Food Intolerances - This Is All So Confusing!

[lovechild]

I have been gluten free now for 3.5 weeks and I have noticed a great improvement in my energy level and mood. My digestive issues have sorted themselves out pretty much too. No more constipation and diarrhea. I still have tingling all over my body and muscle aches but that seems to be a little bit better as well. 

 

I would have chosen to be tested for celiac before going gluten free but my family doctor says that he won't test me for celiac and if I think I will feel better on the gluten-free diet then go for it! The reason my doctor won't test me is that he said he tested me for celiac three years ago and the results came back negative. I believe he only tested one antibody (not the full panel) and I also can't remember if I was eating much gluten at the time he tested me. So here I am now!

 

Every day at lunch I walk 2-3 km and I have increased energy whereas before I started the gluten-free diet I could barely get off the couch or I was falling asleep at my desk at work. I was so exhausted! My body hurt everyday like I had been run over by a truck. Not fun!

 

Two days ago I think I may have been glutened and I have not been well since. I decided to stop by a local cafe on my lunch and treat myself to a gluten-free whoopie pie and some fresh watermelon. Oh my it was delicious, but about 20 minutes after eating both things I was so sick, running to the bathroom with stomach cramps, the big D etc. It may have been a cross contamination issue with the whoopie pie as they also serve gluten foods at this cafe. I still don't feel too well for eating it. Then yesterday I only ate gluten free foods but decided to try the watermelon again and a few minutes later I was running to the bathroom again in pain! 

 

Now I am second guessing myself whether I am actually gluten intolerant or maybe just have a fructose malabsorption problem. Then I also got to reading about salicylate sensitivity and other food intolerances. I am very confused as to what my problem could really be but I am tired of feeling crappy all the time so I am determined to figure this out.

 

Do you have multiple food intolerances and how did you figure it all out?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[bartfull]

I have multiple food intolerances, but honestly, at this point in your journey you are likely to have gluten-feeling reactions to just about anything. You aren't healed yet and your body is confused. When I first started I would get D from sweet potatoes!

 

I would suggest that you eat ONLY foods that you have prepared yourself for a while. Don't take a chance on CC. Try to eat "gentle" foods for a while, nothing too greasy, nothing with too much fiber. One of the things that helped me was going organic. I was actually reacting to pesticide and chemical fertilizers no matter how much I scrubbed my veggies. It made a huge difference, and now I can buy things in the grocery store again. And keep a food diary. Maybe start out with a few foods you know don't bother you, then slowly add things back, one a week.

 

Give it time and I'm sure you will heal and find you can eat lots of things.

[lovechild]

I have multiple food intolerances, but honestly, at this point in your journey you are likely to have gluten-feeling reactions to just about anything. You aren't healed yet and your body is confused. When I first started I would get D from sweet potatoes!

 

I would suggest that you eat ONLY foods that you have prepared yourself for a while. Don't take a chance on CC. Try to eat "gentle" foods for a while, nothing too greasy, nothing with too much fiber. One of the things that helped me was going organic. I was actually reacting to pesticide and chemical fertilizers no matter how much I scrubbed my veggies. It made a huge difference, and now I can buy things in the grocery store again. And keep a food diary. Maybe start out with a few foods you know don't bother you, then slowly add things back, one a week.

 

Give it time and I'm sure you will heal and find you can eat lots of things.

Thanks so much Bartful. Those are some wonderful tips! I will for sure give it a try. I am not much of a cook so I have had to make my own food more now that I have been gluten free. Sometimes I am not organized and need to buy lunch somewhere and that is usually when I pay the price. My diet is already mostly organic. I rarely have foods that are not organic. I am going to start the food diary thing and keep track of my reactions to foods. Hopefully eventually I will figure this whole thing out.

 

All the best.

[klisja]

bartfull

What would you say was "gentle foods"?

 

I haven't been diagnosed with gluten intolarance, not in any testing, but I have multiple food intolerances. I know I will heal eventually but I have to find the main source and work from that. At the moment all I eat is  oats, rice, milk, cheese, salt, meats (not pork), eggwhites, coffee, tea  - if I behave that is, and It's pretty boring! It's to difficult to eat like this.

 

The whole world can see if I am, naugthy because my lips become big and red

 

Klisja

[bartfull]

I see you don't have any vegetables on your list. Try organic sweet potatoes. They are full of nutrition. By "gentle" foods, I mean things that aren't too greasy or don't have TOO much fiber. Nuts for example - they are good for you but hard to digest.

 

But more importantly, I see you are eating oats. There is the red flag. Oats are VERY often cross-contaminated. Even if they are processed in a dedicated facility, they are often (usually) harvested with the same equipment they use to harvest wheat. Some of us cannot tolerate oats at all. As a matter of fact, although I know there are some here who can eat steel-cut oats from dedicated facilities, I think the majority of us can't.

[klisja]

I see you don't have any vegetables on your list. Try organic sweet potatoes. They are full of nutrition. By "gentle" foods, I mean things that aren't too greasy or don't have TOO much fiber. Nuts for example - they are good for you but hard to digest.

 

But more importantly, I see you are eating oats. There is the red flag. Oats are VERY often cross-contaminated. Even if they are processed in a dedicated facility, they are often (usually) harvested with the same equipment they use to harvest wheat. Some of us cannot tolerate oats at all. As a matter of fact, although I know there are some here who can eat steel-cut oats from dedicated facilities, I think the majority of us can't.

 

I took out fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, berries and spices because I was always having some reactions - mostly irritation in the colon. Oats don't irritate my colon and I haven't noticed any other reaction (maby some runny nose but not sure if it's the oats).

 

I don't know, maby it's something else that is bothering me. The past two days I have been eating breads and some veggies, not sure if it's the veggies or the breads but my lips are red and sore, I am sensitive and so so tired. 

 

It's just that I noticed when I eat baked goods I get so tired, not neccicerally irritated in the colon.

 

Just wondering if someone has had similar problems with foods?

 

Thanks 

[Auntie-Manda]

I have issues with dairy as well as gluten. I found this out by tracking stomachaches. After I removed the gluten, I stoppes feeling bad all the time, and I noticed a pattern- I would get a stomachache shortly after eating dairy, and the stomachache's intensity depended onhow much dairy I had eaten. On most days I can handle a little bit, but if I had recently been glutened, I can't have any dairy at all for a good week (or else I get constipation and cramps/bloating sooooo bad!). When I'm having issues, I pretty much stick to rice and fruits/veggies. Sometimes I'll make some chicken rice soup, but that's about it.

 

Good luck figuring out all your issues! I do myfitnesspal.com for weight loss, and I've found it's very handy to have a record of everything I eat. In the notes section, I'll add symptoms and times (headache /migraine/ stomachache). That's how I could clearly see that all the stomachaches were after dairy. Also, I've found that gluten symptoms are always exctly 1.5 hours after consuming gluten, so I can rule out gluten based on time frame.