Help...newly Diagnosed And Questions

[RunnerGrl]

Hi everyone

I've been recently diagnosed with Celiac. Endo with biopsy and positive blood test. At first I was thinking that this wasn't going to be "too" hard....I could deal with rice pasta...I could deal with gluten free bread/waffles, etc. But wooohooo! Are there a million things that I had no idea that gluten in them?!?!??? I am freaking out a bit. I didn't think that I could be glutened by my Hershey's chocolate...or Kellog's Rice Krispies! Ok, with the diet stuff being said, I am also pretty darn anemic and feeling physically bad from that. Serious headaches, heart palpitations, shortness of breath (Iron total 22 L, % of Saturation 5 L, Ferritin 3 L) bruising, etc.

What I am finding is that I am feeling really bad and crazy mood swings. I am generally a very together person (ok, PMS gets me from time to time but this is bordering on rediculous now) and I am finding I have no patience, I feel depressed, like I have no control and very emotional (could cry at every Hallmark commercial if I didn't skip them all on the DVR!).

Is it "normal" to feel like that?? I am so not a "crazy" person. I've lost it at work...had a meltdown in front of some people and left for the day (over something really stupid) and it is SO not how I normally behave.

Is this the gluten? Is this the celiac? Is this the anemia? ARGH. I feel really alone in all of this.

~~Kris

[Lisa]

Hi everyone

I've been recently diagnosed with Celiac. Endo with biopsy and positive blood test. At first I was thinking that this wasn't going to be "too" hard....I could deal with rice pasta...I could deal with gluten free bread/waffles, etc. But wooohooo! Are there a million things that I had no idea that gluten in them?!?!??? I am freaking out a bit. I didn't think that I could be glutened by my Hershey's chocolate...or Kellog's Rice Krispies! Ok, with the diet stuff being said, I am also pretty darn anemic and feeling physically bad from that. Serious headaches, heart palpitations, shortness of breath (Iron total 22 L, % of Saturation 5 L, Ferritin 3 L) bruising, etc.

What I am finding is that I am feeling really bad and crazy mood swings. I am generally a very together person (ok, PMS gets me from time to time but this is bordering on rediculous now) and I am finding I have no patience, I feel depressed, like I have no control and very emotional (could cry at every Hallmark commercial if I didn't skip them all on the DVR!).

Is it "normal" to feel like that?? I am so not a "crazy" person. I've lost it at work...had a meltdown in front of some people and left for the day (over something really stupid) and it is SO not how I normally behave.

Is this the gluten? Is this the celiac? Is this the anemia? ARGH. I feel really alone in all of this.

~~Kris

Hi Kris,

Yes, it's very normal to have mood swings and to be tempermental. Alot of this is due to the malabsorption due to Celiac. If you haven't already, start a good multivitamin and some sub lingual B-12 may help with the neuro issues.

No need to feel alone, there are at least 20,000 of us on this site alone. The gluten free diet is a tough learn though. Keep reading and learning here and it will become easier.

[cpicini]

Welcome to the club!

I'm new to this site but was diagnosed back in October of 2007. I remember all too well the shock of discovering how many foods have wheat. After 8 months I am still finding gluten in items that I use everyday. Just yesterday I discovered wheat was in my hair gel.

Everyone that I've talked to has different simptoms and reactions since being diagnosed. I expereinced some of that same reaction you've had, short patience (and I have a four year old), mood swings, fatigue etc. I'm not sure if it's all from the gluten or not I just know that I think it's from the realization of how our lives must change.

The one thing you can look forward to is that you will feel better For sometime before and after being dx I felt like I was the worst Dad in the world. I didn't want to go outside and play with my son, I just wanted to be on the couch or take a nap. It took about a month and I started to feel much better. Better mood, more energy and just a total positve feeling towards everything. The problem is that I have recently regressed. I know feel similar to how I did before and immediatly after being dx. I am discovering that I've gotten lazy and take too many chances with foods that I'm unsure about. Cross contamination has also been my biggest achiles heel.

My other big mistake was not taking my vitamins. I'd talk to your doctor about what he would recommend. I just recently started taking B-12, B complex, Vitamin C, D3, E, Coral Calcuim and Omega 3's.

Good luck and you've come to the right place. I've only just found this site in the past week or so and it's been huge help in gettign me back on the right track.

Chris