Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

How Is Everyone Doing On Their Diet These Days?


T.H.

Recommended Posts

T.H. Community Regular

Just thought it might be nice for folks here to share how they are doing in Super-sensitivity land!

How is your diet working for you these days? Do you feel like you have it figured out, don't get glutened anymore, or are you still struggling? Any other issues that you've discovered since you started searching for answers, or is gluten the main problem you have to contend with? Does it feel like things are going in the right direction, at least, or not so much?

And...guess I'll start it off. :)

I'm feeling pretty good, overall. My weight is fairly stable now and I am very close to a nutritionally complete diet, finally, woo hoo! I still have to be extremely careful to source my food, but so far, it's keeping me healthy.

My few food allergies are still present, but easy to avoid at this point, now that I know where they are used as ingredients.

My super-sensitivity is still kicking around, but I'm happy to say that the serious reactions are nearly a thing of the past. The first year gluten-free, they were monthly if not more often. This week, however, it will have been a year since I had a very serious gluten reaction! Low level ones still happen occasionally, but no serious, scary ones, and that makes me SO happy!

The sulfite sensitivity I discovered a few months back is confirmed as confirmed can be, although as mine involves naturally high sulfur foods and sulfates as well. This is frustrating in terms of figuring out why a reaction is happening, because it's quite similar to a gluten reaction to low levels of gluten (lots of neurological stuff).

It's also fairly common to have substances that are sulfited used in the same place as substances that are gluten derived/ cc'd, too. So figuring out whether a reaction is to gluten cc, to sulfites, or to potentially both is a real pain in the petutie. Slowly learning more and more, though.

Re: avoiding gluten, I've said before that I could never say for sure that all my reactions were to gluten, that I might find out someday that I'm avoiding something else when I'm avoiding the most minute traces of gluten.

Turns out, sometimes that 'something else' is sulfites and sulfur, like avoiding sulfur-containing soaps that are being used on organic greens as pest control aids. I kind of wish that it was sulfites only and NOT super-sensitivity to gluten, but so far, that doesn't tracked when I investigate it.

However, this whole thing has just cemented how I felt when I was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease after 20 years: we as patients need to trust ourselves.

If we do something and it makes us feel better or worse, we can investigate it, research it, analyze it, listen to opinions on it and whatever else gets us more information. But in the end, I truly believe that we need to trust ourselves and what our bodies are telling us more than doctors' opinions that we are 'healthy' when we feel sick, more than what we should be able to do or how we should react or even what seems reasonable to other people.

We're all different and we're all searching for answers and sometimes, we can find the solutions before we know exactly why those solutions even work. They may seem really weird to other people who aren't in the same place, but that doesn't mean they aren't the right solution for us, personally.

Or to quote one of those great Murphy's War Laws: if it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid. :)

I hope that where ever anyone is at, in their diet, it is at least slowly getting better. Hope you are managing to react less frequently, feel better, and find more safe and tasty food all the time! :D


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Marilyn R Community Regular

Hey Shauna, good to see your post.

I'm not doing that well, but have had a new development. (Lupus.) But I'm doing better than I did before, and that's all I ever really wanted. I know I won't be like I was before in the Glory Days. (Yay Bruce Springstein!) I still have lots of piss and vinegar left in me (No malt vinegar though.).

xxx

GFreeMO Proficient

I'm not doing that well either. I get to feeling pretty good and then I will try something "gluten free" and I get zapped. It's happened several times over the last few months. I have to stay 99% unprocessed food or I will get zapped. It's hard and i'm so weary from intestinal pain, cramps and bloating. :(

T.H. Community Regular

I'm not doing that well, but have had a new development. (Lupus.) But I'm doing better than I did before, and that's all I ever really wanted.

I'm so sorry to hear about the Lupus, Marilyn. Crud. As if Celiac wasn't enough. I'm really glad that you're feeling better, though. And that at least you know what's going on so you can figure out a battle plan for coping with it, yes? Better to be filled with piss and vinegar for this type of battle than sugar and spice! ;-)

Have you found a good support group for the Lupus, by any chance? I'm hoping your area has one that really works for you.

I'm not doing that well either. I get to feeling pretty good and then I will try something "gluten free" and I get zapped.

Darn it - I was hoping that you might be doing a bit better. Do you at least have enough foods to give you all your vitamins/nutrients now? Or are you still searching for more foods?

GFreeMO Proficient

I'm so sorry to hear about the Lupus, Marilyn. Crud. As if Celiac wasn't enough. I'm really glad that you're feeling better, though. And that at least you know what's going on so you can figure out a battle plan for coping with it, yes? Better to be filled with piss and vinegar for this type of battle than sugar and spice! ;-)

Have you found a good support group for the Lupus, by any chance? I'm hoping your area has one that really works for you.

Darn it - I was hoping that you might be doing a bit better. Do you at least have enough foods to give you all your vitamins/nutrients now? Or are you still searching for more foods?

Thanks, I am ok with food. as long as I stick with meat, fruit and veg, I am good to go. It's the packaged stuff that zaps me.

Kamma Explorer

Hello Shauna. Good to see you.

Like the others, it's strictly veggies, fruit, seeds and occasionally fish for me. Anything else and especially the processed products labeled 'gluten free' give me huge reactions. I've eliminated meat more for ethical reasons but I'm also not missing it.

The neuro I see also suggested eliminating all forms of msg, soy, caffeine, nuts and about ten other ingredients that are found in processed food and in some vegetables/fruit. He suspects that I also might have migraine associated vertigo (without the migraines) and these foods trigger the vertigo. I've been doing this for about a month now and I'm having no set backs. I haven't felt this good in about seven years and am looking at going back to work.

Life is great, again. Who would have thought possible in the those darkest hours where you can hardly drag yourself out of the house, to the bathroom, or anywhere else?

:)

Joe0123 Contributor

Not too well. Still trying to figure out what is bothering me and every time I discover something that causes problems I seem to get more sensitive. I think I've developed severe depression but whether gluten sensitivity is the ultimate cause or I just have it because I've been miserable for 4 years is hard to say, though some foods definitely seem to affect my mood in a negative way. I've stopped losing weight which is good. I'm 125 lbs which is the skinniest I've ever been (before I got sick I was at about 148) but I'm not particularly worried since I haven't dropped any weight in months and I've tried to add some more fat (mostly via olive oil) in my diet.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Kamma Explorer

Not too well. Still trying to figure out what is bothering me and every time I discover something that causes problems I seem to get more sensitive. I think I've developed severe depression but whether gluten sensitivity is the ultimate cause or I just have it because I've been miserable for 4 years is hard to say, though some foods definitely seem to affect my mood in a negative way. I've stopped losing weight which is good. I'm 125 lbs which is the skinniest I've ever been (before I got sick I was at about 148) but I'm not particularly worried since I haven't dropped any weight in months and I've tried to add some more fat (mostly via olive oil) in my diet.

I know that depression, Joe. I send you warm thoughts and big hugs and want to tell you that even though figuring it all out is damn hard, you'll get there in the end. It will be alright.

Kamma

dilettantesteph Collaborator

Gluten makes me very depressed. In it, I think that it is because this life is so difficult. After I get out, I realize that it was the gluten talking. I hope you can get out of it.

dws Contributor

Not too well. Still trying to figure out what is bothering me and every time I discover something that causes problems I seem to get more sensitive. I think I've developed severe depression but whether gluten sensitivity is the ultimate cause or I just have it because I've been miserable for 4 years is hard to say, though some foods definitely seem to affect my mood in a negative way. I've stopped losing weight which is good. I'm 125 lbs which is the skinniest I've ever been (before I got sick I was at about 148) but I'm not particularly worried since I haven't dropped any weight in months and I've tried to add some more fat (mostly via olive oil) in my diet.

Hang in there Joe. I'm starting to come out of a similar bad spell, though my depression tends to be more mild to moderate. If you haven't eliminated all processed foods yet, give that a try. For me it takes about 2-3 weeks on that type of diet to get over reactions caused by a lapses of discipline in which I try processed gluten free foods. The reverse also seems to apply. When I'm feeling good, I tend to dabble for a while without reacting but it eventually triggers a reaction over time as it adds up. The non-processed diet is a real pain and labor intensive but it sure feels worth it when the clouds start to clear and I feel better. I'm in the middle of a mild reaction now. Been trying some single ingredient processed foods like tahini and potato starch to help in recipies. Also been trying some cheddar cheese. So what caused the reaction? All of them? One of them? Two out of three? It can drive you nuts. I know I can be more scientific about introducing new items one at a time, but that really gets old after a while. Wanting to cut loose and just enjoy food like everyone else and then getting slammed when you just loosen up a little can be depressing in itself.

Newbee Contributor

I've been trying the SCD diet (although struggling with eliminating sugar). In general it seems to be helping but I'm at the beginning stages of the diet so can't eat much variety. I'm trying to introduce new foods but have had some issues with that (can't tolerate avocados or almond flour yet). I don't know what else to try so will continue with this diet. Also started taking a liquid multivitamin in hopes that I can digest it better. The first time I took it I felt like running around the house, so I take that as a good sign.

T.H. Community Regular

The non-processed diet is a real pain and labor intensive but it sure feels worth it when the clouds start to clear and I feel better. I'm in the middle of a mild reaction now. Been trying some single ingredient processed foods like tahini and potato starch to help in recipies. Also been trying some cheddar cheese. So what caused the reaction? All of them? One of them? Two out of three? It can drive you nuts. I know I can be more scientific about introducing new items one at a time, but that really gets old after a while. Wanting to cut loose and just enjoy food like everyone else and then getting slammed when you just loosen up a little can be depressing in itself.

I know just what you mean. The limited diet can really grind you down, yeah? At times, it's to the point where I just feel like I can't stand it anymore, where I just want to 'loosen up a little' and I start thinking maybe all those times I reacted were just additive reactions or flukes or before I knew how to call up companies properly and it won't be so bad now if I try a couple new things.

And then I react and just wanna smack myself because the reaction is crummy and it's depressing to realize that no, you really couldn't loosen up like you were hoping. So, empathy hug. :-)

Oh, one thing that might help on testing the potato starch, though. Found a website a while back on how to make your own potato starch. It's actually really easy. We do it now whenever we make things with grated potatoes: Open Original Shared Link

At least it might help you figure out if the starch bothers you in an of itself, or if that particular brand was the issue, yeah?

Some days, I wish we had those little tricorders they have in Star Trek that would just analyze every substance in something so we wouldn't have to do this by the 'eat and see if you're okay' method, you know?

ssryan Newbie

I'm not doing that well either. I get to feeling pretty good and then I will try something "gluten free" and I get zapped. It's happened several times over the last few months. I have to stay 99% unprocessed food or I will get zapped. It's hard and i'm so weary from intestinal pain, cramps and bloating. :(

I am having exactly the same problem. Currently, I've had a bad run which I am nearly certain is Post Cocoa Pebbles; the box has a big "gluten free" banner across the top, and the company says that there is no way that gluten can be in it, but it is the only new thing I've tried in weeks. It seems as though it builds up a bit before I have a reaction. I'm in my third day of misery. Has anyone else found a cumulative effect from a food -- finally having a major reaction over the course of three days or so?

Thanks,

Susan

GFreeMO Proficient

I am having exactly the same problem. Currently, I've had a bad run which I am nearly certain is Post Cocoa Pebbles; the box has a big "gluten free" banner across the top, and the company says that there is no way that gluten can be in it, but it is the only new thing I've tried in weeks. It seems as though it builds up a bit before I have a reaction. I'm in my third day of misery. Has anyone else found a cumulative effect from a food -- finally having a major reaction over the course of three days or so?

Thanks,

Susan

I have positively found a cumulative effect from food. It builds up and then causes a big reaction. I have reacted to Cocoa Pebbles too. Same with Chex. I am currently going through days of misery myself from Hershey's Cocoa Powder. - Never touching anything Hershey's again!

I hope you feel better soon. :)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,979
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    volivier
    Newest Member
    volivier
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      @Riley., Welcome to the forum, but don't do it!  Don't continue to eat gluten!  The health problems that will come if you continue to eat gluten are not worth it.  Problems may not show up for years, but the constant inflammation and nutritional losses will manifest eventually.  There's many of us oldsters on the forum who wish they'd been diagnosed as early.    Fertility problems, gallbladder removal, diabetes, osteoporosis and mental health challenges are future health issues you are toying with.   To dispel fear, learn more about what you are afraid of.  Be proactive.  Start or join a Celiac group in your area.  Learn about vitamins and nutrition.   Has your mother been checked for Celiac?  It's inherited.  She may be influencing you to eat gluten as a denial of her own symptoms.  Don't let friends and family sway you away from the gluten-free diet.  You know your path.  Stick to it.  Be brave. 
    • knitty kitty
      @tiffanygosci, Hello.  I apologize for your thread being hijacked.   I recognize your symptoms as being similar to what I experienced, the migraines, food and chemical sensitivities, hives, nausea, the numbness and tingling, joint pain, tummy problems, sleep problems, emotional lability, and the mom brain.  My cycle returned early after I had my son, and I became pregnant again with all my symptoms worsening.  Unfortunately, I lost that baby.  In hindsight, I recognized that I was suffering so much from Thiamine deficiency and other nutritional deficiencies that I was not able to carry it.   Celiac Disease affects the absorption of nutrients from our food.  There's eight B vitamins that must be replenished every day.  Thiamine Vitamin B1 becomes depleted first because it cannot be stored very long, less than two weeks.  Other B vitamins can be stored for two months or so.  But Thiamine can get low enough to produce symptoms in as little as three days.  As the thiamine level gets lower, symptoms worsen.  Early symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are often attributed to life situations, and so frequently go unrecognized by medical professionals who "have a pill for that".   I used to get severe migraines and vomiting after gluten consumption.  Thiamine and the other B vitamins are needed to turn carbohydrates, fats and proteins into fuel for our bodies.  With a large influx of carbohydrates from gluten containing foods, the demand for Thiamine increases greatly.  Available thiamine can be depleted quickly, resulting in suddenly worsening symptoms.  Emotional stress or trauma, physical activity (athletes and laborers) and physiological stresses like pregnancy or injury (even surgery or infection) increase the need for Thiamine and can precipitate a thiamine insufficiency. Pregnancy requires more thiamine, not just for the mother, but for the child as well.  The mother's Thiamine stores are often depleted trying to meet the higher demand of a growing fetus.  Thiamine insufficiency can affect babies in utero and after birth (autism, ADHD).  Having babies close together doesn't allow time for the mother to replenish thiamine stores sufficiently.   Thiamine insufficiency can cause migraines, pins and needles (paresthesia), and gastrointestinal Beriberi (gas, bloating, diarrhea or constipation, back pain).   Thiamine deficiency can cause blurry vision, difficulty focusing, and affect the eyes in other ways.  Thiamine deficiency can damage the optic nerves.  I have permanent vision problems.  High histamine levels can make your brain feel like it's on fire or swelling inside your cranium.  High histamine levels can affect behavior and mood.  Histamine is released by Mast Cells as part of the immune system response to gluten.  Mast Cells need Thiamine to regulate histamine release.  Mast Cells without sufficient thiamine release histamine at the slightest provocation.  This shows up as sensitivities to foods, smelly chemicals, plants, and dust mites.  Thiamine and the other B vitamins are needed to lower histamine levels.  Vitamin D is needed to calm the immune system and to regulate our hormones.  Menstrual irregularities can be caused by low Vitamin D.   Celiac Disease is a disease if Malabsorption of Nutrients.  We must take great care to eat a nutritionally dense diet.  Our bodies cannot make vitamins.  We must get them from what we eat.  Supplementation with essential vitamins and minerals is warranted while we are healing and to ensure we don't become deficient over time.  Our bodies will not function properly without essential vitamins and minerals.  Doctors have swept their importance under the rug in favor of a pill that covers the symptoms but doesn't resolve the underlying issue of malnutrition. Do talk to your doctor and dietician about checking for nutritional deficiencies.  Most blood tests for the eight B vitamins do not reflect how much is available or stored inside cells.  Blood tests reflect how much is circulating in the blood stream, the transportation system.  Blood levels can be "normal" while a deficiency exists inside cells where the vitamins are actually used.  The best way to see if you're low in B vitamins is to take a B Complex, and additional Thiamine and look for improvement.   Most vitamin supplements contain Thiamine Mononitrate, which is not easily absorbed nor utilized by the body.  Only thirty percent of thiamine mononitrate listed on the label is absorbed, less is actually utilized.  This is because thiamine mononitrate is shelf stable, it won't breakdown sitting on a shelf in the grocery store.  It's so hard to breakdown, our bodies don't absorb it and can't turn it into a form the body can use.  Take Thiamine in the form Benfotiamine or TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) which the body can utilize much better.  (Ask for an Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test for Thiamine level.  Though not accurate, this test does better picking up on a thiamine deficiency than a blood test.) Are you keeping your babies on a gluten free diet?  This can prevent genetically susceptible children from developing Celiac Disease.   P. S. Interesting Reading  Thiamine deficiency in pregnancy and lactation: implications and present perspectives https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10158844/ Descriptive spectrum of thiamine deficiency in pregnancy: A potentially preventable condition https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37458305/ B vitamins and their combination could reduce migraine headaches: A randomized double-blind controlled trial https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9860208/
    • trents
      @Riley, on this forum we sometimes get reports from people with similar experiences as you. That is, their celiac disease seems to go into remission. Typically, that doesn't last. At age 18 you are at your physical-biological peek in life where your body is stronger than it will ever be and it is able to fight well against many threats and abuses. As Wheatwacked pointed out, absence of symptoms is not always a reliable indicator that no damage is being done to the body. I was one of those "silent" celiacs with no symptoms, or at least very minor symptoms, whose body was being slowly damaged for many years before the damage became pronounced enough to warrant investigation, leading to a diagnosis. By that time I had suffered significant bone demineralization and now I suffer with back and neck problems. Please, if you choose to continue consuming gluten, which I do not recommend, at least get tested regularly so that you won't get caught in the silent celiac trap down the road like I did. You really do not outgrow celiac disease. It is baked into the genes. Once the genes get triggered, as far as we know, they are turned on for good. Social rejection is something most celiacs struggle with. Being compliant with the gluten free diet places restrictions on what we can eat and where we can eat. Our friends usually try to work with us at first but then it gets to be a drag and we begin to get left out. We often lose some friends in the process but we also find out who really are our true friends. I think the hardest hits come at those times when friends spontaneously say, "Hey, let's go get some burgers and fries" and you know you can't safely do that. One way to cope in these situations is to have some ready made gluten-free meals packed in the fridge that you can take with you on the spot and still join them but eat safely. Most "real" friends will get used to this and so will you. Perhaps this little video will be helpful to you.  
    • Wheatwacked
      @Riley., Welcome to the forum.   It was once believed that Celiac Disease was only a childhood disease and it can be outgrown.  That was before 1951, before gluten was discovered to be cause of Celiac Disease, also called Infantilism.  Back then Cileac Disease was thought to be only a gastro intestinal disease, once you  "outgrew" the colicky phase, you were cured. You were so lucky to be diagnosed at 5 years old so your developing years were normal.  Gluten can affect multiple systems.  The nervous system, your intellegence. The muscules, skeleton. It can cause neurological issues like brain fog, anxiety, and peripheral neuropathy.  It can cause joint pain, muscle weakness, and skin rashes. Epilepsy is 1.8 times more prevalent in patients with celiac disease, compared to the general population. Because through malabsorption and food avoidances, it causes vitamin D and numerouus other essential nutrient deficiencies, it allows allergies, infections, poor growth, stuffy sinuses and eustacian tubes. There is even a catagory of celiac disease called "Silent Celiac".  Any symptoms are explained away as this, that or the other thing. Gluten is one of the most addictive substances we consume.  Activating the Opiod receptors in our cells, it can numb us to the damage that it, and other foods are causing.  It has become socially acceptable to eat foods that make us feel sick.  "There's a pill for that".   It is generally accepted that n fact you are weird if you don't. The hardest part is that if you don't eat gluten you will feel great and think why not.  But slowly it will effect you, you'll be diagnosed with real diseases that you don't have. You'll be more susseptable to other autoimmune diseases.  As you read through the posts here, notice how many are finally dianosed, after years of suffering at older ages.  Is it worth it? I think not. Perhaps this book will help:  Here is a list of possible symptoms:   
    • Riley.
      Hi! Im Riley, 18 years old and have been diagnosed for 13 years.. the testing started bc I stopped growing and didn’t gain any weight and was really small and thin for my age.  I got diagnosed when I was 5 and have been living gluten free since, in elementary and middle school it was hard for me and I kept contaminating myself bc I wanted to fit in with my friends so so badly. I ate gluten secretly at school and mostly regretted it 30 minutes later.  I’ve had symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, headaches, stomachaches, threw up a lot and was really emotional.  In 2022 I really started working on myself and tried to stay gluten free and if I did eat gluten I wouldn’t tell anyone and suffer in silence.  Last year in July I begged my mom to let me „cheat“ one day bc I just wanted to fit in… I ate a lot of different stuff, all the stuff I missed out on in my childhood like nuggets, pizza and all that.. I didn’t have symptoms that day and was doing really fine My mom and I wanted to test how far we can go and said we would test it for 12 weeks to get my blood taken after to see if I’m doing good or if symptoms start showing  As a now 18 year old girl who finally gained a normal weight and doesn’t get symptoms I’m to scared to get tested/my blood taken cuz I finally found comfort in food and it got so much easier for me and my family.  A year and 4 months later i still didn’t get any symptoms and have been eating gluten daily.  I’m scared to get tested/my blood taken cuz what if I’m actually not fine and have to go back to eating gluten free. Any tips to get over that fear and „suck it up“ cuz I know I could seriously damage my body… sorry if I seem like a idiot here… just don’t really know what to do :,)
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.