Hey, Newbie Here! My Story... Tmi?

[Sarah2008]

Hello everyone, if you haven't figured it out yet, my name is Sarah. I'm 21 (turning 22 on Saturday) and I have an 10 month old daughter. I just wanted to get this out, and since this seems to been the best Celiac forum out there, I figured this would be the place, people who understand what I've been going through. I do apoligize for being a pity queen, but I can't help it.

My health as been rocky since the birth of my daughter back last June. The pregnancy and labor was a breeze, I should've known some bad karma was headed my way. Shortly after I gave birth, I developed a fissure... for those who haven't had the luck, it's like pushing out shards of glass during a BM. That fissure lasted until October 15th, I had a sphinterotomy and they found a huge abscess. They thought I was joking about the pain, the day before the surgery I spent 9 hours straight in the bath tub crying. The abscess was so bad I was nearly septic. So surgery was done, I feel much better, still some issues though. Anyways, the day before the surgery I got Diareah, but it went away until two days after surgery. When it came back I was positive that it was due to that abscess and didn't think twice. After a couple weeks with diareah I developed horrible stomach pains. At this point I had missed 5 months of my daughters smiles with the fissure, and now I was condemned the "the throne"?? I went to my general doctor. She ran a test for Celiac's which came up Negative. I then got a referral to my "tummy doc". She then ordered a more specific test for Celiac's which also came up Negative. After much arguement she backed down on the colonoscopy (my surgeon said he'd ring my neck if I did that, it would mess up the incision down there) and did an upper endoscopy instead. All this time I'm at home in fetal postion or in the bathroom. Dec 26, I got scoped and biopsied (boy I sure am sick of those) and go figure, positive for Celiac's.

I started the Gluten Free diet almost immediately after. That's a task on it's own, I knew of the diet from working for a dietician so it wasn't horribly hard, but at this point in time we are not financially stable, I was buying cheap processed foods so we had more money for our daughter. I had a few mishaps but until March 1st I was free of all symptoms. Then the D started again. I switched coffees. I had been drinking Folgers, and even though I thought it was gluten free, when I stopped I had 4 days of normalcy again. Then after that until now (just a few secs ago lol) I've had D and severe stomach pain again.

I just learned that some meats are injected with a "solution" and all though I'm not sure if they are gluten-free or not, I'm cutting them out, until I can buy Natural Meats (It's sad that we have to put chemicals and such in "fresh meats" now). It's been 3 days and still no relief. It almost seems like I'm sicker by the day. I don't get it, I have no idea where this gluten is coming from. I'm actually starting to get scared.. well terrified.. that something else could be wrong with me. I have a tummy doc appointment on the 24th of this month, that's the earliest I could get in (and I made this appointment back in Feb for a check up). I'm just scared.

But that's my rambling. Looking forward to talking with all of you!

[fedora]

hi,

you are not alone with this. I am sorry. Clean out your house completely of wooden utensils, wooden chopping boards, cast iron, and nonstick pans, plastic colanders. Check all your beauty products-makeup, conditioner, moisterizer,lipstick. Browse through here and find the starter list...it's here somewhere. Find the names gluten can hide under. I have a couple of books that helped me uncover the hidden gluten..also natural flavors, vinegars. Some of my super sensitive friends do not eat any vinager at all or eggs from chickens that have been fed gluten(not me though). I avoid eating out now. I need to finish stabilizing first.

Sometimes people have stronger reactions after going gluten free, then eventually their reactions get weaker. good luck

[curlyfries]

Do you put milk in your coffee? You could have a problem with dairy. I was gluten free for a couple of months and doing pretty good when I suddenly started having problems again. Now I am off of dairy [actually, I think I've figured out that it's actually lactose] and starting to do better again. Also , I am now very sensitive to cross contamination and that didn't used to be the case.

[YoloGx]

hi,

you are not alone with this. I am sorry. Clean out your house completely of wooden utensils, wooden chopping boards, cast iron, and nonstick pans, plastic colanders. Check all your beauty products-makeup, conditioner, moisterizer,lipstick. Browse through here and find the starter list...it's here somewhere. Find the names gluten can hide under. I have a couple of books that helped me uncover the hidden gluten..also natural flavors, vinegars. Some of my super sensitive friends do not eat any vinager at all or eggs from chickens that have been fed gluten(not me though). I avoid eating out now. I need to finish stabilizing first.

Sometimes people have stronger reactions after going gluten free, then eventually their reactions get weaker. good luck

Good advice!

Just wanted to add I even got CC'd I think from my mother's old very gluteny cook book and electric egg beater.

Just hang in there. Things will get better. And consider taking gluten free marshmallow root or slippery elm caps to sooth and heal your innards.

[mftnchn]

Yes, you could have another sensitivity that has developed, many people here have had that happen. I agree about the dairy. Soy is another frequent one.

Beyond that, you may need to do an elimination diet to figure out what is going on. Search the forum here for info, but realize that a food sensitivity can be to anything and cause any symptom and varies from person to person.

One thing I did after going Gluten-free Casein-free, was to eliminate all grains for a week and then tested the main gluten-free ones I was using. Then I eliminated all legumes and tested soy and peanut which were the main ones I was eating all the time. Corn, soy and peanut was all problematic and have since been confirmed by other testing. I was planning to then test the nightshades but haven't. My allergist told me these three food groups are the major offenders. Of course then there is the seafood, nuts, and any other food!

It is wonderful that you have responsed to the gluten-free diet, just remember it will take 1-2 years to heal.

[AliB]

Oh Sarah, I see this so many times. People like yourself who get better for a while than start to go downhill again.

I am not sure that the problem is necessarily as straight-forward as being glutened or CC'd. There are an awful lot of people out there who are not just intolerant of gluten, but actually carbohydrates as a whole.

I found when I went gluten-free that I was still having problems with certain foods so I actually dropped not just gluten but dairy, and most carbs and sugars. I now concentrate on basic plain unprocessed meat, fish and poultry, fresh fruits and vegetables, a little honey and a few nuts and some good plain unsweetened probiotic yogurt (yogurt is usually ok as most of the lactose is broken down by the bacteria, but some cope with goats yogurt better than cows).

Dairy and sugar are problems because the enzymes needed to break them down are produced at the tips of the villi and when the gut is damaged due to the gluten, that is the first bit to go. Whereas the carbs in fruit and veg and honey are simple single molecule sugars, lactose in dairy and sucrose in sugar are double molecule, and grains and starches are multiple molecule, both types of which need to be broken down into single molecules before they can be utilised by the body. Under normal circumstances this would not be a problem but as the enzymes are lacking or even missing due to the gut damage in those who are gluten intolerant, our bodies can't cope with them and they then become food for 'bad' bacteria which triggers fermentation and gas and inflammation.

When people drop gluten, the first thing they do is look around for lots of other carbs to replace it with. Whilst they get better for a short while, eventually those other carbs also become a problem as the intolerance spreads. I found by cutting straight to the chase by removing all those from my diet, my gut is healing a lot faster and after just 2 months I can now tolerate a few more foods, an odd carb treat here and there and eggs, which I couldn't cope with a few weeks ago.

The more we eat the foods that are antagonising our digestive system, the longer it will take to heal. Also, by removing the food for the bad bacteria they will die back and we can get them under control too, and they will no longer be contributing to our health problems. I am following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which has had terrific success with those who have stomach and bowel problems.

Some say that it is more expensive, but I don't think so. Instead of buying lots of carb foods I am spending the money on good protein, fruit and vegetables. Protein and good fats fill you up and keep the blood sugar level so you don't experience the yo-yo effect as the blood sugar swings wildly from one extreme to another that people get when they eat a lot of carbs. My body functions much better on less food too. I think my grocery bill has actually decreased as I am more selective about the amount and type of food I buy rather than just stocking up on the garbage! Carbs are very addictive, the more we eat, the more we want. How many people can stop at just one cookie???