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Intro And Question

TrishMB18

By TrishMB18
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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TrishMB18 Newbie
TrishMB18
Posted

Hello all, my name is Trish and I have been dealing with lots of symptoms for some time, but have just recently started to undergo testing and changing my lifestyle. I'm still waiting on my DNA and food sensitivities tests to come back, but have done bloodwork/ stool tests and found a bevy of things wrong...including anemia, liver disfunction, adrenal disfunction, and a raging gut infection of both yeast and protozoan parasites. In light of all that I have undertaken eliminating gluten and dairy from my diet as of a week ago. I am very new to all of this and it seems pretty overwhelming at times.

My specific question is related to something new I've experienced seemingly since I changed my diet, and I am wondering if anyone experiences/ has experienced something similar. Every time I have an empty stomach (this is usually worst in the early morning when I start getting hungry for breakfast) I get EXTREME abdominal cramping. Not in my gut, in my stomach, like a twisting knife. It feels just like your typical peristalsis, you know, the "digesting" feeling, but just VERY painful...however, it's like my stomach doesn't know to "turn it off" and my smooth muscle continues to contract, hard, without anything being there. If I eat it typically goes away...but it'll come back as soon as I start to get a little hungry again. I just don't know what to make of it...I don't know if my body has been overcompensating for my bad diet for so long that it doesn't know any better, or what, but if anyone has any experience with this, remedies for it, timeline for it to go away...etc....please let me know.

Thanks for reading all that rambling!!!

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T.H. Community Regular
T.H.
Posted

Here's hoping that you can find your answers soon!

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with stomach cramping on an empty stomach, though.

Might it have anything to do with the yeast/protozoa? I know that if they don't get enough food (yeast), when it dies off, you can have a physical effect. I don't know if that involves cramping, however. Might be worth checking into, though.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I think I know the feeling you are describing. I always used to say if my stomach got empty it felt like it was trying to digest itself. Funnily enough it doesn't happen overnight (when I am lying down), but during the day I find I have to keep some food on my stomach for it to work on, even just a tidbit, or I will get terrible stomach pains and actual stomach upset. I just solve it with eating little and often during the day. If I make the mistake of spending a day shopping and don't take snacks with me, and don't find a suitable place to eat, I end up in a pickle :o

TrishMB18 Newbie
TrishMB18
Posted
  • Author

Thank you both for the responses.

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    • knitty kitty
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      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
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      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

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    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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