Slow Recovery After Holidays

[gleegan]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. I've been reading it for a few months, but have never posted. I'm hoping someone can help me understand what's going on with a very slow recovery I've been going through. I am self-diagnosed Celiac for about 10 months now. None of the doctors even mentioned the possibility of Celiac or gluten intolerance when I had no idea what was going on; but, as soon as I stopped gluten after reading about the condition on the internet, years of me only having "the big D" stopped and I finally had solid stools. The abdominal pain stopped as did the bloating. In short, I have been utterly convinced that this was my problem (and still am).

However, since the holidays when I did cheat and eat some things I should not have had and, since then, I am only having the big D three weeks later (with no solid stools). I have been avoiding gluten during those three weeks, but everything (fruit, veggies, rice) seems to make me sick. It makes me pretty angry because, as you all now, staying on the right diet can be so difficult and I don't understand why eating a piece of pizza and a bagel should make me sick this much after the fact (it has never happened before since I got healthy when i cheated slightly). Is it possible that I've killed all of the villi (I think that's the term) and they need to rebuild? Is this a normal amount of time for it to take? I have been going through a lot of work and financial stress, so maybe this is making my recovery slower. I know I'll never cheat again (or try harder!)!

I know I should have a diagnosis from a doctor, but I have no doubt of what's wrong. It's just freaking me out that this recovery is taking so long. Help!

[barlabarlabarla]

  gleegan said:

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. I've been reading it for a few months, but have never posted. I'm hoping someone can help me understand what's going on with a very slow recovery I've been going through. I am self-diagnosed Celiac for about 10 months now. None of the doctors even mentioned the possibility of Celiac or gluten intolerance when I had no idea what was going on; but, as soon as I stopped gluten after reading about the condition on the internet, years of me only having "the big D" stopped and I finally had solid stools. The abdominal pain stopped as did the bloating. In short, I have been utterly convinced that this was my problem (and still am).

However, since the holidays when I did cheat and eat some things I should not have had and, since then, I am only having the big D three weeks later (with no solid stools). I have been avoiding gluten during those three weeks, but everything (fruit, veggies, rice) seems to make me sick. It makes me pretty angry because, as you all now, staying on the right diet can be so difficult and I don't understand why eating a piece of pizza and a bagel should make me sick this much after the fact (it has never happened before since I got healthy when i cheated slightly). Is it possible that I've killed all of the villi (I think that's the term) and they need to rebuild? Is this a normal amount of time for it to take? I have been going through a lot of work and financial stress, so maybe this is making my recovery slower. I know I'll never cheat again (or try harder!)!

I know I should have a diagnosis from a doctor, but I have no doubt of what's wrong. It's just freaking me out that this recovery is taking so long. Help!

Thanks for that posting. I am also not officially diagnosed and am also wondering what the time frame is for recovery. I am basically eliminating all wheat products, such as breads and pizza crusts, bagels , donuts and breakfast cereals. I find that eating gluten free is expensive, as so much of what my children eat has gluten in it. I am also trying to reduce the amount of cow's milk that I consume in milks, cheeses , icecream etc...

My goal is not only to heal the bloating and constipation, but to dramatically reduce my weight which has become a huge issue...no pun intended

I recall that even as a child I struggled with abdominal bloating and painful gas in my stomach if I ate things like white hot dog buns. It was embarrassing, because I didn't want to be different, and I didn't trust the medical authenticity of the alternative health person that I was seeing. Therefore, since I didn't have an official medical diagnosis, I thought I could afford to ignore the problem.

Well, its a new year, and I am going to go gluten free for 2008 by God's grace. Have lost three pounds so far since Jan 1/08 but I wish theprocess would be faster......

[little d]

Hi gleegan

Welcome to the board

I too do not have an offical diagnoses from my GI doctor, he wanted to pass me off as having IBS or IBD. When I first started the diet I felt better, did great with losing weight. I could not lose weight eating regular food and I stayed hungry all the time. My GI doctor had told me that he was not conviced that I did not have a gluten problem. But my family Doctor who does not know anything about Celiac Disease has told me that if the diet helps then continue with the diet and go with that. I cheat too on my diet as well. I will go weeks at a time with gluten free and then I will want something that I think that I will be ok with and I will either have "C" alternating with "D" or vise versa and it will take a while before I will feel better again. I think that you just have to give it some time, choose you fruit and veggies that are low in acid. when I am cheating I can't have the baby pickells that I like as a snack at work because it burns my tummy. I think that you will just have to find what works for you on the foods that you can tolerate right now becuase you are still in the process of healing. there are other here that can give you better advise on what to do and what to avoid. Don't worry your heeling might be hindered by your cheating but you will get there again with feeling good and wanting to get out with your friends and family again.

donna

[gleegan]

  little d said:

Hi gleegan

Welcome to the board

I too do not have an offical diagnoses from my GI doctor, he wanted to pass me off as having IBS or IBD. When I first started the diet I felt better, did great with losing weight. I could not lose weight eating regular food and I stayed hungry all the time. My GI doctor had told me that he was not conviced that I did not have a gluten problem. But my family Doctor who does not know anything about Celiac Disease has told me that if the diet helps then continue with the diet and go with that. I cheat too on my diet as well. I will go weeks at a time with gluten free and then I will want something that I think that I will be ok with and I will either have "C" alternating with "D" or vise versa and it will take a while before I will feel better again. I think that you just have to give it some time, choose you fruit and veggies that are low in acid. when I am cheating I can't have the baby pickells that I like as a snack at work because it burns my tummy. I think that you will just have to find what works for you on the foods that you can tolerate right now becuase you are still in the process of healing. there are other here that can give you better advise on what to do and what to avoid. Don't worry your heeling might be hindered by your cheating but you will get there again with feeling good and wanting to get out with your friends and family again.

donna

Thanks for your responses, little d and Donna - I appreciate them. It's a real learning curve and I'm glad I have such nice people to learn with. Just as a side note, I have lost 15 to 20 pounds since I stopped eating gluten (that's in only 10 months). I also have had to eliminate dairy because I had ignored the gluten problem long enough that I couldn't take that either. Aside from bouts of small cheating, I am a much healthier person and look much better without the extra weight. I know some people lose weight while eating gluten, but I gained and was always bloated.

[dbmamaz]

Just wondering if you're trying some probiotics/acidopholous. Having that much D can so mess with your system, I know when I'm feeling that way, I'd take acidopholous every day and probaby be drinking gatoraide too, for electrlytes - tho i'm sure someone will have something bad to say about gatoraide! I've also seen a few posts where people imply that, once your gut starts to heal, its even more sensitive - like there was a mucous lining protecting it, or your body was compensating other ways or something, so you may be even more sensitive to it now than you were before you quit

hope you feel better soon

[gleegan]

  dbmamaz said:

Just wondering if you're trying some probiotics/acidopholous. Having that much D can so mess with your system, I know when I'm feeling that way, I'd take acidopholous every day and probaby be drinking gatoraide too, for electrlytes - tho i'm sure someone will have something bad to say about gatoraide! I've also seen a few posts where people imply that, once your gut starts to heal, its even more sensitive - like there was a mucous lining protecting it, or your body was compensating other ways or something, so you may be even more sensitive to it now than you were before you quit

hope you feel better soon

Thank you so much for the advice. I suppose, since you suggested it, that Gatorade doesn't have any hidden gluten. I never thought of that, but will try it. I will also try acidopholous pills. It does make sense to me that I'm less used to gluten now so that the immune system has no idea how to handle it. I appreciate the kind words.

[hez]

Last year at this time I was in living h***! I had gotten glutened, not by cheating, but by cc. I figured out 3 possible sources. I was sick for 3 months. In month 2, I went back to my doc. Long story short I was probably glutened at all 3 and it shut my body down. The good news was that I actually had some regrowth of villi, I had none by the time of my dx. I do think probotics help. Try that and see if it make a difference. It is expensive but well worth it for me.

Hez

[gleegan]

  hez said:

Last year at this time I was in living h***! I had gotten glutened, not by cheating, but by cc. I figured out 3 possible sources. I was sick for 3 months. In month 2, I went back to my doc. Long story short I was probably glutened at all 3 and it shut my body down. The good news was that I actually had some regrowth of villi, I had none by the time of my dx. I do think probotics help. Try that and see if it make a difference. It is expensive but well worth it for me.

Hez

Thanks for the reply. Three months! Argghhh! That sounds awful. From CC, too. This is definitely a difficult condition to cope with. You get sick if you cheat, obviously, but the most frustrating is when you're doing your best to be good. It really has turned into a part-time job for me: reading labels, etc.