Paranoid Or Smart?

[Emily Elizabeth]

I was diagnosed with celiac disease on Tuesday 5/15/07. I started the gluten free diet right after my final blood test on 4/27/07. I am feeling better, but still have symptoms and some days are significantly worse then others. I am very paranoid about hidden glutens and am starting to wonder if I am also allergic to something else as well. Is this normal to have good and bad days during the healing process or is something probably causing the changes? I regularly feel dizzy when I don't eat (every 1.5 hours) and have the pregnant look at the end of the day, but my stools go from solid to diarrhea randomly (seemingly). Is it crazy to cut out all dairy products, nuts, wine, eggs, etc. this early along to find out if I am allergic to them?

Also, I read about people touching gluten and then getting sick. Can I not bake for others with wheat flour anymore for fear of getting sick?

I can't wait to start feeling better and want to make sure that I am doing everything I can to do so, without going insane or being overly paranoid doing it! Any advice would be much appreciated!

[Lisa]

Emily E:

It takes some time to heal, and you are extremely new to the diet. You need to be patient. In some adults it can take up to two years to completely heal.

It would be wise to eliminate diary for a while and then reintroduce it after some healing time. Just stick to the gluten and the dairy for now and if after several months, you don't see improvement then you can do an elimination diet one thing at a time so you can identify what you may be reacting to.

It may take several months before you see significant improvement. Be diligent and you will get better soon.

Good luck

PS: reading as much as you can from this site will help you more than anything.

[Emily Elizabeth]

Thanks so much. I really appreciate your advice. I will calm down and stick to the dairy and gluten for now. I am so thankful that this is normal and I don't need to watch everything else as well. I was just starting to feel better (mentally) until I started to question other allergens. I am positive again! Thanks!

[Lisa]

I am not sure if you have been reading here, but I wanted to add some suggestions.

Make sure you have a new chopping board, new wooden spoons, toaster and throw away you scratched teflon pans. These are places where gluten can hide.

You also must check your make-up, lotions, shampoos, lip sticks, in other words, anythings that can find it's was into your mouth.

And find youself some gluten free bread mixes, it will soften you gluten free impact.(but not baked in the old gluten pans)

Hope this helps.

[Emily Elizabeth]

I am not sure if you have been reading here, but I wanted to add some suggestions.

Make sure you have a new chopping board, new wooden spoons, toaster and throw away you scratched teflon pans. These are places where gluten can hide.

You also much check your make-up, lotions, shampoos, lip sticks, in other words, anythings that can find it's was into your mouth.

And find youself some gluten free bread mixes, it will soften you gluten free impact.(but not baked in the gold gluten pans)

Hope this helps.

I have been reading, but it seems that I learn something new everyday. I never would have thought to get new wooden spoons or a new toaster. And I especially wouldn't have thought that my make-up could have gluten in it! I now have an excuse to buy new things for the kitchen! My baking cabinet and cookbooks are covered in flour. I wish I could get new cabinets! Hopefully a good scrubbing will do the trick. Thank you very much. I'm going to bake a loaf of gluten free bread now. Or at least attempt it.

[mftnchn]

Hi,

Hang in there, it does get easier! Yes, you have to worry about fixing gluten containing foods for other people. Flour gets in the air and you can breathe it in even if your are gloved and/or wash your hands diligently.

I had a lot of bloating AFTER going gluten-free but that has improved a lot now (gluten-free for one month).

The ups and downs I had look like they are going to resolve since I discovered my hair products had gluten. I had looked at them earlier but didn't understand all the chemical language. Finally I did a search online and then when it was still not conclusive, I wrote to the company and found out all their products have gluten. (Nioxin)

[Emily Elizabeth]

Hi,

Hang in there, it does get easier! Yes, you have to worry about fixing gluten containing foods for other people. Flour gets in the air and you can breathe it in even if your are gloved and/or wash your hands diligently.

I had a lot of bloating AFTER going gluten-free but that has improved a lot now (gluten-free for one month).

The ups and downs I had look like they are going to resolve since I discovered my hair products had gluten. I had looked at them earlier but didn't understand all the chemical language. Finally I did a search online and then when it was still not conclusive, I wrote to the company and found out all their products have gluten. (Nioxin)

I have been reading books on celiac disease and none of them have mentioned Nioxin. So that is very helpful! Of course the books I have been reading are cook books. Thanks again. That is very helpful. This is a great forum!