Intestinal Healing Time

[Ms. Skinny Chic]

My Physician put me on the gluten free diet recently.

I was dx'ed for having issues with wheat as a kid, which I ignored as an adult.( BIG MISTAKE)

Currently, the gluten free diet is going great.

I would like to know how long it took some members here to heal internally.

I am tired of looking sickly and skinny...

PS. I have read it takes from 3 months to 2 years to heal on some medical websites. My doctor say's a few months possibly and the change should be dramatic.

What were your experiences with this???????????????

[ShayFL]

No drama here....still healing....slowly but surely.

[MaryJones2]

  Ms. Skinny Chic said:

My Physician put me on the gluten free diet recently.

I was dx'ed for having issues with wheat as a kid, which I ignored as an adult.( BIG MISTAKE)

Currently, the gluten free diet is going great.

I would like to know how long it took some members here to heal internally.

I am tired of looking sickly and skinny...

PS. I have read it takes from 3 months to 2 years to heal on some medical websites. My doctor say's a few months possibly and the change should be dramatic.

What were your experiences with this???????????????

I'd say 3 months to 2 years is pretty accurate. It took about 18 months before I felt great every day. It really helped me the first year to ask myself do you feel better this month than last month? And now I ask that in years. So, it does take a while but your doctor is right that you'll see some pretty dramatic changes in the first few months. Best of luck.

[pele]

I am into my 20th gluten free month and still healing. I got a bit better at first then things went downhill until I went on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. This is a grain-free, sugar-free healing diet for gut ailments. It has made a huge difference.

Depending on how long you have been malnourished, you may have damage to your endocrine system, nervous system, liver, bones, etc. that may require more than dietary change. Have you had yor Vit D level checked? This is very important. Some docs will order a blood panel to check various Vit B levels, iron and so on.

My GI doc said the gut heals in 3 weeks of going gluten-free. A lot he knows.

[TrillumHunter]

It's been a year and half for me. I have noticed my digestion seems more regular over the last month. I had lots of ups and downs over the past 18 months. I had my gallbladder out at the end of July and I have gotten consistently better since then. Nothing seems to bother me anymore but my whole family is gluten free and I don't eat many processed foods. I also don't eat out very often. Two years of being very careful and taking good care of one's self seems reasonable to me. Three weeks sounds laughable.

I will say within a month of going gluten-free I felt tremendously better in general. The fog and fatigue lifted that quick. But the c&d and all the tummy trouble took much longer.

[mftnchn]

I'm 18 months gluten-free and still have lots of ups and downs. I started SCD in July and it has also made quite a difference for me. Healing was slowed or prevented due to villi damage for me that prevented me from make carb digest enzymes. So eating carbs was causing more damage, lots of bacteria/parasites to flourish, etc.

My genotype is associated with more damage and slower healing, so I am simply hoping to see more stability and improvement by 2 years.

[spunky]

I'm only self-diagnosed but my experience says 2 years is your safest bet. I've read on the net where some people say they got better faster than that... for me, though, my first six months were like an intestinal roller coaster... after six months, I started having good days that seemed normal for the first time in many years... then a lot of back and forth, reacting weirdly to foods I'd never reacted to before, thinking I was glutened by cc here and there and never sure... and FINALLY, when I hit the 2 year mark I was having consistently decent health. Now I'm just over 2 1/2 years, and I feel GREAT every single day. It was a long haul, and some days I felt like I wasn't getting better.

You might get lucky, and I do hope so, but you might wanna plan on giving it a couple of years to really see consistent, good health come back.

[Ms. Skinny Chic]

  spunky said:

I'm only self-diagnosed but my experience says 2 years is your safest bet. I've read on the net where some people say they got better faster than that... for me, though, my first six months were like an intestinal roller coaster... after six months, I started having good days that seemed normal for the first time in many years... then a lot of back and forth, reacting weirdly to foods I'd never reacted to before, thinking I was glutened by cc here and there and never sure... and FINALLY, when I hit the 2 year mark I was having consistently decent health. Now I'm just over 2 1/2 years, and I feel GREAT every single day. It was a long haul, and some days I felt like I wasn't getting better.

You might get lucky, and I do hope so, but you might wanna plan on giving it a couple of years to really see consistent, good health come back.

I am hoping for a miracle. My problem is that my school attendance is starting to be a problem. Half the time, I am sick or having intestinal issues. I have noticed my weight is improving slowly. In the early stages of the gluten diet - I was eating things accidentally that contained gluten & wheat. That is what slowed my healing down - All those accidental flare ups, after having contact with bad foods. It seems a lot of people here require two years to get to a normal place in their lives.

Great to hear, you are doing better now..

[Ms. Skinny Chic]

  mftnchn said:

I'm 18 months gluten-free and still have lots of ups and downs. I started SCD in July and it has also made quite a difference for me. Healing was slowed or prevented due to villi damage for me that prevented me from make carb digest enzymes. So eating carbs was causing more damage, lots of bacteria/parasites to flourish, etc.

My genotype is associated with more damage and slower healing, so I am simply hoping to see more stability and improvement by 2 years.

It seems everyone here is overcoming the celiac obstacle slowly.

PS. I wish you the best with your recovery.