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Odd Benefits Of Going Gluten Free

Cattknap

By Cattknap
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Cattknap Rookie
Cattknap
Posted

I have been gluten free for the last 5 months (diagnosed with celiac early in the year). We have very tiny grass mosquitoes that make me miserable every year. I have scars from mosquito bites. I am a gardner and I'm am out in the yard daily. This year, I have been bitten only once and had no reaction...they apparently don't like me now that I am gluten free.

Anyone else with an odd benefit to being gluten free?

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  • Replies 71
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AzizaRivers Apprentice
AzizaRivers
Posted

Oddly enough, come to think of it, I haven't gotten a single mosquito bite this season yet. I happened to google "mosquito gluten free" just now, and there are tons of results! Apparently this is a common thing.

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

I also seem to not be as attractive to bugs as I used to be. I rarely get bit anymore.

Another oddity is that my eyebrows used to stop about 2/3's of the way across and since being gluten-free for a few years they go all the way to where they should end. A little thing, maybe, but it makes a difference.

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

I have been gluten-free for four months now and notice very few minute differences because I did not feel ill from gluten before. However, I am hopeful that the longer I am gluten free the more I notice things changing that I did not make connections with (i.e. insomnia). One little thing that is evident is my fingernails are perfectly straight rather than riddled with ridges. Small thing, too, but meaningful as it shows I am starting to absorb better! YAY!

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

O wow! I have so many strange symptoms I am hoping will disappear (they are mostly vitamin deficiencies I know)

the bug bites? Wow..this would be amazing -- I am eaten alive every year while out in the garden (we live in the countryside)...I'll let you know if I notice a difference. B)

The nail ridges-- I have those on just two fingers.. Oh good..if yours went away, maybe mine will too. Yaay!!

In month 6 gluten-free:

The horrid tinnitis is gone.

The "metallic taste" in my mouth is gone. (Burning tongue still here though)

My skin stopped burning.

My blurry vision & itchy eyelids and itchy skin cleared up. (not my scalp yet)

Thanks for asking--it helps me see the progress! :)

Jenniferxgfx Contributor
Jenniferxgfx
Posted

Oh man that's amazing. I moved to san francisco California to get away from mosquitoes! (well I moved here for a lot of reasons lol.) I have bad scars from mosquito bites since childhood. I blow up like crazy and scratched in my sleep like my life depended on it.

So many reasons to have figured this out sooner....

Judy3 Contributor
Judy3
Posted

I'm 7 months gluten free - My odd things that happened (and maybe not so odd but surprising to me) My diabetes has gotten so much better that I'm off medication completely and the flaking and peeling inside my ears has gone away...

yay! I'll have to see about the mosquito's.. hmmm that would be cool!!

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YoloGx Rookie
YoloGx
Posted

Yup. Mosquitos don't like me any more. I used to be their favorite treat!

My hair now shines and has body and even curls if its short enough and it also doesn't fall out all the time--whereas for most of my life my hair was thin, no body and lifeless. I thought it was normal to lose a cluster of hair strands each time I washed my hair or brushed it....

Yes fingernail ridges gone.

No more colds, flu, bronchitis!!

My teeth stopped getting caries, plus they actually hardened at long last. My gums now are healthy.

I no longer have irrational, unexplainable panic attacks. I am calm most of the time now.

My so called fibromyalgia went away--especially now that I also take various minerals (cal/mag/zinc) including silicon drops and trace minerals.

My heart no longer races--esp. in concert with taking co-enzyme B complex.

Harpgirl Explorer
Harpgirl
Posted

My hair now shines and has body and even curls if its short enough and it also doesn't fall out all the time--whereas for most of my life my hair was thin, no body and lifeless. I thought it was normal to lose a cluster of hair strands each time I washed my hair or brushed it....

Oooh I hope I get this benefit! You could have been talking about my hair currently in your pre-gluten free description.

Cara in Boston Enthusiast
Cara in Boston
Posted

This is a really weird one - and I couldn't find that much information related to it . . .

For the past several years I've had to get new white t-shirts every couple of months because there would be yellow stains under the arms. Not slightly dingy laundry stains, but dark, yellow stains. Every shirt, within weeks. I know I never had this problem back when I had no other symptoms (before the birth of my second son) . . . I even have lots of well-worn, unstained t-shirts from college in a box in the attic to prove it. I thought my antiperspirant had changed, or my laundry soap, . . . I had no explanation and NO laundry secret (vinegar, baking soda, bleach, etc.) would fix it.

Now, about three months gluten-free, this problem is completely gone.

Interesting about the mosquitoes . . . this would be a HUGE benefit for my son - especially when we go on vacation to the lake. We always come home covered in bites.

Cara

SarahJimMarcy Apprentice
SarahJimMarcy
Posted

We are two months into being gluten free and I think my hair is getting thicker. I'll let my daughter know about the mosquito benefit - they used to love her. Thanks for starting this topic! There are big health benefits with being gluten free but I hadn't stopped to notice the small ones.

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

I have been gluten-free for four months and am somehow more attractive to mosquitoes this year than ever. On the other hand, we have been inundated by the suckers more this year than ever before! Dumb things... :lol:

domesticactivist Collaborator
domesticactivist
Posted

I'm REALLY hoping that happens to me! So far I'm pretty sure my mosquito reactions are much better - I don't have any yet and I have seen a couple out. The true test will come when they are out in full force again. I used to get such bad reactions. My legs are covered in scars from them. Once I counted 54 bites just on the front of my shin and I couldn't even get my pants on my legs were so swollen.

mommida Enthusiast
mommida
Posted

I dodged a lunch outing I didn't want to go to. :D

Harpgirl Explorer
Harpgirl
Posted

I dodged a lunch outing I didn't want to go to. :D

:lol:

YoloGx Rookie
YoloGx
Posted

I have been gluten-free for four months and am somehow more attractive to mosquitoes this year than ever. On the other hand, we have been inundated by the suckers more this year than ever before! Dumb things... :lol:

Try taking vitamin B complex. And eat plenty of garlic in your food. It really helps!

Monklady123 Collaborator
Monklady123
Posted

I dodged a lunch outing I didn't want to go to. :D

Yep, this. ;)

I will look forward to testing the mosquito thing. That would be wonderful, because we have some nasty ones around here. :ph34r:

bigbird16 Apprentice
bigbird16
Posted

Man, I wish I had the benefit of not being attractive to mosquitoes anymore! I visited my Grandfather in Tennessee last summer and was eaten alive every time I went outside and nearly went insane with the itching. LOL

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

Try taking vitamin B complex. And eat plenty of garlic in your food. It really helps!

I do take a Vitamin B complex as well as B12 sublingual and eat TONS of garlic - probably more garlic than anyone I know!! Maybe the mosquitoes (HUGE here in Canada) just like my adipose tissue! :lol:

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I do take a Vitamin B complex as well as B12 sublingual and eat TONS of garlic - probably more garlic than anyone I know!! Maybe the mosquitoes (HUGE here in Canada) just like my adipose tissue! :lol:

Me, too!!--and I still get chomped!!

These buggers in NY State are big, too :unsure: They sound like helicopters.... :unsure:

Hubby wears a goofy netting kind of hood draped over his head while he works outside...I just cannot stand things over my face, so...I suffer with it and swing my arms and swat swat swat... like an idiot... :lol: :lol:

AzizaRivers Apprentice
AzizaRivers
Posted

Another oddity is that my eyebrows used to stop about 2/3's of the way across and since being gluten-free for a few years they go all the way to where they should end. A little thing, maybe, but it makes a difference.

That exact eyebrow thing can be a symptom of low thyroid. I don't know if that was ever an official issue for you or anything...but you may have dodged that one by ditching gluten. :) A common problem for celiacs.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

That exact eyebrow thing can be a symptom of low thyroid. I don't know if that was ever an official issue for you or anything...but you may have dodged that one by ditching gluten. :) A common problem for celiacs.

YES!!!!I was wondering about that too, Aziza---but figured Jerseyangel probably had that covered. I, too, had eyebrow thinning for awhile, puffy face, hair loss, fatigue (all pre-DX for celiac) and the endo told me I was hypothyroid, put me on meds and made things worse. :blink: I told him I felt "racy", he ignored me so, I had the antibodies tested, none!!...Turns out, it was just the gluten messing with the TSH levels...not hypothyroid at all. No meds necessary.

I wonder how many people are on meds for no good reason? And how many celiacs are undiagnosed hypothroid? :blink: (damn gluten!! ) :lol:

But, I guess your post reminded me (thank you!) of MORE benefits of going gluten-free--no more "erratic thyroid SH levels", thicker eyebrows, no more puffy face, less fatigue...... :)

Now.... if my hair would thicken up... :unsure:

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I dodged a lunch outing I didn't want to go to. :D

B):lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

B):lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Me, too! Plus the long drive to see my in laws... :P:P:P This celiac thing can sure come in handy sometimes!

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Me, too! Plus the long drive to see my in laws... :P:P:P This celiac thing can sure come in handy sometimes!

I confess I have used the chronic pain and inability to sit for long periods (i.e.long car rides) excuse (which is valid, of course--it is a b--ch ;) more than the celiac as an "out", but either way...LOL LOL

When I am not so "ouchy" (pray to God!), then the food issue will be the "back-up" dodge .... :lol: :lol: :lol:

are we "bad"??? :lol: :lol: :lol:

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    • marion wheaton
      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

      By marion wheaton · Posted

      Thanks for responding. I researched further and Lindt Lindor chocolate balls do contain barely malt powder which contains gluten. I was surprised at all of the conflicting information I found when I checked online.
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      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

      By trents · Posted

      @BlessedinBoston, it is possible that in Canada the product in question is formulated differently than in the USA or at least processed in in a facility that precludes cross contamination. I assume from your user name that you are in the USA. And it is also possible that the product meets the FDA requirement of not more than 20ppm of gluten but you are a super sensitive celiac for whom that standard is insufficient. 
    • BlessedinBoston
      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

      By BlessedinBoston · Posted

      No,Lindt is not gluten free no matter what they say on their website. I found out the hard way when I was newly diagnosed in 2000. At that time the Lindt truffles were just becoming popular and were only sold in small specialty shops at the mall. You couldn't buy them in any stores like today and I was obsessed with them 😁. Took me a while to get around to checking them and was heartbroken when I saw they were absolutely not gluten free 😔. Felt the same when I realized Twizzlers weren't either. Took me a while to get my diet on order after being diagnosed. I was diagnosed with small bowel non Hodgkins lymphoma at the same time. So it was a very stressful time to say the least. Hope this helps 😁.
    • knitty kitty
      My only proof

      By knitty kitty · Posted

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    • Jmartes71
      My only proof

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