New Here. Here Are My Symptoms.

[Pyro]

Hey all! I've been reading these forums for the past few days and am pretty sure that I now have enough knowledge to live gluten free. Even if I don't have celiac's, it will probably be a healthier living anyway.

Anyhow, I'll dive right in with my symptoms and see what you all think.

About a year or so ago, I finally started eating healthy. I started a low-fat, moderate protein, whole grain based diet. While I finally lost some weight, I still felt and looked like crap. My complexion was always lackluster, my energy levels sucked, I was constipated, my brain was foggy and felt riddled with disease, and I wasn't happy. Then a few months ago I did a ton of nutritional research and found out about a high fat, almost no carbohydrate diet (There's no real name for it but keto. No, it's not Atkins.).

On it I feel great, my moods are better, and my skin is better. But I'm still constipated and bloat like crazy, and my weekly carbohydrate loads (for athletic purposes) are getting more painful every week even when I don't eat like insane during them. This Thanksgiving was by far the worst I've had so far, and all the symptoms were amplified. Everytime I do these carb-ups I feel slow, stupid (doing homework is TERRIBLE), bloated, full of water, dehydrated but can't drink, ugly (not just psychological. My face gets really puffy and pale), tired, even more constipated, gassy, crazy (very much so), and recently my mouth gets sore and I feel like my veins itch deep below my skin. Thanksgiving night gave me all of these symptoms, the worst I ever had them. My stomach actually ballooned out at least 6 inches.

So I finally looked into bloating which led to stomach disorders which led to celiac then this site where I've been reading and relating to a lot of these posts. Then on the weekend, I found out the relatively carb-free chocolate bar I was eating had gluten contaminents. So the rest of the day was crappy. Then the next day, I found out this spaghetti sauce that had NOTHING to do with gluten just happened to be contaminated because of the stupid factory. So I went ahead and finished it and the chocolate bar and had a horrific night that lasted into this morning.

I'm feeling a bit better now. Though I'm really scared that I might not be gluten intolerant and my constipation/bloating will plague me for the rest of my life because nothing so far has helped at all. The other symptoms I can easily control because I follow a carbohydrate free diet (sans the good vegetables. I eat more of these than anyone I know) 6 days of the week anyway. Waiting countless months just to know if I'll get better or not is really scary!

Thanks for taking your time and reading all that. And definitely thank you very much for this forum. There is a ton of info here.

[Ursa Major]

Well, you can stop those carb load ups, because they DON'T help you do better in athletic competitions. It has been proven that people who loaded up on protein did much better. It is a myth that carbs are good for you when doing sports.

You do sound like you are gluten intolerant. So, go ahead and go gluten-free. But only if you don't want an official diagnosis. You need to stay on gluten for testing if you want an official diagnosis.

Also, dairy can cause a lot of your symptoms, as can soy.

I hope you feel better soon!

[Pyro]

Well, you can stop those carb load ups, because they DON'T help you do better in athletic competitions. It has been proven that people who loaded up on protein did much better.

Are you sure? Are there any articles on this? Regardless, I want to do at leat one more so I can try some gluten-free goodies. I do lots of long distance walking and lift a few days a week so my glycogen definitely gets depleted. It would make sense that protein could help (can be converted into glucose)... but are you sure? Would it have any effect on leptin levels as well? I couldn't imagine taking down a couple turkeys on the weekend. That would be so different!

Oh and I forgot to mention I'm avoiding dairy and soy from now on too.

Thanks for the response!

[mftnchn]

Just a comment that it really does take awhile. I have dealt with constipation issues too. I use buffered C powder that has magnesium in it as well, morning and evening. Earlier after going Gluten-free Casein-free I had to use three scoops of this plus extra magnesium and extra Vit C in order to eliminate. So basically I am using half that amount now, at 7 months gluten-free, 4 months SF.

The magnesium is really important to the smooth muscle in order to get peristalsis going.

Sounds like you could increase your fiber?

I also noticed improvement after the doctor put me on L-glutamine, which is an amino acid the gut needs for healing.

Finally, I wonder if you have checked into the parasite issue? Most Americans have them because we don't treat it regularly. Worms can cause constipation. There's a preparation a few people here have been trying called humaworm that seems to work well. I have tried some natural stuff: garlic, three days on pineapple only, pumpkin seeds.

I still deal with bloating though even though the constipation is better.

[Pyro]

I don't know about any parasites, but they don't seem likely. I might look into that eventually.

The L-Glutamine seems promising. I remember taking that before, in a lifting stack. So even if it doesn't help with my stomach, which it should, it probably will help my lifting recovery too. Even if neither happens, I have a really cool bottle now to store things in. They don't make enough glass bottles these days.