Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Going gluten-free, Will Bloating Go Away? Withdrawals?

yumyummum

Recommended Posts

yumyummum Rookie
yumyummum
Posted

I am awaiting biopsy results but I was in so much upper abdomen pain and was SUPER bloated that I decided to just go gluten free and not wait. I felt really alert the first day! I was shocked! But I had really bad stomach pain for a few days still and decided to cut out dairy too as well as onions and beans for now to see if anything helped.

It has only barely a week and I haven't had pain. I am still bloated though, definately not AS bad but still really noticeable.

How long does it take before you know? Will I know?

I am already thinking about adding dairy back to see and because it is so hard doing both at once. I figure if it hurts I will stop. I don;t have a Drs appt until the 19th and that just seems sooo far away.

ALSO- I feel so hungry even after I eat, does it just take time to adjust? At first I was CRAVING sooo badly, like I felt like I was going through withdrawals!! Did anyone else feel like this?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

You are definitely not alone! Withdrawals are very common and often last for 2-4 weeks, so just hang in there, it will get better. Also, food cravings and hunger are common because your body has been starved of nutrients for so long and it will take a while to catch up. I hope your doc. will check you for nutrient deficiencies.

Don't add dairy back! Gluten causes damage to the part of the intestine that produces the enzyme that digests lactose. It will take a while for the intestine to heal and that part of the intestine (the villi ) which produces the enzyme to grow back. Until you are producing this enzyme again you will have problems with lactose (gas and bloating from the fermenting lactose). I know it is hard cutting out a lot of things at once, but it is even harder feeling sick :rolleyes:

The general bloating may last for a while as your intestine has to heal before you start digesting all your food properly. Many of us take probiotics and digestive enzymes when we go gluten free to (a) help in the healing process and (B) help our damaged intestines cope with the job of digestion. Gluten often has a negative impact on the pancreas and you may be deficient in some of the enzymes (in addition to lactase) needed for proper digestion.

You are so new to this -- it will take longer than you may expect to recover from the effects of gluten. It is a good sign :) that you are feeling better already.

Good luck in your healing.

Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

My youngest son I think had withdrawl. He became extremely moody and he wanted to eat constantly. It started to subside for him after about a week. Now if he gets glutened he gets moody, tempertantrums start back (he is 6 1/2), feelings get hurt/cries easy and constipated. Fun Fun! :P

My oldest son is 10 1/2 (not diagnosed as everything is negative) and just started a gluten free trial. It has been almost a week and he has been really moody and nasty to be around. He has been having trouble sleeping. No spike in hunger for him though. I'm not sure though if it's coincidence or not.

I don't recall having gone through a withdrawl myself.

AVR1962 Collaborator
AVR1962
Posted

I am awaiting biopsy results but I was in so much upper abdomen pain and was SUPER bloated that I decided to just go gluten free and not wait. I felt really alert the first day! I was shocked! But I had really bad stomach pain for a few days still and decided to cut out dairy too as well as onions and beans for now to see if anything helped.

It has only barely a week and I haven't had pain. I am still bloated though, definately not AS bad but still really noticeable.

How long does it take before you know? Will I know?

I am already thinking about adding dairy back to see and because it is so hard doing both at once. I figure if it hurts I will stop. I don;t have a Drs appt until the 19th and that just seems sooo far away.

ALSO- I feel so hungry even after I eat, does it just take time to adjust? At first I was CRAVING sooo badly, like I felt like I was going through withdrawals!! Did anyone else feel like this?

Right now you porobably should be thinking as much as possible how you can protect your stomach and get the proper nutrients your body needs. That's the frame of mind I had to have that helped me and it is not easy. I also went off dairy and gluten. My stomach was burning so bad and I didn't know why. Doc gave me prescription for acid reflux, it didn't feel like acid reflux, it was more like my stomach wall had been stripped of its lining. I avoided all acidic foods as well. I took 2 prescrbed pills and 2 doses of pepto daily and slowly backed off as I felt better. The process took me about 5 months, I was in real bad shape though. I no longer take either and after 2 month off dairy I was able to slowly put cheese and yogurt back in, no milk.

My diet pretty much was veggies, meat and fruit and I had to get real creative with the veggies. The cravings will pass and the hunger will pass as you heal and become more comfortable with your diet. Remember this part of it is temporary and well worth it.

  • 3 months later...
SlackAttack Newbie
SlackAttack
Posted

I just want to quickly say thank you so much for posting this topic, and for your answers. I've been so confused about how to go about this. I'm about a month off gluten, but this past week has been awful with stomach pain, bloating, and honestly my intestines feeling like they can't totally handle processing food (since diahreah was a long term issue for me). I'm starting to think that maybe I should go off dairy as well (not sure I can handle it honestly). Does anyone have a general sense of the cycle, and when feeling crappy should really stop? Is it weird that I felt better before? Is the stomach pain my stomach healing itself? Thank you!

AMom2010 Explorer
AMom2010
Posted

I had very strong, painful bloating off and on the first two months I was gluten free, hang in there! I never gave up dairy, so that could have been the problem.

Kitagrl28 Newbie
Kitagrl28
Posted

Could you guys try lactose free instead of going completely dairy free? Hard cheeses like cheddar and mozzarella are also low lactose. I bought some Lactaid to try cooking with and stuff...I'm just beginning the process of finding out if I have a gluten intolerance.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

The only dairy I could not eat was milk, cream, ice cream and frozen yogurt. I tolerated all the others just fine (hate cottage cheese so didn't eat that) but cream cheese, sour cream, cheese and butter were fine with me. :)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,674
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    SweetMercy
    Newest Member
    SweetMercy
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.6k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • RMJ
      What might this EMA result mean?

      By RMJ · Posted

      g/L, a weight per volume unit, would be a very unusual unit for a celiac specific (EMA) test.   1.24 g/L would be in the normal range if this was a TOTAL IgA test. Best to ask the doctor.
    • Lieke
      Searching for good MD/PCP in Portland ME Area

      By Lieke · Posted

      Hi Hi! I am looking for a PCP in the Portland ME area. I have been dealing with Celiac disease for 30 years. My specialist Celiac MD is in Boston, but I want somebody closer by. Am thinking of an MD working in functional medicine/integrative medicine who is willing to ‘walk the journey’ with me. Despite a strict gluten-free diet, I still have challenges, am ‘super sensitive celiac’ with at time cross contact issues when going out to dinner.  any suggestions?  much appreciated! lieke
    • knitty kitty
      Food Tasting Salty

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Part of the body's immune reaction to gluten is to release histamine.  This tastes salty, just like tears and snot.        
    • knitty kitty
      Eye irritation 2.5 months into gluten free diet

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      I've had dry eye symptoms.  The eye drops did not help me.  What did help was making sure I was consuming Omega Three fats like flax seed oil and olive oil, and taking essential B vitamins, especially Riboflavin, Thiamin, and Vitamin C, as well as Vitamin A, one of the fat soluble vitamins.   Newly diagnosed Celiac can have trouble absorbing fats and absorbing B vitamins.  Most gluten free processed foods contain saturated fats which the body can't utilize. Gluten free processed foods are not enriched with vitamins like gluten containing products.  The eyes make a film of healthy omega three fats which keeps the eyes lubricated.  Insufficient omega threes can show up as dry eyes.  Most newly diagnosed Celiac are low in Vitamin D, as well as Vitamin A, both fat based vitamins.   Thiamin Vitamin B 1 and Riboflavin B 2 are needed for eye health and optic nerve health.  Taking a B Complex vitamin supplement is beneficial.  Since the B vitamins are water soluble, any excess that the body doesn't need is excreted easily in urine.  The gluten free diet is low in essential B vitamins because gluten free processed foods that replace gluteny breads are not required to have vitamins and minerals added to them in order to replace vitamins and minerals lost in processing as is required with gluten containing products.   Other things that are helpful is to refrain from using highly perfumed products (hair care, body washes, deodorants, room fresheners, cleaning products, etc.).  These can dry out the eyes, too.   Staring at computer screens can be detrimental because you STARE and don't blink.  The tear ducts that keep the eyes lubricated are in the corners of the eyes.  Take breaks from staring at the computer screen.  Look out of the corners of your eyes to the right and blink several times, then look to the left and blink to help the tears spread over the whole eye.   My eyes have sustained permanent damage because of nutritional deficiencies.  My ophthalmologist and my doctors did not connect any of my health problems with nutritional deficiencies which occurred with undiagnosed Celiac Disease.  My optic nerve shuts down and I lose my vision if I spend too much time looking at computer screens, led lights, and TV.  My vision goes gray and dim.  It's much worse than "optic snow".  It can take  hours or days for my vision to return.  My ophthalmologist said my vision might not come back from that sometime.  My ophthalmologist said the flash rate, refresh rate, is registered by the optic nerve which gets over stimulated and shuts down.  The optic nerve uses lots of Thiamine.  Thiamine insufficiency will cause permanent optic nerve damage unless corrected promptly.  My thiamine insufficiency/deficiency was not corrected promptly and I have this permanent damage and light sensitivity.  I take Benfotiamine, a form of Thiamine that also is beneficial for healing the intestinal tract.  Riboflavin,  Pyridoxine B 6,  and Vitamin A are also needed for eye health.   Thiamine insufficiency can also cause anxiety.  Thiamine and magnesium will relieve muscle cramps. Talk to your nutritionist and doctor about supplementing with essential vitamins and minerals while your intestines are recovering.  Hope this helps!  
    • cristiana
      Reflux related cough anyone?

      By cristiana · Posted

      UPDATE I've been asked for an update by someone who sent a PM, but It's best to post health info publicly because this means fellow Mods can make sure I'm staying on the straight and narrow path with any advice I'm giving out! Alex...   Yes, my symptoms did slowly improve.  They started around October, from memory.  Approaching Christmas I remember the feeling as if there were feathers irritating my chest in my lower throat and in my lungs, and things like scented candles made things even worse.  I had a endoscopy and they found nothing wrong, I also had a chest X-Ray because of the cough which lasted more than six weeks and nothing showed. In the end I think the end it settled because I was doing the following: following a reflux/gastritis diet  (you can find lots of these diets on line, which focus on a low fat, low acidndiet, avoiding spices etc, avoiding alcohol and coffee etc) not eating three hours before I went to bed, which means going to bed with an empty stomach sleeping with a wedge pillow, which I still do, five years on... taking Gaviscon Advanced before bedtime, and after meals (not much, just a large teaspoon) using a blue Salbutamol inhaler, I think it was two puffs in the morning and two puffs at night. I felt a lot better after about three or four months.  I then only used the inhaler and Gaviscon when I had to, if I started to feel my chest was getting irritated again. I find keeping on top of reflux symptoms the way forward.  My gastroenterologist told me that the cough was to do with reflux/gasses in the gut coming up that can irritate the throat and airways and the fact I noticed improvement when using Gaviscon showed that that was what was causing it, because it provides a barrier that stops this happening. From the Gaviscon UK website: "It creates a protective barrier or raft over the Stomach contents (which is mostly acid, but also pepsin and bile)." https://www.gaviscon.co.uk/#:~:text=It creates a protective barrier,water and other neutral substances. This protective barrier stopped the contents of my stomach from coming up to irritate my throat, as I understand it, and allowed any irritation in my throat to settle. I do still take Gaviscon if I eat a late meal but not every day.  I hope this helps.  Do come back to me on this thread if I can help further. Cristiana    
×
×
  • Create New...