How Long Until You Noticed A Difference?

[moozicteacher]

I'm wondering how long I have to be gluten/dairy free to notice a difference in how I feel.

How was it with you? Days? Weeks? Months?

My doctor said probably a few months....

Just curious, I know that everyone is different, I just want to know your experience.

Thanks.

[Guest kivmom3]

Everyone heals differently. The normal recovery that I have been told and read is 3-6 months to feel better and up to 1 year to fully feel better.

I started to feel better about 2 months into the diet. I wouldn't say I'm 100% better, but I would say I am about 70% better and that is HUGE!

Be patient and you will start to feel better every day!!!

[par18]

From the time I went 100% gluten free it took me only 1 1/2 days for my symptoms (bloating,gas,D) to disappear. However since I was so malnourished it took a couple of months for me to heal up enough to gain back some weight and become active again. I never had any accidental glutenings so I had no setbacks. I personally was never told it could be as soon as a couple of months. Everyone I talked to estimated 6 months to 2 years. I think if I had known it "could" have been sooner then I would have been a lot more optimistic in the beginning. The most important thing anyone can do is be as careful as possible and let nature takes it's course. Good luck.

Tom

[gdobson]

I noticed a difference in myself in less than 2 weeks - bone pain went away and the pain of getting out of bed stopped. But it took months and months I'ld say like 10 to start feeling great. But I didn't know how bad I really felt, until I started feeling better.

But while you are healing, you are still very sensitive to even non-gluten containing things. It takes time.

[rsm]

I'm noticing a big difference at almost 6 months gluten free, dairy free. It was up and down before that. I also found that cotton seed oil which is used in chips and peanut butter is hard to get along with too. Give yourself a few months at least.

[Guest Happynwgal2]

  moozicteacher said:

I'm wondering how long I have to be gluten/dairy free to notice a difference in how I feel.

How was it with you? Days? Weeks? Months?

My doctor said probably a few months....

Just curious, I know that everyone is different, I just want to know your experience.

Thanks.

I agree with all the previous posters: it takes a while, but the lack of symptoms like gas and upset stomach seems to go away pretty quickly - but, of course, we are all different.

I have now been gluten free for almost 10 months, but I am still struggling with some things... I think it will take me another few months to completely rid my diet of everything that upsets my system, but I feel so much better than a year ago. It seems like my system is very sensitive to too much food, so I do better with small meals and less gluten free flours... Not sure why the latter seems to sometimes sit like a heavy rock in my stomach... I still have to figure that one out... Not like gluten pain, but still uncomfortable...

[Guest j_mommy]

I felt better after e few days...no more excurtiating stomach pain and no more D. I'm about 4 months gluten-free and I feel better every week unless I have a setback with CC.

[tarnalberry]

It kinda depends on how attentive you are to your own body in general. Generally, I'd say that you'd notice *some* improvement within a few days. That might be only a small change in GI symptoms, and only noticeable if you're attentive, for some people. It's easy to overlook the changes, because they can be subtle and because we've often had symptoms for so long. But, in general, you're look from a rosy-glassed best case scenario of a few days, to a few months, to notice a difference. It can take much, much longer than that to feel completely better, however.

[maryjoali]

Gluten-free/Casein-free since Jan 2007 and was feeling MUCH better!!! Unbelievable change, but now some of my symptoms are starting to come back again which is so frustrating. I cannot see where gluten is entering my diet, so I'm wondering if there's something else going on. Waiting for an appointment at the gastro-dr. Anyone else experience this??

[Guest j_mommy]

Yup I have had experience with that...I know I'm not getting gluten from anywhere....I see the allergist next week to see if I'm sensitive/allergic/intolerant to anything else! But I still have to say I feel MUCH better than I did before!

[sallyterpsichore]

I felt worse right after going gluten-free. Then I cut out soy and dairy at the request of my nutritionist. Now, 9 months later, I'm slowly adding some dairy back in. I started feeling better after 8 months or so, sorry to say. Then again, I was a pretty severe case to begin with. We don't know where I was on the TtG scale...I was just "off the charts" which only go up to 120. I'm down to 55 on that scale, so considerably better. I'm still not "normal"...getting there.

Good luck all

[wowzer]

I had many improvement in the first few weeks. I went gluten free the beginning of the year. I do notice if I do get glutened the reactions are worse now.

[Miriam3]

I'm at over two months gluten-free now. I started to feel better after four days-- meaning, the gas, cramps and bloated stomach started to get better. Over the last couple of months a lot of the water weight I was carrying around in my stomach and legs started to go down. My ankles look less puffy. Also I stopped experiencing really bad brain fog in the middle of the day and stopped being freezing in waves throughout the day.

I wonder though... what really is 100% well? Since I was a pretty little kid I was always considered healthy enough but had a lot of nagging stuff, like leg pains at night, extremely sore after exercise, hard to concentrate, brittle fingernails, frizzy hair, and later acne all over my body. ...All the kind of stuff that doctors can tell you are "normal for some people" and send you away.

Well, I'm glad to say a lot of that stuff isn't "normal" anymore!! I am slowly getting to be the most healthy in my life and it's pretty great. I just feel like I won't know when I'm done because I've never felt that good BEFORE.

[7-cody]

  Miriam3 said:

I'm at over two months gluten-free now. I started to feel better after four days-- meaning, the gas, cramps and bloated stomach started to get better. Over the last couple of months a lot of the water weight I was carrying around in my stomach and legs started to go down. My ankles look less puffy. Also I stopped experiencing really bad brain fog in the middle of the day and stopped being freezing in waves throughout the day.

I wonder though... what really is 100% well? Since I was a pretty little kid I was always considered healthy enough but had a lot of nagging stuff, like leg pains at night, extremely sore after exercise, hard to concentrate, brittle fingernails, frizzy hair, and later acne all over my body. ...All the kind of stuff that doctors can tell you are "normal for some people" and send you away.

Well, I'm glad to say a lot of that stuff isn't "normal" anymore!! I am slowly getting to be the most healthy in my life and it's pretty great. I just feel like I won't know when I'm done because I've never felt that good BEFORE.

What do you mean freezing in waves? (sorry, I've never heard that expression before=p)

That's great that you feel better though... I've been on the gluten free diet for about 5 weeks now. Dairy free as well for 3. I don't feel better yet... my brain fog is horrible and I feel like my brain is floating.

I'm curious to how everyone eats though. I'm wondering if eating healthier, perhaps more veggies and seafood, or even fruits can make you feel even better than just gluten-free or perhaps help you heal faster?

[mama2]

I noticed a difference in about 3days and took about a mth until I really started feeling good.

[JNBunnie1]

  7_cody said:

What do you mean freezing in waves? (sorry, I've never heard that expression before=p)

That's great that you feel better though... I've been on the gluten free diet for about 5 weeks now. Dairy free as well for 3. I don't feel better yet... my brain fog is horrible and I feel like my brain is floating.

I'm curious to how everyone eats though. I'm wondering if eating healthier, perhaps more veggies and seafood, or even fruits can make you feel even better than just gluten-free or perhaps help you heal faster?

I stopped having GI symptoms and fevers and passing out as soon as I stopped gluten, but it ook another year before I started to feel smart again, when I started to eat good foods like free range eggs and raw dairy and organic meats and lots of avocado and coconut stuff.

[Miriam3]

  7_cody said:

What do you mean freezing in waves? (sorry, I've never heard that expression before=p)

That's great that you feel better though... I've been on the gluten free diet for about 5 weeks now. Dairy free as well for 3. I don't feel better yet... my brain fog is horrible and I feel like my brain is floating.

I'm curious to how everyone eats though. I'm wondering if eating healthier, perhaps more veggies and seafood, or even fruits can make you feel even better than just gluten-free or perhaps help you heal faster?

"Freezing in waves"... ....I guess that's not a real expression and it sounds confusing. What I mean is gluten or casein make me feel suddenly cold, sometimes so cold my teeth would chatter. Even in a really warm place (and I mean I live on a tropical island and this still happened)-- I'd get ice cold hands and sometimes feet. The chilled feeling comes in waves is what I meant, and I never connected it to the gluten/casein until I stopped eating them and realized my hands were toasty warm all the time. Also my body temperature went up to 98.6. It was down around 97 ever since I can remember-- and the medical records show it.

I ate super healthy for YEARS before I found out about gluten. It's probably why I survived. I was such a health nut--fruits and vegetables, salads at restaurants, all good fats, no junk food. I avoided extra bread, but of course I would eat whole wheat sandwiches and crackers. Only the healthiest wheat for me! --And of course that's why it sucked to be miserable so much.

I'm just glad we're all on the mend. Hope everyone notices a new improvement today!

[TestyTommy]

I started feeling better in a few weeks and much better after a few months. But after about 1.5 years gluten-free, I'm still not 100%. I feel better than I have in years, though, so I'm staying optimistic.

I suspect the biggest factors in healing are (1) how long were you sick, but not diagnosed and (2) how old you are. If you're in your 20s and get diagnosed right away, you'll probably heal quickly. But if you're in your 40s and were sick for 10 years (like me!) it will take significantly longer.

[confusedks]

I think a lot of people who are taking a long time to heal may have other food intolerances. I found out soy, tree nuts, peanuts, soy and dairy. They all have made a difference. Soy and peanuts give me GI troubles, tree nuts and dairy give me HORRIBLE migraine headaches along with GI, but GI symptoms aren't unbearable. It is a difficult process. But in answer to your question, it took me a couple weeks for the GI stuff to go away, then I was hospitalized and got glutened everyday, so that set me back big time. I then felt fine, but then symptoms started to come back which is when I figured out the other intolerances.

Kassandra

[HouseKat]

  Miriam3 said:

Also my body temperature went up to 98.6. It was down around 97 ever since I can remember-- and the medical records show it.

I'm so glad that you mentioned this! My body temperature has ran low for years, and the doctors never though anything of it. I hadn't seen this symptom listed anywhere.

Kate

[Miriam3]

  HouseKat said:

I'm so glad that you mentioned this! My body temperature has ran low for years, and the doctors never though anything of it. I hadn't seen this symptom listed anywhere.

Kate

Well, docs will tell you there is a normal range, and 97 isn't out of it so it's nothing to worry about. It didn't worry me that the thermometer said a certain number, it worried me that I couldn't get warm and that sucks! I've seen cold hands and feet on a few sites as a possible symptom, but I guess it isn't a classic one. For me, I'm just happy to finally be warm!

If you see it get better, let us know. It would be interesting if it worked for more that one person to eliminate the gluten and kick the cold!

[Gryph]

Within a month, though I'm not deep enough to say when I felt all better...I'm still symptomatic in some ways.

[Merika]

I think a lot of docs don't know what they're talking about. They have too few celiac patients and have only read about the disease. Like they say, within 6 months to a year, your blood levels should be "normal". Also, most people either feel well enough to stop seeing the doc by then, or still feel bad but have realized the doc has nothing left to offer them so they don't go back. So from the doc's perspective, everyone with celiac is "better" within a year.

YMMV (your mileage may vary)

Merika