Not Getting Better At All

[Chanahan-6]

I am really frustrated and at a a loss of where to go. I was diagnosed back in July with Celiac disease and have cut out all gluten. I was going back and forth from feeling great to making some mistakes, but in the past 3 weeks I have been constantly sick. It goes from diarrhea to constipation with constant bloating, mild discomfort in the stomach and bouts of excessive burping. In the past week, I also cut out dairy which seemed to help but I woke up this morning and am back in pain with no appetite and burping. I went to the doctor about my burping and he said to eat slower...I went back to say I still wasn't feeling good and he said I may have IBS too and told me to start taking Metamucil. Change for a new doctor ASAP! Is anyone else suffering or going through the same thing? Does this ring a bell with anyone that I may be suffering from something else? I hate being so unhealthy and just want to lead a normal life again.

[Skylark]

What changed 3 weeks ago? You may be getting gluten in a medicine, cosmetics, pet food, or some other odd place.

[Bubba's Mom]

You may have developed another food intollerance? Keep a log of everything you eat, along with any symptoms. Many reactions aren't immediate..so having a way of looking back can be vry helpful in putting the puzzle together.

I found soy gives me problems in every form now. I used to eat soy nuts for snacks with no problems at all!

[dilettantesteph]

What are you eating? Are you eating in restaurants? Are you eating a lot of processed foods? Might want to try a whole foods diet to see if that helps.

[IrishHeart]

These wise people have given you many good suggestions (is it trace gluten? did you change your routine? is it another food intolerance?), but I wonder about the dairy. Try staying off it for a while--like a month-- and see if you improve. Then, try adding it back in slowly.

Metamucil will just clog up the works.

If you do use it, be sure to drink tons of water. This is what doctors do--patch it with a band-aid instead of figuring out the cause. IBS--a syndrome for a collection of symptoms--is what they conclude when the 15 minutes is up. Sorry, but this is what I was told for years. And when I asked "Yes, but WHY is it irritable?" she had no answer. (Well, I know now.) And guess what? Off gluten and no more GERD or IBS...hmm.

I am POSITIVE I am about as gluten free as can be , and I do not eat processed foods, but when I have too much dairy, especially cheese, I get the symptoms you describe.

Also, I sound like a broken record on here, but probiotics really help heal celiac/leaky guts. Do you take them by any chance?

Hope you find the culprit! I know it is discouraging to have uncomfortable symptoms again, but it could just be temporary. Hang in there.

Best wishes!

[Gemini]

  On 12/16/2011 at 4:38 PM, Chanahan_6 said:

I am really frustrated and at a a loss of where to go. I was diagnosed back in July with Celiac disease and have cut out all gluten. I was going back and forth from feeling great to making some mistakes, but in the past 3 weeks I have been constantly sick. It goes from diarrhea to constipation with constant bloating, mild discomfort in the stomach and bouts of excessive burping. In the past week, I also cut out dairy which seemed to help but I woke up this morning and am back in pain with no appetite and burping. I went to the doctor about my burping and he said to eat slower...I went back to say I still wasn't feeling good and he said I may have IBS too and told me to start taking Metamucil. Change for a new doctor ASAP! Is anyone else suffering or going through the same thing? Does this ring a bell with anyone that I may be suffering from something else? I hate being so unhealthy and just want to lead a normal life again.

Burping is a symptom of not being able to digest your food all the way....it can be a symptom of low stomach acid or pancreatic insufficiency, which is extremely common with Celiac. I take a digestive enzyme because I started having symptoms like these and it worked wonders. I cannot digest fats well at all...still. Not a big problem as fats are not something you should eat a whole lot of, at least saturated fats, which give the biggest grief. When I do, I take enzymes and no more issues.

If you are careful with your diet and are not eating your shampoo, then most likely it isn't trace gluten. Many people overlook the fact that Celiacs can still have trouble with certain foods even after they heal. I am healed and it's been 7 years but I still cannot tolerate much dairy or animal fats. I cannot digest lamb at all and had to stop eating it. That's OK...cow is good!

In case you are interested in trying this, I use Digest Gold but any good, gluten-free digestive enzyme will do. Take one with your meals and see what happens. It's like night and day for me.