Permanent Symptoms?

[SB3619]

I do not personally have celiac disease but my husband does. I am writing on his behalf today.

He was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2005 but didn't truly eat gluten-free (assumed hard-shell tacos from Taco Bell were safe, etc.) until 2009. I won't go into details but I am also gluten-free now, have been for a few years, so there is not gluten in our house and therefore no cross-contamination there.

My husband has never truly felt "himself" again. Some days he feels fine and some days he's exhausted after eating, sometimes even ravenously hungry right after eating. He does definitely have hypoglycemia issues but this goes beyond hypoglycemia.

Even when we keep a very accurate food journal for him we can honestly find no patterns, no rhyme or reason to his symptoms. He also seems to lose and gain weight quickly (might lose four pounds after several days of eating well-balance, high calorie meals which we've even started tracking, then go back to his normal weight without doing anything different) and I'm wondering if that is malabsorption.

 

Is this common? It seems to me like this kind of strange problem should have gone away now that it's been almost four years of being gluten-free. He has certainly seen many other symptoms disappear but I believe ALL of the other symptoms disappeared within a few days to six months of eating gluten-free. What gives? He's been tested for diabetes and other food allergies, although not recently.

[shadowicewolf]

Has his thyroid been checked? That could possibly cause this.

[1desperateladysaved]

I have similar issues with weight gain.  I think mine is do to my adrenal glands being taxed.  I am recently on an herbal formula to support adrenals, but it is too early to say what all it does.

 

You can check adrenal glands by taking blood pressure while lying down.  Then stand up and take it again.  It should rise somewhat when one stands up.  If it goes down after standing it is showing adrenals are having a problem.

[nvsmom]

I was going to sugest thyroid problems too. Some people, whose thyroid is under autoimmune attack, will swing from a hyper state (jittery, shakey, heart palps, affected sleep, fatigued or too much energy, unusual weight gain or loss and increased appetite) to hypo (fatigue, dry skin and hair, hair loss, cold, weight gain, constipation).

 

If he does get his thyroid checked (TSH, TPO Ab, TSI, Free T4 and Free T3), make sure he gets copies of the lab results because doctors tend to call labs normal and discount a patient's symptoms when they shouldn't. Research his results as a double check. KWIM?

 

Are you sure he is gluten-free? 100% gluten-free? I tend to get hypoglycemic when I've eaten gluten. It affects my appetite too. I too tend to gain weight on gluten and lose it easily if I cut out my carbs. minute amounts of gluten can do that to me so maybe he is being contaminated or eating gluten out of the house?

 

Best wishes, and good luck finding answers.

[twe0708]

I get hypoglycemic if I have too many carbs in my meal.  I need to make sure I have more protein than carbs.  

[Celiac Mindwarp]

Has he tried an elimination diet, and not just testing for intolerance?

I found I have similar reactions to gluten from dairy and soy, for example, and have resolved many symptoms that I thought were cross contamination since removing them from my diet.

Good luck. Read around the site, something might ring a bell...