Started Eating Gluten Free Yesterday.

[Mrs.Stark]

Hi everyone, I started gluten free yesterday. I'm convinced this may be what has caused me a few problems. I've always had extremely irregular periods and it didn't even start till I was nearly 18. After eating bready especially bagels I would have severe stomach cramping. My hair grows at a much slower rate than others and i'm having trouble losing weight. I have only been gluten-free for 1 day and have dropped 2 lbs.I was not calorie restrictive at all. I hope its not a coincidence because that is a lot for me. I'm also more tired than usual today. Anyone else have these symptoms? Is one day to fast to see any results? Thanks.

[1974girl]

Make sure you get your thyroid checked. It can cause late puberty and hair issues.

[ravenwoodglass]

Welcome to the board. The first thing I am going to ask is if you have been tested for celiac. If you haven't it would be a good idea to get tested before you start the diet. You can call your doctor and ask for a lab slip for a celiac panel if your doctor has been aware of the problems you have been having. Once you have been gluten free even for a short time going back on gluten for testing can be quite a painful experience.

You doctor should also test your vitamin and mineral levels, especially B12 and D as well as test you for anemia.

IMHO it is unlikely that you would lose 2 lbs overnight from going gluten free. Some of us do lose weight after we have been on the diet for a bit for a variety of reasons but gluten free is not a calorie restricted diet. In fact many specialty gluten free foods are quite high in calories.

If your doctor resists testing you for celiac because you are over weight insist on it because of your symptoms. Many doctors don't realize that you can be overweight and celiac. I was the heaviest I was in my life pregluten-free but in my case it was because of edema because a long period of misdiagnosis had damaged my kidneys.

Do read as much as you can here as the diet has a bit of a learning curve and keep in mind that we can still need the diet even in the event that our celiac testing comes back negative.

[IrishHeart]

I agree with all that Raven has said.

Get tested before you take gluten out of your diet.

[shadowicewolf]

Raven's right. Much easier now to go back on then it would be had you waited weeks.

[Mrs.Stark]

Make sure you get your thyroid checked. It can cause late puberty and hair issues.

I have had my thyroid checked and It was within normal range. I developed in every other way except my period, so not sure if that really counts as late puberty.

[GottaSki]

I strongly agree with Raven's advice - call your doctor and ask to have all the tests Raven suggested ordered as soon as possible because you'd like to remove gluten and have learned that this will adversely effect the results of these tests.

Removing gluten can make an already difficult process much harder - don't remove it unless you are certain you don't wish to pursue a diagnosis.

Let us know if you have additional questions.

Good Luck

[DavinaRN]

Get tested first. I feel as if I'm dying, went gluten free for only 4 days. Endo finally answered and said she will run the blood work (tomorrow), so I have been eating gluten at each meal for last 10 days. Never thought I would be happy to never see bread or pasta again.

[nvsmom]

Ditto everyone else. :)Great advice there...

I did lose weight, about 15lbs now, which began after I had been gluten-free about a month. My belly got noticeably flatter within about 2 weeks and proceeded any weight loss. It was a nice bonus to feeling better. LOL

Double check where your TSH was in the range if you can. I ended up with Hashimotos hypothyroidism because of untreated celiac disease, and for the first 10 years of it, my TSH was within normal range but at the high end of it (a 3 to 6 something in a range of .2-6) and I had hypothyroid symptoms (similar to celiac) the entire time. I am fairly confident that if the doctors had run a TPO Ab or free T4 test, I would have been diagnosed and treated much earlier... and felt better years ago.

Good luck to you, and welcome to the board.