Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

I Screwed Up

Eclara

By Eclara
in Food Intolerance & Leaky Gut

Recommended Posts

Eclara Explorer
Eclara
Posted

I have been as gluten-free as possible (living in a mixed household, have my own cookware) since my negative biopsy 16 months ago. Ever since the gluten trial I did beforehand I am intolerant of almost everything but especially grains. I eat about as well as can be expected. I'm on a kind of paleo I guess, all meat and vegetables and small servings of fruit, except with my food problems my meal plan tends to be breakfast: chicken with spinach, lunch: chicken with kale, dinner: chicken with carrots, heavily supplemented with bananas throughout the day. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. Sometimes I sneak some egg whites into the mix, sometimes I can't stomach the thought of more chicken so I just have the vegetables. Sometimes I just don't bother to eat at all. Things are definitely better than they were when I was eating gluten, but still bad. I keep losing foods, I'm bloated and nauseous, I have extremely bad gas and unpredictable, foul BMs that lean more towards constipated. I just feel generally unwell and I'm not sure why I'm not getting better. The last gastro I saw put me on rifaximin to see if it was some kind of bacterial overgrowth.

I'm on day 9 (of 14) of the rifaximin, and it has worked in unexpected ways. I have less gas, and when I do have it it no longer smells like it could kill a man. Same with BMs. It also put an end to the maddening throat pressure I was having that I assumed was some kind of reflux. While my rosacea is still pink and flushy, the skin puffiness has reduced so much I look like a different person, and my skin has lost the orange peel texture. My ocular rosacea is no longer permanent, it shows up sporadically and generally goes away with eye drops. The skin on my body is less dry, bumpy and blotchy. My feet and hands no longer constantly glow bright red. The hollow, severely purple undereye circles I've sported for years have also started to improve drastically and my hair and nails are stronger and shinier. It took about three days of feeling weird and adjusting, but I noticed for a few days that my stomach felt a lot better, less 'full' feeling, especially just after I'd taken the pill. Not miraculously so, but I had really high hopes.

Unfortunately, I made the horrible decision to try out (gluten-free) grains again a few days ago after reading on a forum that the rifaximin needed higher carbs and sugar to draw out the bacteria. And after all, if I wanted to permanently incorporate them into my diet, why shouldn't I get started while my system had a boost? It was a bad call and I knew it, I was just so desperate for real food that I threw caution to the wind. It immediately triggered my binge eating (which I haven't struggled with at all since going grain free) so I went into grain overload. I felt the way I did when I was doing the gluten trial- extremely foggy, confused, lethargic, achy, and bloated to the point I was in so much discomfort I thought I could die. At least I didn't throw up this time. It was the worst I'd felt in ages and it took me 3 days to get off of them again. I'm horrified with myself and I think I've caused some damage. Worst of all, I think what I've done has set me back too far for the rifaximin to handle. I'm back to eating my usual but I keep feeling really ill, like it's undoing everything that's improved since I started taking it. I'm so scared. I know that if this course ends and I'm not cured, my gastro will immediately move on to "see, you have IBS! let's get you on some antidepressants". She said as much last time we met, the rifaximin was a last ditch effort.

I just feel so lost.
 

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Hi Eclara,

 

You may have screwed up, but that puts you right in the midst of a goodly number of us who screwed up before you!  Treating our condition seems to involve quite a bit of trial and error at times.  My understanding is the rifaximin is an antibiotic.  That you improved when you started it seems to mean you did have a problem with your gut flora.  The refaximin started correcting the problem, you ate some carbs, and the gut bacteria started thriving again.  I think you are right go back to your previous low carb diet.  A couple other things you could try are garlic (for bacteria control) and mastic gum.  You  might want to start taking some pro-biotics once a day also.  Although the pro-biotics should be taken separately from the refaximin by several hours at least.  Another natural thing that might help is caprylic acid.  Caprylic acid is found in coconut  and can help get rid of yeast.

 

If you can vary your diet by trying different meats and veggies it could also help.  You may need to take digestive enzymes while you are on the refaximin also.  I didn't notice if you are still on dairy and soy protein but I am thinking you aren't.  Those would be good things to avoid for a while.

 

Open Original Shared Link

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Anytime anyone takes a course of antibiotics, they should take probiotics to correct the gut flora balance.

 

Very rarely will a GI doctor tell you this. (Mine is one of the more enlightened ones)

 

(A good one is Florajen3). This advice is IMHO, but I have seen probiotics work wonders for many people, myself included. MY GI tract was a mess for many years--almost my entire life-- and now, I can honestly say I'm "normal". 

 

(well, in reference to my GI tract anyway).  -_-

 

GIs offer SSRIs for IBS because they believe it helps with seratonin production (which occurs in the gut) and relaxes the muscles. I know, they put me on them for years before my C D DX and they did squat for me except promote weight gain.

I think there are better ways to treat "IBS" than to take prescription meds. But again, IMHO.

 

Check out Danielle Walker's website Against All Grains for some good recipes and her inspiring story of recovery. 

w8in4dave Community Regular
w8in4dave
Posted

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the probiotics! Great advise up there! Nuff said from me! 

Eclara Explorer
Eclara
Posted
  • Author

Thank you for the kind replies!

 

I don't really tolerate many other meats or vegetables right now, which is why my diet is so limited. It's part of what I was hoping would improve- I'm dying to get sweet potatoes and cauliflower back especially! I also avoid dairy and soy. The only dairy I tolerate is lactose free kefir which I haven't been drinking the last few days because I wasn't sure if the probiotics in it would interfere with the antibiotic. Will a probiotic really do me any good while I'm taking something that kills everything? Won't all the good bacteria just be continually wiped away with the bad?

 

I don't tolerate garlic but I will look into the mastic gum and caprylic acid, thanks!

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

. Will a probiotic really do me any good while I'm taking something that kills everything? Won't all the good bacteria just be continually wiped away with the bad?

 

 

 

No, hon that's not how this works.

Your GI tract has so many bacteria in it. The "antibiotics" are working to kill an infection.

So, now, you need more of the "good guys"--the PRObiotics to replenish.

If you do not take any of the "good guys"to replenish....imagine what will happen.

Total mess down there. Trust me on this one. This was my gut upon diagnosis NO detectable

beneficial gut bacteria = sickness. 

Probiotics = a healthy body. 

 

 

.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens. I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium. I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells. When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly. This is safe...
    2. Jane02
      - Jane02 replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency. I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently...
    3. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      Hello, @Jane02, I take Naturewise D 3. It contains olive oil. Some Vitamin D supplements, like D Drops, are made with fractionated coconut oil which can cause digestive upsets. Fractionated coconut oil is not the same as coconut oil used for cooking. Fractionated coconut oil has been treated for longer shelf life, so it won't go bad in the...
    4. Scott Adams
      0

      Penobscot Bay, Maine: Nurturing Gluten-Free Wellness Retreat with expert celiac dietitian, Melinda Dennis

      until
      Hello! Join me and treat yourself to a four-day, three-night restorative gluten-free retreat in a peaceful, private coastal retreat setting near Penobscot Bay in Maine. Dates: April 10-13, 2026 Enjoy engaging classes...
    5. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      I do not know this, but since they are labelled gluten-free, and are not really a product that could easily be contaminated when making them (there would be not flour in the air of such a facility, for example), I don't really see contamination as something to be concerned about for this type of product.
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,329
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    klkarius
    Newest Member
    klkarius
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens.  I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium.  I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells.  When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly.  This is safe and nontoxic.  Vitamin D level should be above 70 nmol/L.  Lifeguards and indigenous Pacific Islanders typically have levels between 80-100 nmol/L.   Levels lower than this are based on amount needed to prevent disease like rickets and osteomalacia. We need more thiamine when we're physically ill, emotionally and mentally stressed, and if we exercise like an athlete or laborer.  We need more thiamine if we eat a diet high in simple carbohydrates.  For every 500 kcal of carbohydrates, we need 500-1000 mg more of thiamine to process the carbs into energy.  If there's insufficient thiamine the carbs get stored as fat.  Again, recommended levels set for thiamine are based on minimum amounts needed to prevent disease.  This is often not adequate for optimum health, nor sufficient for people with absorption problems such as Celiac disease.  Gluten free processed foods are not enriched with vitamins like their gluten containing counterparts.  Adding a B Complex and additional thiamine improves health for Celiacs.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine helps the mitochondria in cells to function.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins.  They are all water soluble and easily excreted if not needed. Interesting Reading: Clinical trial: B vitamins improve health in patients with coeliac disease living on a gluten-free diet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19154566/ Safety and effectiveness of vitamin D mega-dose: A systematic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34857184/ High dose dietary vitamin D allocates surplus calories to muscle and growth instead of fat via modulation of myostatin and leptin signaling https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38766160/ Safety of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31746327/ Vitamins and Celiac Disease: Beyond Vitamin D https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11857425/ Investigating the therapeutic potential of tryptophan and vitamin A in modulating immune responses in celiac disease: an experimental study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40178602/ Investigating the Impact of Vitamin A and Amino Acids on Immune Responses in Celiac Disease Patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10814138/
    • Jane02
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Jane02 · Posted

      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency.  I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently meet from my diet is vitamin D. Calcium is a hit and miss as I rely on vegetables, dark leafy greens as a major source, for my calcium intake. I'm able to meet it when I either eat or juice a bundle of kale or collard greens daily haha. My thiamine intake is roughly 120% of my needs, although I do recognize that I may not be absorbing all of these nutrients consistently with intermittent unintentional exposures to gluten.  My vitamin A intake is roughly 900% (~6400 mcg/d) of my needs as I eat a lot of sweet potato, although since it's plant-derived vitamin A (beta-carotene) apparently it's not likely to cause toxicity.  Thanks again! 
    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Hello, @Jane02,  I take Naturewise D 3.  It contains olive oil.   Some Vitamin D supplements, like D Drops, are made with fractionated coconut oil which can cause digestive upsets.  Fractionated coconut oil is not the same as coconut oil used for cooking.  Fractionated coconut oil has been treated for longer shelf life, so it won't go bad in the jar, and thus may be irritating to the digestive system. I avoid supplements made with soy because many people with Celiac Disease also react to soy.  Mixed tocopherols, an ingredient in Thornes Vitamin D, may be sourced from soy oil.  Kirkland's has soy on its ingredient list. I avoid things that might contain or be exposed to crustaceans, like Metagenics says on its label.  I have a crustacean/shellfish/fish allergy.  I like Life Extension Bioactive Complete B Complex.  I take additional Thiamine B 1 in the form Benfotiamine which helps the intestines heal, Life Extension MegaBenfotiamine. Thiamine is needed to activate Vitamin D.   Low thiamine can make one feel like they are getting glutened after a meal containing lots of simple carbohydrates like white rice, or processed gluten free foods like cookies and pasta.   It's rare to have a single vitamin deficiency.  The water soluble B Complex vitamins should be supplemented together with additional Thiamine in the form Benfotiamine and Thiamine TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) to correct subclinical deficiencies that don't show up on blood tests.  These are subclinical deficiencies within organs and tissues.  Blood is a transportation system.  The body will deplete tissues and organs in order to keep a supply of thiamine in the bloodstream going to the brain and heart.   If you're low in Vitamin D, you may well be low in other fat soluble vitamins like Vitamin A and Vitamin K. Have you seen a dietician?
    • Scott Adams
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I do not know this, but since they are labelled gluten-free, and are not really a product that could easily be contaminated when making them (there would be not flour in the air of such a facility, for example), I don't really see contamination as something to be concerned about for this type of product. 
    • trents
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By trents · Posted

      Contact them.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.