Possibly Gluten Intolerance? Or Just Glucose?

[Dreamon]

Hey everyone,

I am sure you've heard it all before..but well..i would like your enlightement on this.

i am 27 girl with PCOS (an hormonal imbalance caused by insuline resistance), though pcos girls tends to be chubby i am considered underweight ( 105 lbs for 5.6). I know for a fact that i am insulin resistant (very roughly it's like glucose intolerance), because when i dont get treated for my PCOS i get sleepy, tired and massive headache. When on the pill i am fine with that.

However... I noticed since a let's say 4 years some changes in my metabolism, I think there are chances everything is linked to the insulin thing, but even if i cut all sugars i still get troubles i never had before.

I tend to feel more and more bloated, my belly get swollen after almost every meals ( i always had the swollen belly after meals but i never experienced the bloating before). When I wake up in the morning my belly s very flat as flat as the wall, as soon as i start to eat things it's like my waist take a few centimeters all of a sudden...not shokin either but still.

Along with the bloating comes something else that is not very glamourous and i get that very very often now...sometimes it can be embarrassing. It was never never a problem before.

my stomach is now noisy

I cannot handle big party meal anymore without getting sick: i get bloated to the point i cannot stand straight, and it hurts, and the following day if not after the meal...i get... you know. This never happened to be before 4/5 years ago.

I experience rashes on my hands and feet at night, not every night though, but it's by period, i also get those on my forearms and neck...it gets red for a while, i have to scratch, then it calms down. it can last for hours, or just a few minutes.

i tend to get...the still you know..those urgent natural need..in a very urgent way twice a month at least.

what else...

i always had low ferritin (naturally it never gets above 20, a couple of years ago it was 9, then i took iron for two years and it got up to 45, now i dunno)

i dunno if it is important or not but my mom had a cancer of the colon, and so did my mom's dad. but that i know of they never had prob with gluten food.

i dont think i have coeliac, but do you think some gluten intolerance could be an explanation???

thanks for the help guys

I dont think i have coeliac disease

[missy'smom]

Have you looked at a checklist of symptoms for celiac disease?, viewing it in light of your own health history and symptoms as well as family history? I think it would be eye opening and that you would find that you can put a check mark by so many symptoms. I would bet that you may indeed have celiac disease given your symptoms and family history. If I were you I would start the testing process before you start a gluten-free diet. Start with a blood test and see what that turns up. There can be false negative results but if it is positive then you surely have it. If it is negative then there are some other steps you can take to help determine if gluten is a problem. Why is it that you are so convinced that you don't have it? celiac disease can present itself in many ways and the outward symptoms vary with the individual. Symptoms can vary in terms of severity as well. That tummy boating problem is just like what I experienced and no longer do. celiac disease is not a diagnosis to be afraid of. It is a very treatable. The word disease sounds scary but once we take gluten out of our diet, that disease process shut off. No surgery or meds needed! If it is your problem you may be suprized at how much better you feel.

[Dreamon]

Thanks for your insight missymom!!!

I suspected gluten intolerance more than celiac because i thought celiac symptoms were more radicals. for exemple i dont loose weight, i am kinda skinny but my weight is very stable.

The thing is i already have to be careful not to eat too much sugar because of the insulin thing..if i have to cut on gluten too it's gonna be real hard!!!!!

The insulin issue also presents some similar symptoms with coeliac and gluten intolerance (mainly bloating, but maybe not that bad, but with insuline resistance you dont get the bid D rather the contrary, which i scarcely get).

I am away from home because of my job right now but i will see a doc for this in a couple of weeks.

Also i did not mansion but i had a yeast infection...i still need to see my gyn to see if it is over now. I ve been trying to get rid of it for so long..but the pcos can also triggers

yeast. So it's hard to untangle everything.

The only thing that makes me think it's not just the insulin is the digestive issues being still present even when i eat low GI meals.

Also, i forget to mention sometimes i feel a pain in my abdomen , middle area, but it's not really like stomach pain...it almost feels muscular..it's hard to describe. It's not an intense pain at all but you feel it.

[missy'smom]

Print out a checklist from one of the national celiac disease organizations or university or hospital celiac disease center websites and take it in with you so that you and your doctor can have something concrete to go by. Dealing with diets to manage both celiac disease and blood sugar issues can seem daunting at first but you can end up seeing blood sugar issues improve as a natural part of the healing process or at least managing them better, depending on your approach to dietary changes. I don't have IR but I am dealing with very low insulin levels and eat a lowcarb diet that works very well for both celiac disease and BG so I enjoy feeling much better and it's worth the changes. Stick with simple fresh, natural ingredients to start with, but get tested first! and come back and let us know how it goes. Once your system gets clean and your health improves you may find that you don't crave that stuff that sets your body out of balance. I'm down to mostly nuts, meats and veg. because of the combination of my health issues but am still fairy satisfied with my meals because they make me feel so good and I crave that more than any goodies!

[Caitlin-R]

Hi there,

Just read your post and seem to be in the exact same situation as you. I, too, have PCOS, and am normal weight and slender. I'm planning on getting tested for celiac this week because for the past few years (and most intensely over the past eight months) I've experienced bad gas and bloating, and I eat healthy foods. I've always thought it might be the cheese, but now I'm thinking it's the gluten that I always seem to eat with cheese (pasta, crackers, etc). I'm been off gluten for a week, and feel so much better. Still have some gas, but it's minor, and not the same stomach-raging kind that, well, I had before. I know what you're going through, and it's not normal!

Also, I seem to lose an incredible amount of hair. I'm not balding at all, but my hair comes out all the time. My understanding is that this could be tied to celiac and the fact that my body is not absorbing the proper nutrients.

Good luck with the test, etc.

Caitlin

[Dreamon]

hEY,

my pcos are managed since three years no through the bcp, my hormones are perfectly balance..but for the insulin..it's better but still not perfect. The thing I am IR but my blood sugar are perfect. You can be IR and still have good blood sugar...

i will do what caitlin suggested and you should do h same too.

good luck

[Serversymptoms]

It really could almost be anything, but there is likely somewhere to start. As one who self diagnosed as gluten intolerance I don't see how it can hurt at all by going on a gluten free diet, besides when testing after diet and the doctors may only say it's anxiety etc....I have/ had so many symptoms, some in which I adopted to and thought it was normal. I started to feel a lot better after removing gluten, but still high in symptoms. I came to the conclusion of also removing yeast and was able to self diagnosed as being yeast intolerance... which can also be in your case. My rash seems to be going away, and now I even dream when I sleep... which is surprisenly to me because I was never able to take note of that symptom since I nearly adopted to have dreams occasionally. So you can ask this question yourself about dreaming. I did a candida spit test and came back positive, you can look the test online and see if this can be part of your health as well. I suspect other things is likely harming my health such as thyroid, malnutrition, pre-diabetes etc.... since you suspect being gluten intolerance I thought I would also mention other contributing factors.

[Serversymptoms]

It really could almost be anything, but there is likely somewhere to start. As one who self diagnosed as gluten intolerance I don't see how it can hurt at all by going on a gluten free diet, besides when testing after diet and the doctors may only say it's anxiety etc....I have/ had so many symptoms, some in which I adopted to and thought it was normal. I started to feel a lot better after removing gluten, but still high in symptoms. I came to the conclusion of also removing yeast and was able to self diagnosed as being yeast intolerance... which can also be in your case. My rash seems to be going away, and now I even dream when I sleep... which is surprisenly to me because I was never able to take note of that symptom since I nearly adopted to have dreams occasionally. So you can ask this question yourself about dreaming. I did a candida spit test and came back positive, you can look the test online and see if this can be part of your health as well. I suspect other things is likely harming my health such as thyroid, malnutrition, pre-diabetes etc.... since you suspect being gluten intolerance I thought I would also mention other contributing factors.