Introduction & Request For Help

[dmafk]

Hello All,

Let me firstly introduce myself, my name is Dee and I've had Coeliac disease (it's spelt differently in the UK) for about six years now, well at least I've been diagnosed as having it for six years.

I've been widely varied in my diet, usually I'm completely gluten free for about 95% of the time and then I'll either 'cheat' and have something that I miss like bread - or I'll be accidentally glutened whilst eating out. I have asked my doctor to refer me to a nutritionist because I'm currently managing to gluten myself constantly despite having a very strict diet.

Ok so this is where I need some help please:

1. Is it possible to develop an intolerance to other foods once you remove gluten (I wonder if dairy might be causing my problems.

2. Is there anyway I can renourish through my diet (I suffer massively from malabsorption once I've been glutened).

3. I'm currently running about 21 miles a week and I'm finding it difficult to keep my food intake high as I keep getting ill and it makes me lose my appetite.

Tips and advice hugely welcomed.

Dee x

[ciavyn]

re: the running. I'm currently training for a half-marathon, so i can at least respond to that. You said you lose your appetite -- does this mean you aren't hungry? Or that you get sick at the sight of food? I recommend doing a food diary (I love livestrong.com/myplate) to monitor your intake that way you can up it regardless of whether or not you are hungry. Of course, if you get sick at the sight of food, that is another issue.

If you are having malabsorption issues, until you resolve those, you may not be able to run at the level you want to. I rarely gluten myself, so may I suggest that you need to be more stringent on your requirements? The only time I'm usually hit is when I eat out...so therefore, I eat out sparingly, and only places where I have had positive previous experiences or highly recommended by gluten-free friends or websites. Until you really lock down the auxiliary gluten sources, I don't think you are going to be able to perform at your top level when it comes to athletics.

Just my thoughts. Best of luck.

[mushroom]

To answer your first question, it is very common to also be intolerant of other foods if one is a coeliac. For example, if you keep glutening yourself, you may not have allowed your villi to heal properly and may have problems with lactose. I have had massive problems with other intolerances as you will see from my signature. Fortunately, most do not have that much trouble, but you should consider the more common allergens like corn and soy as definite possibilities.

[GFinDC]

Hi Dee,

First off, don't cheat. You are only cheating yourself out of being healthy. Take a look around and find some gluten-free breads and keep them in the fridge for when you want bread. Or do a search and read about the microwave bread recipe on here. Real easy and works great.

Limit eating out to places you have researched first and know are able to make safe gluten-free food for you.

Additional food intolerances are common. Check out sites listing the top 8 food allergens for starters. Soy and nightshades are some that get me.

Sticking with a mostly whole foods, home cooked meals with very few processed foods is a good way to go.