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Anyone Experienced "withdrawal" Symptoms When Going Gluten Free....?

cami

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cami Rookie
cami
Posted

Hi,

I've just gone gluten free for the second time (had to start eating gluten again for a biopsy... :angry: ).

Anyway, i'm experiencing the weirdest thing. All my symptoms gets really bad for the first few (gluten free)days before fading away (bloating, abdominal pain, excema, aphtous ulcers in mouth....). Now, the first time I cut out gluten I experienced the same thing, and it's only bc it's happening again that I see the pattern.

Anyone experineced this???

/C

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Rachel--24 Collaborator
Rachel--24
Posted

Its not unusual to experience withdrawl symptoms as gluten is highly addictive. I actually thought I was dying the first few days of the diet. I was already really sick and off work on disability so when I went off gluten it was much much worse for the first week. I was scared but I felt human again after that first week.

achiera Rookie
achiera
Posted

hello, im in a similar situation, i was dx'ed sept 2003, from inconclusive tests, but my doc has a pretty good understanding of celiac disease and said i most definitly have it. but of course my curiousity got the best of me and i went on a gluten diet 8 months ago so i could redo the blood tests (which i completly regret now!), im going this tuesday to see him again. but anyway, i started getting very sick again about 2 months ago and about a week ago i decided i cant take it anymore and i went gluten free. and omg did i have some badddddd withdrawl!! i had flu like symptoms, my muscles ached, i had a migrane for 3 days staright, i absolutley felt awful at first and i knew its because i stopped eating gluten. it didnt work out the way i wanted to because i was supposed to have my appt last week but it got bumped to next week so i had to start eating gluten again, i just dont want my test to come out weird. and i know im going to feel sicker again after i go gluten free. so i guess my answer is YES you most definitly can have withdrawl symptoms after going gluten free!

alexis

Guest nini
Guest nini
Posted

sounds like withdrawal to me... the second week was the worst for me...

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

I had a lot of symptoms just after going gluten-free. I was terribly fatigued--like I could not get enough sleep. Also--lightheadedness, low ab. cramping, neck pain, brain fog, basically like a used dishrag the first 2 months. By the 4th. month, things really got a lot better.

cami Rookie
cami
Posted
  • Author

Wow - I had no idea it was this common to experience some kind of withdrawal... Thanks everyone for your comments/advice.

/Cami

chuikov Newbie
chuikov
Posted

I think words like "addictive" and "withdrawal" are inaccurate. If your symptoms stay the same or get worse for a while, it might be an expulsion or a painful cleansing.

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tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted
I think words like "addictive" and "withdrawal" are inaccurate. If your symptoms stay the same or get worse for a while, it might be an expulsion or a painful cleansing.

the use of the word addictive comes from research that suggests that, when crossing the blood-brain barrier, gluten that has entered the blood stream (or gluten antibodies, I do not remember which) and then the brain can act in a similar fashion to opiates - one quality of which is addiction.

chuikov Newbie
chuikov
Posted
the use of the word addictive comes from research that suggests that, when crossing the blood-brain barrier, gluten that has entered the blood stream (or gluten antibodies, I do not remember which) and then the brain can act in a similar fashion to opiates - one quality of which is addiction.

Being a recovering junkie, it's obvious to me that the two have nothing in common. I don't put much faith in research results until they have been proven and re-proven over time and through real world experience. Researchers also tend to contradict one another for a long time until things get sorted out.

I think medical science is still very primative. The common cold, most other viruses, MS etc - there are more mysteries than answers around.

marciab Enthusiast
marciab
Posted

My main symptoms of withdrawal were emotional. I finally had to stop going out to eat with others because I was tearing up when they got their food and I got my plain baked potato and glass of water. That must have been a real bummer for them too. I've never been a whiner, but god, I miss real food !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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