Is This Normal...

[katerinoula18]

Hello everyone!

So I am a self-diagnosed Celiac. I did go for blood-tests but i was gluten-light for at least 2 weeks and hadn't eaten gluten for 4 days before the test. They came out borderline between negative and positive, but my doctor diagnosed me anyways because the gluten-free diet made MAJOR positive changes to my life within just a few days. And i refuse to start eating gluten again just to do the biopsy. I have the worse symptoms and I dont want to start sleeping 16 hours per day, with abdominal pain, dizinness etc.

So I went gluten-free one week ago and the first days I was eating many times a day but little every time. Carrots, hummus, fruits, other veggies, a bit of tuna, hard-boiled eggs. And by day 4 I was feeling MUCH better and my stomach was super flat again, no pain and I wasn't napping in the afternoon anymore (although I still feel a bit tired). On that day 4 I had activia yoghurt thinking it was gluten free, but gluten was hidden in the natural flavors. I was very mad and my symptoms started after 15minutes of eating a tablespoon. My day 5 went pretty well also, my tummy was a bit bloated probably due to the inflamation from the yoghurt but i survived.

Now my problem is that this weekend (day 6 and 7) I had small little things throughout the day but a slightly bigger supper with baked potato and rice and chicken breast. I didnt get glutened (because the symptoms werent that bad) but i still feel some pain in my tummy and it is a bit swollen (the meal I ate wasnt big enough to make me bloat, but it was more than usual). Is this normal? Can I be sensitive to every food in the beginning of this diet? SHould I be worried:S...I just need reassuring... Maybe I should just continue eating simple fruits veggies for a good 6 weeks and then introduce heavier things??

-katerina

[mamaw]

Hi

Some find it easier to digest small amounts of food, grazing through out the day instead of eating three meals a day. Since you are new to the gluten-free diet you may have ups & downs which is natural for many.

Also your body is going through a big adjustment &again it will be ups & downs. For some they feel better quickly & others it has taken up to two years to feel better.

Are you taking vits & Mins, enzymes & probiotics? This will help in the healing process...you will also need to add fiber at some point....

hth mamaw

[FarmCat]

Hi

Some find it easier to digest small amounts of food, grazing through out the day instead of eating three meals a day. Since you are new to the gluten-free diet you may have ups & downs which is natural for many.

Also your body is going through a big adjustment &again it will be ups & downs. For some they feel better quickly & others it has taken up to two years to feel better.

Are you taking vits & Mins, enzymes & probiotics? This will help in the healing process...you will also need to add fiber at some point....

hth mamaw

I am wondering about your cooking utensils. It sounds like for your first few days you were eating things that didn't require much cooking--and then you fixed a nice, big dinner. Was it the first time you used those pans since going gluten-free? Were they teflon? Any scratches in teflon will hold gluten. Maybe you did eat a trace of it.

[katerinoula18]

Thank you for the responses!

To answer a few questions...I'm taking magnesium, iron, and probiotics. I also take the the non-flavor no sugar added metamucil for fiber. All that seems to be working out quite well...

And as for the pans, the chicken, potato (awesome!!!) dinner was made in the oven. The pan is quite new, no scratches in it, but you are right, I'm sure there had been pasta in there before. But then again, isn't the dishwasher hot water and soap enough to wash everything away?

As for the 2 past days, I went back to eating many fruits, veggies (including beans which didnt affect me), cottage cheese, eggs, tuna and chicken breast spread throughout the day and im feeling SO much better. It seems like my body is taking a lot of time to process the food also because I'm not even hungry enough to eat a full plate in one sitting. I'll continue like this I guess...hoping I'll feel better one day.

[FarmCat]

Thank you for the responses!

And as for the pans, the chicken, potato (awesome!!!) dinner was made in the oven. The pan is quite new, no scratches in it, but you are right, I'm sure there had been pasta in there before. But then again, isn't the dishwasher hot water and soap enough to wash everything away?

I'm pretty new to all this myself, but the advice I have seen on this forum is to get rid of any non-stick cookware, because it does scratch and you can't wash the gluten out of it.

Did you use a cutting board? That hangs onto gluten, too; you need a new one.

I'm glad you're doing better. I've been gluten-free for a couple of weeks now and am trying to weed out what ELSE I'm reacting to. I have already been soy and legume free for a long time; now gluten-free, too. But there's still something else---

Good luck to both of us!

[heatherjane]

watch out! Raw chicken sometimes can be processed with broth and the pesky "natural flavors"!

[katerinoula18]

ugh im starting to think i cant eat anything anymore:(

im gettting more and more scared of nightshades. had a tomato and slightly bloated. (not a bad glutening reactiong though. just slight bloat)

soon i wont be able to eat anything anymore.