[Jamie]

I am probably going to be posting a lot of weird, important or even stupid questions for a while... I was just diagnosed, am just starting the gluten-free diet and still have a whole lot to learn. So I would appreciate any help.

Anyway.. I have been on this diet officially since Tuesday.. and one thing I noticed was appitite change....

When I was diagnosed through blood work back in Dec.. I went gluten-free for about 3 weeks or so.... then I had to go back on a regular diet for a month and a half before the biopsy.... while I was eating a regular diet.. I noticed I gained 10 lbs and I lost my appetite completly. Now that I am gluten free.. I have a huge appetite. I feel like I am constantly hungry oh my god. I thought it was the opposite way around.. where as.. you are hungry while eating gluten because your body is not absorbing anything... and not as hungry when you are gluten-free because your body is absorbing everything finally. I don't feel any changes in weight yet... but I do notice that Im not getting sick and bloated after I eat.

[happygirl]

Hi Jamie -

Its not just you. http://www.celiacdiseasecenter.columbia.ed...nts/A02-FAQ.htm

"Q: I feel hungry all the time. Is that normal?

Yes, it is very common. Your body is making up for the time it wasn't fully absorbing foods. Hunger levels tend to normalize within the first months after eliminating gluten and beginning a well balanced diet of gluten-free foods."

[hannahp57]

don't worry. i think everyone has a different experience. for me, I lost my appetite while I was still eating normal food because it hurt SO much to eat. I cannot even describe it, but if you have the gastro symptoms you know exactly what I am talking about. But after switching the diet to gluten free, i thought my appetite would return and it didn't. It still hurt to eat and i was worried that yet again, the doctor was wrong. I talked to him about it and he said that many different things happen after a celiac changes diets.
1. in my case, your body is damaged and when it tries to digest and absorb with the villi still being flattened, it is going to hurt and that i should add things back slowly. starting with fruits, ten veggies, then gluten-free grains, then meat. understand that about four months before my diagnosis i had stopped eating entirely. to make my family happy i ate about 1/4 of a cup of jello....a day. if i could. so going back to eating was hard. and i didn't like it.
2. in some cases, the body will crave because of the lack of nutrition prior. which is a good thing, i think. it means your body is digesting those things!

i can tell you from experience after a few months, when i began eating more normally i gained about 30 lbs. then after that, with a few more months of my metabolism balancing i lost 10 of them which put me at 120lbs at 5'8''
so weight fluctuation, appetite changes, all these things happen to a lot of us. and im sure other things that i didn't experience as well

how long have you been gluten free?