Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • 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

Endurance Issues And Exercise Intolerance

Jen-1984

By Jen-1984
in Sports and Fitness

Recommended Posts

Jen-1984 Apprentice
Jen-1984
Posted

New here and I wanted to just ask if any of you have had issues with exercise, especially those of you who used to be athletic and then "came down" with celiac/gluten intolerance. When I was 21 I was very active, fit, had a great amount of energy and could exercise quite a bit, running for about an hour everyday and lifting weights. Then I came down with feeling fatigued, and feeling worse after exercise, feeling like my body was inflamed. I have been tested for lupus, RA, and several other autoimmune disorders and come out that they are negative. The only test to be positive/elevated ever was the deamidated gliadin peptide IgG. I miss exercising so much, but it seems like when I do, my body reacts negatively. Has anyone ever experienced this? Fatigue after exercise, pain in joints, lack of endurance and feeling like your body gets inflamed afterwards? I am new to the gluten-free diet, only been seriously on it for a day and a half so I haven't seen any major improvements in symptoms yet. Thanks in advance.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Carebear Apprentice
Carebear
Posted

I definitely had problems like this when I was first diagnosed and when glutened now - even if it was only a small amount. It was AWFUL! I mountaineer, so I went from 20+ mile and crazy elevation gain hiking/climbing trips to barely being able to move around my apartment. Do you have edema? Bad edema days make me feel weighty and sluggish (and I am weighty with edema - I lost 15lbs of water weight within 4 days of going gluten free - seriously not kidding!). Stick to the diet, especially if your IgG level is super elevated. I had a positive biopsy but my only positive blood test was the IgG which was 4x higher than the normal level. IgG's are not specific, meaning they can bind to other similar proteins in addition to gluten. I started out on the SCD diet when I was first diagnosed because I was reacting to all grains and some other proteins that are supposedly similar to gluten, but now that my antibody levels are normalizing I've been able to start eating more. Sorry that was a bit rambly - it's getting late over here!

prizm99 Newbie
prizm99
Posted

Last summer I was able to exercise. I've never had it easy where I could exercise and not feel like my body was inflamed. However, last summer I was able to bike and feel fairly good. Then fall came and I haven't been able to exercise since. January I started a strict gluten free diet. I haven't started back up exercising yet but I feel like I might be able to ease into some walking soon. I have also been tested for RA and lupus which both came back negative. Sorry I can't tell you if it gets better with time but I understand your frustration. I've gained a lot of my weight back since last summer. :(

zamm0 Apprentice
zamm0
Posted

New here and I wanted to just ask if any of you have had issues with exercise, especially those of you who used to be athletic and then "came down" with celiac/gluten intolerance. When I was 21 I was very active, fit, had a great amount of energy and could exercise quite a bit, running for about an hour everyday and lifting weights. Then I came down with feeling fatigued, and feeling worse after exercise, feeling like my body was inflamed. I have been tested for lupus, RA, and several other autoimmune disorders and come out that they are negative. The only test to be positive/elevated ever was the deamidated gliadin peptide IgG. I miss exercising so much, but it seems like when I do, my body reacts negatively. Has anyone ever experienced this? Fatigue after exercise, pain in joints, lack of endurance and feeling like your body gets inflamed afterwards? I am new to the gluten-free diet, only been seriously on it for a day and a half so I haven't seen any major improvements in symptoms yet. Thanks in advance.

I think that's the key point and that you need to give things a few months, possibly even a year or two. I get the impression you are still fairly young? Plenty of time to get fit again and achieve all those goals.

NorthernElf Enthusiast
NorthernElf
Posted

I have my ups & downs.....and wow, I too have had RA, Lupus, etc. tests. Last April I had an MRI and the rheumy told me it looked like MS (!). I saw a neurologist and he pretty much ruled that out. I have since seen that Celiac can cause simliar brain changes. My symptoms were lots of joint pain - whole body but particularly the hands/wrists/elbows....some knee/ankle.....classic RA symptoms, and the fatigue etc. Fibromyalgia have been suggested too but there isn't a definitive test - & I have no interest in meds. A couple of months ago I had wicked neck spasms that was helped by a massage (ouch) and some muscle relaxants.

These days I work mornings, rest a couple of hours in the afternoon (read/watch my shows), then run & get my kids, make supper, etc. I need my breaks. Having said that, I teach fitness & am very active, it has always been my coping mechanism ! Days I don't do anything are way worse - went away for a hockey tournament with my boys and I was very sore.

I'm not sure how much of this is celiac or fibro or what. Sucks though ! Activity is my medicine - good days I participate more in my classes, bad days I talk more, do yoga, or walk for my own activity....stretch a lot !

  • 1 month later...
Assaf Newbie
Assaf
Posted

About four months ago I started developing quite suddenly severe knee and muscle pains in my quads/hamstrings. I assumed this was due to exercise as I was increasing my workload gradually and was doing about 6 hours of cardio a week at the time. I went to a sports medicine doctor which diagnosed it as IT band syndrome and sent me to physical therapy. The therapy didn’t help, and the symptoms spread to other joints and muscles. Eventually I went to my primary care doctor which tested me for lupus, RA, Lyme and  toxoplasmosis  -  all were negative.

 

I had googled the symptoms and gluten intolerance did fit some of the symptoms, but I had no digestive symptoms so initially I assumed it wasn’t the problem, but eventually I was getting very frustrated with  the constant pain and not being able to exercise that I decided I might as well give the gluten free diet a chance. Within two days I could feel the difference, and four weeks into the gluten free diet I would say I’m about 95% back to normal.

 

It’s a bit disappointing that I was the one to come up with the answer after three months of suffering  and $1500 worth of tests, rather than a doctor, but I guess I’m happy to be back to normal.

 

It’s quite amazing just how widespread and diverse the pain was, I was getting joint pains in basically every joint of my body, ligaments and tendons would hurt, needle prick and some longer lasting burning sensations in muscles, joint clicking in the spine, skin sensitivity, and the most concerning was a feeling of individual muscle fibers tearing when performing routime every day motions. Essentially my whole body was hurting one way or another.

dilettantesteph Collaborator
dilettantesteph
Posted

I was also very active.  I mainly did ballet and skiing, quite hard core.  Then illness set it.  It crept up over many years.  I have a rowing machine, Concept 2, and did their Christmas challenge every year and kept records.  After diagnosis I was able to look back and see how I had gotten worse and worse.  I had thought that it was normal aging.  It took me awhile to learn the diet and heal, but I was able to regain the ability that I had from 15 or so years earlier.  I decided to challenge myself with a mini triathlon to do a year after diagnosis.  When I started training, I couldn't even run all the way around the block.  After a few months of training I did a 5K and was in the middle or so.  I did the mini triathlon and finished respectfully for an aging woman.  

 

Your athletic ability will come back.  Give it time, meanwhile, physical activity helps me handle glutenings.  Keep it up.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


  • 5 weeks later...
taynichaf Contributor
taynichaf
Posted

New here and I wanted to just ask if any of you have had issues with exercise, especially those of you who used to be athletic and then "came down" with celiac/gluten intolerance. When I was 21 I was very active, fit, had a great amount of energy and could exercise quite a bit, running for about an hour everyday and lifting weights. Then I came down with feeling fatigued, and feeling worse after exercise, feeling like my body was inflamed. I have been tested for lupus, RA, and several other autoimmune disorders and come out that they are negative. The only test to be positive/elevated ever was the deamidated gliadin peptide IgG. I miss exercising so much, but it seems like when I do, my body reacts negatively. Has anyone ever experienced this? Fatigue after exercise, pain in joints, lack of endurance and feeling like your body gets inflamed afterwards? I am new to the gluten-free diet, only been seriously on it for a day and a half so I haven't seen any major improvements in symptoms yet. Thanks in advance.

I used to be very active when I was younger... As i got older I got more and more tired. I had unexplained weight gain, so I forced myself to exersize and eat healthy(whole wheat bread.....)  tortured myself and finally got to my goal weight.. then i ended up gaining it all back(about 15 pounds) within two weeks! Getting off topic...lol. But anyways, I would force myself to workout despite fatigue, but now I am at the point where even thinking about exercise makes me exhausted! I gave up running awhile ago because I lost my good endurance I guess.. I got into weight lifting, and now I gave that up too because I just cant push myself like i used to :( I can't even get myself to try ONE push-up, because the thought just exhausts me!... And I think I'm afraid to see how week i've become...

 

Good luck on the gluten free diet! I'm sure you'll get all your energy back so you'r able to exercise! :)

Deaminated Marcus Apprentice
Deaminated Marcus
Posted

When I went gluten free in October 2010, I had so much energy I could exercise and Iost weight.

Not only that, I could do heavy dumbell curls without the reoccuring forearm tendon injuries of the past

.

In my gluten challenge, I'm just dragging myself and in so much pain,

yet I tested negative for the Celiac panel so I don't know anymore.

Archived

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

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,198
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Jamie0230
    Newest Member
    Jamie0230
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Does Dailymed.nlm.nih.gov site have filters for gluten?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Clearly from what you've said the info on Dailymed is much more up to date than the other site, which hasn't been updated since 2017. The fact that some companies might be repackaging drugs does not mean the info on the ingredients is not correct.
    • RMJ
      Waiting Gastroenterology review

      By RMJ · Posted

      To evaluate the TTG antibody result we’d need to know the normal range for that lab.  Labs don’t all use the same units.  However, based on any normal ranges that I’ve seen and the listed result being greater than a number rather than a specific number, I’d say yes, that is high! Higher than the range where the test can give a quantitative result. You got good advice not to change your diet yet.  If you went gluten free your intestines would start to heal, confusing any further testing,
    • Bev in Milw
      Does Dailymed.nlm.nih.gov site have filters for gluten?

      By Bev in Milw · Posted

      Scott is correct….Thank you for catching that!      Direct link for info  of fillers.    http://www.glutenfreedrugs.com/Excipients.htm Link is on 2nd page  of www.glutenfreedrugs.com   Site was started by a pharmacist (or 2) maybe 15-20 yrs ago with LAST updated in  2017.  This makes it’s Drug List so old that it’s no longer relevant. Companies & contacts, along with suppliers &  sources would need to be referenced, same amount effort  as starting with current data on DailyMed      That being said, Excipient List is still be relevant since major changes to product labeling occurred prior ’17.           List is the dictionary that sources the ‘foreign-to-us’ terms used on pharmaceutical labels, terms we need to rule out gluten.    Note on DailyMed INFO— When you look for a specific drug on DailyMed, notice that nearly all of companies (brands/labels) are flagged as a ‘Repackager’… This would seem to suggest the actual ‘pills’ are being mass produced by a limited number of wholesaler suppliers (esp for older meds out of  patent protection.).      If so, multiple repackager-get  bulk shipments  from same supplier will all  be selling identical meds —same formula/fillers. Others repackager-could be switching suppliers  frequently based on cost, or runs both gluten-free & non- items on same lines.  No way to know  without contacting company.     While some I know have  searched pharmacies chasing a specific brand, long-term  solution is to find (or teach) pharmacy staff who’s willing help.    When I got 1st Rx ~8 years ago, I went to Walgreens & said I needed gluten-free.  Walked  out when pharmacist said  ‘How am I supposed  to know…’  (ar least he as honest… ). Walmart pharmacists down the block were ‘No problem!’—Once, they wouldn’t release my Rx, still waiting on gluten-free status from a new supplier. Re: Timeliness of DailyMed info?   A serendipitous conversation with cousin in Mi was unexpectedly reassuring.  She works in office of Perrigo, major products of OTC meds (was 1st to add gluten-free labels).  I TOTALLY lucked out when I asked about her job: “TODAY I trained a new full-time employee to make entries to Daily Med.’  Task had grown to hours a day, time she needed for tasks that couldn’t be delegated….We can only hope majorities of companies are as  conscientious!   For the Newbies…. SOLE  purpose of  fillers (possible gluten) in meds is to  hold the active ingredients together in a doseable form.  Drugs  given by injection or as IV are always gluten-free!  (Sometimes drs can do antibiotics w/ one-time injection rather than 7-10 days of  pills .) Liquid meds (typically for kids)—still read labels, but  could be an a simpler option for some products…
    • Ginger38
      Food Allergies

      By Ginger38 · Posted

      So I recently had allergy testing for IGE antibodies in response to foods. My test results came back positive to corn, white potatoes, egg whites. Tomatoes, almonds and peanuts to name a few.  I have had obvious reactions to a few of these - particularly tomatoes and corn- both GI issues. I don’t really understand all this allergy versus celiac stuff. If the food allergies are mild do I have to avoid these foods entirely? I don’t know what I will eat if I can’t  have corn based gluten free products 
    • JForman
      7yo struggling!

      By JForman · Posted

      We have four children (7-14 yo), and our 7 year old was diagnosed with NCGS (though all Celiac labs were positive, her scope at 4 years old was negative so docs in the US won't call it celiac). We have started her on a Gluten Free diet after 3 years of major digestive issues and ruling out just about everything under the sun. Our home and kitchen and myself are all gluten-free. But I have not asked my husband/her dad or her other siblings to go completely gluten-free with us. They are at home, but not out of the home. This has led to situations when we are eating out where she has to consistently see others eating things she can't have and she has begun to say "Well, I can't have <fill in the blank>...stupid gluten."  How have you supported your gluten-free kiddos in the mental health space of this journey, especially young ones like her. I know it's hard for me as an adult sometimes to miss out, so I can't imagine being 7 and dealing with it! Any tips or ideas to help with this? 
×
×
  • Create New...