I Am Soooo Frustrated

[ami27]

I felt so good when I first went gluten free. Now I'm back to being irritable, weak feeling, fatigued, etc. I'm reading that is very common. It doesn't make me feel any better or know what to do. I've cut out dairy in addition to the gluten. I'm still not any better. So it has to be something else in addition to dairy. How would I go about learning how to do a proper elimination diet? I think that is the route I need to go. I wish this was easy. But, just when I think I have things figured out...more questions come up.

Ami

[lonewolf]

The other common offenders are corn, soy and eggs. Try eliminating these first (I know, easier said than done), and then trying a true elimination diet. When I started my journey on a restricted diet I only ate fish, rice, sunflower seeds, most fruits and most vegetables for a whole year. It worked great though - all my health problems cleared up by the end of that year. I slowly started adding foods back in and now only avoid gluten, dairy, soy and eggs. (And I can handle small amounts of eggs now, after 10-1/2 years.)

[ami27]

I'll try that. I have been eating eggs in the morning. I will stop that along with the corn tortillas. I don't consume soy so that shouldn't be too difficult. I really want to feel better. I was just discussing with my fiance' that I'm going to try only eating fish, chicken, rice, veggies and fruit and see how I feel. It's just really frustrating to have to be so restrictive. We have 2 boys also and I have figure out food for them and myself. It's almost like I have to decide 2 distinct meals each time we eat, one for them and one for myself.

Ami

[lonewolf]

I hear you on how frustrating it is. I spent a year making two different meals most of the time. The good news is that it helped and that I got over most of my other food restrictions. Now it seems that only avoiding gluten, dairy, eggs and soy is a breeze. And I can make meals that everyone eats with no problems.

[celiacgirls]

I've re-read some of your posts and it looks like you have only been gluten-free since a little before Thanksgiving. Are you sure you have all traces of gluten and/or dairy out of your diet? I'm asking because after I had been gluten-free for a few months, I noticed I was tired and irritable again. I had been eating out at supposedly safe places then. I decided to stop doing that and be much more in control of all of the trace amounts and cc in my diet. That has helped. My kitchen at home is very close to being gluten-free since my husband is the only one who eats gluten. He has his own bread and toaster but everything else is gluten-free. Since I've done that, I've noticed that when I have eaten in a restaurant, that feeling comes back. And for me, it lasted 2 1/2 weeks. So if you are making mistakes or getting cc'd even every few weeks, I think that could be the cause of your problems.

[ami27]

Karen,

Thanks for the info. And you are right I've only been gluten free since the day after T-giving. I was eating out, but have stopped that too. I only eat at home and I take my lunch to work. Both of my boys got A honor roll so I told them I'd take them to Chili's as a treat. We went last night and I sat there and drank water while they all ate. It just isn't worth it to me anymore to even try to eat gluten-free out. So maybe in the past 3 weeks I was getting gluten while eating out and I'm suffering the residual effects. I am not a patient person in case you haven't noticed I felt so good that first month or so. I want to feel that way again! So I'll continue to make the best choices I can. And of course all the wisdom here on this board helps tremendously.

Ami

[RiceGuy]

One of the mistakes I first made was not replacing the wheat stuff with enough gluten-free grains and other things. After switching to a whole grain brown rice, and looking up and adding some other grains and stuff, that seems to have helped. I do know however, that there is a lot of damage from years of glutening to repair, so I have to be patient too.

For the fatigue, try a vitamin B12 subligual supplement. The methylcobalamin form is apparently the best according to the research. Just be sure to check the additional ingredients.

[Nancym]

I've discovered that I can only tolerate seeds and some nuts in small amounts. Sunflower seeds give me the WORST diarrhea, same with pumpkin seeds.

[kbtoyssni]

I'll try that. I have been eating eggs in the morning. I will stop that along with the corn tortillas. I don't consume soy so that shouldn't be too difficult. I really want to feel better. I was just discussing with my fiance' that I'm going to try only eating fish, chicken, rice, veggies and fruit and see how I feel. It's just really frustrating to have to be so restrictive. We have 2 boys also and I have figure out food for them and myself. It's almost like I have to decide 2 distinct meals each time we eat, one for them and one for myself.

Ami

Eventually I would move to cooking one meal for everyone. Cooking two meals is an invitation for extra stress and cross contamination issues.

[hathor]

Here is a description of an elimination diet:

Open Original Shared Link

I'm sorry -- I realized after this post I replied with the same information in another thread you started ...

[tarnalberry]

If you had been eating out, that could be part of the problem. Even with a number of places I feel quite safe at, I keep it to once a week at a maximum - and that often is a *rare* occurance, and only when I'm *very* confident of the location and dish I'm ordering. There's just too much risk of contamination.

Additionally, cutting out the exercise could be making you feel worse as well, if you used to be a very regular exerciser. And you might look at how else the macronutrient content of your diet has changed to see what your body is trying to adjust to.

[Michelle B]

Be warned - some people are intolerant to sunflower too

I've been gluten free for years now, with a few hairy moments when I accidentally ate something with gluten in (why, why, don't Kelloggs put it in on the label!) but gluten free for ages.

But now I'm reacting again. Weak, trembling, irritable, diarrhoea, constant upset stomach, headaches, and a massive massive weight gain. Can't work out what it is, so cutting out soya and milk for while.

But I did notice I got a stomch ache after eating crisps - so sunflower oil going out too.

Bit by bit, the food I can eat is going down to carrots and turkey! (Bananas and raisins make me ill too)

It's all getting very frustrating!

Goodness knows what I'll happen when I go on holiday, and will have no control over the food I eat.