Help! Where Do I Begin Figuring Out Other Intolerances?

[I'dratherbecycling]

I'm new at this - just diagnosed celiac about 2 1/2 months ago. I definitely feel better without the gluten, when I can actually manage to go a few days without accidentally glutening myself (I keep finding the hard way the gluten in the hidden places like shampoo, and cross-constamined "gluten-free" products) And when I've ingested gluten I usually DEFINITELY know it within about 20 minutes. Takes about 3 days to feel better.

My problem is, I'm still not feeling that great in general - better - but still having stomach pains, gas, fatigue, and that fuzzy head feeling off and on. I'm guessing I'm intolerant to something else? How the heck does one tackle the huge list of all the things that could be causing problems? How long does it take to heal and really feel better after cutting out gluten, especially when I've been glutened several times by accident? Do reactions to foods always happen quickly after ingesting them, or could there be a delay in how long it takes to feel the effects? I've started keeping a food diary, but it's not making things much clearer for me - I'm completely overwhelmed by the task of untangling this.

And to be honest, I'm completely miserable about the idea of having to give up more of the foods I love, and afraid there's going to be nothing left to eat when I'm done!

[covsooze]

Hi there. I reckon it's probably too early for you to begin to worry that you might have other intolerances. Even if you weren't still being glutened, you will probably still be feeling the effects of eating gluten for years - it does take quite a while to heal. Others might have a different view, but I'd say concentrate on getting the gluten out of your life - that's hard enough and the most important.

(((hugs)))

[AndreaB]

Keeping a food diary is a great idea. I have read of many people doing that and being able to pinpoint other foods that could be causing problems. Do you feel noticeable better gluten free? Did you have testing done? Was there a lot of damage to the villi? If you had damage done casein could be causing you additional problems. Enterolab does test for casein as well as gluten if you really want to pursue that one. They also test for soy/egg/yeast if interested. I had allergy testing done and found out I was allergic to a lot of different foods, most minimally, and then had enterolab done and found out what I was intolerant to. Dairy and Soy tend to be the other two main culprits that cause problems although others have problems with different things. If you want to look into enterolab Open Original Shared Link.

Also, from what I've read, some people bounce back quickly from a gluten attack, others take longer. The same goes for recovery. Although with it being 2 1/2 months I would also tend to think something else is going on. If it is dairy it may not always be a problem, it may just be until the villi heal more. I read somewhere else that the body takes 3 weeks to get over a glutening which is kind of depressing. If you can, give up all dairy for 2-4 weeks and note whether you feel any better, then reintroduce it and see if there is any difference in how you feel.

[kabowman]

I went with the food diary route while on a simple, plain diet and was able to pinpoint most of mine but it took a few months. Now, when I start to have an issue, I can usually figure it out within a couple of months without the diary.