Typical Time?

[Jeff In San Diego]

I've seen such a huge range of times that it takes for people to feel better after going gluten-free.

It is really frustrating not having any idea. Is there any consensus on what is "typical", rather than the horror stories of how long it might take?

Not asking how long to be fully healed, but just how long it typically takes to feel "ok" with no major withdrawal and intestinal cramping and agitation?

I think you all understand what I'm asking for, and I know it is not the same for everyone. I'm just trying to narrow down the likely length of time to something more manageable than what I've read here and elsewhere so far. Looking for a "most people" kind of answer on the above. (and hopefully with a small range of actual numbers, like 6-12 weeks or something instead of "a few")

thanks much,

jp

[kareng]

You know what? We are all going to tell you " it depends". I started feeling better when , from taking massive doses of iron & vitamins, after about 2 months. The stomach stuff got 70% better in about 2 months. I think it depends on age, how bad the damage is, if you find other things you can't eat, other medical issues.

[Jungle]

Good Question. I was asymptomatic and hoping to have more energy but after 2 1/2 months I feel the same.

[kareng]

Good Question. I was asymptomatic and hoping to have more energy but after 2 1/2 months I feel the same.

Have you had your iron, ferritin , D, B12, etc tested? I got more energy once those got closer to normal.

[IrishHeart]

Let's see...hmm.....I'm 4 1/2 months in and if I was a 10 (on a scale of 1-10 for several years, with 10 being "just kill me now, I'm half dead anyway" ...)

.......I am about a 7 now. And I'm thrilled by my progress!

Best I can project, given the dozens of nasty symptoms I have, my age, the muscle wasting I endured, etc... and the fact that I was sick for many years....I'll say, I'll be about a year or so, maybe more....But that's ME. I was a mess

But I am going in the right direction, so I remain positive, even on "shaky days".

Many factors enter into healing time...compliance, if you have other food intolerances, vitamin deficiencies, autoimmune diseases, etc...

Just hang in there and try to be patient--you'll get there!

Welcome to the board, Jeff in San Diego! Beautiful city, BTW!

[glutenfr3309]

i agree, it depends.

for me personally, i felt some relief in the first week or so. before going gluten-free i was so exhausted i couldn't do anything....this was the first thing that changed for me. after a few weeks the inflammation and soreness that i constantly felt in my intestines started to go away.

i would say i really finally felt like i was 'healed' maybe after 8 months or so. the bruising and some fatigue kept happening and i found out a couple of months ago that i needed to take iron supplements.

now a year out, i do feel like i've healed and have been verrrrry lucky (knock on wood). i have only had 'bad' reactions a couple of times since being diagnosed. i sometimes will feel nauseous and i think that might be one of my cross contamination symptoms. i'm still trying to figure all that out.

on a side note: my mom finally got a blood test done (she was negative- i didn't show up positive on any tests). my dad mentioned it to his doctor and the doc's response was 'oh she's young and you're older. you'd have vomiting if you had it'. i told my mom they needed to see a different doctor! this guy needs some NEWER education!

[clsx2]

If you think about it like a detox then most experts would say you will feel "bad" around day 7, day 21, 3 months, 12 months and then possibly off and on for a few years. The detox books I have read were for people switching to a vegetarian lifestyle, but I think some of the info would cross over.

Hope that helps...

[sb2178]

"ok" = Yay! I'm alive, can go to the grocery store without needing a nap afterwards, and am digesting (most) of my food again!

no more nosebleeds, no more random bruising

3 weeks

goodbye, 95% of random tendonitis and arthritis

90% normal GI

75% to 80% energy level (which was basically everything but endurance athletics or long day trips)

2 months

95% energy

95% normal GI

4 months

98% energy

98% normal GI

8 months

On a side note, I really had to eliminate dairy to reach total GI comfort. If I had done that immediately, I think the random stomachaches would have faded very quickly instead of sticking around until I did eliminate it. I now tolerate limited amounts of dairy. I was on various supplements the whole time, as anemia was the first clear clinical symptoms.

I think the remaining edge is just from really mild lingering CC effects. I do eat out regularly, and rarely have overt symptoms, but I get hit once in a while.

[aeraen]

Depends upon what you mean by "feel better".

I "felt better" within days... meaning I didn't run to the bathroom after every meal.

Within a couple of months, I noticed that the muscle pain (that I THOUGHT was the result of being fifty and fat) went away.

Within a year, I had more energy and my emotionally outlook improved.

More that two years later, I'm looking around thinking "So this is what 'normal' is supposed to feel like." I drag my husband out for walks, no longer crave sugar, am losing weight (result of exercise I never had the energy for before), am able to stick with projects for longer periods of time and my quality of life is immeasurably better.

I really don't know how far I have to go, since I had no idea what "normal" was like before.

[Chad Sines]

Constant nausea, vomiting, and dizziness gone within 48 hours. That alone was a game changer. Been 3 months now of several accidental oopsies but so much better now than before. Fatigue still there for sure.

[Jeff In San Diego]

Thanks for all the responses so far.

I would specifically be very interested to hear how long it took for those that had severe weight loss to stop loosing and start gaining weight back. (that's my biggest problem right now)

thanks!

[txplowgirl]

I felt somewhat better after 2 months but it wasn't until I took everything else out that I really started feeling better, so, for me that took about a year. Here it is a little than 2 more years into it and i'm still not 100% but I went from feeling like I was dying to somewhat normal. My pain levels have gone from a 9 1/2 down to about 2 to 3 and my fatigue has gone from a 9 down a level of 6 to 6 1/2. I think I have finally figured that part out though. Even though my dr says my thyroid and adrenal levels are ok, I asked him about menopause and he just basically ignored me but through more research, I have started taking herbs for perimenopausal symptoms. In just a week i'm starting to feel like I may be on to something. But then again who knows.

You'll get to feeling better it will just take time. Try not to rush things, youre body will take the time it needs to adjust. Good luck

[nbunnell]

Like the first person said, everyone is going to be different, every person has different experiances depending on how long it has been that you have had celiac or intolerance. I do have advice though, if you were to do a cleanse and clean out your system your symptoms will minimize quicker because it flushes the posions out of your body. I did a cleanse and the amazing wonders it worked were UNBELIVEABLE.

[josh052980]

It really does seem to be variable. I'm 4 weeks in, and today I feel great, but Tuesday I felt like hell. There's gonna be up's and down's, just like with any other illness, but you just gotta keep at it.

[thleensd]

Hey. When I was diagnosed I had read somewhere 6 months to 2 years. It's been more than 2 years for me and I'm still not better. On the 1-10, 10 being just kill me now scale (that was a good one, by the way), I'm between a 6 and 8 depending on the day, now with fleeting moments of "yay, I feel normal right now!"

I also am struggling to maintain/gain weight. There is a ton of info out there on it, much of it conflicting. What I've found, personally, is that it isn't helpful just to eat a ton of meat and potatoes and hope it sticks. The most reliable weight gain is adding muscle - so I need to do gentle muscle-building exercises. If I do too much cardio without enough calories (or enough BALANCED calories), I lose what I've gained and my body starts tapping my muscle stores for energy to burn.

Eat frequently. I imagine this is especially true with bypass.

Oddly, I found that if I didn't eat enough veggies and healthy stuff my body would get bogged down and not function well...so, calories aren't everything. Stay away from processed stuff as much as possible.

I drink a lot of smoothies - fruit with yogurt, or veggie smoothies (high speed blender a must for this). You can even add avocado or nut/nut butters. For a lot of calorie bang for my buck I shoot for foods that are calorie dense (like avocado and nut butters!) and try to get plenty of variety within the foods I eat.

I can't report that I've gained a ton of weight, but I'm not losing any more and I have glimpses of gaining (until I get too active again. =

There's a big support group that meets in SD, and make sure to check out an awesome site, Open Original Shared Link

Cheers.

[cap6]

It is so different for everyone. I am 14 months gluten-free now. In the beginning I felt better right away and continued to slowly improve for about 6 months. Then I hit a total plateau where I pretty much stayed for another 6 months. It is just now starting to improve again (bathroom & exhaustion). I don't know if it is the body healing, an improved diet, supplements or a combo of it all. It was pretty frustrating there for a long while but I just hung on (reading these boards every day helped!). I have heard that the older you are when diagnosed then the longer it takes to heal which makes sense. I was 59 when diagnose..... hope I don't have to much longer to go in the healing process!!!