What Happens? Time Line

[GFreeMO]

I recently read an article that said that a celiacs response to gluten is individual. I thought we could post what happens to us so we could compare our symptoms.

Mine lasts 2 weeks and here is the pattern. It is the same exact thing every time. Like clockwork.

Bloating, gas, intestinal pain, diarrhea, anxiety and emotional symptoms, sores on my face, DH on elbows and knee, muscle & joint pain,fatigue, headache, excessive thirst, and last but not least, passing mucus through the rectum.

[RonSchon]

I have different symptoms that are closely related.

Bloating is first in all cases. Brain fog is most often 2nd, followed closely be diminished visual acuity. Then, usually several hours later very fatigued and a high level of ache and significant joint pain - like I'm carrying a 100 pound weight on my back. I'm usually constipated through the whole episode. Depression.

It usually lasts 36 to 48 hours.

Things that don't happen every time, but often: incredible calf cramps which hit in the middle of the night and take me from sound asleep to jumping out of bed instantly to stretch.

[bartfull]

Psoriasis flare within 8 to 12 hours that lasts a couple of weeks. Minor digestive issues - no real D, but loose stools three times each morning, then I'm good for the rest of the day. That lasts only a day or two. The brain fog comes in pretty quickly and fades slowly. And the insomnia starts right away and lasts for several days.

Oh yeah, and the grumpiness. That comes on quickly and lasts for about a week. I HATE that part, and so do my friends!

[eatmeat4good]

First I feel an overwhelming sense of tiredness like I cannot possibly go another day.I can't wake in the morning at all and I'm groggy. My alarm, cell phone, my son, nothing can wake me. I wake with a panic attack and I get a sense of impending doom, feel profoundly depressed,and have anxiety about simple things that normally wouldn't bother me. I get irritable and angry for no reason.

Then I get a massive migraine that last 24 hrs. I want to die during that time. I vomit, can't stand light, noise, and I'm totally depressed and reclusive until the migraine lifts...usually 24 to 36 hours.

Then my old DH lesions flare, swell like a hive, and then weep and ooze several hours later, sting like acid and the skin sloughs off. Sometimes I get a smattering of new DH blisters in places I have never had them before. The new ones are usually really tiny but they take the same course as the old lesions. The rash takes weeks to subside.

Next my muscles and joints hurt really bad and I wonder if I really do have "Fibromyalgia" after all.

My muscles are weak and I can't contract them at will. Walking is absolutely physically exhausting and whatever I need to lift feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. Then nausea and diarrhea start and do not stop for at least two days. During this time I have absolutely no appetite and cannot possibly eat. I drink water only. I swell and wake up with swollen eyelids and gain about 10 lbs for no reason. My legs swell and I look and feel like hell for a week or two.

The last thing to happen is I become famished and want to eat anything and everything. I usually crave sweets really bad, but have learned the hard way it is much better not to give in to that.

Then suddenly it all goes away and I get a new lease on life!

My energy comes back, I love life, I vow to never eat out again...or do whatever it was that "got" me.

I get a little paranoid about where gluten might be and I go on a cleaning spree.

Then things settle down and I feel normal again, my weight stabilizes, and I have no anxiety, depression, or weakness.

The strangest thing is that over the next month my nails will grow out with a horizontal ridge that is white. It starts at the "moon" of your nail and takes about two months to grow all the way out. I've googled and that is consistent with protein deficiency or vitamin deficiency and probably both since Celiac is a malabsorption disease.

Good question! I look forward to reading everyone's answers.

[love2travel]

No idea whether I have been glutened since going gluten free 15 months ago or not! My dentist has noticed increased enamel strength (but I didn't).

Ongoing chronic insomnia and pain have not changed. Always there, darn it! But much of that is from an accident nearly five years ago.

No pattern whatsoever for me!

[nvsmom]

I get a stomach ache 10-30 minutes later and then get bloated for a few days. I'm still too new to being gluten-free to know how my migraines, fatigue, and aches and pains are affected by gluten. I'm guessing I'll feel healthy in 4 to 8 months.... cuious how that will feel different or if it even will feel different at all. LOL

[Sara S.]

I get diarrhea about 6 hours later. At this point, now that I've healed for a year, I only get one or two rounds of diarrhea. Then I have constipation (no stool for about a day or two, normal transit time, then very hard stool for a few days after that). The day or two after the glutening I experience low mood: depression and anxiety, that lasts for the duration of the constipation. I also experience brain fog and difficulty with concentration and memory, also for about a week. It's severe enough to impinge on my progress at work.