Tmi Bm Question

[ker0pi]

Ok, so I tested negative in my blood work but saw so much improvement in my symptoms after a 4 day gluten-free trial before blood work and after many emails with IrishHeart (Thank You) I am gluten-free now. It's been 3 weeks as of today and I feel fantastic, there are still symptoms and muscle weakness that I am contending with but I see improvement everyday. Something interested has starting happening. I have never been a "regular" once a day kind a person, my whole life I've been more like a once a week sort of person, always very dark brown in color and dense. When all my pain and fatigue started they started floating for the first time in my life, were even darker and looked more like little pellets. Now that I've been gluten-free for 3 weeks I've started going almost everyday, I know this is normal and the color is much lighter. But they are still floating and now I have undigested food in them, never experienced this before. Things like rice, peas, carrots. Is this normal too?

Sorry about the TMI.

[GFreeMO]

Hi,

I see this when glutened. After the D ends and the pain starts to subside some, I get floating stool and mucus. It has to do with fat malabsorbtion and is just part of celiac. It comes and goes and comes with a glutening.

Just be careful and make sure that you are not getting CC from somewhere.

[ker0pi]

[quote name='GFreeMO' timestamp='1342046529' post='810395'

Just be careful and make sure that you are not getting CC from somewhere.

[GFreeMO]

You are going to have to get your own toaster. Sharing a toaster will not work even if you mark the 2 gluten free slots. You have to treat gluten like it is rat poison. You wouldn't share a toaster with that. Also, you need your own containers of condiments etc.

Don't stress..you will get it all figured out.

[GFinDC]

Not TMI. We like to get too the gritty details. Sounds like things are changing for you digestion wise, which means the gluten-free diet is doing something. You could try taking probiotics and digestive enzymes for a while. And avoid the processed foods and sugar and starches. You are still in the early healing stages, and things may not settle down for a while now. But eating a simple diet and taking the probiotices may help.

[ker0pi]

Not TMI. We like to get too the gritty details. Sounds like things are changing for you digestion wise, which means the gluten-free diet is doing something. You could try taking probiotics and digestive enzymes for a while. And avoid the processed foods and sugar and starches. You are still in the early healing stages, and things may not settle down for a while now. But eating a simple diet and taking the probiotices may help.

Thanks, I do not eat processed food my family and I have been on a whole foods organic diet for about 6 years now. Sugar has never really been a thing for me, I took fresh baked bread straight from the oven over sugary anything every time. I started my probiotics back up, I had stopped because it was causing very painful gas, but that was while I was on my gluten challenge. Now that I'm gluten-free it seems to be helping, I feel like I'm on illicit drugs today, the amount of energy I have is something I haven't felt since I was in my early 20's. I was just worried about all the undigested food, that has never happened before and it seems I'm "passing" a little bit of everything I've been eating the past 3 days. Realized today the bright red things were the dried cranberries from my home made trail mix.

I'll pick up some digestive enzymes and add them to the mix, good idea.

[lewiss]

Hi<

CC is something that l get, because l am the only one on the gluten-free diet, know body has taken me serious except the people on this board. i use ground flax in my gluten-free cereal, l use almond milk, berries, organic sugar, the regularity has finally come back. I take omgea supplement, probotices, vit,d,c a multi they all help, I use a lot of organics, and even there i have a lot of critisim.

I've been told that all this take time,,,,,,,,,,,,,\here's hoping so, because somedays l just fell like l want to sit down and die...

Lewiss

[IrishHeart]

Floating stools is not always about malabsorption. Sometimes it is because of all the fiber you ingest.

Carrots, cranberries, trail mix, rice---all high fiber foods.

Hon, I do not think the color of your stools is alarming at all. I think it is NORMAL. I've done a mountain of research on the GI tract ( poopology is a second major for me ) and brown is a good thing.

Dark, tarry, black stool is a problem. That's blood.

Your body is undergoing major changes.

If some foods are undigested, it could be an enzyme deficiency, but truth be told, many people have undigested bits of food in the stools. Ever eat corn?

Use the probiotics and try digestive enzymes before meals.

But since you are GOING daily and they are firm?---well, this is cause for celebration.

I know you have a super-clean diet and I am sure you are being careful with the gluten in the house.

But it would be wise for you to avoid it altogether.

[ker0pi]

But since you are GOING daily and they are firm?---well, this is cause for celebration.

Yes, firm. And I did not realize high fiber foods would go through undigested. I started back up the probiotics and I'm going to get some digestive enzymes tonight. It's very new for me this whole going every day thing.

[GFinDC]

Thanks, I do not eat processed food my family and I have been on a whole foods organic diet for about 6 years now. Sugar has never really been a thing for me, I took fresh baked bread straight from the oven over sugary anything every time. I started my probiotics back up, I had stopped because it was causing very painful gas, but that was while I was on my gluten challenge. Now that I'm gluten-free it seems to be helping, I feel like I'm on illicit drugs today, the amount of energy I have is something I haven't felt since I was in my early 20's. I was just worried about all the undigested food, that has never happened before and it seems I'm "passing" a little bit of everything I've been eating the past 3 days. Realized today the bright red things were the dried cranberries from my home made trail mix.

I'll pick up some digestive enzymes and add them to the mix, good idea.

The undigested food could be from food passing through the GI system too fast. Chewing well and taking some Betaine HCL with your meals may help. I don't think it's good to take the Betaine HCL too often, your stomach naturally produces hydrochloric acid to digest the food that you eat, and to kill bacteria and other pathogens. But there are things that cut down on the production of HCL acid. H.Pylori bacteria for one, and aging for another. So a little extra sometimes might be helpful. I take it sometimes if I eat a meal with a lot of meat, or if my digestion is off for some reason. Which seldom happens..not! Another thing that can help with digestion is mastic gum. Not something you need to take every day either, unless you have an ulcer, but sometimes it may help.

[GFinDC]

Hi<

CC is something that l get, because l am the only one on the gluten-free diet, know body has taken me serious except the people on this board. i use ground flax in my gluten-free cereal, l use almond milk, berries, organic sugar, the regularity has finally come back. I take omgea supplement, probotices, vit,d,c a multi they all help, I use a lot of organics, and even there i have a lot of critisim.

I've been told that all this take time,,,,,,,,,,,,,\here's hoping so, because somedays l just fell like l want to sit down and die...

Lewiss

HI Lewis,

I know it can be rough. But if you can stay the course and find your way through the food intolerances maze it can be very worthwhile. It seems very common for other people, even our own family not to understand. Don't get too worried about that, as long as they aren't cc'ing you it doesn't matter a whole lot. Celiacs are only about 1% of the population so we aren't well understood generally speaking. Heck, most people don't even think about what they put in their bodies as long as it tastes good or it's cheap or it has a big advertising campaign behind it. How often do you see people reading ingredient labels at the grocery store? Not often I bet. Most people pic foods out by the picture on front of the package.

It sounds like you are on the right track with your diet. Simple eating is good eating. It is much easier to identify one baddie out of 10 ingredients than it is one baddie out of 100 ingredients. Simple food, simple diet, simple problem.

I feel pretty good most of the time now, I have energy when I get enough sleep and can do things again. 5 years ago I was pretty much a mess and didn't have much hope of getting better. But through lots of slow learning and eliminating bad foods I have gotten better. You can too.

My feet and legs are actually warm now and starting to look like real people's feet. And my toe nails are growing again and way better than before. Even a fungus on one toe went away with no drugs or anything from the doctor.

I still have to be careful of what I eat but it is ok since I feel better. Be patient and keep reading here and know we have been there too or are there right now in some cases. It sure seemed like things would not improve for me but they slowly did. Some strings of months were bad but then I would get better for a while and then get sick again for another 3 or 4 months. That kind of just kept happening for the last 4.5 years. I don''t think most people have that long a recovery but I am a slow learner it seems. The biggest positive change for me recntly was stopping all grapes and all alcohol. Really helped a lot. Darn grapes are bad news for me anyway. Well, enough rambling, keep with it and keep with us is my suggestion. We are not doctors but we live with this condition every day and know how to do that pretty well.

Try to get plenty of rest as your body need lots of lots of it to heal properly. That's always been a problem for me but even that is better. You can get there Lewiss, it may just take some time. Or you may improve much, much faster too.

[IrishHeart]

Yes, firm. And I did not realize high fiber foods would go through undigested. I started back up the probiotics and I'm going to get some digestive enzymes tonight. It's very new for me this whole going every day thing.

Firm is good. Easily passing is good. Daily is good

You've hit the trifecta!

If you are concerned about the undigested food, I'll tell you it happened to me since I can recall--my entire life.

And now, it does not.

Give your gut some time to heal, hon. It's only been a few weeks.

You have 20- 22 feet of intestines.

I am telling you this is not really a major issue.

Michael F. Picco, M.D. of the Mayo Clinic:

"Occasionally, you may see undigested food fragments in stool. This usually is high-fiber vegetable matter, which isn't digested by the enzymes in your digestive tract. Undigested food in stool generally isn't a problem unless it's accompanied by persistent diarrhea, weight loss or other changes in your bowel habits. If you have such signs and symptoms, consult your doctor."

Okay? okay!

Try the digestive enzymes (without HCL). If you have excessive stomach acid, adding acid is not a good idea. Some celiacs do have low stomach acid and betaine HCL is helpful, but if you do not have this issue, your gut is going to burn.

Try to relax about the BMs. You feel well, right? Enjoy the regularity---the majority of people on here would give anything for it.

[ker0pi]

You've hit the trifecta!

YEAH!!

Okay? okay!

Yes

Try the digestive enzymes (without HCL). If you have excessive stomach acid, adding acid is not a good idea. Some celiacs do have low stomach acid and betaine HCL is helpful, but if you do not have this issue, your gut is going to burn.

I have had really bad indigestion and heart burn over the years, one of the major reasons I started an organic whole foods diet, I was taking Zantac twice a day and still felt like I was dying half the time.

Try to relax about the BMs. You feel well, right? Enjoy the regularity---the majority of people on here would give anything for it.

Yes, I feel good, I feel incredible. I am off the anti-inflammatory meds, haven't taken a muscle relaxer since I started gluten-free, I have insane energy, and though I still slow down with some pain after physical activities I recover after just 15 minutes of rest instead of being done for the day once I hit that point.

[lewiss]

HI Lewis,

I know it can be rough. But if you can stay the course and find your way through the food intolerances maze it can be very worthwhile. It seems very common for other people, even our own family not to understand. Don't get too worried about that, as long as they aren't cc'ing you it doesn't matter a whole lot. Celiacs are only about 1% of the population so we aren't well understood generally speaking. Heck, most people don't even think about what they put in their bodies as long as it tastes good or it's cheap or it has a big advertising campaign behind it. How often do you see people reading ingredient labels at the grocery store? Not often I bet. Most people pic foods out by the picture on front of the package.

It sounds like you are on the right track with your diet. Simple eating is good eating. It is much easier to identify one baddie out of 10 ingredients than it is one baddie out of 100 ingredients. Simple food, simple diet, simple problem.

I feel pretty good most of the time now, I have energy when I get enough sleep and can do things again. 5 years ago I was pretty much a mess and didn't have much hope of getting better. But through lots of slow learning and eliminating bad foods I have gotten better. You can too.

My feet and legs are actually warm now and starting to look like real people's feet. And my toe nails are growing again and way better than before. Even a fungus on one toe went away with no drugs or anything from the doctor.

I still have to be careful of what I eat but it is ok since I feel better. Be patient and keep reading here and know we have been there too or are there right now in some cases. It sure seemed like things would not improve for me but they slowly did. Some strings of months were bad but then I would get better for a while and then get sick again for another 3 or 4 months. That kind of just kept happening for the last 4.5 years. I don''t think most people have that long a recovery but I am a slow learner it seems. The biggest positive change for me recntly was stopping all grapes and all alcohol. Really helped a lot. Darn grapes are bad news for me anyway. Well, enough rambling, keep with it and keep with us is my suggestion. We are not doctors but we live with this condition every day and know how to do that pretty well.

Try to get plenty of rest as your body need lots of lots of it to heal properly. That's always been a problem for me but even that is better. You can get there Lewiss, it may just take some time. Or you may improve much, much faster too.

Thanks for the encouragement, just a quick note, my toe nail are in bad shape, my energy was so low, the it hurt to walk, and my my sex life is almost none existance, i don't know if that is too much information, or if it is approperate to say, but i will anyways. Tonight i mowed the lawn, and was tired, but l am starting to get my air back.

Lewiss

[katjones]

This thread is making me chuckle. I had been under diagnosed for almost 10 years.(a long story for another thread).My DR called me the night of June 15th with my diagnoses and I spent the weekend shopping gluten-free and went totally gluten-free on June 18th. I feel soooo much better. My problem was diarrhea and lots of it ! I was just telling my grown son today that it is weird to be a normal pooper. I now go once a day.I don't know what to do with myself and all of this new found freedom away from the throne.

[IrishHeart]

Thanks for the encouragement, just a quick note, my toe nail are in bad shape, my energy was so low, the it hurt to walk, and my my sex life is almost none existance, i don't know if that is too much information, or if it is approperate to say, but i will anyways. Tonight i mowed the lawn, and was tired, but l am starting to get my air back.

Lewiss

You will see many positive changes, Lewiss. Just keep at it. Healing takes time. Baby steps are still steps forward, right? Most of the folks on here suffered those same symptoms, too.

....oh, and welcome to the Forum.

But just so we do not veer too far off the original poster's questions and to stay on the topic, (because who doesn't like a good conversation about poop?) ) maybe you could PM with G F inDC about the other symptoms ---or maybe start a new thread?

Thanks!

[IrishHeart]

Yes, I feel good, I feel incredible. I am off the anti-inflammatory meds, haven't taken a muscle relaxer since I started gluten-free, I have insane energy, and though I still slow down with some pain after physical activities I recover after just 15 minutes of rest instead of being done for the day once I hit that point.

FANTASTIC, kiddo!! ENJOY it!!

[ker0pi]

Thanks for the encouragement, just a quick note, my toe nail are in bad shape, my energy was so low, the it hurt to walk, and my my sex life is almost none existance, i don't know if that is too much information, or if it is approperate to say, but i will anyways. Tonight i mowed the lawn, and was tired, but l am starting to get my air back.

Lewiss

Lewiss - some of this sounds a little like me too, I had zero energy, I had to nap after grocery shopping - felt like I had run a marathon and was just exhausted. It hurt to walk for 4 years and got worse and worse, the toe nail thing is interesting - 4 years ago I developed fungal nails on 3 of my toes and they are just now starting to look like they are getting better. As for the sex life, not TMI - when you are in that much pain with no energy you feel anything but sexy and attractive - after 3+ weeks gluten-free, not really a problem anymore, hubby is quite happy about that. I'm glad your starting to feel better, stick with it.

[GFinDC]

Lewiss - some of this sounds a little like me too, I had zero energy, I had to nap after grocery shopping - felt like I had run a marathon and was just exhausted. It hurt to walk for 4 years and got worse and worse, the toe nail thing is interesting - 4 years ago I developed fungal nails on 3 of my toes and they are just now starting to look like they are getting better. As for the sex life, not TMI - when you are in that much pain with no energy you feel anything but sexy and attractive - after 3+ weeks gluten-free, not really a problem anymore, hubby is quite happy about that. I'm glad your starting to feel better, stick with it.

Hey hey, Yep, when your body is not constantly mounting a gorilla antibody war against gluten invaders it can start using those resources for other things. That can free up energy for other things that were not considered as vital before. Fighting disease is hard work and the body takes it seriously and puts a lot of effort into it.

For me I have a lot of reactions where my feet and ankles swell up. They were swollen for years actually before I went gluten-free. That swelling leads to poor circulation which is what made my feet/legs cold. They looked all mottled on the skin too. Anyway, I went to the doctor last year and he looked at my feet and said they look terrible. Thanks doc! Big help. He suggested an antibiotic cream and soaking them in hot water with epsom salts for an hour each day. I never did that so don't know if it would have helped. But his treatment for the outside of the body didn't seem to matter. Stopping eating grapes is what helped. Now my toenails are growing again and my feet look better.

People naturally lose thyroid and other hormone production as they age. Hormones decline in everyone, it's a natural aging process. So basically everyone is going to be hypothyroid at some point in their lives if they live that long. Other hormones decline as well like sex hormones, and insulin etc. I take a couple supplements now that help some. Maca is supposed to help hormone production and Rhodiola Rosea helps with energy and mood. I also take a thyroid supplement. I don't take much of the Rhodiola or maca, just a small amount. I tend not to be able to sleep if I take to whole Rhodiola capsule, 700 mg. So I put it in shaker and add a bit to food. It's bitter so that might not work for you. Maca I think helps some, but I don't do much of it either. People in South America use a lot more. It is really a root vegetable and they eat it as a vegetable. So they eat a lot of it, like we do potatoes or yams. Both of these are what you might call unproven alternative meds/herbs. They have no scientific papers research proving their effectiveness. Take a look around the internet and evaluate for yourself. I do recommend caution and small amounts only if you try them. I have no financial relation to any company selling these products. Of the two I think Rhodiola is the better bet. It definitely can have a strong effect. Just be cautious and don't overdo it. By the way, don't pay a lot for these herbs either, they can be found fairly cheap if you search around. Like I said 700 Mg of Rhodiola was too much for me on a daily basis. I had to take the capsules part and dump them out in a spice shaker so I could add a small amount to food. That was fairly easy to do. I washed out an old cinnamon spice shaker and reused it. I added some Maca to help it flow better. You could add sugar or salt instead. It is such a fine powder it would come out too fast by itself. So mixing it with something larger helps moderate the amount coming out of the shaker. Thins it out so to speak. Now what was this thread about again? :-) Sorry for the massively sideways tangent. I don't usually do that I don't think. - -

[ker0pi]

Maca is supposed to help hormone production and Rhodiola Rosea helps with energy and mood.

Both of these are what you might call unproven alternative meds/herbs. They have no scientific papers research proving their effectiveness. Take a look around the internet and evaluate for yourself. I do recommend caution and small amounts only if you try them. I have no financial relation to any company selling these products. Of the two I think Rhodiola is the better bet. It definitely can have a strong effect. Just be cautious and don't overdo it. By the way, don't pay a lot for these herbs either, they can be found fairly cheap if you search around. Like I said 700 Mg of Rhodiola was too much for me on a daily basis. I had to take the capsules part and dump them out in a spice shaker so I could add a small amount to food.

I think I go off on a tangent ALL the time Thank You for the herbal suggestions. I actually worked at an herb store, keeping the books, for 8 years and have several good friends who are herbalist and nutritionist who have been immensely helpful and full of suggestions. I just feel odd talking to them about my BM's (see back on topic). And no one I know has Celiac or NCGI, they understand functionally about what it does based on their education and are fully supportive about it's existence, just don't understand what it is like to live it. So I come here and feel less abnormal.

[IrishHeart]

So I come here and feel less abnormal.

You are not abnormal. We're not abnormal.

Ever think THEY are the abnormal ones?? (I do :lol: )

We get it.

[GFinDC]

I think I go off on a tangent ALL the time Thank You for the herbal suggestions. I actually worked at an herb store, keeping the books, for 8 years and have several good friends who are herbalist and nutritionist who have been immensely helpful and full of suggestions. I just feel odd talking to them about my BM's (see back on topic). And no one I know has Celiac or NCGI, they understand functionally about what it does based on their education and are fully supportive about it's existence, just don't understand what it is like to live it. So I come here and feel less abnormal.

Oh boy, the people I pick to tell about herbs! LOL Eight years in an herb store? You probably know more about herbs than I will ever know. Oh well, maybe I will start a thread about herbs for input form people. We have a member named Yolo who is into herbs too. She often has good suggestions.

It's good you found us then. Yep, living it is very different from being aware of it. When it affects you every day it is not something you can ignore. but it does become something that is easier to live with over time, and not a big problem really.

[IrishHeart]

Yep, living it is very different from being aware of it. When it affects you every day it is not something you can ignore. but it does become something that is easier to live with over time, and not a big problem really.

amen, brother.