Feeling Awful ; Thinking About Going Back

[betterbelly]

OK

This friday; I'll be gluten free for 2 months. What did happen was that all gas/distended belly and overall uncomfortablness left immediately but; starting w/ christmas eve; everything went downhill... Ate bread crumbs by accident - Diarrhea; bad stomach pretty much until 2 days ago; but not until I had a total break down; throwing up; nausea and now my stomach is so sensitive its killing me. My heart feels racey= like i have a fever; but I don't and no it's not panic attacks. I cut out lactose and I don't know what to do; but I just feel like my body is now not tolerating this diet; im losing a lot of weight too... (I'm 5'7 and started at 140- now 130) ANY help is greatly appreciated. And if anyone knows how to reintroduce gluten back ie... what incriments; please post. I am still waiting on blood test about Celiac; but I know the likelyhood of that coming back inconclusively. Thanks in advance and sorry for long post!!!

[Nancym]

Putting gluten back isn't going to help you. It sounds like you have an infection of some sort, you need to see a doctor.

[tarnalberry]

You ate gluten and got sick - adding in more gluten isn't going to make you feel better. Nancy noted, you may also have caught a bug. But up until you 'poisoned' yourself (gluten is essentially a poision to us) you seem to imply that you were doing better. Don't waste that knowledge! Stick to plain, natural foods for the moment (and it can be tough figuring out what your stomach will handle), until you're feeling better. Make sure that *all* gluten is out of your diet, as well.

[celiacgirls]

It is true that when you go gluten-free, your body sometimes loses its tolerance for even tiny amounts of gluten, making you feel worse than before. But that must mean you really do have an intolerance.

The effects can last a long time, too. For me, my last one lasted 2 1/2 weeks.

You must have felt pretty bad in the beginning to make such a big change in your diet so once you get the hang of it, you will be better off.

From my own experience, I'm not sure I could add gluten back in any increments. I've gotten sick from cc and it was intolerable.

[Electra]

I don't understand why you would want to introduce gluten back into your diet. If you only ate breadcrumbs and had that kind of a reaction and are still feeling the effects then you should definitely NOT eat gluten again!! I've only been gluten free for about 3 weeks, but when I am glutened I can tell within a few hours and it lasts me almost a week. The symptoms very from day to day, but my entire household can tell a difference and I feel like complete CRAP!!

If you felt better off from gluten then I would see no reason to try and put it back into your diet.

[betterbelly]

I did go to a doc and they took blood and poop samples... thanks for the replies!

[Electra]

I hope you feel better soon and let us know how it all goes.

[lonewolf]

I'm not sure I understand either. You've been sick enough to try a gluten free diet, you started feeling better ("all gas/distended belly and overall uncomfortablness left immediately"), you ate a little bit of gluten accidentally over Christmas and got sick again and now you think you should go back on gluten? Why? You've had a positive dietary response, which means that eating gluten-free is helping you. Why do you want to go back to eating something that you know makes you sick?

[betterbelly]

I'm not sure I understand either. You've been sick enough to try a gluten free diet, you started feeling better ("all gas/distended belly and overall uncomfortablness left immediately"), you ate a little bit of gluten accidentally over Christmas and got sick again and now you think you should go back on gluten? Why? You've had a positive dietary response, which means that eating gluten-free is helping you. Why do you want to go back to eating something that you know makes you sick?

My stomach never felt this bad though... is it possible to have problems from Not eating wheat?

[Nancym]

My stomach never felt this bad though... is it possible to have problems from Not eating wheat?

In a word, no. Humans have been around for many hundreds of thousands of years and we've only been eating wheat for about 7,000. So it would seem quite possible to survive without it.

[ravenwoodglass]

OK

This friday; I'll be gluten free for 2 months. What did happen was that all gas/distended belly and overall uncomfortablness left immediately but; starting w/ christmas eve; everything went downhill... Ate bread crumbs by accident - Diarrhea; bad stomach pretty much until 2 days ago; but not until I had a total break down; throwing up; nausea and now my stomach is so sensitive its killing me. My heart feels racey= like i have a fever; but I don't and no it's not panic attacks. I cut out lactose and I don't know what to do; but I just feel like my body is now not tolerating this diet; im losing a lot of weight too... (I'm 5'7 and started at 140- now 130) ANY help is greatly appreciated. And if anyone knows how to reintroduce gluten back ie... what incriments; please post. I am still waiting on blood test about Celiac; but I know the likelyhood of that coming back inconclusively. Thanks in advance and sorry for long post!!!

You body is clearly telling you that it does not want gluten, please do not go back on it. Figure out what it is that is getting you. Are trying to eat mainstream foods, if so you may want to go to eating foods that are less processed. Are you still consuming alcohol, many of us do not tolerate grain alcohols even though many do. Have you deglutened your home? After getting gluten out of your system you may be reacting to CC. Have you eliminated it from shampoos, toiletries and such? If not now that you are not eating it that may be enough to cause a reaction. Please don't give up, it takes a while to learn the ins and outs of this lifestyle.

[betterbelly]

You body is clearly telling you that it does not want gluten, please do not go back on it. Figure out what it is that is getting you. Are trying to eat mainstream foods, if so you may want to go to eating foods that are less processed. Are you still consuming alcohol, many of us do not tolerate grain alcohols even though many do. Have you deglutened your home? After getting gluten out of your system you may be reacting to CC. Have you eliminated it from shampoos, toiletries and such? If not now that you are not eating it that may be enough to cause a reaction. Please don't give up, it takes a while to learn the ins and outs of this lifestyle.

Raven

thanks for the words of encouragement. I have been mainly eating at home; and am vigilent about checking labels. I will let you know and thank you for your help!!!

[Jprock]

OK

This friday; I'll be gluten free for 2 months. What did happen was that all gas/distended belly and overall uncomfortablness left immediately but; starting w/ christmas eve; everything went downhill... Ate bread crumbs by accident - Diarrhea; bad stomach pretty much until 2 days ago; but not until I had a total break down; throwing up; nausea and now my stomach is so sensitive its killing me. My heart feels racey= like i have a fever; but I don't and no it's not panic attacks. I cut out lactose and I don't know what to do; but I just feel like my body is now not tolerating this diet; im losing a lot of weight too... (I'm 5'7 and started at 140- now 130) ANY help is greatly appreciated. And if anyone knows how to reintroduce gluten back ie... what incriments; please post. I am still waiting on blood test about Celiac; but I know the likelyhood of that coming back inconclusively. Thanks in advance and sorry for long post!!!

I don't know if you smoke, but just this past weekend I figured out that it was smoking that was making me sick after three months gluten-free and feeling pretty good. I was off work over the holidays, and I smoke more when I'm home. At first, I couldn't figure out what was making me sick until I did some research. Sure enough, there is, or can be, gluten in cigarettes. So, after giving up gluten, casein and soy, I'm now going to give up cigarettes. I've never had this much motivation.

[Aerin328]

Celiac disease is a long-term illness that requires long-term healing. If you just went off gluten 2 months ago your body is probably still in quite a tizzy, and even more sensitive to gluten than before. I've read in a couple places it takes 1-2 years for the antibodies to leave the blood and for the immune system to break its self-traumatizing cycle... and as much as this figure seems disheartening, please be assured that it DEFINITELY gets WAY BETTER as time passes. Don't give up hope! Be patient! Going gluten-free is an incredibly difficult challenge - but a necessary one. One that you'll be ecstatic you did in the long run. Right now, I can understand your unsurity. Just hang on! And whenever you waver, we will all be here to support.

God bless,

Christian

[ravenwoodglass]

Sure enough, there is, or can be, gluten in cigarettes.

Unfortunately this is true for some brands. We switched to American Spirit which is an additive free, just tobacco cig. The first one seemed different but the change was effortless and both me and my DH smoke much, much less without even trying. Some brands I always just about chain smoked, it makes me wonder if the addictive nature of the gluten additives had something to do with it.

[eleep]

I think it's important not to rule out the possibility that these can be withdrawal-type symptoms -- gluten is an opiate and the racing heart and stomach stuff can be part of withdrawal as well. I went through something much like this for a few months when I went gluten-free.

I also quit smoking recently myself and the one time I've been glutened since then is when I've had cigarette cravings like never before.

[ravenwoodglass]

Raven

thanks for the words of encouragement. I have been mainly eating at home; and am vigilent about checking labels. I will let you know and thank you for your help!!!

I am glad your checking labels but please be aware that not all companies will tell you about crosscontamination issues and non wheat gluten can be hidden in flavors and seasonings. Especially at first it is a good idea to call and ask about any new item.

Also when you make a purchase of an item that is labeled gluten free be sure to look and see if they make gluten containing items also. A dedicated facility would be nice, complete labels would be nice but unfortunately that is still a ways off. I hope your feeling better and really hope you don't give up. It takes time to heal and sometimes even more time to ferret out sources of gluten CC but it is so worth it in the end. And as another poster mentioned the withdrawl can be hard both emotionally and physically but you will get through it.