White Mucus.. Sign Of Detox Or Something Else?

[laughingduck]

Hello, I have been having issues with my gut for several years, and following an endoscopy a couple months ago my doctor suggested I may have celiac disease and to go off gluten to see how I feel. I am a 28 year old female, and not your typical celiac, if I am indeed a celiac. I am about 10lbs overweight, not underweight like most celiacs. I do however have a lot of issues with stomach pain, dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea and constipation, psoriasis, and joint pain.

Anyways the reason I am posting here is (sorry) kind of a gross one. Since going off gluten a month ago, I occasionally noticed a small bit of white mucus in my stool. One week ago I went to a friend

[ravenwoodglass]

Mucous in your digestive system forms because your body is trying to protect itself. It can take a while for a reaction to completely resolve so your system may still be trying to protect you.

[laughingduck]

Thanks for responding ravenswoodglass. I know mucus is a sign of my bowel being unhappy, which is why I am confused as to why I only noticed this AFTER i went gluten-free? How does that make sense? Is my body getting rid of excess mucus because it no longer needs it?

On another topic do you do glasswork? I do fused glass and lampworking. I just noticed your username thought I'd ask!

[wschmucks]

You have tp be 100% gluten free for several months to notice a difference and it takes about a year or more to heal the gut, so going gluten free for a little bit and cheating when at a friends house really doesn't qualify as being gluten free long enough to give your body a chance to really improve and heal. It isnt uncommon to have symptoms several months after being gluten free. Weight gain also plauges a large population of Celiacs (me included), so that isnt a sign that you dont have it.

[mushroom]

Hi laughingduck. There is no such thing as a "typical" celiac. That is a mistake a lot of doctors make, but after reading around on this forum you will find we are so varied that you begin to get an idea of why it is hard to diagnose.

As for your question, I have my own theory about the mucous, which may belong in a cocked hat , but which is how I look at it. When you are bombarding your intestine with gluten it is overwhelmed and can't react, except with bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and leaky gut which then lets your body react with autoimmune antibodies and creates a whole cascade of other illnesses. Once you remove the gluten, your intestine can finally start the healing process. The first thing is does is lay down the protective mucosal coating, and I would think as long as you are passing mucous in your stool you are still healing. Once you are healed you shouldn't need the mucous any more and it will go away. This is a pretty simplistic explanation, but I think it may be close to what happens. At least it is a way to look at it and stop worrying about the mucous. Probably most of us have had varying amounts of mucous in the stool, and with me it was after I quit gluten and was healing.

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks for responding ravenswoodglass. I know mucus is a sign of my bowel being unhappy, which is why I am confused as to why I only noticed this AFTER i went gluten-free? How does that make sense? Is my body getting rid of excess mucus because it no longer needs it?

On another topic do you do glasswork? I do fused glass and lampworking. I just noticed your username thought I'd ask!

Yes I do work with glass. I do mosaics mostly on clear glass or mirrors. I have always wanted to learn fusing, I even bought a kiln a long time ago. It still sits unused at this point. Hopefully a class at Corning Glass is in my future in both fusing and how to properly work with lead came. I love sunlight shining through colors and spaying them all over the house.

[ang1e0251]

You sound like a typical celiac to me. I would only add to the good replies you've already had that when you go on and off the gluten-free diet you put some pretty hard stress on your healing system. Weird reactions can occur then and sometimes that on again off again can trigger new problems you've never seen before. It's never a good idea to yo yo like that.

[laughingduck]

As for your question, I have my own theory about the mucous, which may belong in a cocked hat , but which is how I look at it. When you are bombarding your intestine with gluten it is overwhelmed and can't react, except with bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and leaky gut which then lets your body react with autoimmune antibodies and creates a whole cascade of other illnesses. Once you remove the gluten, your intestine can finally start the healing process. The first thing is does is lay down the protective mucosal coating, and I would think as long as you are passing mucous in your stool you are still healing. Once you are healed you shouldn't need the mucous any more and it will go away. This is a pretty simplistic explanation, but I think it may be close to what happens. At least it is a way to look at it and stop worrying about the mucous. Probably most of us have had varying amounts of mucous in the stool, and with me it was after I quit gluten and was healing.

Interesting that you also experienced this after quitting gluten! That theory kind of makes sense. Especially since my stomach pain and nausea has gotten much better, my psoriasis seems to be fading, and my acid indigestion is going away. I have neither diarrhea nor constipation, just this gross mucus . I guess it could be a sign of healing. I am going to ask my doctor about it when I next see him in a couple weeks!

[laughingduck]

You sound like a typical celiac to me. I would only add to the good replies you've already had that when you go on and off the gluten-free diet you put some pretty hard stress on your healing system. Weird reactions can occur then and sometimes that on again off again can trigger new problems you've never seen before. It's never a good idea to yo yo like that.

Ya I know, I guess I was curious to see if anything would happen if I ate some gluten. Once I know for sure that I am celiac and not something else I will definitely be more careful!

[laughingduck]

Yes I do work with glass. I do mosaics mostly on clear glass or mirrors. I have always wanted to learn fusing, I even bought a kiln a long time ago. It still sits unused at this point. Hopefully a class at Corning Glass is in my future in both fusing and how to properly work with lead came. I love sunlight shining through colors and spaying them all over the house.

I do too! Glass is awesome! I am self-taught, learned from online tutorials etc. Fused glass is easy once you get the hang of it!

[Dagwood]

I have been having alot of mucus discharge and its clear/yellow and not foul. Its strange...makes sense about the intestine protecting itself but I cant stand it. I took Loratadine and the mucus slowed for half a day and restarted...extremely frustrating.

[Reba32]

may also be excess yeast, or even a bacterial infection.