Newly Diagnosed, Have Questions

[Sandi575]

I was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago and have been gluten and wheat free for a little over a week. How long does it usually take before you start to feel any better or even notice any changes? My insides still hurt constantly, still have bags under my eyes really bad, I am still looking really bloated everywhere and I still do not have any energy. The only thing that has changed is that i am not constantly starving and when i eat, i have noticed that i am eating less. I have heard different stories about weight loss and weight gain. I am hoping i am one of the ones that loses. I am not heavy just very bloated looking all the time.

[ravenwoodglass]

It can take a bit of time to heal. Many of us find it helpful to drop dairy at first, you can add it back in when you are feeling better. Try to go with whole unprocessed and single ingredient frozen foods while you are still healing. There is a bit of a learning curve to being gluten-free and it does involve more than the obvious foods. Make sure you a have your own dedicated new toaster, cutting boards, wooden spoons and old nonsick pans should be replaced.

Make sure all meds and supplements are checked for gluten, this applies to OTC and script.

I hope you start to feel better soon.

[balanced1]

I too am wondering when the healing is noticed; this is 8th week and today I am looking 4 - 5 months pregnant. I have been lactose intolerant always but just diagnosed end of 2009 with Celiac. I am so discipline, I eat about 6 different foods and the next week add something else. I did not do anything wrong and bamm...I am bloated. And the scale shows 8 pound weight gain...and that won't go away. So, needless to say, I wish there was the same pattern, do this for a week, 2 weeks or 2 months and you will feel better...I am still in the waiting to heal stage.

[Reba32]

Are you eating whole natural foods, or processed and manufactured foods? Are you eating *enough*? Are you drinking plain water, or processed and manufactured drinks? Have you checked everything in your house for gluten? Including flavoured tea, coffee, shampoo, hair products, cosmetics, soaps, pet foods, lipbalm etc? Are you a "shared household" or did everyone go gluten free when you did?

It does take a while to heal, and it's different for everybody, but really, after a few weeks you should notice something different. If you don't then it's possible you're still being glutened somewhere.

[lizzers]

There are always a lot of other vitamin deficiencies that go along with celiac - vitamin d, b vitamins, magnesium (lost in stress events), zinc, etc. If you drink a lot of water, and you feel it isn't going through your system, it could be you have a b6 deficiency too.

Bloating is a fun one though, isn't it? My mom and I both have celiac - she can gain 10lbs overnight literally - and then by morning it is gone. Me, I have a wonderful ring collection, but when I am 'bloating' my fingers can balloon up two or three ring sizes. I think it has been happening less often now, which is nice.

Another suggestion, kinda gross maybe, is to have a look at taking a de-bugging/worming mixture too - sometimes us folks with celiacs also have litte critters in our guts eating up all the delicious food that we aren't gaining the benefit from.... so getting rid of those little guys might help w/ the bloating/ digestion too.

I too am wondering when the healing is noticed; this is 8th week and today I am looking 4 - 5 months pregnant. I have been lactose intolerant always but just diagnosed end of 2009 with Celiac. I am so discipline, I eat about 6 different foods and the next week add something else. I did not do anything wrong and bamm...I am bloated. And the scale shows 8 pound weight gain...and that won't go away. So, needless to say, I wish there was the same pattern, do this for a week, 2 weeks or 2 months and you will feel better...I am still in the waiting to heal stage.

[ravenwoodglass]

Another suggestion, kinda gross maybe, is to have a look at taking a de-bugging/worming mixture too - sometimes us folks with celiacs also have litte critters in our guts eating up all the delicious food that we aren't gaining the benefit from.... so getting rid of those little guys might help w/ the bloating/ digestion too.

Just a caution, please do not do this unless you have had testing done to show that you actually do have little critters. Your regular MD can do stool testing to check for them. With a compromised gut some of the OTC preperations could be hurtful to your system. Don't just take them just in case.