gluten-free For 2 Years, Now What?

[Npealer]

Last week was the 2 year anniversary for me being diagnosed with celiac disease.  Overall I feel 100% better than I did two years ago.  Like most of you I have a few vitamin deficiencies to deal with.  So here I am still dealing with other issues.  For the last year and a half I've gained 15lbs (i know this can be related to celiac disease)  Extreme tiredness for the last 4-5 weeks, I have had issues with my hair and skin being dry, Brittle nails. I get 8-9 hours of sleep a night and yet still tired daily to the extreme.  Tired of being tired.   I have been tested for my thryroid but it's been a year or more since the last test.  I have emailed my doctor about following up with her.  

 

So for all you who have been gluten-free for awhile does this seem par for the course?  Knowing my luck my Doc will tell me it's all still related to my celiac disease but not much more I can do at home to be gluten-free at this point.  Have any of you had normal thyroid test and then within a year that changed?  TIA for any info you may have. 

[mommida]

Yes your thyroid can change drastically in a short amount of time.  Vitamin defiencies can also make you exhausted.  Get these things tested again.

[nvsmom]

Before I knew I had celiac disease or hashimoto's, I had my doctor check my thyroid (I was having symptoms) and my TSH went from a 6.8 to a 4.7 in two weeks entirely on its own. I just took my doctor's word for it that I was normal and didn't realize that was high (our outdated lab goes up to 6.0 for its reference range).  When they "discovered" my Hashi's 8 months ago, my TSH went from a 15 something to a low 14 in just 2 weeks..... A TSH can change by the day, week or season (higher in winter) never mind over a year; yout thyroid could very well be out of whack.

 

If you do get your thyroid rechecked request:

 

TSH - should be near a 1

Free T4 and free T3 - should be in the 50-75% range of your lab's normal reference range

TPO Antibodies - should be basically non-existent

 

Good luck.   I hope you find some answers soon.

[MegRie]

Last week was the 2 year anniversary for me being diagnosed with celiac disease.  Overall I feel 100% better than I did two years ago.  Like most of you I have a few vitamin deficiencies to deal with.  So here I am still dealing with other issues.  For the last year and a half I've gained 15lbs (i know this can be related to celiac disease)  Extreme tiredness for the last 4-5 weeks, I have had issues with my hair and skin being dry, Brittle nails. I get 8-9 hours of sleep a night and yet still tired daily to the extreme.  Tired of being tired.   I have been tested for my thryroid but it's been a year or more since the last test.  I have emailed my doctor about following up with her.  

 

So for all you who have been gluten-free for awhile does this seem par for the course?  Knowing my luck my Doc will tell me it's all still related to my celiac disease but not much more I can do at home to be gluten-free at this point.  Have any of you had normal thyroid test and then within a year that changed?  TIA for any info you may have. 

Nicole,

 

Have you had any luck with figuring out what was making you so tired, or how to have more energy.  I've been gluten-free for about 3 years now.  Overall I feel so much better, but over the last few months I have been extremely tired again.  I started taking vitamins and those seem to be helping, but I feel like fatigue is a pretty consistent issue with me.

[cyclinglady]

Nicole,

 

Have you had any luck with figuring out what was making you so tired, or how to have more energy.  I've been gluten-free for about 3 years now.  Overall I feel so much better, but over the last few months I have been extremely tired again.  I started taking vitamins and those seem to be helping, but I feel like fatigue is a pretty consistent issue with me.

How is your thyroid? My first hypo symptom has always been slowing down while running and just not feeling strong. As it worsens, I find that I have to take lots of work breaks, eyebrows thin at the outer edges and I feel a bit cold. Anemia causes fatigue for me too as well as shortness of breath. It was basically my only symptom that my caused my doc to suspect celiac disease.

[nvsmom]

Nicole,

 

Have you had any luck with figuring out what was making you so tired, or how to have more energy.  I've been gluten-free for about 3 years now.  Overall I feel so much better, but over the last few months I have been extremely tired again.  I started taking vitamins and those seem to be helping, but I feel like fatigue is a pretty consistent issue with me.

 

My hypothyroidism had a large impact on my energy. Treating it just halfway made no difference, I had to get it to the perfect level with a different medication that is normally prescribed - and it took almost a year to get there. Hypothyroidism can slow your metabolism by 30%; if it's a factor for you, treating it can make a great difference.

 

If you check your thyroid, ask for:

TSH -should be close to a 1 regardless of your lab's range

free T3 and freeT4 -  should be in the 50-75% range of your lab's normal range. Do not test T4, T3 or total T4 and Total T3 as those won't tell you as much.

TPO Ab - should be low

 

I do still get what I call "autoimmune flare-ups" where I get more tired, almost fluish, headaches, joint pains and more headaches. I am guessing that is related to my celiac disease or thyroiditis but it could be something else.

 

Diet is a large factor for me too. If I eat a lot of carbs or sugars, I get the blahs.

[BelleVie]

Just jumping in here to suggest that it's also possible to OP has developed another food intolerance. It might be a good idea to do a food diary and take a good look at commonly intolerant foods, like soy and corn.