Gluten Free Diet Helppp!

[bmanltr]

I was browsing on the internet trying to figure out what could be causing the symptoms I have been experiencing for the last few months and I stumbled across celiac disease. I seem to be having all the symptoms of the disease so I decided to experiment with a gluten free diet to see if it would help with my symptoms. I have been on the diet now for a week and have seen no improvement in my symptoms. I was wondering about how long it would take for your body to change and react to the gluten free diet? should I continue the diet longer to see if I feel better or should I have seen an improvement by now?

[Mari]

Do you have general swelling or is it in specific areas. When I started the gluten-free diet I had swolen painful knees and wrist. It took months for the swelling to go down and if I stress or injure my knees they still swell but not as much as before. Years ago I had episodes of swolen ankles and feet, sometimes very painful and I realized this was my reaction to cow's milk. Later I tested positive to cow's milk so it was an allergy. Recently I ate some gluten-free cookies which had butter so I had thick ankles for a week. Wrapping my ankles with ace bandages helps the swelling to go down rapidly. The swelling starts 2 to 3 days after I have eaten something with cow's milk protein so it is delayed. I would give the gluten-free diet at least a month tryout though it might take longer.

[sb2178]

It varies. Some people few better in a couple of days, some people take 8 months or even a couple of years to truly become healthy again. You may also still be getting enough contamination or possibly straight gluten in a disguised form if you are eating processed foods. People also have problems with other foods, like milk or soy.

It's your call on whether to continue or not, but be aware that if you want formal medical testing, you can only have a positive result if you are eating gluten. I'd give it at least a couple of weeks.

[Mack the Knife]

It can take days, weeks or months. Everyone's different. Some people go through a period of feeling worse before they feel better on the gluten free diet. Others find that their recovery is complicated by other food intolerances that often occur or are revealed when one starts a gluten free diet. Some people have other medical conditions that can complicate things.

Be aware that once you start a gluten free diet, you cannot be positively diagnosed with Coeliac disease. Medical tests requires you to be eating gluten in order to work. It really is a good idea to be officially diagnosed before you go gluten free for good.

I have been gluten free for nearly six months and I still feel like crap. I've been doing the medical rounds of doctors and specialists to try and figure out why. Luckily I did get properly diagnosed by blood test and biopsy. This means that my specialist can now re-do the blood work and biopsy to make sure that I am responding to the gluten free diet. If I'm not, then it means I am still ingesting gluten somehow or - worse - I could have refractory coeliac disease. If the biopsy shows that my intestines are healing themselves then I can rule out gluten as the ongoing problem and look for other causes.

Also, the symptoms for Coeliac disease can be similar to a few other conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Fructose Malabsorption, lactose Intolerance, gluten intolerance, Crohn's Disease, small bowel/intestinal bacterial overgrowth, Microscopic Colitis, etc. You should really get checked for these (or get an official coeliac diagnosis) before embarking on a life-long gluten free diet. Also some of these diseases (like Crohn's disease) are serious and need proper treatment.

[Ahorsesoul]

Depends on how gluten free you really are in your life. Just a little can prevent healing. Think of it as a wound. If you keep rubbing the scab off it won't heal.