Gluten free a week- still have afternoon stomach pains

[Foxtrot]

How long will it take my intestines to heal before I stop feeling bloated, stomach churning and diarrhea? I have been gluten free for about a week. I have noticed a little has changed as far as better mood, skins not as dry, and stomach doesn't hurt until about 5pm. I'm taking everything slow and not trying to get too crazy with the gluten free stuff. I've lost 40 lbs over the past two years and I am under weight.( I wasn't trying to loose weight just my body was not holding it in and not absorbing the nutrients I desperately need) So when I was diagnosed with celiac I was relieved to figure out what the prob was. Are there different levels of severity to this disease? Can you never have any gluten or can you have just a little and be ok? Is this a lifetime disease or will it go away? I know my gut needs time to heal but it's very difficult trying to figure out this new lifestyle change. I can't eat anything that has wheat, peanuts, milk and cheese makes my stomach upset, so does lettuce and vegetables that has a lot of fiber. I think I'm just going to go on a white rice only meal plan since that's the only thing that doesn't upset my stomach. Do I need to start off bland and easy at first for my stomach to heal? Sorry so many questions but I'm going crazy here. My friends know nothing about gluten free and think it's just a new diet plan for people to loss weight. It's not. I'm trying to gain weight and stop feeling horrible after I eat. I basically stopped eating because every time I ate it would come right back out an hour later(BM) and my stomach would cramp and churn. Now that I've been going gluten free it only happens after 5pm...not right after I eat lunch or breakfast. Wondering if anyone has an idea of what's going on or what I'm doing wrong for this to still be happening or is it just the healing process? Thanks a bunch! Sorry so lengthy!

[Judy3]

Hi Foxtrot, welcome to the board.     My thoughts on your situation and questions.     First of all, Celiac is a lifetime disease, it won't go away.   You will need to be 'completely' gluten free because even a little will cause symptoms and damage to occur.  Some people, myself included are very sensitive to even a crumb or two...    After only a week, you may see some improvements but it could take months for you to recognize that you are feeling better all around.   Stick to absolutely gluten free and be careful of cross contamination.   If you live in a house where others are eating gluten you will need to be extra careful.   For instance in my house my son does not have to eat gluten free but he does at home for the most part when we have a shared meal.   He is very careful to avoid cross contamination with shared foods.   Like peanut butter, jam, condiments etc... if a knife goes into those products that have been in contact with gluten filled breads it will make me sick so his theory is he gets one shot to get what he wants out with a knife or a spoon 'before' he hits the bread.    It works quite well with squeeze bottles of some things.. mayo, jam etc...   Once you heal (months) you should be able to introduce other foods on your list of culprits one at a time to see if you can tolerate them.    When the 'gut' is damaged all sorts of things can happen.   I for instance had food allergies for 25 yrs that were severe (Seafood, fish, tree nuts) and was tested positive for all of them.  Now after being gluten free for 6 years I was retested and food challenged and they are all gone...    Our immune system is mostly in the 'gut' so if it's damaged from something else all sorts of things can show up.   Give it some time, eat what works for now and give it some time.   Rice and meat and low fiber veggies for now might work for you.  Season your food well so that it's not bland.    As I said once that works and you know your feeling better try one new veggie at a time for a few days to see how it goes.      Good luck to you.. Just know that the beginning is the toughest part.. once you learn about what you can eat and what causes symptoms you will be able to adjust to it and it will become second nature.    

Hang in there... and welcome to the other side...

[Foxtrot]

Thank you so much Judy!!

[cristiana]

Hello and Welcome Foxtrot.

That's good advice from Judy.

Also, you may find you have temporary lactose intolerance.  I had terrific bloating and lower abdominal pain when I was first diagnosed.   I came off  dairy products for a while and felt a whole lot better.  I then  found that I could tolerate hard cheese like cheddar and had small quantities of that.  

I'm trying to find a link to post to you about it but my newly installed software (my computer hasn't been right since it upgraded to Windows 10) is not allowing me to click on a new tab but look up 'temporary lactose intolerance celiacs 'and you will find the info you need.  

Another thing is oats.   Oats do not naturally contain gluten but when they are in the manufacturing process can pick up gluten as they are often processed alongside other gluten containing grains.  

There are 'pure oats' also known as 'gluten free oats' which are processed apart from gluten containing grains.   The good news is a lot of celiacs can cope with these - the bad news is that a) you may find if your tummy is very sore at the moment you might wish to give them a break for a while until it is less sore because the fibre in them might cause some pain; and b) some celiacs will never be able to eat even pure oats as they contain a protein called avenine which affects a small percentage of celiacs.    I don't know where you live but in the UK my home, nutritionalists tend to advise that celiacs avoid all oats for about six months after diagnosis and then introduce pure oats to see if they are causing any pain or discomfort.  

I'm sorry as it is a lot to take in at first but you will soon get to grips with things.  The good news is that this is probably the best time to be a celiac as so many companies are catering for us today.  All the time I am finding manufacturers are now putting the words gluten free on products where it applies.  Some products have always been gluten free but it now pays to advertise the fact! 

 

 

[Irene Joanne]

I was diagnosed almost four months ago- I'm having reactions to many gluten free foods as well. My dietician told me it's not uncommon when a person has undiagnosed celiac for a long time. As my intestines heal- that should get better. From all the reading I've done I understand that could take a year or more. 

[FreewithGF]

I agree completely with the comments above, and will add a couple that may help. I went gluten free in my early 40's after a lifetime of chronic illness.  It changed everything in my life. No more weird intractable depression. Migraine only with menstrual cycling (did you know normal people don't take ibuprofen every single day?)  30 pounds of fat and inflammatory water weight fell off.  Amazing relief, but it did take some weeks to feel. I went gluten-free before there were many specialty gluten-free products on the market, and I believe this made healing faster for the following reasons:

1) The tendency with new diagnosis is to load up on specialty gluten-free cereals, pastas, and baked goods. They are great, but can be problematic on their own. gluten-free grains are - in general - simple carbs, and your body quickly breaks them down into sugar for energy. This equates to adding a ton more sugar to your diet, adding to systemic inflammation and dysbiosis - think more gas, more pain, more bloating, more candida.

2) gluten-free products are also highly processed foods. If your immune system is still "on fire", you may overreact to all kinds of substances that you won't blink at twice once healed. You may also have higher histamine levels still circulating, and feel generally allergy-crappy.  Just buy what you really "need" (bread if you like sandwiches for lunch or toast with your eggs, etc.) but pass on the rest til you heal. 

The quickest route to recovery is to stick to simple "God-food" ingredients such as meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies, eggs, potatoes, spices instead of packets - and become a label reading storm trooper. Essentially chose foods that are naturally gluten-free and don't have to be manufactured into that state. Still lots of sinning available - ice cream, chocolate to name a couple good ones.  

Limit eating out for awhile. (Every time I get poisoned it is in a restaurant that advertises a gluten-free menu. I know the restaurants aim to please, but individual employees may not.)  Drink plenty of clean water, soda water or tea or coffee and skip the soda's for awhile.

It's really quite easy - somehow we got convinced that cooking from food ingredients is hard and time consuming. I was ready to actually be as inconvenienced as needed just to get better, and found simple cooking is much faster, easier and tastier to boot. And remember, you don't have to be "deprived" of things you like. I find it hard to whine when I can have pretty much anything I've ever liked - just have to make or buy a little differently in some cases. 

Keep going - it will change your life!