Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):
  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Before Going gluten-free Was Anyone Else Always Hungry?


Guest buzzinboston

Recommended Posts

anerissara Enthusiast

I didn't read all the replies, but I wanted to let you know that I had a similar pain in the upper right side, right under my lowest ribs. It almost felt like a muscle catch, or something...the golfball analogy really fits. As if there were something there. Thats the place where the small and large intestine connect, and it's an area that can really get inflamed when you're eating gluten. Also, gas (which is worse with gluten) can get trapped there...my dr. told me that area can blow up as big as a soft ball!!!!! No wonder something doesn't feel right.

When I went gluten-free after several months the discomfort gradually dissapeared. It's been nearly 2 years now and i never get that feeling any more. Sometimes I will get pain in the lower right side if I get glutened, but I don't have the upper pain anymore.

I have to echo what eveyrone is saying...go back on the gluten-free diet!!! It will probably take care of that discomfort, plus it will save your life long-term, plus you will probably lose a lot of weight. I had about 15 or so extra pounds packing around on me, that wouldn't go away no matter what I did and after going gluten-free the weight just came off like nothing. Plus my skin cleared up, i had 100% more energy, i felt better, I could think clearly again, I slept better, my anxiety dissapeared....the list goes on and on. It is SOOOOOOOO worth it! Do it and do it right, and you will be a new person, no kidding. There are so many great gluten-free products out there and every day they come out with new ones, although it's more expensive you can almost eat like anyone else with gluten-free breads, cookies (the KToos OREO knock-offs are as good as the real thing, no joke!) and even bagles and muffins. And those are just the things you can buy, if you bake you can do jsut about anything gluten-free with a little practice. Please, please do yourself a favor and make the decision to go gluten-free for life! Your quality (and quantity) of life will be so much better.

Oh, I forgot (sorry about the double post!)....I get *starving* when I have been glutened. No kidding, I just want to eat and eat and eat. It's like my body craves *everything*, and I'm eating for a "cure" for the gluten in my system. This will last several days after the glutening incident, then fade away. Without gluten in my system, my body works much better at telling me what it needs. Also, I will gain 3 pounds overnight (seriously) without eating *anything* if I've been gluetned...I retain a ton of water. It's miserable, but I didn't know the difference before going strictly gluten-free.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



casnco Enthusiast

I am glad you brought up this topic. I too had a problem with being full. My stomach would hurt, and rather than obstain from eating, I would eat something and the pain would go away. Then the food would begin to "digest" and the pain would come back. Again I would eat more and the pain would subside. This has gone on for most of my life. I have developed the worst eating habits known to man. Now that I am gluten free (for 3 yrs) I do not have the stomach upset. Now I am working on changing my eating habits. Now that is a chore. I have always been about 50 lbs overweight and hoped when diagnosed with Celiac I would lose some weight. I haven't, darn it. And now I realize it is because I have bad eating habits due to the constant cycle of stomach pain and using food to comfort it. What a vicious cycle. When there was no pain in my stomach I was hungry because of all the food I was eating most of it was gluten containing carbs so there was no nutrition for my body. Therefore I was hungry for nutrition. Wish they taught more about nutrition in high school.

  • 2 months later...
e&j0304 Enthusiast

I just stumbled upon this and I see that it's a really old thread, but I just wanted to add a little of our story for you. My then 2-year-old dd was ALWAYS hungry. Hungry to the point of eating 2 sandwiches, a bowl of grapes, apples, bananas, bowls of cereal, 3 glasses of milk, animal crackers, etc. IN ONE SITTING.

She was so ravenous that we took her to dr. after dr. to see what on Earth was wrong with her. She was also not really growing and VERY short for her age. She had totally fallen off the growth chart. She then started to lose her hair (as you can see in the pic in my avatar) due to not really getting any nutrients even though she was eating so much.

She was blood tested and it was negative. She was never biopsied. We just started the diet the day of the blood test. She responded very quickly, but still eats quite a bit for her age. However, we just had her at the dr. today and she is now in the 20% for height and 40th for weight, which is HUGE for her.

I just wanted to share a little. It always helps to know that others are going through the same thing.

Shannon

Electra Enthusiast

Yup definitely have starvation here. I just don't eat dispite the pain and constant growling because hunger pains are so much more tolerable for me then Celiac symptoms :-(!! It gets worse too UG!!! I swear I can eat and 5-10 min later I'm famished!! Like I haven't eaten in days. I just want to sleep my life away at this point so I don't have to live with this any longer!!

ARK Apprentice
Yup definitely have starvation here. I just don't eat dispite the pain and constant growling because hunger pains are so much more tolerable for me then Celiac symptoms :-(!! It gets worse too UG!!! I swear I can eat and 5-10 min later I'm famished!! Like I haven't eaten in days. I just want to sleep my life away at this point so I don't have to live with this any longer!!

My 14 year old son was constantly hungry and usually ate every one to two hours throughout the day and was complaining again about being hungry in a few minutes.

Within a week of going gluten free, that all disappeared and we were really shocked. I STILL cant get over him eating small meals three times a day, with maybe only one afternoon snack. It is unreal. I had NO idea how big of a problem it was because I was so used to it!

He is so much happier in so many ways. :D

Looking for answers Contributor

I agree with others, as I was constantly hungry before going gluten free. I would eat and then go through my kitchen cabinets to try to find something to satisfy me. Sometimes I would eat two or three small meals after dinner, trying desperately to make the urge to eat go away . . . but it never would. Trust me when I say that going gluten free is a lot easier than dealing with this.

Ann1231 Enthusiast
I agree with others, as I was constantly hungry before going gluten free. I would eat and then go through my kitchen cabinets to try to find something to satisfy me. Sometimes I would eat two or three small meals after dinner, trying desperately to make the urge to eat go away . . . but it never would. Trust me when I say that going gluten free is a lot easier than dealing with this.

This sounds just like me. I could not find "full" for anything! It was nothing to eat 3 or 4 bowls of cereal, then make several slices of toast. I was eating low fat and everything was wheat products. I felt horrible too and gained so much weight, because of the celiac and also the massive amounts of food I was eating. My appetite changed dramatically when I went gluten free. I was like a different person.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



amber-rose Contributor

Same here, nothing could ever actually fill me up.

lonewolf Collaborator

The whole time I was growing up and well into adulthood I was always hungry. It's a lot better now, but I still have a few extra pounds.

Mary Contrary Rookie

Boy this is so me, I am always starving to death it seems..I can eat like a logger...I eat a meal and can still eat more. It has been worse recently, I thought it was because I have had constant D for 3 months and everything is just running right through me..been gluten free for about 2 months now and the D is starting to just barely get better, but I am ravanous all the time....After work I can, or would like to eat non-stop and then still have dinner...I am a bit overweight, but not obese, but I have noticed I can eat alot lately and not gain weight, now that I am no longer eating any wheat/gluten. I am trying to control my eating because large meals just seems to make things worse at the mo, the D, I hope as I continue to heal that this goes away, the feeling I am starving alll of the time.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - trents replied to SilkieFairy's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      4

      IBS-D vs Celiac

    2. - SilkieFairy replied to SilkieFairy's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      4

      IBS-D vs Celiac

    3. - knitty kitty replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

    4. - Jane02 replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,338
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Erica Johnson
    Newest Member
    Erica Johnson
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      No coincidence. Recent revisions to gluten challenge guidelines call for the daily consumption of at least 10g of gluten (about the amount in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of 3 weeks. If possible, I would extend that two weeks to ensure valid testing.
    • SilkieFairy
      Thank you both for the replies. I decided to bring back gluten so I can do the blood test. Today is Day #2 of the Challenge. Yesterday I had about 3 slices of whole wheat bread and I woke up with urgent diarrhea this morning. It was orange, sandy and had the distinctive smell that I did not have when I was briefly gluten free. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but the brain fog is back and I feel very tired.   
    • knitty kitty
      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens.  I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium.  I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells.  When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly.  This is safe and nontoxic.  Vitamin D level should be above 70 nmol/L.  Lifeguards and indigenous Pacific Islanders typically have levels between 80-100 nmol/L.   Levels lower than this are based on amount needed to prevent disease like rickets and osteomalacia. We need more thiamine when we're physically ill, emotionally and mentally stressed, and if we exercise like an athlete or laborer.  We need more thiamine if we eat a diet high in simple carbohydrates.  For every 500 kcal of carbohydrates, we need 500-1000 mg more of thiamine to process the carbs into energy.  If there's insufficient thiamine the carbs get stored as fat.  Again, recommended levels set for thiamine are based on minimum amounts needed to prevent disease.  This is often not adequate for optimum health, nor sufficient for people with absorption problems such as Celiac disease.  Gluten free processed foods are not enriched with vitamins like their gluten containing counterparts.  Adding a B Complex and additional thiamine improves health for Celiacs.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine helps the mitochondria in cells to function.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins.  They are all water soluble and easily excreted if not needed. Interesting Reading: Clinical trial: B vitamins improve health in patients with coeliac disease living on a gluten-free diet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19154566/ Safety and effectiveness of vitamin D mega-dose: A systematic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34857184/ High dose dietary vitamin D allocates surplus calories to muscle and growth instead of fat via modulation of myostatin and leptin signaling https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38766160/ Safety of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31746327/ Vitamins and Celiac Disease: Beyond Vitamin D https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11857425/ Investigating the therapeutic potential of tryptophan and vitamin A in modulating immune responses in celiac disease: an experimental study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40178602/ Investigating the Impact of Vitamin A and Amino Acids on Immune Responses in Celiac Disease Patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10814138/
    • Jane02
      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency.  I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently meet from my diet is vitamin D. Calcium is a hit and miss as I rely on vegetables, dark leafy greens as a major source, for my calcium intake. I'm able to meet it when I either eat or juice a bundle of kale or collard greens daily haha. My thiamine intake is roughly 120% of my needs, although I do recognize that I may not be absorbing all of these nutrients consistently with intermittent unintentional exposures to gluten.  My vitamin A intake is roughly 900% (~6400 mcg/d) of my needs as I eat a lot of sweet potato, although since it's plant-derived vitamin A (beta-carotene) apparently it's not likely to cause toxicity.  Thanks again! 
    • knitty kitty
      Hello, @Jane02,  I take Naturewise D 3.  It contains olive oil.   Some Vitamin D supplements, like D Drops, are made with fractionated coconut oil which can cause digestive upsets.  Fractionated coconut oil is not the same as coconut oil used for cooking.  Fractionated coconut oil has been treated for longer shelf life, so it won't go bad in the jar, and thus may be irritating to the digestive system. I avoid supplements made with soy because many people with Celiac Disease also react to soy.  Mixed tocopherols, an ingredient in Thornes Vitamin D, may be sourced from soy oil.  Kirkland's has soy on its ingredient list. I avoid things that might contain or be exposed to crustaceans, like Metagenics says on its label.  I have a crustacean/shellfish/fish allergy.  I like Life Extension Bioactive Complete B Complex.  I take additional Thiamine B 1 in the form Benfotiamine which helps the intestines heal, Life Extension MegaBenfotiamine. Thiamine is needed to activate Vitamin D.   Low thiamine can make one feel like they are getting glutened after a meal containing lots of simple carbohydrates like white rice, or processed gluten free foods like cookies and pasta.   It's rare to have a single vitamin deficiency.  The water soluble B Complex vitamins should be supplemented together with additional Thiamine in the form Benfotiamine and Thiamine TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) to correct subclinical deficiencies that don't show up on blood tests.  These are subclinical deficiencies within organs and tissues.  Blood is a transportation system.  The body will deplete tissues and organs in order to keep a supply of thiamine in the bloodstream going to the brain and heart.   If you're low in Vitamin D, you may well be low in other fat soluble vitamins like Vitamin A and Vitamin K. Have you seen a dietician?
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.