Still Have Symptoms After Going Gluten Free?

[gfree]

Hi...I'm the new kid

Unfortunately, I come only with questions. It's my greatest wish that I can make sense of what's plaguing me and sometime use this knowledge to help others. Until then, I'm at the mercy of all you folks more experienced than I!

After stomachaches for months, I went to the doctor in November 2010 and my bloodwork showed a very strong positive for celiac disease. They tested my IgA antibodies, where 3-5=normal, 6=weak pos, and 10=strong pos. Mine were at 100. The test has a 99% specificity for celiac's. I declined the biopsy (too invasive), and decided to try going gluten-free for 30 days instead.

I'm halfway through that 30 days, and still feel the same. I still get strong and painful stomachaches (mostly in the morning) followed by a painful bout in the bathroom. I might buy the whole "it takes awhile to heal" thing, but the symptoms haven't even lessened. It's like the food I'm eating is still making me sick, though I'm meticulously avoiding gluten.

Anyone else with this experience? What gives?!

[Takala]

For most people, it will take a while to resolve the symptoms because it took a long time to get that way in the first place.

Even allowing for that, you may be accidentally cross contaminating yourself with gluten, because it takes a while to really figure out how not to do that. For example, you may be having family members leaving crumbs everywhere, dipping into your butter or mayo and spreading it on their bread, or using the same toaster - all big no - noes. If you cook, you need to have your own set of certain cooking implements (or make the kitchen a gluten free zone ) because some common things like rubber spatulas, wooden spoons, and scratched teflon and old tupperware can't really be cleaned well enough. Be sure to use your own colander if you don't buy a new one.

Or, and this is also common, you may be eating something else that currently Does Not Agree With You, and worse yet, it may be one of those ingredients that is frequently used in commercially prepared gluten free products. One of the more common ones is soy, but some people are also sensitive to lactose (milk sugar) or casein (milk protein), or to one of the common gluten free grains or grain substitutes that otherwise does not bother other people , such as corn, or even nightshades such as potatoes, or tapioca.

One of the best things to do is to eat really simply at first, concentrating on simple whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat, fish, nuts, oils, and then adding in other foods slowly to see how you react. Eating this way will at first tend to make you hungry, so be sure to eat a lot of good fats that you can tolerate, to act as slow burning fuel. You may be dairy intolerant at first, and need to not eat it for a while, then try adding in lactose free dairy such as cheese or safe yogurt to see if you can tolerate it.

You also might want to change over your pet's food to gluten free, if you have an indoor pet. You may be careful enough, but that doesn't mean that family members will remember to wash their hands consistently.

[mushroom]

I would be inclined to look at lactose first, since if you have damage to your small intestine you will probably be unable to digest milk, cream, ice cream, at the very least. It will just sit in your stomach, ferment, and cause gas, bloating and diarrhea which are the major GI symptoms most celiacs complain of.