New To Gluten Free And Struggling With Other Diseases

[Andi P]

Hi there,

My name is Andrea and I am from Jasper Alberta Canada. I have been struggling with an autoimmune disease called dermatomyositis since 2004. I have hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia on top of that. I have not been 100% diagnosed with celiacs but have done a lot of research and tried many different medications and treatments that I am willing to try anything that might help me with my everyday pain and symptoms. I am 24 years old and have been struggling with my health since I was 17. I am sick of dealing with doctors that just try to push medications on me and would love to be able to put things into my hands. I understand that this diet and way of life will take a while before I could feel any benefits, but I am so willing to give it a try! So here I am ready to start this new lifestyle and would be very thankful for any tips that I could get for starting out. I'm looking forward to this next step of my life and am open to suggestions. If anyone has any questions about my other diseases please feel free to ask, I would love to be able to help someone else.

Thanks for your time

[Takala]

Oh, ouch. So young.

Google is your friend for finding shopping sources for gluten free. Put gluten free name of thing you're looking for, such as - gluten free grocery Jasper Canada - in the search box to see what comes up.

Shop around the grocery store perimeter and go with whole, natural, unprocessed foods as much as possible.

[dilettantesteph]

Be patient. It takes awhile to figure it all out. Eat lots of produce.

[deltron80]

Welcome! I hope you feel better on a gluten-free diet!

[AVR1962]

I do believe you have found the right place. Hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia are all too familiar terms for me. If you are still on glutens I would suggest that you have the blood test for celiac and see if they can do a scope on you. I swear docs continue to throw tests at you left and right without a diagnosis.

If you have gone off, give it time, it takes awhile but be VERY strict. Look at all labels. I was surprised to find wheat in my cooking spray of all things!

You might be surprised how going off gluten could reverse some of what you are dealing with. My calcium with too high which they thought was due to a bad parathyroid gland, I had been having heart palpitations for years, had weird mole-like things coming up and then going away on my shoulder, even my blood pressure went high for awhile during the detox stage but all are gone now. I asked doc how my calcium level could have gone from too high to almost borderline low and he told me that maybe it was a mistake in the lab. Really? It was a result of going off gluten.

Are you having any muscle spasms, flinching, burning or numbing in hands of feet, vision issues, hair loss,pins and needles pokes, or extreme fatigue? Important issues to address. If your intestines have been damaged by gluten it is not uncommon for the body to start feeling the effects from the villa not absorbing nutrients properly and this is not going to go away immediately after going off gluten. It is a long, slow process but very well worth it. If you are having any of the above I would ask your doc for a blood test to check your B12, iron, magnesium, potassium, D, calcium and zinc levels. Don't just take their word for it either, request a copy of the labs and check it out.