Recently Gluten-Free; Now I Have Heartburn...?

[kellysensei]

Hi!

I've had a terrible cough for two years and was diagnosed with acid reflux two months ago. The ENT put me on Omeprazole, which was a nightmare. I took myself off that pill and decided to try going gluten-free after seeing an episode of Dr. Oz in which some women's acid reflux symptoms (and other health issues) went away after going gluten-free.

 

I've been gluten-free for a month now, and my cough has improved 90%; hooray! I've also only had one headache, when I'd typically get 6-8. So overall, I'm definitely feeling better.

 

But...now I'm experiencing mild to moderate heartburn almost daily. I RARELY had heartburn before. So I feel like I've traded one acid reflux symptom for another. :-( Has anyone else experienced this? What could be causing this? I've realized that yogurt and kefir make me really gassy, but I don't think they're what's giving me heartburn...maybe it's the nuts (mostly almonds and cashews) that I'm now eating? I've eliminated pop and artificial sweeteners from my diet and strictly limited coffee and sugar, so that's not it...

 

I've had allergy testing done and the result was NO ALLERGIES to wheat, eggs, dairy, nuts, shellfish, or any food at all.

 

Interested in hearing your thoughts. Thanks!

[JustCricket]

Yes! For a while there, I was eating Tums like candy. I'd lie down at night, and I could FEEL the acid running up my esophagus. Oh, it was horrible!

 

I didn't have the cough, but I certainly had to watch when, how much, and what types of foods I ate to avoid paying for it, later. And even then, it didn't always work. I was hearing whispers of GERD and the like. After I took myself off of gluten and got past the initial hurdle of that phase, I almost never had heartburn. I had other problems, but not that one, unless I get "glutened."

 

I got glutened over Halloween, though (pretty sure), and I've been dealing with all sorts of symptoms. I notice that the heart burn is worse when I've had dairy. I know you said you have been tested for other allergies, but have you been tested for lactose intolerance? (Just to clarify. It's in common usage to mix terms with allergy, so I wanted to make sure I was understanding.) For what it's worth, I don't seem to have other intolerances and no allergies that I know of. If I do, the symptoms are hit-or-miss and usually involve eating bread, or something likely to have gluten, or milk and dairy products.

[kellysensei]

I haven't been tested for lactose intolerance, but I don't know why I would be "suddenly" lactose intolerant? I"ve had tons of dairy my whole life with no issues (at least, certainly no heartburn).

 

I didn't have dairy for breakfast today but got heartburn anyway, so I don't *think* dairy is the problem...The only other thing that's "new" in my diet, besides an increase in nuts and vegetables, is coconut oil...

[cyclinglady]

I bought some coconut oil.  Started baking with it.  Tried even some coconut milk and coconut "yogurt".  I determined that it made me sick.  If it's not coconut, it could be the nuts.  

 

You can develop intolerances at any time.   Here's another thought.  All that coughing....hiatal hernia?  

 

Good luck!  Glad to see that going gluten free is making you feel better -- almost!

[JustCricket]

KellySensei,

 

I thought the exact same thing. And it seems I can tolerate a little milk and dairy, but after a certain level (more than a cup, I've estimated), I start to have problems. I didn't notice it until I was not having symptoms, anymore, then suddenly got symptoms after having dairy.

 

I hope you find out what it is, and start to feel better, soon!

[kellysensei]

I'll try cutting out coconut oil and coconut milk this week and see if I feel better. Now that you mention it, I have a feeling it's that, not dairy. I hope it IS that, because it's easy to eliminate from my diet (whereas dairy would be REALLY tough).

 

I have an appointment with a GI doctor on Friday to check my stomach acid levels. I plan to ask him about hiatal hernias, too. But I don't really suspect one - I had umbilical hernia repair surgery in summer 2012 and my surgeon just checked me over two months ago and said everything looked great. (I know she wasn't specifically looking for a hiatal hernia, but still...)

[NoGlutenCooties]

It seems like a lot of people have new or worse symptoms when they first go gluten-free.  Based on all I've read about the disease, and this is just my own analysis of the situation, I think when you first go gluten free your body is busy healing itself and also starting to absorb stuff from your food that you haven't been absorbing for awhile.  So just like someone who has been starved has to reintroduce their bodies to food slowly over time, you may find that you need to do this too.  So foods that may not have bothered you before may bother you now, but may not bother you later on down the road once you've had a chance to heal.

[JustCricket]

Kelly, 

 

I understand that! I hope it's that, too, for your sake. It's so HARD to cut dairy out, completely. *sigh*

 

May you find healing, soon.

[kellysensei]

I didn't have any coconut products today. I had mild heartburn this morning, but it was brief.

 

Tonight I had enchiladas for dinner. That included cheese, onions, and, of course, enchilada sauce. It's three hours later and...no heartburn! So far so good. I can't believe coconut oil would give me heartburn but not cheese and onions. Maybe it's the large amount of saturated fat in the coconut oil?

 

NoGlutenCooties, your thoughts make total sense. I'll still pay close attention to what does and doesn't give me heartburn or gas over the next few weeks while my body gets used to this new diet.

[NoGlutenCooties]

Just wanted to add that a digestive enzyme may help as well, especially while your body gets back its ability to break things down on its own.

[MissyBB]

Yep! I had the same problems. I, too, had a cough for years and chalked it up to my cat. Luckily for the cat I inadvertently, and unintentionally went gluten-free (tried the Primal diet) and VOILA - no cough! I put two and two together along with the disappearance of a bunch of my other symptoms when going off of gluten and discovered I am at the very least, NCGS. 

 

Anyway, to answer your question - YES....I, too, went through an initial phase of heartburn when I first gave up gluten. I honestly think it was because I ate so much bread and wheat that my acid was sort of "soaked up" by all that fluff I had in my stomach. Once I stopped eating all that fluffy filler the acid had no place to be absorbed. Well, at least that's my theory! 

 

Eventually, after about a month of gluten-free the heartburn went away as well.

[kellysensei]

It was definitely the coconut oil and milk. I didn't have coconut products Monday-Wednesday and had no heartburn. This morning I had a gluten-free granola bar that had coconut in it (oops) and now I've got HORRIBLE heartburn.

 

No more coconut for me, at least for a while.

[cyclinglady]

Glad you were able to identify the problem.  I'm still holding on to my two cans of coconut milk hoping that I'll get to use them within a year!