Not Feeling So Good!

[lillylou]

I was diagnosed in Dec. 08 with celiac disease. I am dealing with major stress in my life which is causing me to have diarehha daily. My stomach cramps after eating almost everything. I am loosing weight also. Is there anything I can eat that would be gentle on my gut during this time and allow healing? My diet consists of fresh fruits/veggies and chicken and fish. I could use some guidance. Thanks.

[ravenwoodglass]

  lillylou said:

I was diagnosed in Dec. 08 with celiac disease. I am dealing with major stress in my life which is causing me to have diarehha daily. My stomach cramps after eating almost everything. I am loosing weight also. Is there anything I can eat that would be gentle on my gut during this time and allow healing? My diet consists of fresh fruits/veggies and chicken and fish. I could use some guidance. Thanks.

I am sorry you are still feeling so bad. Are you on any medications or supplements? If yes have you checked with the maker to be sure they are gluten free? Are you taking precautions against cross contamination? For example you need a dedicated gluten free toaster, your own condiments and nut butters etc to prevent CC from gluten eaters in your home 'double dipping'. Do you eat out often? Many restaurants are not very knowledgeable about cross contamination and for many we need to avoid restaurant food until we heal. Have you eliminated dairy? Many need to until we heal. If you are strictly gluten free and are still having issues this bad you may want to call your GI and make an appointment to make sure that nothing else is going on.

As far as stuff that is gentle on the tummy to eat, cream of Buckwheat is very soothing and sprinkling a bit of cinnamon on it will also help the tummy. Other than that plain fresh meats and fresh unprocessed foods are going to help you heal with less chance of CC.

[lillylou]

  lillylou said:

I was diagnosed in Dec. 08 with celiac disease. I am dealing with major stress in my life which is causing me to have diarehha daily. My stomach cramps after eating almost everything. I am loosing weight also. Is there anything I can eat that would be gentle on my gut during this time and allow healing? My diet consists of fresh fruits/veggies and chicken and fish. I could use some guidance. Thanks.

Thank you for your response and great questions. I do take synthroid and supplements. I do know that my supplements are gluten-free. I also take bioidentical hormones. I don't know where to look to check the ingredients of the hormone cream. I don't eat out very much. Thank you for mentioning CC. I will be purchasing another toaster. I have eliminated dairy and eggs. I will definitely try the cream of Buckwheat. What about coffee/tea? I think stress has triggered this episode I am having because 3 weeks ago, I was doing pretty good. I don't have a GI. I was diagnosed through test done at home and sent off to the lab, so I do not have a local GI. I don't want to take any medication if I can avoid it!

Thanks again for your support!

[Ahorsesoul]

Some flavored teas and coffees might not gluten free so check those. Same if you drink soda, not all of them are gluten free either. Just remember to read labels of anything that goes into your mouth including gum, toothpaste and mouthwash. Better to check everything than be sorry.

[ang1e0251]

Could the stress have made you extra sensitive to some of the food you normally eat? Some people don't do well with nightshades, a food group that includes potatoes, peppers, eggplant and paprika. Do those ever bother you?

Are you eating processed foods? You didn't mention anything made with flours but you mentioned getting a new toaster. If you are using mixes or processed foods, you may be getting very small amounts of gluten through them. Some are very sensitive to those.

When ever I seem to have a set back, I back off to a very simple diet until I improve. I may have to go back to a food diary to actually "catch" the culprit food. Sometimes you just have to be a detective.

[lillylou]

  ang1e0251 said:

Could the stress have made you extra sensitive to some of the food you normally eat? Some people don't do well with nightshades, a food group that includes potatoes, peppers, eggplant and paprika. Do those ever bother you?

Are you eating processed foods? You didn't mention anything made with flours but you mentioned getting a new toaster. If you are using mixes or processed foods, you may be getting very small amounts of gluten through them. Some are very sensitive to those.

When ever I seem to have a set back, I back off to a very simple diet until I improve. I may have to go back to a food diary to actually "catch" the culprit food. Sometimes you just have to be a detective.

[/b I don't eat potatoes regularly but I do eat red bell peppers almost daily. That's something I will really pay attention to. I just recently made Bobs Red Mill Hearty Wholegrain Bread. That is what I wanted the toaster for because I was using the one I've used for regular bread. Other than that, I do not eat processed foods. I am not cooking with any flours but I am paying closer attention to CC.

I have gotten back to keeping a food journal. I would be open to hearing examples of what you mean when you eat simple.

Thank you so much for support!

[ang1e0251]

I thought that BRM Hearty Whole Grain bread had gluten. You should check that.

Simple whole foods are what I revert back to. No grains just meats, vegetables, beans and fruits. Single ingredient spices. Lots of eggs. Those are foods for me that are non-reactive. Once I feel better again, than I can use my food diary and add in new things one at a time and see how I react. It's the only way I could figure out things like tea and flavorings when they were bothering me. Both of those foods are gluten-free but they bothered me.

[lillylou]

  ang1e0251 said:

I thought that BRM Hearty Whole Grain bread had gluten. You should check that.

Simple whole foods are what I revert back to. No grains just meats, vegetables, beans and fruits. Single ingredient spices. Lots of eggs. Those are foods for me that are non-reactive. Once I feel better again, than I can use my food diary and add in new things one at a time and see how I react. It's the only way I could figure out things like tea and flavorings when they were bothering me. Both of those foods are gluten-free but they bothered me.

You know, I did check the ingredients on the BRM Hearty bread and it does have maltodextrin in it. I checked and that is on the "AVOID" list. How can they claim it to be gluten-free if it has that in it? Goes to show ya that we really do have to be "food detectives"! I will go to eating very simple and clean. I use alot of Olive Oil and fresh herbs (from our garden).

Thanks again for your suggestions. I am ready to feel better again because it's been almost a month now.

[ravenwoodglass]

  lillylou said:

[/b I don't eat potatoes regularly but I do eat red bell peppers almost daily. That's something I will really pay attention to. I just recently made Bobs Red Mill Hearty Wholegrain Bread. That is what I wanted the toaster for because I was using the one I've used for regular bread. Other than that, I do not eat processed foods. I am not cooking with any flours but I am paying closer attention to CC.

I have gotten back to keeping a food journal. I would be open to hearing examples of what you mean when you eat simple.

Thank you so much for support!

Although the bread mix is gluten free it does contain flours that most of us have not consumed a lot of before diagnosis. I would drop the bread for bit and see if you feel better then perhaps try it again after you have felt well for a month or so and see if it bothers you again.

When I think of eating simple I think of foods that have a minimum of ingredients. Whole unprocessed of course and items that have less than 5 ingredients. It is not unusual for us to have other foods that don't agree with us. A food diary can help to pinpoint other foods our bodies don't like and it is easier to see a pattern when we introduce stuff as simply as possible.

[Wolicki]

  lillylou said:

I was diagnosed in Dec. 08 with celiac disease. I am dealing with major stress in my life which is causing me to have diarehha daily. My stomach cramps after eating almost everything. I am loosing weight also. Is there anything I can eat that would be gentle on my gut during this time and allow healing? My diet consists of fresh fruits/veggies and chicken and fish. I could use some guidance. Thanks.

Are you taking probiotics and enzymes? I would definitely add those if you are not. I am three months gluten-free, and still cannot tolerate legumes and grains. They're much tougher to digest. I also took another poster's advice, who said spinach was hard to digest when raw. So now, I cook it just a bit in some coconut oil and it's much easier on my tummy. Keep the food diary, and you'll find what is bothering you. Feel well soon.

[lillylou]

  ravenwoodglass said:

Although the bread mix is gluten free it does contain flours that most of us have not consumed a lot of before diagnosis. I would drop the bread for bit and see if you feel better then perhaps try it again after you have felt well for a month or so and see if it bothers you again.

When I think of eating simple I think of foods that have a minimum of ingredients. Whole unprocessed of course and items that have less than 5 ingredients. It is not unusual for us to have other foods that don't agree with us. A food diary can help to pinpoint other foods our bodies don't like and it is easier to see a pattern when we introduce stuff as simply as possible.

Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions. I will keep it to 5 ingredients for a while.

[lillylou]

  Wolicki said:

Are you taking probiotics and enzymes? I would definitely add those if you are not. I am three months gluten-free, and still cannot tolerate legumes and grains. They're much tougher to digest. I also took another poster's advice, who said spinach was hard to digest when raw. So now, I cook it just a bit in some coconut oil and it's much easier on my tummy. Keep the food diary, and you'll find what is bothering you. Feel well soon.

I am taking probiotics and enzymes. Thanks for the tip on cooking the spinach and I am keeping a very detailed food diary.

Thank you.

[mark6556]

  lillylou said:

I am taking probiotics and enzymes. Thanks for the tip on cooking the spinach and I am keeping a very detailed food diary.

Thank you.

You might want to take a look at the SCD diet. Wikipedia has a write up on it and the book called "breaking the vicious cycle" covers it in more detail. I've read it and found it to be a logical approach for getting around intestinal problems. One thing they recommend is cooking vegetables and even fruits in the beginning to make them easier to digest as well as targeting foods that can be absorbed without any extra work by the small intestine. This makes sense if you have seriously damaged villi as I do. I just started this approach myself but haven't been doing it long enough to know if it will help or not.

[haleym]

  lillylou said:

You know, I did check the ingredients on the BRM Hearty bread and it does have maltodextrin in it. I checked and that is on the "AVOID" list. How can they claim it to be gluten-free if it has that in it? Goes to show ya that we really do have to be "food detectives"! I will go to eating very simple and clean. I use alot of Olive Oil and fresh herbs (from our garden).

Thanks again for your suggestions. I am ready to feel better again because it's been almost a month now.

I just wanted to say regarding the BRM hearty bread mix....

BRM uses an ELISA assay to make sure stuff is gluten free. Maltodextrin can be from corn, or wheat. In the states, its usually from corn. I dont think BRM would be able to market it as gluten free if they have maltodextrin in it that was from a gluten source. The MALTO part can throw us off, because we think of MALT but some AVOID lists still have it in there.

I would check with BRM on this. I have eaten tons of the stuff and been totally fine.. On the other hand, I know theres a lot of nuts and different unusual grains, as well as cocoa powder and coffee powder in it, so other ingredients in it may bother you too...

Let us know what you come up with