Advice Needed

[JgeorgeSCR]

After 2 months of intense stomach pain and recent hand rash...was diagnosed with Celiac Sprue. My questions or worries are this?

1.) Can loud stomach growling come from Celiac Disease?

2.) After starting gluten diet is it possible you can still have stomach pain? If so how long before pain subsides?

3.) Can certain foods ie. high fat or corn be hard to digest at first

I have less pain, but can't understand why stomach growls so much. Has anyone had or heard of these symtems before? I would appreciate any advice since all my PCP did was tell me biopsy was positive for Sprue and to stay away from gluten and come back in 2 months. Followed up with Nutritionist so hopefully that will help. Thank you.

[Lisa]

Welcome to the Club! You have gotten the typical Doctor response. "Yup, Celiac", a pat on the back and the door hits you on the way out.

You have found the best site available for information regarding Celiac and its associated issues.

Questions/Answers:

1. Yes, Celiac stomach noises can wake the dead.

2. It has taken some time for you to be symptomatic and it will take some time to heal. Healing can occur only

with a TOTAL gluten free diet.

3. It is often recommended to eliminate dairy for a while until you do some healing (reason is rather scientific

and I won't get into it now). Corn, Celiac or not, is difficult to digest.

Beginning advise is to stay simple. Meat, seafood, fresh veggies, rice, potatoes and fruit in their most natural form is a good start. A new toaster is a must and watch out for scratched pots and pans, because gluten can hide anywhere. Check you meds, supplements, shampoos or anything that can find it's way into your mouth.

Learning to read labels will be your salvation.

And the best that I have to offer is to read as much as you can from this site. If you have a question, it has been asked here and we have some really great people to share their experience.

[Ursa Major]

I found that at first I couldn't tolerate anything raw at all. I had to cook all vegetables and fruits to be well cooked, or they would give me terrible stomach cramps (which obviously means no salad either). It took six months on the gluten-free diet before I could even eat a salad.

Also, the replacement gluten-free foods are very hard to digest. It is very likely that at least for a few months you can't digest any dairy, and should probably avoid soy as well.

The best thing to do is to eat very simple foods, like stir fry with only meat and vegetables, everything well cooked, and things like apple sauce, or cooked fruit.

It takes a while to heal, the gluten-free diet is not going to instantly fix your intestinal damage.

[WhimsiKay]

It seems like I'm having a hard time with meat, even... It seriously makes me feel like I can't eat anything but dry, bland stuff. So far, I've had horrible responses to bacon, steak, and burgers (with no bun).

I've been gluten-free (as much as I can, learning as I go) for a few weeks. There's been improvement, but I still find myself getting randomly sick from -- who knows? I don't and can't tell.

So, is it possible that meat could be just tough on my system?

[lizard00]

It seems like I'm having a hard time with meat, even... It seriously makes me feel like I can't eat anything but dry, bland stuff. So far, I've had horrible responses to bacon, steak, and burgers (with no bun).

I've been gluten-free (as much as I can, learning as I go) for a few weeks. There's been improvement, but I still find myself getting randomly sick from -- who knows? I don't and can't tell.

So, is it possible that meat could be just tough on my system?

I personally cannot tolerate a whole lot of red meat. My body just doesn't seem to break it down very well. And that was pre Celiac days. It got worse before it got better for me, but I still can't do a lot of it. When my stomach is rearing its ugly head, I stick with my safe, go to foods: chicken, rice, and bananas. (of course, not in that order! LOL ) But for me, these things I can always eat when I'm feeling particularly bad and not feel worse. So, find those foods that work for you and try not to eat them everyday, but allow them to get you through. In Jan, pretty much everything I ate made me sick. So I had my trust three foods... for about a week or two. Then as I felt better, I SLOWLY added things in. Certain things I know just not to eat a lot of, even now.

And here comes my standard recommendation for unknowns: keep a food journal. It doesn't take long to pinpoint what foods are working against you. And then you can cut them out and go from there. It could be that since you are still in the early days of being gluten-free, you just can't tolerate some things, like dairy or soy, but later on maybe you will be able to.

Hope that helps!!

Liz