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Newly Diagnosed - Is This Normal?

Lisa8439

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Lisa8439 Newbie
Lisa8439
Posted

Hi everyone,

I was just dx with celiac on Friday of last week. After taking the weekend to do some research, I took the plunge to the gluten-free way of life today.

I feel a lot worse than I did when I wasn't gluten-free :blink:

Around lunchtime, I got a terrible headache, almost borderline migrane. Upset stomach, nausea, diarreah, and I can hardly eat anything now. I know I didn't eat anything with gluten in it today, I was very careful to plan out my meals today and double check everything.

Is there such a thing as die off when you go gluten-free? Is this just my body trying to plead with me to *please* just eat some cupcakes? :) Or is this not really normal when you are going off of the gluten? I guess I expected to feel a little better... or at least not have a pounding headache and diarreah. All my doc told me was that I would feel very tired and worn out for a month or so... but she didn't say anything about feeling so yucky. It's so bad I am even questioning whether or not I can do this (I know I have to... but when you feel worse than you did in the first place, it's hard to justify why you can't just go ahead and have the foods you are giving up)

Thanks to anyone who answers... I am still very new at this so I am doing a lot of poking around on the message boards for tips!

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
Hi everyone,

I was just dx with celiac on Friday of last week. After taking the weekend to do some research, I took the plunge to the gluten-free way of life today.

I feel a lot worse than I did when I wasn't gluten-free :blink:

Around lunchtime, I got a terrible headache, almost borderline migrane. Upset stomach, nausea, diarreah, and I can hardly eat anything now. I know I didn't eat anything with gluten in it today, I was very careful to plan out my meals today and double check everything.

Is there such a thing as die off when you go gluten-free? Is this just my body trying to plead with me to *please* just eat some cupcakes? :) Or is this not really normal when you are going off of the gluten? I guess I expected to feel a little better... or at least not have a pounding headache and diarreah. All my doc told me was that I would feel very tired and worn out for a month or so... but she didn't say anything about feeling so yucky. It's so bad I am even questioning whether or not I can do this (I know I have to... but when you feel worse than you did in the first place, it's hard to justify why you can't just go ahead and have the foods you are giving up)

Thanks to anyone who answers... I am still very new at this so I am doing a lot of poking around on the message boards for tips!

Hi and welcome to the boards. One of the first and most important things you need to know is that gluten reactions are often delayed reactions. So even though you didn't eat gluten today your body will still be clearing out the gluten you had last week. In addition there also is the addictive nature of gluten and you may also be going through withdrawl. This will end. During these first few weeks you may also want to avoid dairy, many of us are sensitive to it until we heal a bit. It is best to try and eat as simply as possible at first. Try to go with fruit, veggies, meats (unless your a vegetarian), rice, pototoes. The folks on the board are a great resource and make sure you read lots of posts so that you can learn what toiletries and shampoos and such are safe. Again welcome to the board and hang in there things will get better.

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

Hi Lisa, I wanted to welcome you to the board, and I would agree with Ravenwood--it sounds like you are going through healing/withdrawl. It's not a fun thing to go through, but it will end (hopefully soon) and you will begin to heal and feel better. :)

CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted

I felt like I had the flu for the first couple days off gluten. It was really bad. After a couple days, I had what your doc described. It will get better. Hang in there.

TCA Contributor
TCA
Posted

don't expect results for a few weeks. It was 3 weeks for my son for the D to even stop. We've tried to start a new thread to help. Open Original Shared Link

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Lisa8439 Newbie
Lisa8439
Posted
  • Author

Thanks everyone for the replies...

I figured that it was just my body trying to heal, I guess it's just tough mentally starting out when you are still feeling so bad, and yet eating the way you should be.

I will hop on over to the other thread and take a look there too!

:)

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