De-lurking With A Couple ?'s

[Morrisun]

I guess I should give a little background. Was diagnosed with celiac disease May '04 by bloodwork. I've had "stomach problems" my entire life, they've been getting worse the last 10-11 years. Looking back now I've realized that there were clues to my celiac disease waaay back when I was a very young child as my baby teeth came in with no enamel on them at all.

Anyway, after my diagnosis I figured that if I didn't go gluten-free that I would just continue to have the usual stomach cramps, "D", etc. We were in the middle of moving from one state to another, my DH was retiring from the military, it was an extremely stressful period of time. I'm not trying to make excuses per say, but I honestly did not realize how seriously I needed to take things and I really regret it now. Since my diagnosis last year I have also been diagnosed with Grave's Disease (Jan '05) and have just recently started treatment for that as it took over 2 months to get in to see an endocrinologist.

In the last couple of months I've done extensive reading and it hit me that I really needed to go gluten-free now, can't put it off, etc. And to be quite honest I'm sooo tired of feeling horrible. I know this makes me sound like an idiot but I didn't understand the severity of the issue, I didn't realize that by not going gluten-free it was putting me at risk for a whole host of other issues, cancer etc.

I have now been 100% gluten-free for 3 weeks. I have gotten a new toaster, new pots & pans and I've gotten dual PB, Jelly, Butter, etc so as to avoid CC with my DH who is not a Celiac.

The first week, week and a half of being gluten-free I felt better almost immediately. I had more energy, my stomach wasn't constantly "moving", the "D" had decreased greatly. It was great! Now however for the past week or so I've felt much worse and I can't figure it out. I read labels obsessively, I don't eat anything that I'm not sure about, I'm almost positive that I'm not getting any cross contamination.

I have been keeping a food diary for the last two days (so far) and I'm beginning to think that it might be a problem with Dairy, so today I have avoided all dairy. I'm just wondering how long did it take for most people's symptoms to improve greatly? Was there a big difference right away or was it a gradual improvement over time?

Sorry for the novel....I'll appreciate all input!!

Jennifer

Diagnosed Celiac May '04

Diagnosed Grave's Disease Jan '05

[ianm]

Most will get better over time. It seems that it takes on average 3 months to start feeling better and a good year to be healthy. It took a lifetime for your body to get damaged so it won't heal over night. This lifestyle is not as hard as it first appears. It takes time to learn new habits and break the old ones. Once you get the hang of it you will feel so much better.

Welcome.

[KaitiUSA]

Yea the problems will go away but it takes time. Mine got alot better after 3 months then i was back to normal a few months after that. Everyone is different with symptoms and healing. Some people have it go away quicker then others. It will be much easier when you get the hang of it...you will find this site very helpful...alot of people on here know more about celiac then 95% of doctors you will find.

I also have graves disease

[tarnalberry]

I want to at least say that it doesn't sound like you were an idiot for not knowing how important it was for you to go gluten-free; you were ignorant of the dangers and you've fixed that by finding out. And let's not forget to say shame on your doctors for not informing you!

[mela14]

Dairy could definately be a problem as it is with most celiacs. It's been about 5 months for me and I am still trying to fine tune my diet.

Give it time and make sure you scrutinize everything. gluten-free can ony help you to feel better.

Hang in there!

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Welcome to this message board!

Tiffany, I wouldn't necessarily say, she was ignorant of the dangers. She just reacted like everybody else, who we tell: "Oh, I have celiac disease, I can't eat this" and they look at you, as if you're from mars. Because people can't know. That's because this is so rare, the awareness needs to raise and the doctors should be more informed. I'd say, it's not her fault. How could she know???

But know, you're doing a great job I guess. Did you also check your toothpaste, if it's glutenfree? Your soaps, shampoos, cremes, makeup, bodylotions??? And a lot of celiacs have problems with dairy at first. This is, because dairy is digested on top of the villi. But when they are gone, this isn't possible anymore. So when you're better, you could try dairy again. You might be able to digest it again.

Good luck and if you have a question just ask.

[Morrisun]

Thanks guys! I made an appt. with my Dr. for next week. I want to see if he'll do some additional blood work, check my Iron levels and things like that. I have checked my makeup, toothpaste, etc. Now that I've gotten the new pots and pans I'm pretty sure that my chance of contamination is pretty low. When you've had stomach problems for so long it's so hard to tell if you just sick, or if it's the celiac disease or whatever..ugh!! LOL

Jennifer

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

When you've had stomach problems for so long it's so hard to tell if you just sick, or if it's the celiac disease or whatever..ugh!! LOL

This is so right! I wish you good luck and keep us posted!

[tarnalberry]

I just meant ignorant in the "unaware of" sense of the word, not any of the negative connotations that are sometimes used with that word. :-) Ignorance needn't imply fault! :-)

[hsd1203]

For me, the first week was wonderful, and then the next 6 months were kind of up and down, in part regardless of what I was eating (I even moved home and had my gluten-free mom cooking for me). I also had to cut out dairy and soy completely for 6 months, and limit fats and acidy foods as they all bothered me.

It gets better but be patient and read every label every time you eat something

Hope you're feeling better soon

H