New And Feeling Kind Of Lost

[Legerity]

Hello,

I've been trying to find out what is wrong for me for a few years now, but decided a while back that gluten was not the problem. Now I'm starting to question my conclusion, as my digestion had begun to heal over a 6-8 week period while following a low-carb diet that contaiend no gluten. As soon as I went off of this, my problems started returning full force. They were never fully healed, which is why I didn't think gluten was the problem, but there was certainly improvement which has been completely undone now that I'm eating my regular diet.

These are my symptoms:

-Weight loss (I lost about 20-30 pounds last year when it was at its worst, looked anorexic)

-Feeling full very quickly when eating

-Pain/bloating after eating (upper GI)

-Constipation

-Sometimes small "specks" in my stool, looks like something undigested?

-Headaches

-Fatigue

-Joint pain (recurring shoulder pain for years, sensitive knees

-Chest pressure/palpitations

-Mood change after eating (feeling down, lethargic)

-Anxiety

They've run tests and never really found anything except what they thought was mild reflux. I used nexium in the past and it did nothing for my symptoms. I get more bloating rather than reflux. My low-carb diet attempt really did start making a difference in my digestion, but I still felt problems. I think I just assumed that I would completely heal right away and didn't give it enough of a chance. But I really feel gluten is doing bad things for me, I just have not been tested. This also makes me feel like it is easy to justify eating it, because I don't have 100% proof that it is the problem. So these are my questions:

1) Would the Enterolab gluten sensitivity test (the $99 one) be sufficient? It seems like the full package will not give me any extra information as to whether or not I really need to cut out gluten.

2) Is it common to have self doubts about this? I feel sometimes that it's in my head and it's just stress or emotional issues that are causing my body to react. Then I convince myself "oh you've stopped gluten for periods of times so you know it isn't really the issue". But I can't deny how many symptoms I've had since starting to eat it again this time.

3) Is it normal to sometimes feel fine after eating gluten, and sometimes to feel horrible? That's how it seems to be for me.

Thanks for the feedback!

Brian

[Black Sheep]

Hello,

I've been trying to find out what is wrong for me for a few years now, but decided a while back that gluten was not the problem. Now I'm starting to question my conclusion, as my digestion had begun to heal over a 6-8 week period while following a low-carb diet that contaiend no gluten. As soon as I went off of this, my problems started returning full force. They were never fully healed, which is why I didn't think gluten was the problem, but there was certainly improvement which has been completely undone now that I'm eating my regular diet.

2) Is it common to have self doubts about this? I feel sometimes that it's in my head and it's just stress or emotional issues that are causing my body to react. Then I convince myself "oh you've stopped gluten for periods of times so you know it isn't really the issue". But I can't deny how many symptoms I've had since starting to eat it again this time.

Sorry I don't know the answer to most of your questions, as I'm so new at this, too. I've been g.f. for just under 1 month now, and I know what you mean about the self-doubt thing, as it's happening to me. Because for almost 2 weeks, nothing happened. Then suddenly, a few of the major health problems I was having started to improve, and I thought, voila! That's it, it's definitely a gluten problem! And this improvement even happened while I know I was accidentally ingesting tiny amounts of gluten, due to ignorance (like eating things made with non-certified g.f. oats; french fries cooked in the same oil as breaded onion rings, etc.). But lately, after having become much more educated (although I know I still have a long way to go) and careful about everything I eat, some of the old symptoms are returning. So it's a bit discouraging, and the last few days I've been going through a little self-doubt as well.

However, being on this Board has really, really, helped! Yes, the info. about g.f. foods is a huge help, but so are the accounts of all these different people who are going through so many different things. Every person is different, and yet due to the huge variety of symptoms and problems different people are having, I can read their posts and say, "That's just like me! Those are my symptoms, too. That's what I'm going through." So thanks to those posts I've read, I now know that often times things get worse before they get better. Things can go back and forth, from better to worse to better again, before finally stabilizing. So don't give up, and don't doubt yourself. I think you've already proven to yourself that gluten is at the root of your health problems. I'm sure others will be able to answer your questions, as they've been at this much longer than I!

As for the testing, I haven't had it done, as I'm uninsured and my doc just had me do the challenge diet. But from what I've read here, if you want to do the celiac panel, you do have to be eating gluten. I've been told however, that you can be off gluten for close to a year and still do the Enterolab test, although i have no idea which one. There's another question for the more experienced folks!

Anyway, I just wanted to address the things you mentioned that I've also experienced, and hopefully encourage you somewhat.