SGWhiskers

Before diagnosis and while I was in the intial months of healing, this was a major symptom for me. It hurt to towel dry after a shower. That was when I knew my doctors were full of crap and I needed to get aggressive with finding out what was wrong. I remember curling up in a ball and crying to my husband one day because my towel and my sleeves and his touch were hurting my skin so badly. I had already been to a neurologist to no avail.

Once I got my diagnosis, it took a few weeks, but things improved a little. The stricter I got with my diet, the better my skin felt. After about 3 months, the towels and sleeves didn't hurt anymore. 6-9 months later, I was able to tolerate my husband nicely touching my arm or leg without it making my skin crawl. Now 2.5 years later I'm retraining him to give me a back rub like a normal person again.

Time on the gluten free diet really does move faster the longer you are in the diet. Hang in there. It's hard to believe now, but it really does get easier as time passes and as you see baby steps toward improvement. As a side note, all of my neurologic symptoms have improved on the gluten-free diet, but not have been eliminated totally. Almost all are back to a level which is intermittently annoying, but not impairing.

Trigger point therapy was very effective in helping speed up getting rid of the muscle knots that went along with my tender skin. I had both trigger point injections and a physical therapist who taught me trigger point release to do at home. I was pretty aggressive in doing 30-90 minutes at night before bed while I watched TV.

We know that endometriosis is suspected to have an autoimmune connection if not being an autoimmune disease in its own right. We also know that PCOS is related to diabeties and that diabeties can be related to Celiac. It does not surprise me that either of these conditions would respond to a gluten-free diet. The malnutriton that celiac causes can also have an affect on menstural cycles.

I have endometriosis which did see a mild improvement in pain levels after going gluten free. My cycle length/frequency/ and strength also changed after going gluten-free, but it may be that I was approaching peri-menopause. Of course it may not be since instead of menopause, I wound up happily pregnant. Come to think of it, that's a pretty big change in the menstural cycle as a result of gluten-free.

I've seen several of you post about endometriosis. Like celiac, it is often overlooked and has a multi-year lag between when the disease affects a person's life and when it is diagnosed. My experience has been that doctors are either ignorant, incompotant, or uncaring in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. After years of suffering undiagnosed with it, I learned about the disease and put the pressure on my doctors for a diagnosis and better treatment. While it's been 10 years since my diagnosis, my understanding is that the only test for the disease is a diagnostic laparoscopy. Without one, doctors can't say you do or don't have endo. The problem with doing a diagnostic laparoscopy on anyone that might have endo is that a) it's major surgery and it causes scarring which causes adhesions which cause pain. It really is a balancing act by the ob/gyns to figure out the best timing for the laparoscopy becuase during one, they can treat the endo and hopefully reduce the pain levels and restore some fertility. Menstural pain is the hallmark of endo and hormonal treatments like birth control pills are the best method of controlling pain and preserving fertility. In retrospect, if I had been aware the symptoms and the full spectrum of damage of endo, I would have insisted on starting birth control pills even when I didn't need them for actual birth control many years sooner. Even if I was just suspicious of the disease. Oh, and reproductive endocrinologists are the experts in endometriosis. You don't have to be trying to get pregnant to see one.

Is it always instantly??

I made a stupid mistake last night and ate some tastee sandwiches, well just the meat, no bread. My grandma thought they were fine, well after this morning I am thinking they were not. I looked up the recipe and there was liption onion soup mix, which pretty positive that is not okay if that is the recipe they used. Guess I can't assume anything, lesson learned.

I've been going to the bathroom a lot, stomach cramps, and joint pain....probably gluten, huh?? I didn't know if it had soy sauce (allergic to soy), but I don't think so.

I was just curious, I am usually VERY careful.....how long does it last for you??

I'm sorry about the glutening. It's always an awful mistake. I get primarily neuro reactions starting 45 minutes after ingestion. It peaks at days 2 and 3 then gets tolerable by day 5-6. I still feel poorly for 2+ weeks, but it's manageable. I hope you are feeling better soon and just remember that the potty problems are helping to rid that poison from your system. I wish I had a magic cure for getting rid of the symptoms. Oh, how I wish that.

thank you so much for your posts. The chili was great and I'm back to using it again. (I had it on my suspect list after a couple bad reactions, but I later put the cc'ed corn chips at the top of that list).

The label says several safe ingredients, then "spices". I know that mixed "spices" can be a red flag, but then I keep hearing McCormick's is safe. So, What is the verdict on McCormics "spices" as an ingredient in one of their bottled spices? It is the same size/shape as all my pure spices from McCormics in the little glass bottles.

Chili is in the crock pot waiting for some oomph for tomorrow's lunch time guests.

Thanks all you experienced Celiac's.

Oh! and SIL bought a gluten free apple pie for tomorrow from a speciality bakery near her house! I LOVE pie and have not had it in a year. Think she will let me eat it all myself? Maybe no one else will like it. A girl can dream....