What Are Your Recuperation Methods Once You've Been Glutened?

[SFglutenFree]

Hello,

I'm curious if anyone here has any techniques for speeding up the healing process that they can share.

I am constantly trying new things out. This is what I have been doing of late:

Besides rest, taking a day or two to stay home from work if need be, and generally doing what I can to make myself physically comfortable I eat differently as well. As soon as I get signs of getting glutened via pains or D I switch to eating the least dense foods I can for the first day or so. Broths, stock, soup, polenta, etc. After a day or two of this I start to add simple foods like scrambled eggs, rice, and beans. Soon my hunger tends to ramp up and at that point I tend to add high-protein items. If I am eating something dense like chicken breasts I will chew it much more then normal. All the while I am avoiding sugar and acidic foods, eating a little less then normal, and pushing lots of water. When I sense my energy levels and mood perking up I will eat more then normal just for the sake of giving my body resources. As soon as I start to have BM's that show I am turning the corner I add lots of veggies and gently start to get into my normal diet (when dealing with D leafy veggies give me lots of problems).

I take the following all the time:

Primrose oil

flax seed oil

L-lysine

stress b-complex

a mens 1-a-day

That is what I've done of late diet wise. For the pain I just deal with it. For mood swings I try to be mindful of what I am going through, communicate that to those around me try to ignore any impulses that would be out of the ordinary (I admit sometimes I want to rip someones head off when glutened). The worst is when I am having a hard time mentally processing what is going on around me in my environment. My thoughts are slower and I've got that mental fog thing going. For that I just keep to myself generally and wait it out.

How about you?

[SGWhiskers]

It sounds like you have a healthy plan worked out for yourself. My symptoms are neuro not digestive, so my strategy is a little different. I think some of it is based on hunches vs. science. I lose all appetite when I'm glutened, so I eat high nutrient items like sweet potatoes and spinach. I take double doses of my vitamins. I eat flax seed. This is the hunch part. I figure if I can speed the transit time of the glutened meal out of my system, I might feel better faster. Also (TMI) the day I see those flax seeds show up on the toilet paper is the day before I start to feel better and get my "starving for anything I can find" appetite back. I stay hydrated and avoid sugars and simple carbs because a glutening inevetably makes me go through a mini diabetic like phase for a few days. Imitrex and benadryl are my friends. Imitrex in the day when I have to work. It cuts migraine and pain a bit. Benadryl when I have a weekend to sleep through. It cuts everything. Zzzzzzz. At least I don't have to feel the gluten pain. I also try to remind myself that the pain in my joints is temporary and I'm not developing a new affliction just because my foot is numb or my arm feels like a knitting needle is jammed in it.

[missceliac2010]

Hello,

I'm curious if anyone here has any techniques for speeding up the healing process that they can share.

How about you?

You actually gave me a lot of ideas....Thanks! When I am glutened, I get a combination of mental and physical symptoms. The mental symptoms are crankiness, irritability, and general short and nasty. I'm no fun to be around. I try to handle this by doing just that...staying away from people I love as best I can. If I can't stay away, I make sure to be as aware as I can be about my crankiness, and I let the family know what's up. They have been very supportive of me, and my bf or kids haven't walked out on me yet! Haha!

The physical are severe abdominal distention and cramps, along with back pain flare. I use drugs, I admit! LOL! My GI doctor gave me something that helps with the cramping, I forget what it's called, and vicodin if need be given to me by my regular doctor for my bad back. (Bulging disk.) I try to avoid the latter, because I know it can slow down your digestive system and give you C. Just what you don't need. But usually I get such severe D when glutened, a little bit of stopping up the pipes, is ok.

Holistically, I add more water to my diet, eat an almost totally liquid diet of boost shakes and "soquids" (soft solids) of things like applesauce, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. Things that are easy for my tummy to digest. I also will take Maalox and tums...not because I think they really do anything, but I feel better when I think I'm trying. LOL. Good luck. I'll look forward to seeing other response for more ideas!