten or you would not have ANY symptoms while consuming it.

Your list of symptoms is very telling.

 

You may not have had  "visible evidence during the endoscopy" but that is not what's relevant.

The villi are damaged with celiac and that is only seen on the biopsy.

 

Your doc sounds very savvy. I'd listen to him, stay off gluten and wait for the biopsy results.

 

You feel bad because you were consuming gluten again. Once it leaves your system, you will start to improve.

Be patient. Healing takes time.

Hang in there!

[nvsmom]

Ditto Irish, you have a LOT of symptoms.   And they do tend to get worse as time goes on, so if you continued eating gluten you would probably continue to go downhill.

 

You could have hit withdrawal this time. I felt really poorly in my first few weeks gluten-free. I had another downhill bout from 3-6 months gluten-free. It can really take some time to feel well with this disease. You have only been gluten-free for a few days, so it's still in your system, and your body might still be producing autoantibodies (mine still is at 14 months gluten-free, although at a lower amount).  Give it time... easier said than done isn't it?  LOL