Tired Of Being Tired, Help.......

[sandiz]

I have been gluten-free for 8 months. The first month I had so much energy, it was scary. I have had some episodes(usually from work) that seem to last 2-3 weeks to get back to "normal" I break out in what looks like boils, lower tummy very tender and bloated, constipated, diarrhea, brain fog, sleeplessness. Lately my sleep has been on a 2 hr cycle it is hard to get to sleep and stay asleep. If I am up in the middle of the night I am awake for hours.

I have no energy, tired all the time. My diet is is gluten-free, I have my own cupboard for my food. My husband eats what I cook, he has his cupboard with his cookies and bread for work. My body craves fruit and homemade veg soup, not much meat or starch.

Any suggestions for boosting energy? How long does it take for others while getting off gluten?

[BRUMI1968]

I have been gluten-free for 8 months. The first month I had so much energy, it was scary. I have had some episodes(usually from work) that seem to last 2-3 weeks to get back to "normal" I break out in what looks like boils, lower tummy very tender and bloated, constipated, diarrhea, brain fog, sleeplessness. Lately my sleep has been on a 2 hr cycle it is hard to get to sleep and stay asleep. If I am up in the middle of the night I am awake for hours.

I have no energy, tired all the time. My diet is is gluten-free, I have my own cupboard for my food. My husband eats what I cook, he has his cupboard with his cookies and bread for work. My body craves fruit and homemade veg soup, not much meat or starch.

Any suggestions for boosting energy? How long does it take for others while getting off gluten?

Hi. I don't know how long your Celiac disease was active, but if for any length of time, you are probably deficient in all sorts of vitamins and minerals, which puts a real hurt on your hormonal system and other systems too really. One thing I would look into, if you have not already, are your iron levels and your B12 levels. B12 is absorbed through interacting with stomach acid, and many celiac sufferers have low stomach acid (even if they feel they have an acid stomach). Your adrenals are probably tired, especially if your sleep patterns are disturbed. It is best for your adrenals if you are asleep by 10pm (or at least eyes closed and resting) ... and then obviously having uninterrupted sleep is best. I can't tell by your post if you are waking up becuase you don't feel good, if it is for another reason. B12 you could take w/o getting your levels checked and see if it makes any difference. Iron on the other hand can be toxic at high levels so you should get tested if you can before adding that. It can cause constipation so you should look into a kind form the healthfood store that does not do so.

You might be protein deficient too, and that's coming from someone who is vegetarian and hates having folks assume she does not get enough protein. The fruit craving is probably liquid, vitamins, and mostly sugar - the veggie soup...hmmmm...you're making me hungry. Is there some healthy starch you could add, such as sweet potato or potato even, that might give you a bit of a boost? I did not eat potatoes for a couple years (they are nightshades and require calcium to digest and bla bla bla other stuff too) but now do and I immediately had more energy. I guess it was the starch.

One other thing I noticed about your post is that you tend to wake up and then be unable to go back to sleep. For what it's worth, in Chinese medicine they talk about the liver being clogged or overworked if you are able to go to sleep, but not stay asleep. I don't know if you can take a liver cleanser or tonic or anything or if that interests you, but it might be something to think about.

[Skylark]

I was thinking the same thing about the cravings and nutrition. I used to crave fruit too. I would buy smoothies, V-8, and those heavy-duty Odwalla juices at the health food store and I usually felt a little better. Emergen-C was another thing I used to really like. I stopped craving fruit so much when I got onto my heavy duty mulitvitamin/mineral/trace element supplement. It's interesting as I think about it because I've been experimenting with taking less and I came home from Costco with a case of V-8. (Note to self: back to higher dose of vitamins!)

I bet you need to get on a good multivitamin/mineral. Fruits and veggies have lots of soluble vitamins and trace elements. Solgar makes really good supplements. I also need to take a couple capsules of double-strength fish oil every day to sleep well.

Also, you might want to get your thryoid checked. Lots of us have thyroid problems.

[kaki-clam]

I have been gluten-free for 8 months. The first month I had so much energy, it was scary. I have had some episodes(usually from work) that seem to last 2-3 weeks to get back to "normal" I break out in what looks like boils, lower tummy very tender and bloated, constipated, diarrhea, brain fog, sleeplessness. Lately my sleep has been on a 2 hr cycle it is hard to get to sleep and stay asleep. If I am up in the middle of the night I am awake for hours.

I have no energy, tired all the time. My diet is is gluten-free, I have my own cupboard for my food. My husband eats what I cook, he has his cupboard with his cookies and bread for work. My body craves fruit and homemade veg soup, not much meat or starch.

Any suggestions for boosting energy? How long does it take for others while getting off gluten?

I have been gluten free for nine months ( I mention this as it isn't much longer than yourself) and have the same problems with sleep. When I do sleep I have terrible scary dreams about people stalking me and/or trying to kill me, which pretty much means that the sleep I get isn't the deep kind that your body needs. My doc just put me on Kava Kava and 5-HTP both to help calm my anxiety and assist in sleeping. I went the sleeping pill route and it didn't work for me...but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a shot. Talk to your doc and see what s/he says about the sleep thing...life without sleep has been very rough. I have just started the other things so I will try to remember to let you know how they are working. If you find something that works for you I'd love to hear about it..and worse case...we can stay up all night together chatting

[anabananakins]

Tiredness could also be vitamin D deficiency. My iron and b12 were fine but my Vit D was terribly low - I scored 2 and he said it should be at least 50, optimum 70 and mine being so low explained why I feel like death warmed up. It puts you at risk of a bunch of awful things so worth getting tested.

[RiceGuy]

I agree with the suggestion of vitamins, especially B12 and other B vitamins. All the suggestions so far seem worth considering.

I find I sleep way better now than I ever could before. Even after being gluten-free for quite awhile, sleep just wasn't something I'd get much of, and what little I got wasn't quality sleep. But since I started taking a sublingual methylcobalamin (active form of B12) tablet, I sleep quite well. I take 5mg about an hour before going to sleep, which seems to make it work even better. I think the sublingual tablet/lozenge type is better than the liquid, because it stays under the tongue far longer, allowing better absorption.

Hope you feel better soon!

[sandiz]

Hi. I don't know how long your Celiac disease was active, but if for any length of time, you are probably deficient in all sorts of vitamins and minerals, which puts a real hurt on your hormonal system and other systems too really. One thing I would look into, if you have not already, are your iron levels and your B12 levels. B12 is absorbed through interacting with stomach acid, and many celiac sufferers have low stomach acid (even if they feel they have an acid stomach). Your adrenals are probably tired, especially if your sleep patterns are disturbed. It is best for your adrenals if you are asleep by 10pm (or at least eyes closed and resting) ... and then obviously having uninterrupted sleep is best. I can't tell by your post if you are waking up becuase you don't feel good, if it is for another reason. B12 you could take w/o getting your levels checked and see if it makes any difference. Iron on the other hand can be toxic at high levels so you should get tested if you can before adding that. It can cause constipation so you should look into a kind form the healthfood store that does not do so.

You might be protein deficient too, and that's coming from someone who is vegetarian and hates having folks assume she does not get enough protein. The fruit craving is probably liquid, vitamins, and mostly sugar - the veggie soup...hmmmm...you're making me hungry. Is there some healthy starch you could add, such as sweet potato or potato even, that might give you a bit of a boost? I did not eat potatoes for a couple years (they are nightshades and require calcium to digest and bla bla bla other stuff too) but now do and I immediately had more energy. I guess it was the starch.

One other thing I noticed about your post is that you tend to wake up and then be unable to go back to sleep. For what it's worth, in Chinese medicine they talk about the liver being clogged or overworked if you are able to go to sleep, but not stay asleep. I don't know if you can take a liver cleanser or tonic or anything or if that interests you, but it might be something to think about.

Thanks you for your post. I was diagnosed with IBS for over 10yrs. I do eat meat every day and starch, potatoe and rice. Canned fruit goes to work with me I have bananas, strawberries, blueberries, melons. Lately it is corn on the cob, being the season for it too, but that is my starch choice as of now. Iron and thyroid checked in Jan and was told everything was fine. I was taking vit D for my SAD in the winter time and thankfully this was the first yr I didn't get too depressed. Yes I have had scary dreams and vivid dreams, but also I wake because I am not feeling good or not go to sleep because I am not feeling good. This also puts a damper on your personal live.