mental health struggles

[sadiec123]

I am 22 and was diagnosed with celiac back in May 2024. It was discovered after a year worth of excruciating pain and I was in the ER 3 times within a two week span from abdominal pain that presented as appendicitis or pancreatic issues. The physical pain and discomfort took months to heal after going gluten-free ( still going) however I feel so mentally & emotionally out of touch with everything. I know having other stressors in my life can add to that of course but I lost a lot of weight because I just don't want to eat anymore. I am angry all the time with food and feel physically awful with my diet. Did/does anyone else have this experience? I am really unsure of what to do or how to go about anything even though it's just a gluten-free diet that's supposed to fix it.

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @sadiec123!

A couple of questions.

First, what is the biggest driver behind your food anger? Is it having to deny yourself foods that you used to enjoy or is it the social cost of needing to eat gluten free? By social cost, I mean do you feel left out or even resented by family/friends at social events or do you avoid social events because of the need to eat gluten free?

Second, is the weight loss welcome or has it put you in an unhealthy physical state?

Edited October 17 by trents

[Wheatwacked]

I felt betrayed by the food I was eating,  I was angry at Agrobusiness.  Angry at myself because I blew off my son's doctor's recommendation in 1976 to go gluten free.  I was angry at the nutritional misinformation.  I actually became quite evangelistic about GFD.  My family banned me from mentioning wheat in their presence.

High dose 10,000 IU Vitamin D and low dose 5 mg Lithium Orotate kept me grounded.

It is not just a gluten free diet.  You also have to correct vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Pretend like you moved to another country so you have to find new favorite foods.  There are built in deficiencies in the western diet that at times seems intentional.  Vitamin D, Choline, Iodine is deficient in the general diet.  Add in the deficiencies caused by the Celiac Disease malabsorption you suffered with unknowingly and the difficiency caused by avoiding foods.  Don;t forget the deficiencies caused by no longer eating processed gluten foods with their fortifiction.  Gluten free foods on not fortified.  You get what you eat.

Oh, anger at the people and doctors who said there was nothing wrong, when I knew there was. From as early as ten years old.  Guess I showed them.  They are getting sicker and I am not.  I invite them to my 130 birthday party.

Give yourself a break, you were told lies.  But let the anger turn into productivity.

To quote the Grateful Dead: "What a long strange trip it's been"

Your weight will stabilize at it's natural level.  I was kick sand in the face skinny as a kid.  150  pounds average through my 20's Then blew up to 185 from my 50's until I started GFD at 63.

You have the oppurtunity to avoid what I suffered.  Check out old TV shows like "Ozzy and Harriet", "Leave it to Beaver", "Donna Reed Show".

Edited October 18 by Wheatwacked

[cristiana]

Hiya @sadiec123s. 

I am not sure this will be terribly helpful, but in case, I'll share a couple of things here.

Rather than aggression, my mental health struggles were anxiety-related. I am sure there was a connection with my low B12 levels, and low iron, because once those were addressed I did start to feel better.  Have you been checked for deficiencies?

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/what-to-know-about-vitamins-and-mental-health

Also, Dr Steve Llardi's book helped me a lot, too.  The Depression Cure: The Six-Step Programme to Beat Depression Without Drugs.  It points out some lifestyle changes that can really help us to feel better:   physical exercise;  omega-3 fatty acids; natural sunlight exposure; restorative sleep; social connectedness:  meaningful, engaging activity.

Cristiana