What To Expect For Recovery Time And Patterns

[reijnen]

I am a 24 yr old athlete I suffered from an onset of symptoms starting 8 weeks ago, I am a professional athlete and so I was quickly diagnosed and have started a 100% gluten free diet. As my job relies significantly on my health and even small issues are noticeable for me. I suffered very few G.I. issues during my experience for me the majority of the symptoms were fatigue, sleepiness, sore muscles and joints. I have had my vit and iron levels checked and everything appears to be okay there. My biopsy results were a 1 on a scale of 0-4. I am able to train some since going gluten free a bit over 2 weeks ago but I am no where near 100% and how I feel really changes day to day, it isn't steady progress which is really frustrating.

I know it really varies person to person but what should I expect for recovery time (knowing that I am young in extremely good health and very strict with my diet) and are my recovery patterns normal?

Thanks for any input! Feel free to DM me as well.

[eatmeat4good]

They say adults take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to fully heal from Celiac damage.

It sounds like your damage was minimal and your vitamin levels are good. In that case you should heal quickly and I would guess you will be feeling better within the 6 month period and not like those of us who are older and had symptoms for years and years. I think we take the two years to heal.

Keep checking your vitamin levels regularly since you are able to be monitored medically.

Most of the nutritional information I have read talks about increased need for protein when your body is healing so be sure to eat as much protein as you can in order to heal any tissues that need healing and to not lose your muscle mass/tone.

Some people get secondary intolerances so be on the lookout for those. Dairy is metabolized by an enzyme produced at the tips of the villi that are damaged by Celiac disease so it is therefore advised that you give up dairy too. I don't know if you were told that or not, but most people have problems with dairy for the first few months.

My son has been sick with asthma and other illnesses for half of his 16 years. He could never tolerate exercise, but at about 4 months gluten free, he started having "normal kid" energy! And started being able to run and had stamina like never before. If he can heal in 4 months after 8 years of being sick, I would bet you get your energy back soon too.

Be sure you take vitamins even if your levels look good. People say B 12, vitamin D, and vitamin C help them a lot. I think the vitamin levels only show up when they are in the danger zone and you want to be in the optimal zone, so be sure you take a good multiple vitamin to be building your body back up.

So happy for you that you found out early and you have medical care. Good luck getting your stamina back.

My cheeks are red right now because I am giving you advice on how you will recover when I wasn't even able to walk around the block 6 months ago, but you can take it or leave it...I think you have every reason to be very optimistic about a fast recovery given your situation. Good luck to you! Maybe some athletic types will write you their experiences with recovery soon.

If you start having problems with recovery it might be secondary intolerances since they are common too. Dairy, soy, nightshades, corn, fructose,eggs...these things can suddenly surface for some of us...but they don't necessarily happen...just want you to watch for them. Good luck

[JonnyD]

First off, I'm no professional athlete but have been a runner for 20+ years and pretty fit overall. I've been gluten free for almost 2 months. From what I've read, you should focus on eating mostly whole foods and not a whole lot of the processed "Gluten Free" labeled products. That should help things heal quicker. For me, I saw an easing of symptoms quickly at first and higher energy levels after about a month. I lost a belt size from intestinal swelling that cleared up about a month after I quit gluten.

From what I've experienced, it's definitely a process and not like flipping a switch. I think being fit will help your intestines heal faster but your body will still need time to adjust. I also found it worth while to check out a couple books from the library on celiac to better understand what's going on.

From a training standpoint, I've been going easy on myself for the last couple months. I don't know if you have that option or not.

Jonny

[Mari]

Ask your Dr to order a test for Lyme Disease which is common in Celiacs. And ask for tests to see if you have low vitamin levels - especially Vit D and Vit B12. The Dr I see did not know to order these tests and I became very weak and tired and obviously sick before she would order them. The Vits were low and the Lyme test was positive.

[Kim69]

Pre Coeliac disease I used to run about 30 km and cycle 100 km a week. Not bad for a 40 yo. Since getting celiac disease over a year ago I have slowly improved but I have daily pain of varying degree and fatigue also of varying degree. I struggle coping with a full day of work.

Sorry that my story isn't reassuring but I get tired of reading lots of reports (not on this website) from people who are gluten intolerant and seem to have miraculous recoveries.

[mushroom]

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Sorry that my story isn't reassuring but I get tired of reading lots of reports (not on this website) from people who are gluten intolerant and seem to have miraculous recoveries.

I know what you mean Everyone says stop eating gluten and it all goes away Well the GI stuff goes away, but for me the other stuff doesn't I guess some of us are just too far gone to come that far back Sorry to stuff someone else's dream, but not all of us make the miraculous recoveries.