Sick Since Going Gf

[bklyn]

I need some advice - I'm still having stomach pain and nausea (around 2 mos.). My GI Dr. at first prescribed anti-acid meds. These have not helped. Now he is scheduling a CT scan. These symptoms started after being gluten-free for 5 mos. My latest antibody test was "5". Is it possible for the gluten-free diet to make someone sick! I never had any gastro symptoms before my diagnosis. I'm sick and depressed.

[emma]

Kathy, I'm sorry that you're feeling sick and depressed , and unfortunately I have no advice for you - just wanted you to know you're not alone. I've been gluten-free for about a month and a half, and just recently (the last couple weeks) started having stomach pain, which I never experienced before diagnosis. I'm quite sure I haven't ingested gluten - I've been very careful about food, meds, and even lotions and shampoos,etc.

I was wondering if maybe since I'm eating more fresh fruit,vegetables, and meat, my stomach is rebelling. It wants its comfort foods back- breads and cereals!! Can a person be "addicted" to gluten, and go through some kind of withdrawal? Weird. I'm interested to hear what others have to say.

Keep us posted on how you're doing and what your doctor finds out.

Emma

What is a "5" on your antibody test?

[ianm]

Both of you are just going to have to give it more time. It seems that for a lot of us it took a year before we were "normal" and could say we felt healthy. It has taken a lifetime for your body to be damaged and it takes time for it to heal. Your body is also adjusting to a new diet and way of life. Keep at it because you will feel so much better in time.

Ianm

[Guest nini]

It was a good six months to a year after going gluten-free before I really started to feel better. I think there may be a bit of a withdrawal period, but I'm not an expert... just based on personal experience, I think it was from changing my diet so drastically at first and eating way more fruits, vegetables and beans than I was ever used to eating. I had severe gas pains to the point I thought I was having a heart attack! And bm's were painful for a while. I think because I went from mostly the big "d" to having more solid formed bm's that my body just wasn't used to it and it was painful. Sorry if TMI!!!

[bklyn]

Emma, the "5" I mentioned is the number from my latest antibody blood test. My dr. says that it's good, it shows I am following the gluten-free diet. The strange part of this is that I was totally asymptomatic at the time of my diagnosis. All of these stomach problems just started recently. I'm worried because I haven't responded to any acid medications - that's why I'm having a CAT scan. It's all pretty scary for me right now.

[Guest ajlauer]

Anything (and possibly everything) can be addicting. Your body adapts to what you put into it. If I go even 2 days without any chocolate, I'm a psycho b**ch! I got addicted to chap stick one time too. Without realizing what I was doing, I just kept massaging it into my lips. I think a few hours passed. For the next few days, my lips were constantly chapped - they had stopped producing their own moisture. Weird, I know!

[Guest BellyTimber]

bklyn,

Five months is an incredibly short time to be recovering from celiac disease (some youngsters bounce up quicker!)

The body does a lot of adjusting and brings to light various imbalances.

When my celiac disease came to a head necessitating action it was as if the cat was out of the bag, all kinds of hidden symptoms could be put on view. Most will ease if not go away, but mine haven't in well over 2 years (not helped by bungles & infringements) and evidently the same goes for lots of us on this board so take a deep breath and take a long view of it.

Is there enough fibre in the items you eat? Proprietary items - including mixes - are very deficient in it and also excessively sugary, though often very nice for "comfort" food Eat lots of green leaf vegetables - the magnesium in them makes one "go" and the calcium is also needed to balance lots and lots of things. Both these are ample in what was our main gluten source and probably our dietary staple. I love my spring green cabbages, they have a gorgeous taste - slice up & steam or simmer a few minutes - the water makes a fabulous delicious drink when cooled a little.

If you can get hold of them, Epsom Salts are good in the bath, because it is a very simple compound the molecules absorb through the skin into the bloodstream and both the magnesium and the sulphur suit many people of our kind especially well apparently. (Too much in the bath at once can give one a slight turn so make it last, I throw in only a handful every other day.)

Antacids are the last thing most of us need (apparently too much acid is a specific but not very common condition), many of us find we don't have enough and it is food that's coming up & stinging us more than acid. To improve our acid some of us have taken Betaine Hydrochloride with Pepsin (which can be got from Solgar) or various "digestive enzymes", I was told to take as I begin eating.

The gluten-free diet is not restrictive because we can discover foods that are relatively fibre, mineral and protein rich that hardly anyone else eats because they "get away" with the usual diet which is the truly restrictive one.

In practical terms for me, being single and dyspraxic I know that it is going to be a long time before I get it right - I just try & remember the green cabbages and make sure I have plenty of puffed millet in - but I love to gather information such as you are all posting here because it gives me the big view - the vision - of where I can be going.

I too am very upset at the "upsets", am beginning to fear them, thought they ha d stopped ...

[Guest BellyTimber]

to be more exact...

2 months is even shorter than 5 ...

Betaine Hydrochloride with Pepsin - not if pain or ulcers are occurring in your stomach or duodenum

[Merika]

Hi,

I think this is really common. I've heard it a lot here, and it's been my own experience as well. Here's my own unscientific theory.

The body is poisoned for years with gluten. Obvious symptoms may or may not be present. Personally, I had just a few symptoms myself, and none would have pointed a doctor towards celiac. When I went gluten-free, I felt like a new person for several weeks, and felt pretty good for several months. Then it was like everything got worse.

I think as the body heals, you start to FEEL your body more. As a dancer, I am possibly more in tune with this than the average person. As the poison left my body, I could simply feel what was going on more, and it was icky, lol. Also, for me, I really did feel bad for so many years, that the initial rush of being gluten-free finally wore off, and I realized that while I did feel SO MUCH BETTER, I still had a long way to go to feel NORMAL, yk?

I've been gluten-free for just over a year now, and have had crazy up and down cycles. I am finally just starting to feel better. I actually LOST weight last winter, and for the first time in a bazillion years (not counting when pregnant, lol) I have gained weight! (which is a good thing).

Hang in there. It is a weird, long, sometimes depressing ride, but you WILL get better.

Merika

[mmccliment]

I have been gluten-free for 6 years now and still have gastro problems. I've had more tests done and even went out to Mayo Clinic. No answers. Research was done showing femals with celiac disease often have on-going gastro-intestinal problems due to the damage that was done before being diagnosed. My colon and small intestine I'm told "have changed" and it's permanent. Give it time!

[jknnej]

I'm going thru the same thing; since going gluten-free my tummy pain is better but I am so nauseated a lot of the time and it's really frustrating.

I can only hope that one day these probelms will abate. I'm trying to stay as positive as I possibly can in the meantime.

[Rikki Tikki]

I agree with Merika. It just takes time. Our bodies are usually so depleted by the time of diagnosis it has to take time to heal. Then we have to learn about everything that can possibly contain gluten. Toothpastes etc. It took me about 2 years to really heal and there are times now when I am not so sure it's gone. But, I find out new things all the time, like I didn't know modified food starch was gluten, I learned it on the board. Keep up the good work, you will get better

[CaliGirl]

Have you considered that maybe you have other food intolerances that are making you ill? Maybe it's not just the gluten.

I have been gluten free (or as close to it as a newbie can be) for a year, but I keep getting sick. I thought I had no reaction to oats, but then my sensitivity increased and I learned I needed to eliminate oats from diet. By process of elimination, I have also stopped eating soy and peanuts. There's something still wrong with my body, though, and I don't know what it is, so I'm trying to cut out milk and see if that helps.

This is all very unscientific, but from my personal experience, I have really noticed a difference after stopping peanuts and soy.

Rachel

--Self-diagnosed celiac in April 2004

[bklyn]

Caligirl,

Yes, I've been thinking about other food intolerances. What's strange is that I don't feel sick after I eat something, it's all the time. I'm on my way to the Celiac Center at Columbia in New York on Monday, and hopefully they can help me sort out the problem.