Does Anyone Have An Answer

[gigantor98]

There may be a topic on this already and I have not found it yet. I have been gluten-free for 2 months and have been feeling great but over the past 3 days I have been have abdominal pains that last all day. On the pain scale of 1-10 I give it a 4, its enough to leave me irritated and it last even into the night.

The pain does not feel like my stomach it feels like it is my intestines. I have 2 bowel movements a day and they are not a terrible strain but I have never been constipated that I know of and I am sorry for being graffic.

Anyway I was wondering what was going on. I have been glutened before and it is far different than what I am feeling now. I still have a great energy level but this pain is annoying. What would you suggest. It seems like I need something to sooth my bowels but I don't know. I am not gassy and this does not feel like a gas pain. I just feels like I have done 10,000 sit ups.

Could this be a sensitivity to something else, my thyroid meds need to be adjusted, do I need a laxitve, or am I getting a different reaction to some gluten that I have not realized yet? What could confort this or better yet stop it or is this just part of the celiac disease? And please don't laugh if this has already been talked about and it is right in front of my nose, b/c trust I am the type that would miss the forest for the trees.

Thanks for all the help!!

[YoloGx]

I suggest taking marshmallow caps and/or slipper elm to help soothe and heal the intestines and get rid of the inflammation you may be feeling.

Bea

[ravenwoodglass]

If this pain has been constant for 3 days and you haven't been having D or excessive gas it might not be a bad idea to see a doctor. You say you don't have any of your usual glutening symptoms. So it is likely this isn't gluten.

[YoloGx]

I think Ravenwood made a good suggestion, see a doc if you have the cash! But just remember make sure its a doc. that knows his or her stuff about digestion and diet since many doctors are not so up on that subject to put it mildly. No matter what you want to make sure you don't have some dread disease at the bottom of all this.

However I think its also possible you may have other things going on you might want to eliminate as possibles first, like food sensitivities. Often when the villi are damaged one develops sensitivities to a variety of foods that don't show up immediately. In other words for some it takes a while after being on a no gluten diet before they start noticing they have a problem with other foods. Milk, potatoes, soy, sugar, nuts are just a few possibles. You can investigate possible sensitivities by simplifying your diet and then add one new item say every two days or so. Keep a food diet and take your pulse after eating at various intervals plus note how you feel. A pulse that jumps all over the place is a good sign that sensitivities or allergies are going on. Sometimes something is tolerated once or twice a week or even once a month but not more.

Often the best thing to do is to eat a more "paleo" diet emphasizing vegetables, root vegetables and meat without grains or milk except maybe yogurt for now. Some here find they are sensitive to grains in general, and other may have to go off them at first or whenever they get cross contamination (CC).

Also it may be a good idea no matter what to cook your veggies for now and avoid hot spices and maybe even the onion family if your gut is really raw.

Digestive enzymes can be a great help too, like bromelain/papain and pancreatin. Just make sure they are gluten free! Ditto with enterically coated acidophilus which seems to help soothe and heal the villi as well as help repopulate good flora in your digestive tract.

Bea

[I hate gluten]

Thank you for posting this thread. I am actually going through the exact same thing. I was gluten free for 3 days and feeling great, then I got glutend and have not been the same since. I am actually narrowing it down to corn and possible milk. Not to shocking the milk, but the corn will be hard especially since alot of gluten free is made from corn. I used the pladoe (ingnore the spelling) diet and have been adding things in to see my reaction, it actually is working very well in finding what I have been having a problem to. I only try one thing a day and if I have a problem with it I go back to the strict diet until I feel better again. After feeling better I try other things again. I have to admit it is very hard I have only been gluten free for alittle over a week, so I tried this on someones reccomendation and it is working. Those first 3 days being gluten free were the best and now I just need to figure out what else to eliminate to feel theat great again. Good luck and you are not the only one even when you think you are no question is stupid. I would reccomend if you are not feeling better to go see your doc. Hopefully you have a good one to go to.

[wschmucks]

Thank you for posting this thread. I am actually going through the exact same thing. I was gluten free for 3 days and feeling great, then I got glutend and have not been the same since. I am actually narrowing it down to corn and possible milk. Not to shocking the milk, but the corn will be hard especially since alot of gluten free is made from corn. I used the pladoe (ingnore the spelling) diet and have been adding things in to see my reaction, it actually is working very well in finding what I have been having a problem to. I only try one thing a day and if I have a problem with it I go back to the strict diet until I feel better again. After feeling better I try other things again. I have to admit it is very hard I have only been gluten free for alittle over a week, so I tried this on someones reccomendation and it is working. Those first 3 days being gluten free were the best and now I just need to figure out what else to eliminate to feel theat great again. Good luck and you are not the only one even when you think you are no question is stupid. I would reccomend if you are not feeling better to go see your doc. Hopefully you have a good one to go to.

Hey there!

If you have only been gluten-free for a week it might be a good idea to go on the paleo diet. I am 3.5 months in and am thinking about it now. Please remember though that becuase youre so new-- its going take a while (a few months) to feel like youre on your way to getting better. This is a long process. I would DEF take out the milk if youre new to this and if you want to cover all your basis maybe do teh SCD diet-- which is what i wish i had done when i was diagnosed.

[aliciatakescare]

Hello there! I am gluten free for a year now. It took me a good 6 months to actually feel "healed". I have not had the issues with milk that others have stated/experienced, so I cannot comment on that. I can say that if i stick to mostly rice products with a few corn products I do MUCH better. The description you are giving sounds like your intestines need more time to heal. I have had to add a gentle stool softener over the counter to my daily routine because becoming gluten free throws the body for a major loop and it has to learn how to digest and void under the new diet. I still take the stool softener about twice a month or I end up with that feeling of the intestines not being quite right. Also, keep in mind that high stress will add to your symptoms, so journaling and finding support are key.

I am not an expert by any means, but I do hope this helps.

Alicia

[wschmucks]

I suggest taking marshmallow caps and/or slipper elm to help soothe and heal the intestines and get rid of the inflammation you may be feeling.

Bea

Hi Bea,

You have recommended this before to help with constipation. How much of each do you take? Do you recommend a dose or any brands?

Thanks!

[YoloGx]

They help with most any type of intestinal inflammation which is often the source of either C or D. You can take the caps or just get the powder. Follow the directions on the bottle. You could probably use a little extra if you want. The usual ones from Natures Way are good.

As a powder I take 2 to three teaspoons of marshmallow root a day, depending on my need. You can put it in either cold or hot water -- with some hours apart between doses. Its especially good to use regularly after you have been glutened.

With slippery elm you can also make it into a gruel, one to two tablespoons in one to two cups of water. Put it in a small amount of water in your cook pot, stir it up and then add the extra water. Cook and whisk occasionally for roughly ten minutes. You can put cinnamon in it to improve the taste... Very healing for raw intestines. If you use the large amount, don't eat it all at once. It used to be used in Europe for "wasting diseases"--i.e., no doubt celiac.

They both are good too in case of a bad throat cold, as I am discovering now--mixed in water, not the pill form. Though if the root of your cold is CC (as it is for me this time!) then the pills (if that's all you have or want to deal with) might help by helping heal the villi... and thus your overall health.

[wschmucks]

Great! Thanks!

[YoloGx]

You are most welcome!

By the way, you do know to take magnesium citrate to bowel tolerance for C, yes?

Bea

[gigantor98]

Thanks so much for all your advice. This really helps. I am going to give it a few more days and see if it will go away by avoiding the dairy, corn and nuts. I have a tea that is a laxitve and took it the other nigth. It has seemed to lessen the pain to a 2. I know the dis confort is there. But I know my doc. that I am dealing with and they will want to give me some type of meds that I will have to spend a day and a half to make sure it does not have gluten in it. They like to have killed me with a vitiamin they told me to talk and to find out it had gluten. That is how I know about being gluten. It caused me to seizure. Anyway thanks so much for all the great advice.

[wschmucks]

You are most welcome!

By the way, you do know to take magnesium citrate to bowel tolerance for C, yes?

Bea

Hi Bea,

Yes I do, unfortuantly it hasnt worked very well. I took large doses of the powdered form of both magnesium and C mixed with water several times a day and it worked for a while, then stopped. I take amitiza and Dr Schulze intestinal formula (stimulant) and that is the ONLY thing that has worked for me. I am going on the SCD next week because I am obviously not healing on just a gluten free diet, so hopefully I will make good head way with that. Thanks for your help!