Newly Diagnosed

[pochtas2003]

Hi, I was just diagnosed with Celiac's disease on Monday. I have only been showing symptoms for about 2 months. Some days are better than others. I'm starting my recovery and gluten-free diet but I'm just wondering how long will my symptoms last and when will I start to feel better. 

 

Also, I'm looking for any tips or advice that you guys may have.

 

Thanks

[GottaSki]

Welcome!

 

Here is the best place to start...

 

https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/91878-newbie-info-101/

 

So glad you found us....read...ask any questions you may have...the transition can be tough.

 

Hang in there

[nvsmom]

Welcome to the board. 

 

Some celiacs hit a withdrawal within a few days of going gluten-free, and end up feeling worse for a few weeks. I experienced crankiness, headaches, crankiness, fatigue, and crankiness... did I mention a bad mood?  LOL Not everyone hits it, but be don't be shocked if it happens.

 

If you avoid withdrawal, your symptoms could start improving immediately. GI symptoms and headaches seem to improve the fastest. Non GI symptoms and bathroom habits tend to improve slower over many weeks or months (or years in severe cases). I hope you feel great by the end of summer!

 

L-glutamine is thought by some to help with healing of the small intestine. That could help speed things up for you.

 

Probiotics are helpful in getting our gut's "flora and fauna" resorted a bit faster.

 

Have you had your nutrients checked? Celiacs are often low in B12, D, ferritin, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc and folate. Some of us need larger, high quality vitamin doses for a few months or years until our body is back to a healthy level.

 

You might want to check your thyroid too. Thyroiditis is found in about 1/10 celiacs. If you think it could be an issue for you, check TSH (should be near a 1), free t4 and free T3 (should be in 50-75% range of your lab's normal reference range), and TP Ab.

 

LOL Many of what I mentioned have nothing to do with feeling better now, but are good things to check so you get to feeling better in the future.  Best wishes. 

[Diggraphics]

I just found out too. A week ago. My stomach is not happy. Felt a difference after 4 days. Now I must not be eating the right things cuz today my tummy is angry!! It seems like it just takes time.

[AlwaysLearning]

For the initial withdrawal from the opiod portion of gluten, if you were 100% gluten free and had typical withdrawal symptoms, I'd expect them to last anywhere from five days to two weeks. These can include generally feeling lousy, headaches, extreme fatigue (sleeping more than normal), and brain fog, in that order.

 

Accidental glutening reactions have some some similarities to the initial withdrawal. Supposedly, the longer you've been gluten free, the worse your reaction will be, though the differences from one person to another vary widely. Being in your first few weeks, I suppose I wouldn't expect your reaction to be too awful. You may get the stomach gurgling but skip the diarrhea (unless you are one of the super sensitive folks). But even the smallest trace amount can result in a period of "irritability" for several hours (basically angry about anything and everything), followed by a horrible headache that could last for days, and then a few days of brain fog. So even if you're only getting glutened once a week, that could be enough to keep you feeling lousy all of the time.

Symptoms from damage to the body could take much longer to heal noticeably, maybe even several months before you see improvement depending on what types of symptoms you may have had ... and how successful you are at avoiding the accidental glutenings. I had symptoms that improved in as little as two days to two full months. Some people mention still noticing problems for more than a year. But the good news is that you'll probably also notice a few things that you didn't even realize were problems or related to gluten disappearing as well.
 

But many symptoms aren't helped by going gluten free and could continue to get worse. Vitamin deficiencies were actually the cause of a lot of my pain and fatigue issues and got worse for months before I figured it out and got tested/started supplementing. And many people discover that the damage gluten did to their thyroids has meant that they have to look into problems caused by hormone imbalances.

Getting a blood test for vitamin deficiencies and to make sure hormone levels are on track is a great first step to avoid additional needless suffering.

Everyone has lots of accidental glutenings in the beginning, and most likely will have a bigger one at some point that really tests you. Don't beat yourself up when they happen. The gluten will do that for you.

Best of luck to you ... but being here on the forums already probably means that you're going to do great!