I Keep Getting Sick And Don't Know Why!

[mareahf]

I have been gluten free for 6 years now and was doing really well until I got a bad glutening about 6 months ago. Since then I have gotten better only to get sick over and over again. I would get sick for about a week then feel better for about a week and get sick again! This has been happening for months now.

I went to my wellness dr and he suspected I have a soy allergy now so I have been avoiding soy for a week but I'm sick again! I have been eating some processed foods but I always make sure it is certified gluten free and I check for soy now too. I don't think it's cross contamination, I'm pretty good about that.

I also wonder if it is my anxiety. I get bad anxiety when glutened and since I have been sick so much I've been have lots of anxiety. Do you think my anxiety is causing my diarrhea?

I'm just so sick of being sick now and miss the days I felt healthy and happy.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Any suggestions on what I should do? How many of you developed a soy allergy years after tolerating soy ?

For now I'm going to eat clean, no processed food, and talk to my shrink about upping my anxiety meds.

[ravenwoodglass]

Are your anxiety meds generic? If they are binders can be changed at any time. Check with the company that makes them. Their name should be on the label but it may be in very small print. Also look into anything else that you might have changed when this happened. Pet food, supplements, do you have gluten eaters in your home, if so could they have become less careful? Do you have a significant other? If so are they gluten free or careful to brush their teeth before you kiss?

I hope you can figure this out soon. Do also make sure that your doctor has checked for any other problems you may have just in case it isn't gluten or soy causing the issue but an illness. 

[Googles]

I started having intermittent problems with D and it ended up being dairy that was causing problems. I removed that and things got better. Good luck. 

[fran641]

After a year of gluten-free I began having strong reactions to dairy out of the blue. Turns out my gallbladder is acting up and may have to come out soon. The doc said sudden onset of dairy reaction is common when the gallbladder goes bad. The D is awful when I have any dairy. Hope you can figure out what is triggering your responses this long after being gluten-free.

[mareahf]

Thank you your suggestions.

I called the manufacturer for my medicine (sertraline by greenstone) and they said they could NOT verify that it is gluten free or soy free because they use some products that could be made from wheat or soy. So now I'll look for an alternative.

In the past I found out I have polyps in my gallbladder so I will get that checked again soon to see if their are any changes or concerns.

I will also cut out dairy to see if that helps.

[LauraH]

You could be developing microscopic colitis, which is inflammation in the large intestine that can be caused by celiac disease.   It's possible that the glutening you mention triggered more inflammation that now is being made worse by foods that had been safe for you before - like an already skinned knee will keep being re-injured if you crawl on carpet, but if it wasn't skinned already it wouldn't be a problem.   The problem with MC is that a lot of things can cause symptoms, not just the major culprits (grains, dairy, soy, sugar).  For me anything raw, fibrous, nuts,  and even many cooked veggies make my D worse.  I can get it under control for a week or so, but then something will irritate my intestines and it takes a good week of totally safe foods (chicken, well cooked apples, well cooked carrots, broth, bananas, some cheeses) to solidify things back up.   

 

Only a biopsy can diagnose it (ahem, sound familiar?), but maybe read up on it a bit and try cutting back on fibrous veggies and fruits and raw stuff and see if it settles down.  

 

It's funny, when I eat out, the celiac disease is the least of my problems - I can get gluten-free menu items most places, but it's nearly impossible to find stuff that is safe for microscopic colitis :-(  

[knitty kitty]

Ask your doctor if you could be having an anticholinergic reaction to your antidepressant.

Celiac disease messes up the metabolism and the drug doesn't get cleared out of the body properly. The build up has horrible effects.

When it happened to me, it started with terrible diarrhea and increasing anxiety. The dose was increased and everything got worse. I can't even write how horrible it was.

Symptoms are hot as a hare, dry as a bone, red as a beet, bloated as a toad, blind as a bat, and mad as a hatter. Not fun at all.

Hope you can just cut out dairy and feel better.