After 5 Months No Change - What Next?

[mattj]

After 5 months of being gluten-free I can't say I feel any better at all. I do have an increased appetite (that was evident within days) but that's all. I still experience mild abdominal pains after eating and I am wondering if dairy is the culprit. If I am intolerant of dairy products, could this be keeping my gut from healing even though I am not consuming gluten? Can dairy, or another food that I might be unable to tolerate, keep one in a state of celiac damage after removing gluten?

[Mango04]

Yes, dairy could be the problem. You should consider cutting it out for a while to find out for sure...

[YoAdrianne66]

Remember that some medication contains gluten or can be cross contaminated with gluten even though it might not contain it. You can check with the medication's manufacturer, they'll be able to tell you. Another thing is if you live with other people who eat gluten products you could get cross contamination that way like using the same utensils, pots & pans, etc.. If you want you can also try reading my other posts, I have been going through the same thing as you, still having lots of problems even though on a gluten free diet. There might be something that could help you. Hope you feel better soon!

[mattj]

Remember that some medication contains gluten or can be cross contaminated with gluten even though it might not contain it. You can check with the medication's manufacturer, they'll be able to tell you. Another thing is if you live with other people who eat gluten products you could get cross contamination that way like using the same utensils, pots & pans, etc.. If you want you can also try reading my other posts, I have been going through the same thing as you, still having lots of problems even though on a gluten free diet. There might be something that could help you. Hope you feel better soon!

Is there any real evidence that pots and pans and other kitchen items - when washed thoroughly - can still carry gluten and cause contamination? It seems so hard to believe.

[mftnchn]

There seems to be a range of sensitivity, but it also seems to increase after going gluten-free for many. After reading a lot of posts on this forum, I think it really can be an issue. Any item that has porous surfaces that cannot be totally cleaned can hide tiny amounts of gluten. Some people react strongly to this. I think they become our proof!

So my thought is that in the early stages (first year or two) we are wise to follow the stricter guidelines, especially if we are still symptomatic. After that, perhaps we can experiment to find the amount of CC exposure we can tolerate.

[kazzadazza]

could be zinc deficiency . i spoke to a naturopath yeserday ( she just happened to be running a healthfood shop ) and she wipped out her big text book and started pointing things out . celiac disease unresponsive almost always caused by lack of adherance OR zinc deficiency . your gut cannot heal itself without zinc . she was recomending a liquid zinc supplement ; when our gut is compromised we can have difficulties absorbing other types of supplements .