Healing Time & Nutrient Absorption

[pondy]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know how long it takes for our intestinal villi to regain the ability to absorb nutrients again?

The other day my G.I told me that he's sure my villi are all "standing upright" again.

This was simply an office visit - the G.I didn't scope me again or order new blood work. He said he believes this because I've been gluten free for a month.

During my Gluten-free month I'm fairly sure I've encountered cross contamination at work. Moreover, I still have chronic rib cage pain, fatigue and a bit of brain fog...

It would be really great news if I'm absorbing again - guess I'm just reluctant to believe it, given my ongoing issues.

Any thoughts?

Best,

Pondy

[Debbie B in MD]

I believe it can be fairly soon depending on the amount of damage you had. My hair started growing better within a month. That is a minor, maybe major, miracle.

[aeraen]

It took over a year for me to actually "feel" like I'm actually getting the nutrients from my food. Kind of a "THIS is what I'm supposed to feel like!" feeling.

[IrishHeart]

My doctor said 6 months to 2 years for the intestinal tract to recover. I imagine it all depends on how old you are and how long the disease has been triggered.

I've been pretty sick, so I think I am looking at the long haul. That's a bummer, but at least I am going in the right direction now.

It would be nice to start seeing more improvement. I see some things are better, but I want more!! I am a little impatient.

From the various articles I have read and the amazing recovery stories I have heard on here, healing time is different for everyone.

Hope your healing time is quick!

[T.H.]

My doctor said 6 months to 2 years for the intestinal tract to recover. I imagine it all depends on how old you are and how long the disease has been triggered.

That was mine as well. Your doc sounds, forgive me, but he sounds very ignorant. Very unaware of just how the 'real world' works, if he thinks that just eating a gluten free diet will somehow protect your from gluten cc in your life so that everything will be all happy and good now. And, you know, healing at a rate that may defy the laws of physics.

Children, who heal a lot faster than adults, are not thought to heal until about 3 months, at the earliest, last I read. I'd be really careful with your doc and your health and double check every thing he tells you about your disease. And do some research to make sure there isn't something you should be checking on that he's not doing, as well.

My father had a doc like that, who never checked him after the first visit, because he was eating gluten-free so he must be healing, right? He's now sick again, can't figure out what's wrong, and doesn't even know if he healed all the way (because some Celiacs don't, ever, and the doc needs to do some tests down the road about 6-12 months or so, to make sure this isn't an issue for you).

Wish you good luck, and a doctor that takes a minute to learn more about the disease.

[Debbie B in MD]

While I wish it would only take a week for everyone to heal, if that long, I am glad to hear that it may take a bit of time. I have been gluten-free since Jan 17th of this year. I do feel a whole lot better, but I am hoping to come much farther. My birthday is in June, bu then I'll really be seeing more improvement. That would be a great birthday present.

[quincy]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know how long it takes for our intestinal villi to regain the ability to absorb nutrients again?

The other day my G.I told me that he's sure my villi are all "standing upright" again.

This was simply an office visit - the G.I didn't scope me again or order new blood work. He said he believes this because I've been gluten free for a month.

During my Gluten-free month I'm fairly sure I've encountered cross contamination at work. Moreover, I still have chronic rib cage pain, fatigue and a bit of brain fog...

It would be really great news if I'm absorbing again - guess I'm just reluctant to believe it, given my ongoing issues.

Any thoughts?

Best,

Pondy

I had chronic rib cage pain which could have been from the swelling in my intestine or from the Osteopenia. I am coming up on my year anniversary next week and I can say I have made progress but I don't know how your doctor could makes such a statement after a month gluten-free and no scope to confirm.

If I were to take my slow progress in Vitamin D absorption based on my interval blood tests I would say that the recovery of my absorption has improved but is slow. I am now 49.

my vit d level started at 11 in September, then 18 in November, and most recently it was 23. And 32 is the minimum normal with LabCorp's scale!! So when I get to 32 I will start to believe that my absorption has started to really gain ground. This may be a faulty marker on my part but it would seem to make sense.

Pondy, have you had a bone density test done? your ribcage pain could be sign of bone loss or the fact that your small intestine are still swollen?

[Igg postive]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know how long it takes for our intestinal villi to regain the ability to absorb nutrients again?

During my Gluten-free month I'm fairly sure I've encountered cross contamination at work. Moreover, I still have chronic rib cage pain, fatigue and a bit of brain fog...

Pondy, we started about the same time on the gluten-free diet. I have the same rib cage pain especially as the day wears on. Mine feels like my small intestines are bulging from under my rib cage. It especially hurts were my gallbladder use to be. Maybe that is a weak point for my intestines. Could they be swollen? I have the same concerns as to how long it will take to heal and not have the discomfort? From the other comments it sounds like it will take months to a year for full improvement. I hope we are the exception on healing. Keep us updated.

[aeraen]

When I first started eating gluten free, I felt better immediately... stomach issues, joint and muscle pain, and several other issues I did not know were even related, went away. I thought that I was "cured".

However, it took up until recently (two years in) for me to realize how much better I could get. I had no idea of the extent of the damage or the level of malabsorbsion I had experienced. Once my body began to actually absorb the nutrients in the food I was eating, I stopped craving sugar, and began to get more active. I feel far better now than I did two years ago... I just had no idea what NORMAL felt like!

So, yes, for me it did take at least two years for my body to begin processing my food the way I should have been. And I still don't know if I am completely healed, or if I could feel even better eventually.

[Cinnamongirl]

I'm in my late 40s and I've been gluten free for 16 mos now and I am improved, but still not where I hope to be someday. I believe I was undiagnosed for many years (not that I didn't try to get a diagnosis!) so I had a lot of malabsorption issues. I used to be bloated constantly, constipated, fatigued and also had terrible brain fog to the point where I didn't feel it was safe for me to drive at times. I stopped carpooling for that reason and am happy that I can now share rides again (took me about 7 mos to reach that milestone). I think I was getting cross contaminated a lot the first several months because I wasn't educated. It took me a while to actually get around to buying a new toaster, cutting board, pots, etc. and to figure out where some of the hidden sources of gluten are on product labels.

This board has helped me to ferret out some of those hidden sources of gluten (like beano, for instance). I eliminated soy, dairy, eggs, corn and nuts for 9 days last January to see if that helped, but it was a weird week. I felt terrible the first few days on the diet - I would wake up in the night feeling antsy and milk thistle seemed to help. Then I felt quite good for a couple of days, and then bad again. I wasn't really sure how to interpret those results so I quit (and felt better), but I plan to do it again soon. It was kind of a test run anyways just to learn the ropes before trying a longer time.

I still think there is something else that needs to be eliminated for me. I plan to go for three weeks this time on the elimination diet. I have to get myself psyched up for it as I found it pretty difficult to do while still cooking for my family of five. After the three weeks I'll methodically add back different foods and hope to pinpoint other possible offenders.

[pondy]

Pondy, have you had a bone density test done? your ribcage pain could be sign of bone loss or the fact that your small intestine are still swollen?

[WinterSong]

I'm 23. I just had my post-endoscopy meeting with my doctor, and he said that he thinks it'll take about six months for my villi to heal and for me to try dairy again. I'm sure that I'm not absorbing all of my nutrients. And for the last few months before my diagnosis I continually started loosing my train of thought mid-sentence. Is that what everyone is calling brain fog?

I'm just three weeks gluten free but I'm already feeling better. No crippling stomach aches. I'm not overwhelmingly exhausted all the time, and everyone's been telling me I look much healthier, which is nice to hear after feeling so horrible for the entire month before my diagnosis.

Hope everyone continues to feel better!

[Debbie B in MD]

I 23. I just had my post-endoscopy meeting with my doctor, and he said that he thinks it'll take about six months for my villi to heal and for me to try dairy again. I'm sure that I'm not absorbing all of my nutrients. And for the last few months before my diagnosis I continually started loosing my train of thought mid-sentence. Is that what everyone is calling brain fog?

I'm just three weeks gluten free but I'm already feeling better. No crippling stomach aches. I'm not overwhelmingly exhausted all the time, and everyone's been telling me I look much healthier, which is nice to hear after feeling so horrible for the entire month before my diagnosis.

Hope everyone continues to feel better!

This is all good news because now you know how to heal. Keep feeling better.