Recently Diagnosed, Looking For Hope/help

[lesquee]

Hi everyone,

I just got my official diagnosis yesterday, but have been gluten-free for a week and a half. I was super miserable before I made the change- constant heartburn, bloating, sever anxiety and depression- and am now feeling more functional, but I'm still very worried and was hoping you could give some encouragement. I still feel heartburn and bloating soon after eating, and it usually lasts about 24 hours. I'm going through all kinds of scenarios of other mysterious things I could be missing (am I allergic to nut flours? Fructose malabsorption? Candida? SIBO? Parasites?). I've eliminated dairy since I have always had trouble with it anyway.

Basically my question is, is it normal to still feel like food isn't digesting properly? Should I keep wildly searching for other problems, or do I just need to be patient? I have this fear that things will never get better, and I desperately want my life back (physical activity, intimacy with my husband, no swings into depression).

Thanks,

Erin

[adab8ca]

Hi

First, welcome! My GI told me that I should feel better within a few days. The dietician I saw said it would probably be a year before I started to feel better...I am just over one year in and it was definitely the latter part of that year that I started to feel better...One week is no time at all..Not to freak you out! Avoiding dairy is good but it is way too soon to worry about other intolerances. Take it one day at a time and be kind to yourself...

Ada

[sa1937]

Welcome, Erin! I think you just need to be patient, difficult as it is when we want to feel well instantly. We didn't get this way overnight and it's going to take awhile to heal.

I think it's just too soon to assume you may be reacting to all those other things. It is good that you gave up dairy right away...you may be able to introduce it again later. That was harder for me than giving up gluten.

Our bodies are pretty wonky right away and it just takes time. Keep reading the forum and you'll find many of your questions are also questions others have. And feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[sarahw]

Hi Erin,

We are in the same boat. I was diagnosed 6 weeks ago--i just joined this forum yesterday. It has been a difficult 6 weeks but I will say that I am VERY slowly feeling better every day. I think that it gets easier once you get a hang of the gluten free diet and I dont expect to have it mastered for many more months/year. The depression/anxiety is still terrible though. I want to be back to my old self too and feel sorry that I am so depressed/anxious around my husband and I have no energy for my 18-monht old daughter. I had a little bit of anxiety/depression before my diagnosis but it has gotten worse. I am taking some natural supplements/amino acids (GABA, Stabilium, and a supplement called Calmatrine) to help with that. I also went ahead and did the stool sample test by Enterolab to determine if I have any parasites etc and if I am also allergic to soy, dairy and eggs. I am willing to do whatever I have to to feel better so I wanted to know what else is going on so I can start feeling better. Are you taking sublingual B-12 supplements? That may help with your depression also. Other people say it will probably take at least a year to feel better so I am trying to be patient but it is difficult. Good luck to you

[pricklypear1971]

Try probiotics and digestive enzymes ( gluten free, of course!). I use pb8 (but I think it has milk), and Digest Gold (don't know about the milk).

Both help a lot in the beginning, especially.

[AVR1962]

Erin welcome. It does take awhile for the system to get back on track and most times alot of healing has to take place. You mentioned heartburn and that could mean that you had alot of acid in your stomach which does alot of damage. If that is still an issue you will need to take steps to protect your stomach. If not on meds, use Pepto before ou eat foods with an acid base, any caffeine or alcohol which are all hard on the stomach. Best actually to avoid these and go with low acid foods if you are having stomach issues.

You mnetioned that it sometimes feels like the food is having a hard time digesting, it just might be the case, I remember dealing with that. I had to cut back on my meat intake, eating on 4 ounces or less per serving. Protein is very important to the healing process but meats can be hard for the stomach to break down. Keep it simple, keep it whole foods, avoid the gluten-free products for now and there could be other things that you may find giving you issus but it's hard to say what unless you go to a simple diet. Cut out the foods with additives for right now if you can and start keeping a journal, this will help alot.

[BabsV]

Hi, Erin. Welcome. I'm a relative newbie to all of this also -- today is the 3-month anniversary of my diagnosis.

I was having a lot of the same issues you were having after being gluten-free for almost 2 months...posted about it on the forums and several members posted really good tips. I've added in probiotics and digestive enzymes and that definitely helps. Also started keeping a much more detailed food diary so I could pinpoint what foods seemed to set off abdominal pain, etc. I'd already cut dairy out of my diet since it was causing problems but I also ended up cutting out most fruits, corn, nuts, raw vegetables and beans, basically anything that seemed to take an effort to digest. I've been sticking to rice, potatoes, small amounts of lean proteins (chicken and turkey mostly but did just try some pork tenderloin a couple of days ago and that went ok!), egg whites, cooked veg, bananas, etc. Not exactly an exciting diet but it has made a difference. I'm not eating any gluten-free replacement foods at this point; I'm sticking to simple whole foods. I'm also eating small meals more often...eating a 'normal' size meal seems to overwhelm my system at this point. It is rather a hassle at times since it seems like I am always thinking about food or eating but it really has made a difference.

I'm 3 months in and while I am definitely better than I was prior to diagnosis I am far from being in great shape. I figure I was sick for some time so it is going to take some time to get better. I have no patience so want to be better now but I'm learning I have to take it day-by-day and make the most of it. Some days are good days and some aren't so great but they're all better than what they were in July when I was so so ill.

Also, I have a history of reflux problems so my doctor has me on 20mg of Omeprazole two times a day. I can say that the days that my gut seems irritated the reflux symptoms appear. On the days my gut seems more settled I don't have the reflux problems. My doctor is hoping that once I'm healed the reflux issues will settle down. *fingers crossed*

Good luck and again welcome. The wealth of experience the members of these forums share is amazing and honestly, it has been more helpful to me on many occasions than dealing with my doctors!