Gluten Free Diet

[gore2828]

I am going gluten free for a month as a test. I have not been diagnosed with celiac but believe I have a gluten intolerance. For years I blamed it on IBS but I have no respite from it

Lately I have been eating more grains and noticed my symptoms worsen. As of today, I went gluten free. I deal with alot of digestive issues: bloating, diahorrea, constipation, and other stuff. I was under the impression I would start feeling better, digestively, right away. I went all day feeling good until the evening and I started getting bloated. How soon will this diet kick in? Am I rushing it? Could the bloating be residual irritation from the gluten ztill in my gut? Help. I just want to be better.

[psawyer]

If your issue is celiac disease, then going gluten-free begins the healing process. It can take a long time to reverse damage to the villi, and symptoms can persist. In my case it took several months gluten-free before I had no noticeable symptoms, but the damage to my villi was quite severe.

[kareng]

Why not get tested for Celiac before you go gluten-free? That way you would know what you are dealing with.

And yes, less than 24 hours gluten free probably isn't enough time to treat Celiac or any other reason gluten might bother you.

[gore2828]

I don't have health insurance. Figured I'd try it on a test basis.

[nvsmom]

Before going gluten-free, you should know that if you want to get tested in the future, you will need to resume eating gluten (approximately 1-2 slices of bread per day) for the 2-3 months prior to testing.  It can be very difficult to make yourself sick for that long for the sake of testing, so if testing is at all a possibility, you may want to consider it.

 

It can take a very long time to feel better on the gluten-free diet.  Generally speaking, most celiacs will notice some difference within the first week gluten-free but symptoms usually don't resolve for a few months, or for many many months.  My autoantibodies were still measurably high after being gluten-free for 9 months, so that means my intestines were still being attacked and I still had inflammation.  I felt better than I had while eating gluten, but my symptoms continued to improve until I had been gluten-free for about a year and a half.  Bloating and stomach aches after every meal changed first (although it still happens once in a while), then headaches improved. At 9 months in my constipation finally left, and at 1 year gluten-free my arthritis was improving.  It can take a long time.

 

Those with Non-celiac gluten sesnitivity (NCGS) tend to improve a bit faster than celiacs (from what I have seen) but that is not always the case.

 

Best wishes to you.  i hope you feel better.

[bartfull]

You'll have to (probably) go through gluten withdrawal first. Headaches, mood swings, unsatiable hunger. It lasted a couple of weeks for me. Then at about three weeks I started feeling better and noticed my celiac symptoms lessening.