Gluten Sensitive Anemia

[Nevadan]

After going gluten-free how long should one expect it to take before anemia shows signs of recovery? makes a full recovery?

Thanks.

George

[nettiebeads]

After going gluten-free how long should one expect it to take before anemia shows signs of recovery? makes a full recovery?

Thanks.

George

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, unfortunately that question cannot be answered by a definite number. There are many variables - how long were you being contaminated before going gluten-free? How long have you been gluten-free? Are you absolutely sure you're gluten-free? I had to go gluten-free 9 years ago and every now and then I still get cross contamination. Sucks. Anyhow, I try to give blood to our local drive and have been rejected twice for low blood counts. It's something you'll have to work on with your doctor. I've been taking a multi vitamin/mineral supplement religiously and can tell when I've forgotten it for a few days. This probably isn't the answer you were wanting, but the truth is that it's just another fun facet of celiac disease - constantly monitoring your nutrition intake and evaluating how well you're doing.

[jenvan]

George-

How severe is your anemia? Based on that there are ways you can speed the iron recovery along. Supplements are an option, not my favorite because 9 times out of 10 they constipate. But some are better than others--I recommend paying a little more for a supplement like Slow Fe, that has a coating aimed at preventing digestive issues. It is definitely gentler than the cheaper option.

Perhaps going to a hematologist is an option for you. After months of supplements and my counts continuing to go down, I went to one, and had an iron infusion...which is basically where they serve you up some intravenous iron That is the only thing that has worked for me. Luckily I have only needed one treatment. I had it done back in Feb/March and I am high in the normal ranges still.

So, you may be one who needs some additional help to raise the iron. Otherwise, it may correct itself on its own, but that could be a while... I say if your counts are bad enough there's no sense in waiting if you don't have to! Good luck

[Nevadan]

Regarding my anemia level, its not too bad - just marginal. A couple of months ago I self-diagnosed my gluten sensitivity by diet changes and was subsequently tested by Enterolab about a month ago. Enterolab found me gluten and casein sensitive but to not have the genes for celiac; however I do have the genes for gluten sensitivity. My original concern re gluten came about from the fact I was diagnosed with osteophorosis about 5 yrs ago (I'm a 60 yr old male) and I had recently read that osteo and celiac were related. After researching celiac I recognized several other symptoms that I had that matched: gastro, slight anemia, mild peripheral neuropathy, etc. Anyway being gluten-free almost immediately got rid of the gastro problems (gas, constipation, bloat) I had had for years. Now I'm looking for further indications that there are other benefits and the marginal anemia seemed like a good candidate - both osteo and p neuropathy appear to be too slow reacting to use as a short term monitor.

Hence my question re response time for anemia improvement - sorry I didn't elaborate originally.

Thanks for the responses.

George

[Merika]

Hi George,

My personal favorite is to use a cast iron skillet at least a few times a week for cooking - eggs, gluten-free pancakes, you name it. It cooks great, is easy to clean and will help boost your iron levels.

I don't have anemia with celiac. But when I was pregnant my iron levels started to dip (pretty common) and just by using the cast iron skillet, my levels came right back up to within normal.

Make sure you get a skillet that does NOT have special teflon or other coating on it, or it won't help you.

Happy cooking

Merika