Celiac, Chronic Gastritis, Stomach Bleed: A Foodie's Diet Nightmare

[FuFu]

Hello everyone! 

I've been suffering celiac symptoms for about 7 years, was diagnosed through blood a year ago, and confirmed through endoscopy in February 2024. I am HIGHLY ALLERGIC (epi-pen worthy) to dairy and have been since 2011, and I've been gluten free since 2023 except for the minor forced glutening before my scope. During that procedure it was also found that I have chronic gastritis and chronic esophagitis--they believe this is related to the celiac inflammatory response.

I am currently in the midst of a gastritis attack, and I was hospitalized due to a minor bleed in my system. That being said, I already have a strict diet. I am gluten and dairy free. I never eat out and I am so careful. However, my new rules for the next 4-6 months are that I MUST cut out:

-caffeine, carbonation, citrus, tomato or anything tomato-based, onion, high-fat/oily foods, anything spicy. 

I want...to cry. I am a foodie at heart. I love food. I love being in the kitchen with my family. I love to eat. Lately it's been touch and go because I've been in so much pain and having so many symptoms but to see it laid out so plainly like this; it makes me quite sad. I could easily cope if it were 2-4 weeks but at half a year, it seems like adapting to a new lifestyle. 

Does anyone have any tips or tricks for coping with such a change? 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, FuFu! I can relate to an extent in that I suffered from significant GERD during the process of weening myself off of the proton pump inhibitor that I had been on for years and I had to give up those same kind of foods. Took me over a year to get the GERD under control and I used TUMS to get me through the worst spots. 

One thing I will say, though it is not a tip, is that any major diet change is tough sledding for a while but eventually it becomes the new norm. Not that you will never miss those things you had to give up but I mean the cravings will no longer be overpowering. And you will find substitutes. Having said all that, I suspect you might be suffering from histamine intolerance/mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). A lot of the foods you are being asked to give up are high histamine foods. You might do well to research MCAS/histamine intolerance. They go together like a hand and a glove.

[Scott Adams]

I'm sorry to hear about the new diet changes. Do you take choline as a dietary supplement? You may want to consider it as it helped me a lot with some digestive issues that I still had, even after going gluten-free.