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Gluten Withdrawal?

Sunny1008

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Sunny1008 Rookie
Sunny1008
Posted

Hello everyone,

I am new to this. I just started a gluten-free diet about two and a half weeks ago. My digestive symptoms seem to have improved, but now I am experiencing severe bouts of dizziness. I feel like I could pass out at any moment.

Could this be a symptom of gluten withdrawal? Anyone else experience this? When will it pass?

Thanks!

Sunny

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love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

Many of us here had gluten withdrawal and the symptoms are many and varied. I was quite nauseous and got daily headaches and felt dizzy. It lasted for a few weeks then disappeared. Others have said it lasted longer so unfortunately it is impossible to tell you how long it will last. Our bodies are all different; subsequently, healing times/symptoms are different as well. Some symptoms are a little harder to bear than others.

Do not be discouraged - this can be normal. Keep at the gluten-free diet and before you know it the withdrawal symptoms will be a distant memory. :) Just think - your body is already on the road to recovery!

Sunny1008 Rookie
Sunny1008
Posted
  • Author

Many of us here had gluten withdrawal and the symptoms are many and varied. I was quite nauseous and got daily headaches and felt dizzy. It lasted for a few weeks then disappeared. Others have said it lasted longer so unfortunately it is impossible to tell you how long it will last. Our bodies are all different; subsequently, healing times/symptoms are different as well. Some symptoms are a little harder to bear than others.

Do not be discouraged - this can be normal. Keep at the gluten-free diet and before you know it the withdrawal symptoms will be a distant memory. :) Just think - your body is already on the road to recovery!

love2travel,

Thank you for the reassurance. I needed it! I have noticed dizziness and low blood sugar, as well as some body aches. But I guess the most frustrating is that my GI tract is still VERY inflamed, and so I am having to take it easy on what I eat. Like last night I had some strawberries - oh my gosh, I thought I was going to die! I guess I will have to try to have patience with some of these "setbacks". But I hope that I am on the road to recovery!

Sunny

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

love2travel,

Thank you for the reassurance. I needed it! I have noticed dizziness and low blood sugar, as well as some body aches. But I guess the most frustrating is that my GI tract is still VERY inflamed, and so I am having to take it easy on what I eat. Like last night I had some strawberries - oh my gosh, I thought I was going to die! I guess I will have to try to have patience with some of these "setbacks". But I hope that I am on the road to recovery!

Sunny

Remember that you are NOT alone. We are here for encouragement and to share our personal experiences, which are many and varied.

For the first few months my dietitian recommended I avoid raw fruit as I too had troubles with it. Now I eat it with no problem whatsoever. Just give your gut time to heal. Take it slow, breathe and focus on things you enjoy. Distractions really help! I hope today is a good day. :)

Sunny1008 Rookie
Sunny1008
Posted
  • Author

Remember that you are NOT alone. We are here for encouragement and to share our personal experiences, which are many and varied.

For the first few months my dietitian recommended I avoid raw fruit as I too had troubles with it. Now I eat it with no problem whatsoever. Just give your gut time to heal. Take it slow, breathe and focus on things you enjoy. Distractions really help! I hope today is a good day. :)

Thank you, love2travel. I am so glad to know I am not alone. I am trying to distract myself as much as possible because it helps take my mind off how my digestive system is functioning (or not!). :D

LauraB0927 Apprentice
LauraB0927
Posted

Sunny,

Welcome to the forum! You'll find a lot of very experienced and knowledgeable people on here - that's how I learned as much ad I did. I was diagnosed in May of 2012 so I'm pretty new at this too. It seems that withdrawal symptoms are very different for everyone and I had almost the same symptoms that you are describing. I felt very foggy and was dizzy at times and didn't feel myself at all. My mood was all over the place and I still thank my fiance for putting up with me during that time period. I began to feel better after about 2-3 weeks but still have my moments here and there. Try to eat as natural as possible and try to stay away from eating gluten replacement foods like gluten free pasta and breads. I've been making home made beef broth to ease my GI system in the morning which seems to help me digest foods much better now. Don't be surprised if you get random reactions here and there, from what I've read on the forum it seems that this is a natural reaction of your body trying to heal. Are you taking a multivitamin? If not, you may want to consider it. Hang in there and if its any comfort to you, we all went through it. Please feel free to vent anytime - I know I did!! Best wishes to you...

Sunny1008 Rookie
Sunny1008
Posted
  • Author

Sunny,

Welcome to the forum! You'll find a lot of very experienced and knowledgeable people on here - that's how I learned as much ad I did. I was diagnosed in May of 2012 so I'm pretty new at this too. It seems that withdrawal symptoms are very different for everyone and I had almost the same symptoms that you are describing. I felt very foggy and was dizzy at times and didn't feel myself at all. My mood was all over the place and I still thank my fiance for putting up with me during that time period. I began to feel better after about 2-3 weeks but still have my moments here and there. Try to eat as natural as possible and try to stay away from eating gluten replacement foods like gluten free pasta and breads. I've been making home made beef broth to ease my GI system in the morning which seems to help me digest foods much better now. Don't be surprised if you get random reactions here and there, from what I've read on the forum it seems that this is a natural reaction of your body trying to heal. Are you taking a multivitamin? If not, you may want to consider it. Hang in there and if its any comfort to you, we all went through it. Please feel free to vent anytime - I know I did!! Best wishes to you...

Hi Laura,

Thanks for the advice! I have been gluten-free for three weeks now, and I have to say, I am still not feeling that much better. I still get nausea, acid reflux, feeling full all the time, distended belly, etc. I am taking vitamins.

This is really starting to make me depressed. :( It is difficult for me to do social activities because I never know what my stomach is going to do. So I have been staying pretty close to the house for the past few months. And speaking of your fiance...I am really, really sad because the person I was dating basically just ditched me when I got sick. I have been sick for the past few months, and I guess he just couldn't handle it. I really loved and cared about him, but obviously he didn't feel the same, because if you truly love someone, you stick with them through sickness AND health!!

Sorry, just needed to vent real quick!

Sunny

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nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

I just started gluten-free last week and withdrawal is hitting me now. Ugh, what a headache! It makes me wonder if some of my past headaches were caused when Iaccidently went gluten-free for a few days(I eat pretty gluten lite).

So for now it's the migraine and i'm not sleeping that well. I woke up before 5am ... And it's a holiday today! I don't feel more tired than normal but I always feel like I could do with a nap. I am one of those who falls asleep within minutes.... Oh geepers, I hope that doesn't go away once I start to heal! LOL

I am guessing the withdrawal will last about two weeks, and then maybe I'll start to feel good Ina couple of months.

LauraB0927 Apprentice
LauraB0927
Posted

Hi Laura,

Thanks for the advice! I have been gluten-free for three weeks now, and I have to say, I am still not feeling that much better. I still get nausea, acid reflux, feeling full all the time, distended belly, etc. I am taking vitamins.

This is really starting to make me depressed. :( It is difficult for me to do social activities because I never know what my stomach is going to do. So I have been staying pretty close to the house for the past few months. And speaking of your fiance...I am really, really sad because the person I was dating basically just ditched me when I got sick. I have been sick for the past few months, and I guess he just couldn't handle it. I really loved and cared about him, but obviously he didn't feel the same, because if you truly love someone, you stick with them through sickness AND health!!

Sorry, just needed to vent real quick!

Sunny

Please feel free to vent anytime! This is a VERY hard thing to go through - and unfortunately its a steep learning curve. Three weeks isn't unusual for you to still be feeling withdrawal symptoms. How are you tolerating dairy? That could also be making you feel sick if you're still eating it. A lot of other people on here say that when they started the gluten free diet, they began to weed out other foods because of reactions that were developing. You're GI system is still very sensitive and its trying to heal, so you're probably going to have some reactions. Regarding the depression (which I experienced mildly), I read another helpful post where a moderator advised a member that depression is often involved with the withdrawal process. Gluten supposedly acts on the receptors of the brain and when these receptors aren't getting gluten anymore, it can cause you to feel depressed. As far as going out socially - that was the hardest part for me. I LOVED going out to eat and ordering whatever I wanted. But if you haven't discovered it already, there are a lot of gluten free apps on the smart phones that can show you gluten-free restaurants in your area, so you can still be close to home, just in case. The ones I use are "Find Me Gluten Free," "Gluten Free Registry," "Is that Gluten Free? - Eating Out," and "Is that Gluten Free?" Some of them I had to pay for but it was well worth it because you can read other people's reviews on their experiences with the food at that specific place.

I'm so sorry to hear about your boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend I should say. At least you know now that he's an @$$ and you wouldn't want to have to deal with that for any longer. I know this doesn't mean much, but it sounds like you're better off without him. Still, its bad that we Celiacs feel ostracized enough with this stupid illness but to have something like that happen is devastating. Although my fiance is very supportive, I still get the feeling of being alone and different, especially when I take my bag full of snacks everywhere I go. Not sure if this would interest you, but I found a local support group for Celiacs that has been fantastic - in fact, we have a gluten free Pot Luck dinner meeting coming up on Tuesday. Is there anything like that in your area? If so, it may be worth checking out. Please stay strong - this is very hard and you're doing fantastic. It WILL get better...I will definitely keep you in my thoughts. And again, this forum is what venting is for! Vent away!!!! :)

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