Detox Symptoms

[Black Sheep]

I've been g.f. for just over 2 weeks now, and instead of feeling better, I've been feeling worse. I'm always tired, but this past week I've been so exhausted and out-of-it, sometimes it's literally hard to walk from one room to the next. Which is pathetic, as my house is only 700 s.f. And when I arrive in the next room I usually collapse on whatever piece of furniture I can! It's like when you're sick with the flu or something, and you're so exhausted and weak that it's all you can do to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Then once you've staggered back to bed you fall in a heap and swear you won't move from that bed ever again! It's like that, only of course without the fever, aches, and other flu-like symptoms.

So this makes me wonder if, once someone cuts out gluten, can it cause some type of detox-like symptoms?

I've also wondered if perhaps I'm anemic, since I've heard that a gluten intolerance can cause people to not sufficiently absorb iron and B-12. I had a blood test done for this but don't have the results yet.

On the bright side, there are 3 symptoms I was having that have eased up quite a bit!

[sandsurfgirl]

There is a withdrawal period and it's normal. I didn't feel better until about 6 weeks into the diet. Dehydration is a huge problem for celiacs so make sure you are drinking lots of water. I also drink Gatorade because the natural electrolytes make me sick but you can try natural electrolytes from a health food store.

You might ask your doc to test your vitamin levels too.

[Black Sheep]

Dehydration is a huge problem for celiacs so make sure you are drinking lots of water.

Ohmygosh, I was wondering why, up until about 4 days ago, I was always so thirsty! I've always been big on drinking lots of water; this is due to the dr.'s orders to my parents when I was 5 and had a terrible kidney infection. So I got used to drinking a lot of water, but I'd noticed that the last several years I've been drinking even more. Lately however, I haven't been nearly as thirsty.

So....does this mean that while I was still eating gluten, dehydration was always a threat, and therefore my body craved more water, so it wouldn't get dehydrated? And now that I'm not eating gluten, dehydration is no longer right around the corner, and that's why I'm not as thirsty all the time?

Or is dehydration still a threat?

[sandsurfgirl]

Ohmygosh, I was wondering why, up until about 4 days ago, I was always so thirsty! I've always been big on drinking lots of water; this is due to the dr.'s orders to my parents when I was 5 and had a terrible kidney infection. So I got used to drinking a lot of water, but I'd noticed that the last several years I've been drinking even more. Lately however, I haven't been nearly as thirsty.

So....does this mean that while I was still eating gluten, dehydration was always a threat, and therefore my body craved more water, so it wouldn't get dehydrated? And now that I'm not eating gluten, dehydration is no longer right around the corner, and that's why I'm not as thirsty all the time?

Or is dehydration still a threat?

I went to a doctor who is somewhat of an expert on celiac and he said that I will have to consider dehydration one of my number one battles. I am on about week 9 of I the diet and have only been feeling a lot better since I took the dehydration very seriously. I have to front load my day with water and Gatorade mixed half and half with breakfast. If I don't get enough in the morning, I am dizzy, nauseous and tired. I drink water all day long and I don't let myself get to the point of feeling really thirsty if I can help it. I don't guzzle, but I just keep it with me and drink as often as I can.

The expert doc, was a total jerk, so I went back to my regular doc who doesn't know much about celiac but is at least nice to me. She is running a panel on my electrolytes, vitamin B12, D, and an iron panel to see how bad my electrolyte imbalance is, etc.

I got very sick from the natural electrolytes at first so I stuck with Gatorade. This week I tried the natural ones again with no problem so hopefully I can switch to them entirely soon. If my labs come up bad though, maybe my doc will give me a prescription. I don't know.

Some on here have recommended salt, but electrolytes are not salt. The electrolyte replacements do not even have sodium in them. You need the minerals that you are missing.

Thirst is not always the only indicator. By the time you feel thirsty you are past the point where you should be.

Go to the search function on here and look for threads about Withdrawal. Read past threads because there are long ones discussing all the different issues that come up in the beginning.

[Black Sheep]

Oh, thanks so much for the help and advice! I'll do that search and see what I come up with.

I love this place!

[Keshavdas]

I went to a doctor who is somewhat of an expert on celiac and he said that I will have to consider dehydration one of my number one battles. I am on about week 9 of I the diet and have only been feeling a lot better since I took the dehydration very seriously. I have to front load my day with water and Gatorade mixed half and half with breakfast. If I don't get enough in the morning, I am dizzy, nauseous and tired. I drink water all day long and I don't let myself get to the point of feeling really thirsty if I can help it. I don't guzzle, but I just keep it with me and drink as often as I can.

The expert doc, was a total jerk, so I went back to my regular doc who doesn't know much about celiac but is at least nice to me. She is running a panel on my electrolytes, vitamin B12, D, and an iron panel to see how bad my electrolyte imbalance is, etc.

I got very sick from the natural electrolytes at first so I stuck with Gatorade. This week I tried the natural ones again with no problem so hopefully I can switch to them entirely soon. If my labs come up bad though, maybe my doc will give me a prescription. I don't know.

Some on here have recommended salt, but electrolytes are not salt. The electrolyte replacements do not even have sodium in them. You need the minerals that you are missing.

Thirst is not always the only indicator. By the time you feel thirsty you are past the point where you should be.

Go to the search function on here and look for threads about Withdrawal. Read past threads because there are long ones discussing all the different issues that come up in the beginning.

This is really helpful for me. Before getting the celiac diagnosis - my doctor was always saying I was dehydrated. I never knew whether he was right or not. I've be gluten free for about 4 or 5 weeks now and feeling terribly exhausted and my heart palpitations (which were gone) have come back and they leave me feeling weak, spaced out and anxious as hell. The thing always was - that I had no thirst and over the last bunch of months I've been keeping a couple of liters of Gatorade around the shop and drinking it all during the day. But since being off gluten, my appetite is less and also as a side-effect - trying to drink enough fluids makes me feel ridiculously bloated. I feel like I have to make a choice between drinking enough fluids and eating enough food. I really hope this is going to change soon.