Overwhelmed

[nuit.pieta]

Hi,

I found out about a month ago that I have celiacs. Since then I have been eating a gluten free diet. There have been a few mess ups (hand soap, mouth wash, alcohol, etc.), but besides that I make sure I don't consume gluten.

In December (before I found out about the celiacs) I found out I had mono. Originally it went away but then it flared back up again making me sick for months (weak, dizzy, headaches, problems with speech).

Starting a month ago I went back to school. I am a 21 year old full time college student. The quarter before I had to take a hardship withdrawal. Yet this quarter I have been feeling much better. For the first two weeks I felt almost entirely fine. Yet about two weeks ago it started again. I had an incident with mouth wash and the next four days I had migraines. Since then I have been having body aches, more headaches, temperature fluctuations, exhaustion ( to the point where I can't stand up without help), and a mind fog (almost continually). I had a blood test done which says that it is not mono. I am not sure what is wrong. I eat a healthy balanced diet (although I am a vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free). My doctors are unhelpful.

My question are: Could this be related to celiacs or is it something else like mono? Also, I am wondering if anyone else has problems with school. I am very stressed out about it. I am a junior and am trying to graduate. I am probably going to have to take a hardship withdrawal for this quarter too (it's been two weeks and I still can't physically make it to my classes). Any advice dealing with this too would be great.

Thanks,

Becca

[terreemc]

Sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time. This site is full of wonderful, helpful, information. I would suggest trying to visit as often as possible and pick up knowledge a little at a time. The learning curve is quite high at first. I would say for myself, that this site has allowed me to get on the road to recovery. I try to learn something most every day.

I have been gluten free about 10 months. Like you, I made many mistakes and glutened myself frequently. For me it takes about 14 days to fully recover from even a slight exposure to gluten. The always added fatigue and brain fog remind me of the mono I had at your age. NO FUN!!!Also I found that as I heal ,I have become increasingly sensitive to all grains. I now use the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (since Aug 2008) and found that it eliminated many of my symptoms. Although everyone reacts some what differently,I have found,corn causes body aches and pain, soy causes D....sugar causes headaches.....and sleeplessness....(I use honey now)

too much fat causes abdominal cramps and D.....too much food at one meal causes upset and every slip up causes brain fog.This is in addition to plain old glutening which is really awful!. But if you can get tough with yourself and be very determined to search out your trigger foods and eliminate them you will see major improvement in a short time. I have weeks where I feel the best that I have in years. At 65, I heal slowly while you at 21 should heal quickly. It is not easy and it takes work but recovery is possible!

Study Study...the answers are here. Thank heaven for this forum!.

[ravenwoodglass]

It can take a while for a gluten reaction to clear the system. It is also hard at first to tell what really is gluten free and what isn't when it comes to processed food. One thing that may help a bit with energy and thought processes is supplementing with sublingual B12. If you can go with a really 'clean' diet of unprocessed foods that will help insure that you are not reglutening yourself. Also do you live in a gluten free environment? Cross contamination from sharing your space with gluten eaters can be a problem if everyone isn't very careful. Do you have pets? Many of us switch them to gluten free food to avoid contamination. Have you deglutened your kitchen? You can't share things like toasters, condiments or stuff like Pnut butter and jelly that others have dipped their gluteny knives into. I am sure others will chime in with more suggestions and do bear in mind that it will take time for you to heal. It can be rough at first but it will get easier. I hope you are feeling better soon.