Success Stories

[JuanElJefe]

Share you success stories to motivate and help other people suffering from Celiac's disease!

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum! This forum has many success stories, and hopefully others will chime in here, but compared to when I ate gluten my last ~25 years have been a success story! Of course there are some minor set backs from time to time, but even those have been lessened greatly due to proper supplementation and the use of AN-PEP enzymes to prevent accidental contamination whenever I eat out. 

Had I not discovered the gluten-free diet, I seriously doubt I'd still be living today.

[Onegiantcrunchie]

I have a ways to go but hopefully this may be motivational for someone out there:

I had lost a LOT of muscle, despite being fairly active and eating a lot of protein. Once I stopped eating gluten I was able to build muscle back up again and reach a comfy weight for myself.

Also, for anyone struggling with being gluten-free but still having positive antibodies, it took over a year being gluten-free for my antibodies to drop below threshold, but it did happen in the end, so please don't lose hope.

[Rochelle-Mari]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing you story. I'm just curios about your journey and also a bit concerned about my weight.

I'm loosing weight and wondered if you also experienced weight loss ? and if so did your body stop loosing weight after going in gluten free diet . i cant afford to loose anymore weight .

 I have been loosing weight gradually in the last 8 months and experience diarrhea once a day , cramps, and yellow mushy stool .  

waiting for my results , only got tested yesterday . 

[cristiana]

Hi Mari

My weight went down about 15lbs in the months around my diagnosis, because of malabsorption caused by diarrhea.  It continued to go down a little when first on the gluten-free diet as I was being ultra cautious about what I was eating.   As soon as I began to master the diet and the gastro symptoms improved vastly, and I discovered the sadly fat and carb loaded gluten-free alternatives in the supermarkets, the weight began to creep back up again.  I am now on a diet to try to lose some of it again!

The yellow mushy stool is likely to do with a temporary lactose intolerance - something that affected me too.  Sometimes it's good to give dairy a break for a few weeks.  When your villi heal, the gut may well be able to cope with lactose again and you will more than likely be able consume dairy products again.  I never had to give up hard cheese during that time, because it is high in casein, not lactose.

Cristiana

Edited August 20, 2021 by cristiana

[Rochelle-Mari]

Hi Cristiana

thank you for you reply ,  I really appreciate it.  I have cut out all dairy product and oats.

I need to put on weight very quickly ,any recipes you can share or food choices . I'm new to this so would really appreciate some good advise

Many thanks

[cristiana]

9 hours ago, Rochelle-Mari said:

Hi Cristiana

thank you for you reply ,  I really appreciate it.  I have cut out all dairy product and oats.

I need to put on weight very quickly ,any recipes you can share or food choices . I'm new to this so would really appreciate some good advise

Many thankssu 

I would say that you ought to see if you can still tolerate hard cheeses like cheddar.  Small amounts of this grated onto your savoury meals will boost the calorie content.  My nutritionalist told me to have two eggs for breakfast a day for proteins and vitamins. Canned sardines in virgin olive oil, with the bones, will be rich in omega three, protein and calcium.  Butter is low in lactose so you may wish to buy or make yourself some Scottish shortbread type cookies.   Not exactly health food - but as you are struggling with putting weight on, you might find it helps increase your calorie intake and it should be easy on your stomach.  Scharr or Walkers are brands I like in the UK.   If you are used to three square meals a day perhaps you could try to include small snacks in the morning and afternoon.

 

[Onegiantcrunchie]

13 hours ago, cristiana said:

I would say that you ought to see if you can still tolerate hard cheeses like cheddar.  Small amounts of this grated onto your savoury meals will boost the calorie content.  My nutritionalist told me to have two eggs for breakfast a day for proteins and vitamins. Canned sardines in virgin olive oil, with the bones, will be rich in omega three, protein and calcium.  Butter is low in lactose so you may wish to buy or make yourself some Scottish shortbread type cookies.   Not exactly health food - but as you are struggling with putting weight on, you might find it helps increase your calorie intake and it should be easy on your stomach.  Scharr or Walkers are brands I like in the UK.   If you are used to three square meals a day perhaps you could try to include small snacks in the morning and afternoon.

 

Yes, I did experience weight loss. I remember at the time that my symptoms peaked (complete with hair falling out and fainting) that I seemed to be able to eat anything and not gain weight. Actually what was happening was I was losing all my muscle so my body was shrinking but I wasn't actually getting into a better shape.

Once I stopped all gluten I gained weight - a LOT! It's very easy to overdo it on the gluten-free snacks lol.

I agree with Cristiana's recommendations. Also I believe peanut butter is recommended in weight gain circles!

[Rochelle-Mari]

Hi All 

First , thanks for all the advise and replies . I really appreciate it.
I did some shopping this morning and hopefully I’m on the right track and that gluten is the culprit here .

I feel much better than tree days ago .

I know it’s early days , but I’m very hopeful. 
 

the only butter I can find is with cows milk , is that safe ? I’m eliminating  dairy at the moment but would really like some butter on my bread and in my pasta dishes . 

im from South Africa , not so many gluten free options widely available. 
Thanks again and chat soon 

Rochelle 

 

 

 

 

[cristiana]

Hello there again Rochelle

You should be fine with butter.   Just go easy on it at first and see how you get on.  

I don't think I've ever eliminated butter or cheddar from my diet, even when I was at my most otherwise "dairy free" stage.   I was fine.  Everyone is different though, just experiment.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-butter-dairy

So glad you are feeling so much better!
Cristiana

[CeCe22]

On 8/18/2021 at 2:14 PM, Scott Adams said:

Welcome to the forum! This forum has many success stories, and hopefully others will chime in here, but compared to when I ate gluten my last ~25 years have been a success story! Of course there are some minor set backs from time to time, but even those have been lessened greatly due to proper supplementation and the use of AN-PEP enzymes to prevent accidental contamination whenever I eat out. 

Had I not discovered the gluten-free diet, I seriously doubt I'd still be living today.

I have recently been diagnosed with dermatitis Herpetiformis. I have heard of the enzymes to prevent accidental contamination but asked both my dermatologist and general practitioner and they knew nothing about it. Is AN-PEP the name of the enzyme and where do you purchase?

[trents]

20 minutes ago, CeCe22 said:

I have recently been diagnosed with dermatitis Herpetiformis. I have heard of the enzymes to prevent accidental contamination but asked both my dermatologist and general practitioner and they knew nothing about it. Is AN-PEP the name of the enzyme and where do you purchase?

What you want is GliadinX or something equivalent. It supposedly breaks down minor amounts of gluten in the gut such as happens with cross contamination.

[CeCe22]

7 minutes ago, trents said:

What you want is GliadinX or something equivalent. It supposedly breaks down minor amounts of gluten in the gut such as happens with cross contamination.

Do you only take when you are eating out or consume every meal?

[trents]

Anytime you are in a situation where you don't have total control over what goes into the meal or how it was handled and prepared. Not routinely with every meal. Mostly eating out or eating at other people's homes.

[CeCe22]

12 minutes ago, trents said:

Anytime you are in a situation where you don't have total control over what goes into the meal or how it was handled and prepared. Not routinely with every meal. Mostly eating out or eating at other people's homes.

Thank you!