Intestinal Healing

[JWood]

About 6 Month ago it was suggested I had Celiacs by my Doctor. I had intestinal symptoms and most telling, rashes on my arm that were especially aggravated when I drank beer.

I cut out gluten products, but cheated a few times on an occasional breaded appetizer at an Italian Restaurant. (It was harder to give up than the beer!) My symptoms improved, my skin began to clear up, and it appeared that did a great job.

I am 27, in good shape. About two weeks ago i made a pact to stop even ingesting the smallest quantity of gluten because I felt I was getting more and more sensitive. I would probably "cheat" very minimally, (maybe one mozzerella stick if that) up until this commitment.

These last two weeks have been brutal since this decision early in the week. My intestines feel like they are in knots.

I did do some drinking on the weekends, but the Sunday after there was never a problem. (I will be cutting out the alcohol for a period of time next to isolate this variable) My job as a business owner also involves a high level of stress the past few weeks (could this be why?) I have been drinking a lot of blueberry juice for the nutrition, and eating lean meats such as chicken.

My diet is the following:

Gluten Free Cornflakers for Breakfest, skim milk, OJ, Vitamin C, Multivitamin, Blueberry Juice. i also tried this Activia Yogurt, however, the intestinal symptoms getting worse occured before this variable.

Lunch: Either I skip lunch or have a Chefs Salad with Chicken Eggs, Spinach, Vegetables, Vinegrette

Dinner: Either Chicken, Potato Pasta w/parm cheese, Steak, Spinach, Rice Pasta

I have recently been reading up on healing the intestines. Do your intestines get worse before they get better? How long does this take. on average, if you can heal your intestines, what can i eventually go back to eating.

I am intersted in peopls experiences, because things have gotten worse when i thought they would get better.

Thanks for reading...

[emcmaster]

The simple answer is that your intestines aren't going to heal unless you stop cheating and stop ingesting any trace amounts of gluten.

[Lisa]

With your removal of most gluten, your system may be becoming more sensitive. It's often recommended that you give up dairy for a while, which will allow your system to heal. A gradual re-introduction is often successful.

If you do have Celiac (no "s"), your system is pretty beat up. Go easy, with simple foods like meat, fish, rice, potatoes, veggies and fruit. Yoplait yogurt is gluten free (aside from the crumbs and cookies), but not sure about Activia.

Get yourself a toaster just for your use and check your meds, vitamins, lotions, lipsticks/balms and shampoos. Review anything that can get into your mouth.

Good luck and hope this was helpful.

[Armae]

Hi Jwood, I'm sorry I don't think I can be of much help but I am in a similar position and it has been about the same time since diagnosis for me too, so it would be interesting to see what other people have to say about it.

In my experience at least, I've felt worse before I've gotten better, and I am yet to actually get better! heh

My gastroenterologist told me that the longer you have had undiagnosed, untreated celiac disease, the longer it takes for the intestines to heal, so it can take months for some or years for others, depending on the extent of intestinal damage.

Your diet (sans the beer!) sounds pretty good IMO, especially if you don't skip lunch.

Good luck!

-Armae

[chasbari]

Once I went gluten free I started to feel not worse. When I went very strict paleo I began to feel better. I was crazy hungry at first and, in fact, am going through a patch where I can't get enough to eat regardless. I know that I began to feel everything in my gut once I began gluten-free including raging hunger. It had been about ten years since I had actually felt the feeling of true hunger as I was just constantly bloated. I also encountered intestinal spasms and have, on occasion general pain. I could not tolerate any alternative grains, soy, corn or dairy as I am dealing with leaky gut. I anticipate being able to slowly add things in after I give the gut time to heal. I have lost 20 pounds in the two months and the temptation is always there to dive in to a box of jelly donuts or my wife's chocolate chip cookies but my physical health is getting so much better in spite of all the challenges of dietary compliance. Good luck.

CS

[ang1e0251]

  JWood said:

My diet is the following:

Gluten Free Cornflakers for Breakfest, skim milk, OJ, Vitamin C, Multivitamin, Blueberry Juice. i also tried this Activia Yogurt, however, the intestinal symptoms getting worse occured before this variable.

Lunch: Either I skip lunch or have a Chefs Salad with Chicken Eggs, Spinach, Vegetables, Vinegrette

Dinner: Either Chicken, Potato Pasta w/parm cheese, Steak, Spinach, Rice Pasta

A couple of things I noticed. Another poster mentioned dairy. If you drop dairy, take the yogurt along with it for now. Also I know I could not tolerate fruits for several months until I healed some and you are having a lot. I don't know if that's part of the problem but it's worth a test. Like dairy, fruit can often be added back in after awhile.

The biggest red flag to me was the vinagrette. I've read that some have gluten. What are the ingredients?

[MaryJones2]

Is Activia gluten-free? I thought they used barley in their natural flavors.

[thleensd]

Activa is not ok... most of the links I found were old, but many of them indicated that there was either cross contamination or that the flavorings are not ok! So, you should definitely replace that in your diet.

Hang in there! Most of us here have has plenty of trials with patience and frustration!

[katerinoula18]

Activia contains gluten!!! Be careful! This is how I got glutened for the first time after going gluten-free and it took me a week to get over my symptoms.

[katharos]

Yoplait yogurt is gluten free (aside from the crumbs and cookies), but not sure about Activia.

When I was comparing yogurts, I noticed that most say "contains live active cultures including . . ." Yoplait was a notable exception. Also, it seems to have too much other chemical junk added for my comfort. I suspect that the finished yogurt is pasteurized to stop further probiotic growth, and you're therefore not actually getting any beneficial microorganisms from yoplait. Just some food for thought.

Asher