Just Diagnosed

[NJ-Chris]

Hi everyone, I have been reading a lot on your site, while waiting for my endoscopy results, and NOW I'm a member of the Celiac club. Honestly, I am a little excited, b/c I have had a lot of nagging problems that I couldn't explain. Cold sores, brittle nails, headaches, major joint pain in my wrists every few weeks, and more that of course I can't think of right now.....So, my question is....Do you feel better and healthier now that you've been eating a gluten free diet?

Also my boss has this and said "I used to be a size 2, then I was diagnosed with celiac and now look at me!" She is NOT a size 2 anymore for sure! Has anyone gained or lost weight? I was hoping to lose, just because this is like a healthy Atkins diet (not bacon and burgers everyday!), and I can eat FRUIT (MY FAVE)!

Chris

[maile]

Hi Chris and welcome to the forum.

yes you should feel better going gluten free....how long that takes is entirely personal and usually depends on how severe your reaction to gluten is/was.

for me the joint pain takes a couple of days to go away, the headaches disappeared almost instantly and the nails, that takes time because your body has to begin absorbing nutrients again as you heal.

as for the weight part, I think it depends on a couple of things: 1) were you a "classic celiac" who was losing weight? then it's likely you'll gain once your body begins to absorb nutrients or 2) were you a bit overweight, in this case it depends entirely on what you choose to eat. Keep it simple and clean without a lot of gluten-free processed foods and it's likely you'll lose weight; indulge too much in processed foods and the opposite may happen.

[katerinoula18]

well! i was also worried about gaining weight. But I am not the classic celiac that loses weight. In fact I wouldnt lose weight at all when I was eating gluten. And when I did cut out gluten, the scale moved. Yep, its only been a week and I already lost 2 pounds. Maybe its bloating, or water retention....but its a relief after 1yr of nothing and weight gain.