Elimination Diet - Need Help

[FooGirlsMom]

Hi all,

I'm thinking I need to do some form of elimination diet to discover what my other "issues" are besides gluten. I was hoping someone can steer me in the right direction. The searching I have done on the Web isn't producing a definitive diet...they seem to vary.

Can any of you provide a link or explain how to do this diet successfully? I'm on the verge of sheer frustration. I was symptom free for 2 weeks and felt like a million bucks. Now I'm started to get reactive to foods I've been eating when I felt so good.

Thanks so much,

FooGirlsMom

[Mama Melissa]

Im 2 months on the diet and the same thing happened to me,personally i think in the begginning since its still the healing stage you are going to react to proccessed gluten free foods.I would say try to stick to natural fruits, vegis, baked potatoes, egss if they go well with you and meats and give yourself some time to heal which could be months depending on how severe your case was,mine was minimal but i know its still going to take me a good 6 months to be consistently symptons free,i do realise i am more sensitive since i took gluten out which i hope fades with time Goodluck hun!!!!

[musicmom2]

Sorry I have no advice but I wanted you to know you're not alone. I was actually searching the forum for the same advice, I'm 22 years old. After suffering for 3 years with stomach pains and sooo many of the other side effects of being gluten intolerant. I was finally diagnosed with being gluten intolerant. Was overjoyed to finally have an answer for all I had been suffering with and excited to start a gluten free diet plan that would make me feel better. Problem is... I feel worse. I've been faithfully on the diet for 3 months, done all the replacing of my cutting boards, toasters, shampoos, detergents etc. Very careful about cross contamination etc. and I'm still hurting. lower left side pain, stomach aches before and after eating now I'm experiencing more pain in my heart region, feel like I have to catch my breath sometimes, leg and arms ache (not always though) and daily nauseousness that use to be occasional. I've noticed that If I eat Ice cream it will immediately make my chest and stomach hurt but I was diagnosed with not being allergic to Casein or Soy. Can people who have been diagnosed NOT being allergic to Casein and Soy still have a reaction to them because of gluten intolerance? I notice that tomatoes and beans are hard for me too. I'm not sure WHAT all I should be eliminating? Does anyone have any advice on What IS safe to eat to start an elimination diet where I can slowly add other food back in to see if I have a reaction? Not sure what to put in my mouth at this point.

[Dixiebell]

I think most people stop dairy and soy for a while. Yes you can have a reaction to something that you are not allergic to. An allergy is different from an intolerance. It is possible you need to heal for a bit and reintroduce those foods later.

You could keep a daily journal of the foods you eat and you reactions to them(this will take some time)and you should be able to figure out what is bothering you.

Stay away from so many processed foods and eat naturally gluten free foods so you can start to heal.

[GFinDC]

There are tons of threads on this site about elimination diets. But basically you choose a small group of foods, no more than 5, that you believe will work for you. That starting group includes salt and pepper if you want to use those spices, they would be counted as a food. You also need to stop all vitamins and medicines (that are not critical), all drinks, such as coffee, tea, sodas everything but water, gum, or anything else that you put in your mouth. Anything you consume can cause a reaction, so it all has to be eliminated.

So, you eat these 5 foods until you stabilize your digestion or symptoms, which may take a week or 2 weeks, it varies. If things don't improve then one of your 5 foods could be a problem. So you would need to replace it with something different.

Some foods you might want to choose from to start with are:

lamb, rice, salt, pepper, parsley. chicken, quinoa, fish, sweet potato, pears, lettuce.

But you could really choose any 5 foods that are no likely to cause a problem. Stay away from anything on the top 8 food allergens list. You are not testing for a food allergen, but an intolerance, but there is no rule you can't have both. Actually shellfish might be a top 8 item though.

So once you are stabilized you can add in one new food item. Eat plenty of that new food for a week and note any changes. You want to add whole unprocessed foods to your diet, not processed foods with multiple ingredients.

Do keep a simple log of your foods eaten each day and the symptoms or non-symptoms that you have. There are many different versions of elimination diets, but basically the person is unique in each case. So you need to tailor the foods you eat to yourself. But it is not a complicated process, you just cut down the foods you eat to a small group, and slowly add new foods and eliminate the bad ones.