celiac disease And Diabetic And Lots Of Weight Gain

[sparkles]

I am having a really difficult time losing weight. When I was first diagnosed, I lost 30 # (I was really overweight...one of the reasons docs never thought that I could have celiac disease). I ate only hamburger patty and lettuce with oil and vinegar. I felt better than I had in years. Lots of other symptoms disappeared..like migraines, depression, and joint aches and pains. But as I started reading more, I tried to add more gluten-free foods to my menu and eventually started gaining weight. I am also diabetic so my original meat and lettuce diet was not a good diet for diabetis. I weigh what I did when first diagnosed and am really unhappy with my weight.....Trying to stay gluten-free and be on a diabetic diet sucks...... If I stay on diabetic diet, I gain weight, and it seems to lose weight I need to eat about 500 calories a day which isn't good for diabetis. Help! Is there anyone out there with this problem? I have given up on packaged gluten-free foods as the fat content and calorie content and sugar content is really high.....not good for diabetic diet. I am really frustrated as I feel like this disease cuts me off from people. I have had people say..."we would like to invite you and your husband over for dinner but don't know what to serve." I am so tired of trying to explain why I can't eat something or what I can eat...why I can't go to Perkins....what cross contamination is....etc. I know that I certainly am glad and thankful that I was finally diagnosed with celiac disease...at least, now I know that I am not crazy and making up gastro symptoms, but the weight gain has gotten me down and trying to live with both celiac disease and diabetis is frustrating. I know things could be worse...I had colon cancer....another outcome of undiagnosed celiac disease...and survived. So in my mind, I know things could be worse...but in my heart, I know that things could be better and I want to find a way to live with both diseases. I would appreciate any help that you might have.....thank you and God Bless You!! gentle thoughts, pam

[TCA]

I know what you mean about the celiac and diabetes thing. My husband is a Type 1 and my Dad, uncles, and aunts are Type 2. I learned to cook for them a long time ago. We started the gluten-free diet because of the kids a few months ago and there's just not much out there to help. I'm actually in the process of writing a gluten-free diabetic cookbook. My hubby really is pushing me to do this since I have come up with a lot of things that we all can eat that taste good. We try to stay away from as many fats and carbs as we can, but it's hard with anything that's premade for the gluten-free diet. I feel your pain. Do you enjoy cooking? I find that's the best way to deal with this. Alter recipes to fit our needs.

[PreOptMegs]

I have had recent weight gain lately from all of the gluten-free foods out there. Look up the SCD (Specific carbohydrate diet at www.breakingtheviciouscycle.com). You will lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle! Ask me if you have any questions!

[Guest Robbin]

Welcome Pam! You can do it! I am overweight and have a son, type 1 diabetic, mother-type 11, brother-type 11, both grandparents-type 11, and two aunts type 11, so I know diabetes. I had gestational diabetes forteen years ago and have been told I am in a pre-diabetic condition with severe hypoglycemia. Now, bummer--celiac (going through testing still, but super dietary turn-around) It is VERY frustrating. My dr. recommended the South Beach Diet prior to my going gluten-free, so I bought the books and have been loosely following that in a gluten-free way. I've lost 11 pounds today after 4 wks, which is probably mostly water, but I think its much healthier than low carb like Adkins. I've had elevated liver enzymes which goes with diabetes too, so I am trying to eat low fat. Rice cakes and peanut butter are working for in-between meals, and fruit for fiber. I found that I feel much better and lose weight without any artificial sweeteners except for stevia. It will get easier. I reached such a low point being sick and frustrated that I am SOOOO done with that fooling around with drs and half-attempts that I want to LIVE my life. YOU are obviously a fighter and survivor and we can do this "getting well, thin and full-life thing" together. We all will support you. hEY TCA--Looking forward to that cookbook!

[elye]

Hey, Pam!

Welcome to the celiabetic club--like my new term? I've been a type one diabetic for thirty-three years, and a diagnosed celiac for six months. The two diets are really challenging to follow at the same time, especially when, like me, you are obsessed with keeping very tight blood glucose control. Many of the carbohydrate choices in the celiac diet have a high glycemic load (corn, peas, potatoes), and therefore my blood sugar goes up...no good... Are you type one or type two? If you are type one, you can decrease your insulin and the desire to eat will dissipate greatly as your blood sugars rise. I found that when I had all my pregnancy weight to take off, this really helped. I kept my blood sugars at around 8-9mmol for a month or so with less insulin, and the weight came off. One other thing that I MUST include in my day to day regimen for getting (and keeping) weight off is exercise. It is MANDATORY. I'm sure it also helps with glutening symptoms, as well. It's truly amazing what a difference regular exercise can do to boost metabolism, build lean muscle and slim you down! Even a regular (and I mean regular--every day) half-hour walk (and build up to an hour) at a steady pace is very helpful. Helps keep blood sugars, down, too!

[sparkles]

Hey, Pam!

Welcome to the celiabetic club--like my new term? I've been a type one diabetic for thirty-three years, and a diagnosed celiac for six months. The two diets are really challenging to follow at the same time, especially when, like me, you are obsessed with keeping very tight blood glucose control. Many of the carbohydrate choices in the celiac diet have a high glycemic load (corn, peas, potatoes), and therefore my blood sugar goes up...no good... Are you type one or type two? If you are type one, you can decrease your insulin and the desire to eat will dissipate greatly as your blood sugars rise. I found that when I had all my pregnancy weight to take off, this really helped. I kept my blood sugars at around 8-9mmol for a month or so with less insulin, and the weight came off. One other thing that I MUST include in my day to day regimen for getting (and keeping) weight off is exercise. It is MANDATORY. I'm sure it also helps with glutening symptoms, as well. It's truly amazing what a difference regular exercise can do to boost metabolism, build lean muscle and slim you down! Even a regular (and I mean regular--every day) half-hour walk (and build up to an hour) at a steady pace is very helpful. Helps keep blood sugars, down, too!

I am type 2 and was diagnosed about 10 years ago and celiac about 4 years ago. One of my docs said that it was almost more important to be gluten-free and worry about the diabetis less. I don't take insulin. My blood sugars run about 140 which is on the high side...and I do feel better when they are lower...but even with them high, I do not feel as sick as I feel when I am not gluten-free. I know that I need to exercise more but have both diabetic and dietary neuropathy so have been dealing with that pain. Unfortunately, walking is really difficult. I also have the beginnings of glaucoma so know how important it is to keep the blood sugars under control. It feels like a viscious cycle. When one disease is under control the other one acts up and that goes back and forth. I guess that I have made the decision to keep the celiac disease under control and let the diabetis take a back seat. At least, my digestive problems are better under control. I really feel that at some time in the near future docs will find a correlation between all of these auto-immune diseases and that correlation will be the Gluten factor. The more I read the more certain I am that the destruction of the villa is at the root of these auto-immune diseases. It really makes sense. When I was first diagnosed I was put on B12 shots and then after a year or so, the doc took me off. About 6 months ago, I was put back on as the B complex vitamin levels were really low. The neurologist felt B12 shots and B complex vitamins (gluten-free) would help my neuropathy. They have made a difference but walking long distances is still a challenge. I work retail and am on my feet a lot which doesn't help...tho my employers let me use a stool but I still need to walk to help customers find things. Anyway, it seems like I got way off track....thanks for the input. It is good to talk with people who understand the disease and realize that there is no such thing as just a little bit of gluten!

[CMCM]

I'd really recommend getting and reading every word of this book which I recently found....called Mastering Leptin. Leptin is something which, like celiac disease, is poorly understood by doctors, and it seems to play a very important role in weight loss. This book is fascinating. Here's the amazon link:

Open Original Shared Link

[elye]

Keep fightin' Pam! Haven't been on for a couple of days, so I just read your last post. It is terrible how we must choose which serious, chronic disease to pay the most attention to. If we ease up on the gluten restrictions, we'll end up with abdominal or intestinal cancer...if we loosen our blood glucose control, we are destined for kidney failure, blindness, gangrene...you know it all, I'm sure. And I know too well how hard it can be to keep tight blood sugar control while following the celiac diet. Funny, my endocrinologist insists on my first concern being normal blood sugars, and my GI insists that I keep gluten free and let the diabetes maintenance slide a bit, if necessary. I think they need to call one another...

Have you thought about swimming for cardiovascular exercise?