Undiagnosed, And Getting Nervous...

[Reginald]

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Reginald, and I'm brand new here. So, hello to all of you.

As to my question: About a year or so ago, I began noticing what I thought was an allergic reaction to various wheat products. I'd itch like crazy, and sometimes I'd get this bloated sensation in my stomach. I have a history of food allergies so I slowly began reading up on Celiac Disease and backing off from wheat products.

About 6 months ago I noticed these tiny pus-filled blisters forming on my hands, especially my finger-tips. They don't itch, but they're unsightly as hell and presistant. For a time they'd just keep coming back.

Anyway, at that point I decided to go totally gluten-free (which is pure hell), and slowly the blisters began to fade...Except for the ones on my left fingertips. I just can't seem to get rid of them.

But what's really alarming is the amount of weight that I'm losing. Before all this began, I was a muscular 180-190. Today I'm slipping past 168 and counting. I'm eating plenty of protein and vegetables. I'm ordering gluten-free products from a certain website that I'm sure many of you are familiar with. And yet, my weight keeps dropping off and I feel tired, irriatable, and weak.

I know the obvious answer to this but, any suggestions??? And what's with the darn blisters that keep returning

Well, thanks for listening.

Reg

[rinne]

Hi. And welcome.

So what's the obvious? I'm thinking cross contamination or dairy.

It sounds like you may still have malabsorption problems, that would explain the weight loss but have you seen a doctor? Do you know where your vitamin and mineral levels are at?

Do your blisters look like this:

Open Original Shared Link

or

Open Original Shared Link

This is a great site, lots of support and information, I'm glad you found it.

[sandejosgirl]

Hi! I too do not have an official celiac diagnosis. We are trying to get one for the kiddos (long story), had to add gluten back in to do it. I didn't think that I was sensative, until we added gluten back in. I was feeling so poorly that we decided that I would go gluten-free and if we decided to persue the Gold Celiac Star later would try gluten intro again.

I have also lots a lot of weight fairly quickly gluten-free eating the same amounts of food, all home cooked/baked good stuff, but I was loosing 5 pounds a month. I had post-pregnancy weight to loose, and did, but now I have lost 35 pounds, weigh less than when we got married and am still loosing! For my metabolism it doesn't matter how much protein I eat or fruits and veggies, weight maintenance is about the calories consumed in carbohydrates and sugar. I have started baking pumpkin muffins (blueberry are our fav.) that I eat every 1.5 to 2 hours in between meals, and I also have to say, home made gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. If I slack in my carb./sugar consumption at all I start dropping pounds again. I know "Eat right for your blood type" is controversial material, but I am blood type O, and so for whatever reason proteins and veggies/fruits revs up my metabolism. Having lots of snacks so that I can eat every couple of hours is crucial.

I have a friend whose son has anaphylaxis-level allergies and is breastfeed so also can't consume those foods. Hard, but not a huge deal except there are 14 foods he is allergic to! She is 5' even, but even then 85lbs is not a good weight to drop to! I just kept feeding her recipes and we worked to augment them to add the max calorie amount to each. Ex. she added coconut milk to her coffee in the morning instead of the dairy he was allergic to. We figure we got her morning coffee up to a snickers! 28g of fat! Avocados are a great source of nutrients and fat. Manchego cheese is made with sheeps milk, and only has a little bit of casein, and we found that both our families could tolerate this cheese. We found it at our Costco. I cut it into squares and carry them everywhere.

Anyway, tired can be just from not getting enough calories, but sometimes can be indicative of a greater problem. I would communicate with some sort of nutritionist/naturopathic doctor (ND) or MD if it doesn't resolve itself. Esp. if your health doesn't improve.

Hope that was helpful.

Stephanie (gluten sensative)

mother of 3 kiddos in the celiac stamping process

[Reginald]

Hi. And welcome.

So what's the obvious? I'm thinking cross contamination or dairy.

It sounds like you may still have malabsorption problems, that would explain the weight loss but have you seen a doctor? Do you know where your vitamin and mineral levels are at?

Do your blisters look like this:

Open Original Shared Link

or

Open Original Shared Link

This is a great site, lots of support and information, I'm glad you found it.

Thanks for answering. Call me crazy but I haven't been to a doctor yet (That's the obvious).

My blisters look like herpetiforms, but not quite as "angry red" looking as the one's illustrated.

Thanks, again

Reg

[Reginald]

Hi! I too do not have an official celiac diagnosis. We are trying to get one for the kiddos (long story), had to add gluten back in to do it. I didn't think that I was sensative, until we added gluten back in. I was feeling so poorly that we decided that I would go gluten-free and if we decided to persue the Gold Celiac Star later would try gluten intro again.

I have also lots a lot of weight fairly quickly gluten-free eating the same amounts of food, all home cooked/baked good stuff, but I was loosing 5 pounds a month. I had post-pregnancy weight to loose, and did, but now I have lost 35 pounds, weigh less than when we got married and am still loosing! For my metabolism it doesn't matter how much protein I eat or fruits and veggies, weight maintenance is about the calories consumed in carbohydrates and sugar. I have started baking pumpkin muffins (blueberry are our fav.) that I eat every 1.5 to 2 hours in between meals, and I also have to say, home made gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. If I slack in my carb./sugar consumption at all I start dropping pounds again. I know "Eat right for your blood type" is controversial material, but I am blood type O, and so for whatever reason proteins and veggies/fruits revs up my metabolism. Having lots of snacks so that I can eat every couple of hours is crucial.

I have a friend whose son has anaphylaxis-level allergies and is breastfeed so also can't consume those foods. Hard, but not a huge deal except there are 14 foods he is allergic to! She is 5' even, but even then 85lbs is not a good weight to drop to! I just kept feeding her recipes and we worked to augment them to add the max calorie amount to each. Ex. she added coconut milk to her coffee in the morning instead of the dairy he was allergic to. We figure we got her morning coffee up to a snickers! 28g of fat! Avocados are a great source of nutrients and fat. Manchego cheese is made with sheeps milk, and only has a little bit of casein, and we found that both our families could tolerate this cheese. We found it at our Costco. I cut it into squares and carry them everywhere.

Anyway, tired can be just from not getting enough calories, but sometimes can be indicative of a greater problem. I would communicate with some sort of nutritionist/naturopathic doctor (ND) or MD if it doesn't resolve itself. Esp. if your health doesn't improve.

Hope that was helpful.

Stephanie (gluten sensative)

mother of 3 kiddos in the celiac stamping process

Hi Stephanie: Thanks for sharing this. At least I'm not alone here. I've lived with food allergies since I was little, and now it seems that I'm just going to have to get used to this as well. Well, after reading your post and a few others here, I refuse to feel sorry for myself

It is what it is! Anyway, thanks again. I'll keep reading and learnin' And one day soon maybe I'll get up the nerve to see a doc.

Reginald