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I Want To Cry

Lux

By Lux
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

Lux Explorer
Lux
Posted

So I accidentally ingested wheat last Thursday. Since then, have been experiencing bouts of D intermingled with constipation (not sure quite how it is that I have both at once, but apparently my body has found a way. *wry smile*).

It's weird. Yesterday, and the day before, my symptoms had begun to subside and I was feeling better (recovering?) Then, I woke up this morning feeling disgustingly bloated again (my least favourite symptom, by far). I feel as if I've gone backwards!!

The only possible explanation I can conceive of is the apple I had last night before I went to bed. I have had bad reactions to apples before (perhaps it exacerbated the D?)

Or is it simply because the wheat is still in my system, and, if so, how long before it is gone??

:-(

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silk Contributor
silk
Posted
So I accidentally ingested wheat last Thursday. Since then, have been experiencing bouts of D intermingled with constipation (not sure quite how it is that I have both at once, but apparently my body has found a way. *wry smile*).

It's weird. Yesterday, and the day before, my symptoms had begun to subside and I was feeling better (recovering?) Then, I woke up this morning feeling disgustingly bloated again (my least favourite symptom, by far). I feel as if I've gone backwards!!

The only possible explanation I can conceive of is the apple I had last night before I went to bed. I have had bad reactions to apples before (perhaps it exacerbated the D?)

Or is it simply because the wheat is still in my system, and, if so, how long before it is gone??

:-(

Personal topic here, Lux...but we've all been there. I recently read a really good book that I got from my local library on celiac disease and found that I had a total misconception about what constitutes the big "D". From what the book said....going several days without a movement and having difficulty passing it is constipation. For most of my life I have found that I have to visit the little room several times in a day..cramping and gripy,noisy gut and for the life of me ready to do business and never really succeeding much and then cramping afterwards and feeling like I still had to go. I learned that actually what I was experiencing IS the big D. Because of the damage to the villi in our intestines, water from our waste is absorbed into our system? leaving the remainder to (a I think hathor put it) turn to concrete making it difficult to pass. The book said that the frequent urge and the feeling that you were never done was actually symptoms of D. I was amazed at this!

Does that at all sound familiar to you Lux? And can anyone here back this info up as reasonable?

dbmamaz Explorer
dbmamaz
Posted

In my teens and 20s i used to say I had constipated D . . . it felt like it had to come out for ever, but it wouldnt and wouldnt and wouldnt, and then when it finally did ... pure liquid . . .yuck!

I know that I was glutened last sunday, and today I finally dont feel depressed (Oh, i just love that recurring thought that I'm a flawed person who made 3 flawed children and now i'm not up for the job of taking care of them and its all hopeless ... ). I only had stomach symptoms day 2-5.

Lux Explorer
Lux
Posted
  • Author
Personal topic here, Lux...but we've all been there. I recently read a really good book that I got from my local library on celiac disease and found that I had a total misconception about what constitutes the big "D". From what the book said....going several days without a movement and having difficulty passing it is constipation. For most of my life I have found that I have to visit the little room several times in a day..cramping and gripy,noisy gut and for the life of me ready to do business and never really succeeding much and then cramping afterwards and feeling like I still had to go. I learned that actually what I was experiencing IS the big D. Because of the damage to the villi in our intestines, water from our waste is absorbed into our system? leaving the remainder to (a I think hathor put it) turn to concrete making it difficult to pass. The book said that the frequent urge and the feeling that you were never done was actually symptoms of D. I was amazed at this!

Does that at all sound familiar to you Lux? And can anyone here back this info up as reasonable?

O, my goodness - that sounds all TOO familiar!! For so long, I have been convinced that I was "blocked up" with C, when in fact it appears to it's fantastically unhappy cousin, D. Do you have any advice as to how I might treat this? I'm assuming that it is a result of the gluten...how long will it take to get back to "normal"??

aikiducky Apprentice
aikiducky
Posted

One interesting thing... usually when I get glutened I have symptoms for a few days, then they start to get better... then a week later, they flare up again! But just for one day, after that I truly start to get better. I used to suspect all kinds of foods until I figured this out. So if you're feeling better tomorrow, it might have just been a flare up from last week.

Pauliina

silk Contributor
silk
Posted
One interesting thing... usually when I get glutened I have symptoms for a few days, then they start to get better... then a week later, they flare up again! But just for one day, after that I truly start to get better. I used to suspect all kinds of foods until I figured this out. So if you're feeling better tomorrow, it might have just been a flare up from last week.

Pauliina

This is good to know I've only been at this a couple of months. Hardly long enough to get a real handle on what besides the gluten is bothering me. And I'm guessing there is because I go for a few days feeling okay and then whammy I back to sharing space with a tub and a sink and a not so comfortable 'chair'. Thinking of putting a t.v. in the bathroom. Or maybe a computer! That's the ticket! Short of that, I'm guessing the next step is an elimination diet. Can anyone tell me where to find info on that?

I am truly sorry to say Lux, that I don't have enough experience to tell you how to treat it except to avoid what ails you. I haven't found a magic bullet yet and I have tried several things I've seen in other posts here. Some work sometimes. Sometimes they don't. Today they definitely don't! So far, the one that seems to be the best for me personally, and I know it seems to go against what you think would be helpful for the D, but I take plain psylium husks in water or unsweetened fruit juice morning and night. It doesn't make me have to go any less often but it at least gives me something to 'work with'.

Any other suggestions from you veterans? I know I would be really interested in what some of the veterans have to offer. And one more question, if you don't mind my sharing your 'space' Lux...for some of you that have been at this a while...do you ever actually go for days or weeks where you don't have symptoms? Just about the time I start to feel a little better, I get laid low again and maybe this is a result of what aikiducky described...but it is really discouraging.

Lux Explorer
Lux
Posted
  • Author
This is good to know I've only been at this a couple of months. Hardly long enough to get a real handle on what besides the gluten is bothering me. And I'm guessing there is because I go for a few days feeling okay and then whammy I back to sharing space with a tub and a sink and a not so comfortable 'chair'. Thinking of putting a t.v. in the bathroom. Or maybe a computer! That's the ticket! Short of that, I'm guessing the next step is an elimination diet. Can anyone tell me where to find info on that?

I am truly sorry to say Lux, that I don't have enough experience to tell you how to treat it except to avoid what ails you. I haven't found a magic bullet yet and I have tried several things I've seen in other posts here. Some work sometimes. Sometimes they don't. Today they definitely don't! So far, the one that seems to be the best for me personally, and I know it seems to go against what you think would be helpful for the D, but I take plain psylium husks in water or unsweetened fruit juice morning and night. It doesn't make me have to go any less often but it at least gives me something to 'work with'.

Any other suggestions from you veterans? I know I would be really interested in what some of the veterans have to offer. And one more question, if you don't mind my sharing your 'space' Lux...for some of you that have been at this a while...do you ever actually go for days or weeks where you don't have symptoms? Just about the time I start to feel a little better, I get laid low again and maybe this is a result of what aikiducky described...but it is really discouraging.

Silk, this is exactly what is so disheartening! The fact that, the moment you begin to feel better, that "betterness" is taken away. At most, I've gone about four days without symptoms. I tried the psylium husks, which definitely improved my bowel movements - but at the same time aggravated my stomach so badly I had to stop. At this point, I think all I really have is faith that eventually those symptoms will subside altogether - some have said you should give it at least a year. Me, it's been less than a month.

After doing some research, I attempted to "treat" the D with banana and avocado/tuna for lunch. Am feeling slightly better! (after experiencing a few cramps). Trial and error, I guess?

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YoloGx Rookie
YoloGx
Posted
Silk, this is exactly what is so disheartening! The fact that, the moment you begin to feel better, that "betterness" is taken away. At most, I've gone about four days without symptoms. I tried the psylium husks, which definitely improved my bowel movements - but at the same time aggravated my stomach so badly I had to stop. At this point, I think all I really have is faith that eventually those symptoms will subside altogether - some have said you should give it at least a year. Me, it's been less than a month.

After doing some research, I attempted to "treat" the D with banana and avocado/tuna for lunch. Am feeling slightly better! (after experiencing a few cramps). Trial and error, I guess?

About the psillium. I have had problems tolerating that stuff too! I just can't. But I have found that if I grind 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh flax seed in a coffee grinder set up for just this purpose (i.e. rather than coffee), and add 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. apple pectin to it it works wonders. Just grind and then mix it in water in a glass and drink and then chase with some more water. The bottle of apple pectin will last a long time and the fresh unprocessed flax seed is very cheap. The flax also gives you good Omega 3's so you can't beat it.

Just make sure the flax didn't get contaminated by gluten...

And also as I have said on many other posts slippery elm and marshmallow root soothe and heal the lining of the gut. Etc.

Yolo

aikiducky Apprentice
aikiducky
Posted

I've been gluten free for three years now and mostly I'm symptom free, except maybe once in two months or so I get glutened. but even then, nowadays I get over the glutenings more quickly than in the beginning, and I'm not totally incapacitated by them, just unhappy for a few days. <_<

But it did take a least a year to get there. Actually my second year was kinda up and down, too, only the "swings" started to come at longer intervals. Anyway, hang in there. :)

What it took for me was cutting out gluten, casein and eggs completely, and avoiding nightshade veggies and legumes. I also take a vit. B complex (which has all the B vitamins, not just B12) and that helps with brain fog and depression which were my most annoying symptoms. I try to eat vegetables and fruit as my staples, with meat, fish and grains (corn, rice, quinoa, buckwheat) as additions to the veg rather than the other way around.

Btw I like to use a small amount (like half a teaspoon tops) of psyllium to maybe two cups of flour when I bake, it makes my baking results less crumbly and I tolerate the psyllium better that way. But some people have a real problem with psyllium, you shouldn't force it.

Pauliina

salamander Newbie
salamander
Posted

I'm new to this and only in to my third week, so perhaps i've still got lots of ups and downs to go, but I'm trying to put a positive spin on it. If it means I'll have to sacrifice many of the foods that I used to eat then so be it. If (when) I slip up, or get caught out by gluten unexpectedly in something that I eat, then so be it. A couple of days with my old symptoms is still better than I used to be. I'll learn from that.

In many ways, we're not the strange ones. People lived for thousands of Years before someone looked at birds eating grass seeds and thought "you know if we crush it up a bit, that might not taste bad!".

I'm convinced that not only will I eventually get rid of a lot of problems that have, I will actually be better off and more healthy without it.

We are not bad parents because we might have passed this down to our kids, it's just about genes. It's something that we can't prevent but we can control.

spunky Contributor
spunky
Posted

When I get gluten these days, I'm screwed up for a whole month...although the worst part is the first week. After that, I have lots of hit and miss days for a few more weeks...seems during that time is when foods that didn't ever bother me before turn to pure hell inside my wild intestines.

Gwen B Rookie
Gwen B
Posted
When I get gluten these days, I'm screwed up for a whole month...although the worst part is the first week. After that, I have lots of hit and miss days for a few more weeks...seems during that time is when foods that didn't ever bother me before turn to pure hell inside my wild intestines.

Hi,

Sympathy to you Lux,

I got glutened Sunday night, still haven't quite figured what did it. My insides were so raw yesterday i could have cried. Thankfully the D you described wasn't too bad this time. This is my third month gluten-free and 3rd glutening. I have felt very good in between although I still don't have the energy I used to have a few years ago. Today I am less tender but sooo brain fogged and tired. :blink:

Back to the foods thing, I have also had to drop dairy, then soy and now I'm wary of eggs after a very uncomfortable couple of days post mayo lunch. I find tomatoes a bit difficult but ok if well cooked in a sauce, I have not been able to eat peppers for years even before the gluten-free diet.

hope this helps. :)

Gwen

Lux Explorer
Lux
Posted
  • Author

Thank you so much for all of your replies!

Am feeling marginally better today - I find that rice, and, I think, bananas are soothing to my gut. The non-linearity of the whole thing is proving rather frustrating but, as has been pointed out to me by friends, loved ones, and the wonderful members of this board, I just need to find out what works for me.

Does anyone find that their symptoms shift and vary according to the time of the day? I was feeling better this morning - then, after breakfast, worse - then, again, slightly better - and now, as the day wears on, worse again.

Is this common??

silk Contributor
silk
Posted
Thank you so much for all of your replies!

Am feeling marginally better today - I find that rice, and, I think, bananas are soothing to my gut. The non-linearity of the whole thing is proving rather frustrating but, as has been pointed out to me by friends, loved ones, and the wonderful members of this board, I just need to find out what works for me.

Does anyone find that their symptoms shift and vary according to the time of the day? I was feeling better this morning - then, after breakfast, worse - then, again, slightly better - and now, as the day wears on, worse again.

Is this common??

I agree with you! Just when I think I might have it figured out, something else seems to pop up so I too am feeling very confused and frustrated. Thought of trying the elimination diet but that is a daunting undertaking when you have other family members to cook for too.

And in answer to your other question, I am finding that if I have problems, 80% of the time they are in the late afternoon to evening and are always much worse that if I react in the a.m.

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