GillyP

[Gilly M]

Hi.  I'm going round in circles ....4 years ago I started recovery from overtraining and energy deficiency - basically not eating enough for training I did- I ate lots more food, put on weight, reduced exercise.  Hormones normalised/menstruation resumed :)  But symptoms came crashing down - not the rejuvenation of health I expected to come.  I also got Lyme disease during the process. 

I suspect my previously stable metabolism was completely disrupted.  The fatigue, dizziness, headaches, aches, and now exercise intolerance (very upsetting after years of being an athlete) - I put down to the energy that "healing" takes- but 4 years down the line I don't think this reason now cuts it! I have very few gut symptoms(one thing that has improved since hormones returned and I put on weight)

I am addressing low vit D and ferritin - but they are at much healthier levels now.  In fact, my bloods (thyroid,vitamins, minerals) are all pretty good. I am still suspicious of food intolerances( although blood IgA test for celiac was negative). 

QUESTIONS:   

1) I thought about cutting out all grains but with my history of low energy I am wary of this making me LOW carb- not great for hormones. Do you think trying just wheat/barley/rye/oats is enough to test for gluten intolerance(NO Grain NO Pain suggest ALL grains are inherently unhealthy???) What are others experiences with this? 

2) Dairy has the vitK2 my mildly osteopenic bones need (plus some calcium- although I know it's not THE source- and other good stuff) - but maybe I should cut this out too? 

3) Then what about eggs? Grains/dairy/eggs- makes me fear that my likely sensitive hormones won't like this cut in so many foods?? 

Any suggestions and own experiences would be greatly appreciated - I need to try something and stick to it- instead of flip flopping and not trying anything for long enough.

 

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum! Just to be clear, you do not have celiac disease but may have gluten sensitivity and are thinking of going grain-free. Going grain-free does usually make it hard for you to get enough carbohydrates, and there are many other gluten-free grains you could try if your goal is only to eliminate gluten for a few months to see if it helps relieve any of your symptoms.

Here is a list of gluten-free foods, including alternative grains:

You also brought up "exercise intolerance," which is a term I've not heard. I'm not sure how much you were exercising before to reach a point where your menstruation stopped, but is it possible it was at a level that might be considered exercise addiction? Most people only need to exercise 20-30 minutes 3-5 times a week to keep healthy.

You may want to go dairy-free for a while, just to see if you have issues with dairy. Supplementation is important whenever you are making big changes in your diet, so you may want to take a good multi-vitamin and possibly supplement other vitamins & minerals as well.

Chicken eggs can also be an issue for some people, they were for me before I went gluten-free, but I did not have issues with duck eggs, which I can get at my local farmer's market. 

So you've brought up several different symptoms, and given that you have Lyme disease it would be difficult to say how many of your symptoms could be related to gluten sensitivity or to Lyme disease, but keeping a good food diary and cutting out groups of foods and adding them back later is a good way to discover if they are causing you issues. Consider working with a registered dietitian as well, because they may be able to guide you through this in a more healthy way.

[Gilly M]

Hi Scott, Thanks for replying so quickly!    And for your detailed reply too.  

Yes - my case is not so straightforward as X=Y; there are quite a lot of confounding factors are at play and often the answer to one (eat all the foods and restore metabolism) is polar opposite to the other(cut out foods to recover from Lyme/chronic fatigue/migraines etc!) - but I guess not many people's health journeys are straight-forward!

I was a competitive athlete for 20 years  so probably trained moderate -hard 10 -15 hours plus then easy stuff on top of that.  And yes I likely overdid all my sessions. By "Exercise Intolerance" I mean that I don't seem to manage any exercise besides a dog walk- Otherwise I get head pressure, breathing issues, aches and it takes me days sometimes weeks to recover....I know I'm unfit now but the symptoms are far more than that.

When I have gone low carb for a few weeks- it just didn't feel "right" - do you think some people can tolerate gluten?  Do you think that there is a degree of gluten sensitivity in everyone?  I believe with me there is a lot of making my symptoms fit what I read- so when I read about gluten , I think gluten issues could explain my symptoms (I also have/have had on and off anxiety but low hormones/low vit D/low iron can cause this too)

Working with a dietitian is probably my best bet if I'm going to go down the route of elimination.  Trying to do this myself is becoming a bit of a vicious cycle and I'm concerned I am actually worsening things.

Many thanks again for your reply : )

[Scott Adams]

For those in the non-celiac gluten sensitivity spectrum, I definitely believe that there is a very wide spectrum of symptoms and health issues associated with eating gluten, and migraine headaches have been shown in numerous studies to be related to those with untreated celiac disease:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/celiac-disease-amp-related-diseases-and-disorders/migraine-headaches-and-celiac-disease/ 

Gluten is one of the hardest things for anyone to digest, so I do think that it can cause various digestive and other issues in many people, even if they don't have celiac disease. It would be worth trying a gluten-free diet for a few months to see if it helps with your symptoms.

[Gilly M]

1 hour ago, Scott Adams said:

For those in the non-celiac gluten sensitivity spectrum, I definitely believe that there is a very wide spectrum of symptoms and health issues associated with eating gluten, and migraine headaches have been shown in numerous studies to be related to those with untreated celiac disease:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/celiac-disease-amp-related-diseases-and-disorders/migraine-headaches-and-celiac-disease/ 

Gluten is one of the hardest things for anyone to digest, so I do think that it can cause various digestive and other issues in many people, even if they don't have celiac disease. It would be worth trying a gluten-free diet for a few months to see if it helps with your symptoms.

Thanks Scott.  I never used to get migraines - ever. And I ate loads of bread/pasta/couscous.  Up until 4 years ago that is - now it seems like a constant migraine - Ok, slight exaggeration as there have been days/weeks I haven't had any. 

I've tried to spot patterns but I try to change too many variables at the one time- iron/vit D/gluten/carbs..... I imagine that stress and any other dip in the system/immunity makes gluten harder to digest. 

Many thanks again. This is an excellent resource and you have been very helpful.  Hope your symptoms have now all abated/gone.

[Scott Adams]

Let us know how things go, and good luck!