Symptoms

Kayleen007 · May 6, 2004

First off..I don't even know for certain if I have celiac disease. I have been diagnosed with a few other things like Irritable Bowel..but when I had a horrible attack at my father's house (and it was not long after I ate a bunch of French Toast) he said it looked and sounded like celiac disease (a friend of his has it) and gave me this website to go to. And it sounds exactly like what I have. The thing is, I don't have the money (and no insurance) to be tested.

So..I've just gone completely gluten-free. It's only been about a week, and for the first few days (even now) I was still getting the hang of it. Exactly how long should it be before I start feeling even a little better?? I've had a few severely bad attacks in the last week. I know that depending on the damage to your intestines, it could take a while before you feel better. But exactly how long should I give it before I start to think that maybe it's not celiac disease? Any suggestions??

May 6, 2004

Hi, it can take some people months to feel better. I can tell you that after I was gluten-free for a couple of days the (daily) abdominal pain I had lived with for over a year was GONE!!! If you continue to have problems after a coule of weeks you need to make sure you are not getting any "hidden glutens".

Also when you get a little money you could be tested through Open Original Shared Link it is a stool panel test which is more sensitive than blood and you DO NOT have to be eating gluten for it to be accurate. The test I bought (gluten sensitivity) was around $120.00 (overnight shipping charges were included).

There is a lot of info on this site, in particular the section where you posted this message. If you get a chance read through some of the stories, I think it will help you.

Good luck and take care

kaylee · May 6, 2004

Hi,

I think everyone must wonder about this question - it's such a seemingly simple treatment for often a whole host of problems. And, in reading previous answers to this question as mentioned above it quickly becomes evident that the gluten-free diet treatment works almost immediate wonders for some people, takes a lot longer for others, and is only part of a solution to what turns out to be more than one problem (frequently people with celiac find out they also have other food intolerances/allergies).

As many people have said in other posts, you might consider going for a dairy-free spell as well, at least for a while at the beginning while your body works things out. Taking things more simply foodwise for a while seems to agree with many people newly gluten free.

Best,

Kaylee

travelthomas · May 7, 2004

One human trait seems to be the belief that if it

celiacfreeman · May 11, 2004

I feel younger and more energenic. gluten-free for 4 months and feel fully recovered from

anemia. I have had 7 or 8 people tell me I look 10 to 15 years younger. Gotta love that. I thank the lord for giving me a physicain who pushed me to a gastro doc who looked at me and said, I wonder if you have Celiac disease. It's incredible, given my symptoms as just being anemic.