New Guy Here, So Glad I Found This Place

[89Mirageman]

I honestly feel that God led me here and I really mean that. I am a 33 y/o male and I've had issues with my stomach as far back as I can remember. They have gotten quite a bit worse over the past two years. I have a dull aching pain in my lower right abdomen, pretty much all the time. Its not as sharp when I am standing for some reason. Also I have always had problems going to the bathroom if you know what I mean. Seems I have to take stool softeners or laxitives. The Doctor told me to eat more fiber, put me on colace, told me to drink more water and eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. I did all of that and had zero improvement.

Also I was diagnosed as a type two diabetic about ten years ago. So if it turns out that I have this disease as well it will really cut down on what I am able to eat on a daily basis. Lately I am always tired, I can sleep for 8+ hours and get up and it seems I'm yawning again two hours later. I've also been having some headaches and pain in my left jaw. Up until lately I never got headaches. I've noticed some joint pain in my left knee as well and lower back pain. Some sinus issues too and again I've never had any problems with my sinuses.

I have been mentioning my constipation issues to doctor's in the past and they all pretty much ignore me. Also they say the lower pain in my side is probably coming from the constipation. Its frustrating to say the least. A few months ago I was hospitalized for being dehydrated. Just before that I was treated with sterroids and antibiotics for an ear infection. It has since cleared up but I still have a fullness in my ear, kinda hard to explain. They did a CT scan of my stomach and all tests came back fine, they did a ton of blood work as well and didn't find anything. An upper endoscopy showed that I had gastroparesis (slow stomach emptying), my blood sugars have been perfect for two months now and I am eating smaller meals but the stomach pain is still there which leads me to believe that I also have celiacs. After reading a ton of threads on here its like a little light bulb came on in my head. To know that its not my imagination, there may actually be a reason why I feel like I'm 80 instead of 33. Why I am plagued with all of these other health issues.

I have been gluten free for about a week or so I thought. I'm still learning and seeing that some of the things that I have eaten over the past few days probably still contained gluten, McDonalds fries and trail mix from the grocery store to name a few. Tomorrow I will start eating nothing but meats, fresh fruits and veggies and see how it goes. I'll lay off the milk, soy and nuts as well. Just wanted to introduce myself and thank everyone for putting this awesome site together. I'm not looking forward to cutting out the gluten but if it means I will feel better it will be worth it for sure. Sadly I don't have any type of health insurance at the moment because I am not working so having a lot of test done is out of the question. I'm hoping my issues will go away in time with the new diet.

[psawyer]

Welcome aboard,

I don't know about the trail mix, but McDonalds fries, while controversial, do not contain any detectable gluten. Look first for other possible gluten sources. If you come to the conclusion by elimination that McDonalds fries are an issue, then it is more likely that cross-contamination in the restaurant is the source than anything intentionally included in the fries.

The fryers used for potato products at McDonalds are at the front

of the shop and are tended by the window crew. Everything else is fried in the back by the grill crew.

[gluten free overseas]

I had the same issues with constipation, so I understand that nightmare. I took me 4 months of being gluten free before I was regular (well, as regular as I have been in my life... not totally there yet). Don't get discouraged if it doesn't clear up right away--it takes a while for your intestines to heal. Just be careful how many things you replace with rice flour because eating lots of products made from rice can bind you up.

[89Mirageman]

Right now, everything that I eat still bothers me. I'm sure it will take my intestines a while to heal since I've been sick for so long. I read somewhere else on here about the fries at McDonalds containing gluten so that's why I mentioned it. I guess for now I still need to eat whole foods and not eat out at all until I get better. As for the trail mix I meant to say the nuts were bad and the m&m's contain milk so its probably a good idea to stay away from those at first too.

Should I run out and buy a new toaster and pots/pans just for me? I was wondering if I could line them with aluminum foil for now while baking or making toast? At least until I find out if this diet is helping me at all. Also what are you guys taking at first to help with the pain and inflammation? I'm taking zantac twice a day. Pepto helps too but causes constipation and I don't need any help with that lol.

[89Mirageman]

So I went to see my regular doctor today for a checkup and decided to mention celiac to him. He knew exactly what it was but told me that caliacs don't have constipation issues, only diaharrea. I go on to tell him about this site that I ran across while searching for my symptoms online and he's like, well we can do the test the next time we need bloodwork from you. Before this I had just mentioned that I have been gluten free for about a week or so and that didn't seem to matter. To me that clearly tells me that maybe he doesn't know as much about this as he thinks he does.My plan is to stay on the diet and hope for the best.

So my next question is, how many on here had severe constipation problems? Also did your gut hurt as soon as you ate, a few hours later once it reached your intestines or what? Any other symptoms? Thanks for all the help in advance!

[anabananakins]

So I went to see my regular doctor today for a checkup and decided to mention celiac to him. He knew exactly what it was but told me that caliacs don't have constipation issues, only diaharrea. I go on to tell him about this site that I ran across while searching for my symptoms online and he's like, well we can do the test the next time we need bloodwork from you. Before this I had just mentioned that I have been gluten free for about a week or so and that didn't seem to matter. To me that clearly tells me that maybe he doesn't know as much about this as he thinks he does.My plan is to stay on the diet and hope for the best.

So my next question is, how many on here had severe constipation problems? Also did your gut hurt as soon as you ate, a few hours later once it reached your intestines or what? Any other symptoms? Thanks for all the help in advance!

Yep, always C for me, very rarely D. Stomach aches my entire life - gone gluten free. It usually takes 2 hours after eating for me to know I've been glutened.

[89Mirageman]

Just a little update on myself. I have been gluten free for about a month now. It seems like my issues are a little better but not a lot. Still pretty constipated and the bloating/pain is still there a little while after meals. My wife and I started walking a lot and that really seems to help with the gas (lol). Tonight for instance I ate one baked pork chop and some cabbage with vinegar and about an hour later here comes the bloating and stomach pain. I have really cut down on what I eat and I went from 206 to 182 which is good because I needed to lose some weight. Also my blood sugars are a lot better but like I said I walk a lot and don't eat as much so that's a given.

Any advice on what I should do next or is a month just not enough time to see a difference?

[psawyer]

I don't know how long you went undiagnosed. It can take considerable time to heal the intestines once you are on the gluten-free diet. During that healing period, symptoms may continue even though gluten has been eliminated. On that scale, one month is very little time. For me, it took more than three months gluten-free before my symptoms completely went away.

[89Mirageman]

Well that's another thing, I haven't officially been diagnosed. I just knew that I had a bunch of the symptoms and decided to try the diet. Also I guess when you heal little by little you really don't notice it.