Gluten Free And Getting Worse?

[utahlaura]

I was just diagnosed a month ago and have been gluten free of course, but there were still tons of other things I reacted to cause I still needed to heal, I guess. Trouble is, even though I've been gluten free for a month now, a lot of the things I could tolerate a month ago I react to now.....dairy, olive oil, rice, fruit...stuff I could eat before. Now I'm just on a steamed veggie diet and only small amounts at a time. I'm wasting away and just don't understand why this is happening. Aren't I supposed to be getting better??? What's up?

[mymagicalchild]

I was just diagnosed a month ago and have been gluten free of course, but there were still tons of other things I reacted to cause I still needed to heal, I guess. Trouble is, even though I've been gluten free for a month now, a lot of the things I could tolerate a month ago I react to now.....dairy, olive oil, rice, fruit...stuff I could eat before. Now I'm just on a steamed veggie diet and only small amounts at a time. I'm wasting away and just don't understand why this is happening. Aren't I supposed to be getting better??? What's up?

Hi, Laura...What a pretty name! You are probably hearing as we speak from one of the experts who monitor this blog. And you should breathe a deep sigh of relief that you found your way here. It shows just how powerful you are.

I had a major event in May of 2007. What I mean by that is: terrible illness, awful symptoms, emergency room at the hospital, no help at all from doctors. I was, however, overweight. It sounds as if you are not.

I immediately went on a 10 day cleansing fast. I went on the lemonade fast and would do it again. But that's only the beginning.

The real problem with Celiac and gluten-intolerance is the months and years that go by where we ignore our symptoms or deny them or treat the "loud" symptoms without recognizing the pattern. In those months and years, the intestinal damage is accelerating. So, Laura, we all have a lot of backtracking to do.

The very first thing I would do, if you are not overweight and cannot fast, is get on coconut oil. 3 tablespoons a day. You'll feel pretty yucky if you really need it because you'll be having candida die-off. Drink lots and lots of liquids and take tinture of milk thistle or its equivalent in water several times a day to detoxify your liver. Maybe you should start the coconut oil with 1 tablespoon a day to see how yucky you feel. Increase the amount to 3 as you can tolerate it.

You need to be on a fiber supplement to move all the toxins out of your system. The one I prefer is Brenda Watson organic fiber bar (available at Whole Foods, otherwise call your nutrition market) because it has half your daily fiber need (14 grams) in one gluten-free bar. You can get the sonne's bentonite clay and drink 3 tablespoons in water every morning. It captures toxins and removes them through your digestive tract, being pushed through by the fiber.

Be patient, Laura. Be persistent. It will take both to heal yourself.

PS: Have you ever seen the movie "Laura"? It's old, but it's really good. The song is haunting. Watching it is like being transported back to another, really lovely era.

[mftnchn]

Laura,

Sometimes this does happen, I noticed something similar. The body makes huge shifts to adjust once we get off gluten. People report increased sensitivities and allergies for months after going gluten-free, and sometimes it gets better and sometimes it doesn't.

Even your veggies may be too much roughage for you right now. What symptoms are you having?

My allergies went a bit crazy too.

It may just be a "hang in there and wait it out" kind of thing. Some people have to puree their food initially.

I'd like to suggest that you look over the information on specific carbohydrate diet. This might help you initially even if you only follow it for a couple of months. You could at least try the intro diet and see if it works better for you. The basic science is that the intestinal damage from the celiac means that we not only don't produce lactase to breakdown lactose in dairy but also don't produce several other enzymes that help us break down carbohydrates. So you eat only carbs that don't have to be broken down. Also only eat things easiest to digest and gradually add other things in slowly.

There are other approaches people here have tried and have worked--mostly their own trial and error. SCD is a structured approach so might be a little easier. Hopefully you'll get many other replies here.

The last thought I have is that there can be something coexisting along with celiac that is upsetting your immune system. I'd go longer with the gluten-free though because it really does take time. It takes adults 1-2 years for the intestine to heal. The allergies are a reflection of the leaky gut caused by the intestinal damage.