Before You Were Gf...

[lorka150]

Were you pretty much just constantly sick? Constantly bloated? Constantly depressed? Did it never REALLY improve?

I've kept a food/exercise/et cetera journal for a long time (about five months, I've been gluten-free for about 3 weeks), and when I look over it, I know that I felt some symptoms almost constantly, but days that I ate, say, All-Bran for breakfast, that day I wrote down that I was feeling incredibly lethargic immediately after breakfast.

I didn't eat too much direct forms of wheat (wasn't a huge cereal/baked good/bread/pasta eater), but was eating gluten often.

Does it make sense that some symptoms I felt constantly, and others (like EXTREME bloating, fatigue, et cetera) would show up right after a more direct ingestion?

Thanks!

[Rachel--24]

Where do I begin??? YES...I experienced my symptoms day in and day out for almost 3 years. It was a nightmare

I also kept a journal/food diary for the past 8 months. On the days that I feel like I'm not getting better I just look back to the previous months and I'm reminded of how bad it really was. I didn't often get *immediate* reactions...I just pretty much felt bad ALL the time. When I look back at my journal I'd say 95% of what I was eating contained gluten so that explains why I NEVER felt good. Now that I'm gluten-free my reactions are more immediate and definately more noticeable...either I'm more sensitive now or I'm just feeling better so the reactions are more obvious. There were a few times that I can recall where I ate something (mac & cheese) and I could feel myself swell up with fluid immediately...or I would suddenly look pregnant. Occasionally I'd burst into tears after a meal. That happened once after eating pizza with some friends...that was the last time anyone ever let me get near a pizza

Everything did improve with the gluten-free diet though...most notably the depression. I was probably borderline suicidal. Within the first week of going gluten-free the depression was completely GONE. I'm still amazed by that.

[celiac3270]

Yes--my celiac symptoms were constant bloating/distention, gas, diarrhea (not as bad as most here had it, but I just mean that all stools were loose), low weight and height, depression.

I always ate A LOT of wheat--I was a huge bread/starch person.

-celiac3270

[KaitiUSA]

Most of my symptoms were constant too and it was not fun. Many people here had it alot worse so I guess I can be grateful that I didn't have it as bad as them.

Some of the symptoms got worse after eating though...I was a gluten eater.

[ianm]

I felt like absolute crap 24/7/365 before going gluten-free. I was overweight, chronic fatigue, brain fog and a lot of the other fun things that go along with celiac disease. Once I figuired out what was wrong, doctors should couldn't figuire it out, I lost the weight, have energy and mental clarity. I noticed an improvement right away but it still took a good year to be totally healthy. Ironicall celiac disease was the best thing that ever happened to me because my life has never been better.

[luvs2eat]

I never felt really poorly... just had unrelenting diarrhea and such a noisy belly, it used to make us laugh!! I was a huge gluten eater!! Making different breads was my fav baking time.

The longer the diarrhea went on tho... it was beginning to feel like ACID shooting out of me (sorry for the graphics), and as I've said on here before... it took an entire year for all to get back to normal.

[deb.h.]

My main symptom when i was younger about twnety tears ago was anemia and extreme exhaustion. I was going to university and I was extrememly regimented in my eating because it was free in y dorm cafeteria. I would have shredded wheat and whole wheat toast for breakfast, a bran muffin and coffee for snack, sandwhich and cookie for lunch and rice and corn for supper. supper varied a little but the rest was always the same. i went to give blood that year, came back to my room at 6:00 p.m. , fell asleep and didn't wake up until 10:00 the next morning. i always said that I nver really woke up up after that. at that time they did not routinely check for anemia first and I was very anemic(not knwoing it ) At the end of the follwing summer i went tosee the doctor saying iwas either pregnant or something was really wrong with me because I just could not wake up! He called me in the next day and said my iron was so low he didn't understand how i was even walking around. I had to go back to school in eight weeks so i got iron injections once a week for eight weeks. my hips and butt only stopped hurting from where the needles were whe i went gluten free 17 years later.

After my third child was when i hit with Hyper then hypo thyroid, fibromyalgia and severe panic. and relentless insomnia. I know the list is a mile high but now that I feel good I can't remember the all until I see someone else describe them on this board.

Happy to say that everything has cleared up although I do still get bouts of fatique and always have to watch my iron andbe aware of all the other sensitivities that I have.

[elwood]

Hello,

I think I am using this reply correctly. I just joined the forum. My Mother had celiac disease, and years ago a doctor told me that I probably had it as well based on my symptoms. But my symptoms seemed to get better and worse. I think mostly I was in denial and did not want to admit I had celiac disease. But now my symptoms just stay "worse" all the time, so I am going on a gluten free diet.

I have had diarrhea off and on for years, sometimes quite severe. Also severe depression. Low iron. Also hyper thyroid (goiter) that required surgery.

I am very glad to have found this forum.

I'll try to figure out how to post my picture.

Does anyone have suggestions for a good gluten free vitamin-mineral supplement?

Thanks

[GlutenFreeStudent]

Then: Before going gluten-free, my symptoms were pretty bad. I felt like crud every minute of every day for the past 6+ years. It got progressively worse until my stomach just about shut down and wouldn't process anything. The first really bad reactions I got were in 1999 due to chocolate muffins from Costco! I'd get an almost instant reaction from those. Other gluten foods would cause periodic pounding heart palpitations in my sleep (which would wake me up and freak me out), bloating, gas, a racing heart with weakness and bizarre muscle sensations, trouble breathing, the feeling that I have a 25 lb. bag of dry dirt in my stomach, nausea, insomnia, tunnel vision and distorted depth perception, mental confusion, emotional upset, depression, stomach spasms, muscle twitches, intestinal pain, and having so much abdominal pressure that it physically hurt to talk! I would get the worst trembling/shaking, I looked like a Parkinson's victim (this was due to vitamin/mineral deficiencies).

Now: I still feel emotionally disturbed after meals sometimes, usually when I eat something with a lot of sugar or extra carbs. I get joint pain, an irritated feeling in my stomach and I feel like crying. Sometimes I'm walking and I feel like I'm going to lose my balance. Depth perception and funny vision is one of my most annoying current symptoms. Sometimes I see little pink dots, I get eyelid twitches, or my whole vision seems distorted. This has gotten much better on the gluten-free diet (but I've only been gluten-free for a few months).

Elwood-

I just got a vitamin/mineral supplement that I love! It's by Freeda Vitamins and it's gluten-free. I bought the one with Iron called "Quintabs-M." You can check it out at their website www.freedavitamins.com. This is the first vitamin I've ever tried that didn't make me sick. To post your picture, click on My Controls. It's towards the top of this page next to where it says Log Out. On the control page there's a list of options on the left hand side. It says something like "add avatar" and that's where you upload your picture file.

[elwood]

Then: Before going gluten-free, my symptoms were pretty bad. I felt like crud every minute of every day for the past 6+ years. It got progressively worse until my stomach just about shut down and wouldn't process anything. The first really bad reactions I got were in 1999 due to chocolate muffins from Costco! I'd get an almost instant reaction from those. Other gluten foods would cause periodic pounding heart palpitations in my sleep (which would wake me up and freak me out), bloating, gas, a racing heart with weakness and bizarre muscle sensations, trouble breathing, the feeling that I have a 25 lb. bag of dry dirt in my stomach, nausea, insomnia, tunnel vision and distorted depth perception, mental confusion, emotional upset, depression, stomach spasms, muscle twitches, intestinal pain, and having so much abdominal pressure that it physically hurt to talk! I would get the worst trembling/shaking, I looked like a Parkinson's victim (this was due to vitamin/mineral deficiencies).

Now: I still feel emotionally disturbed after meals sometimes, usually when I eat something with a lot of sugar or extra carbs. I get joint pain, an irritated feeling in my stomach and I feel like crying. Sometimes I'm walking and I feel like I'm going to lose my balance. Depth perception and funny vision is one of my most annoying current symptoms. Sometimes I see little pink dots, I get eyelid twitches, or my whole vision seems distorted. This has gotten much better on the gluten-free diet (but I've only been gluten-free for a few months).

Elwood-

I just got a vitamin/mineral supplement that I love! It's by Freeda Vitamins and it's gluten-free. I bought the one with Iron called "Quintabs-M." You can check it out at their website www.freedavitamins.com. This is the first vitamin I've ever tried that didn't make me sick.  To post your picture, click on My Controls. It's towards the top of this page next to where it says Log Out. On the control page there's a list of options on the left hand side. It says something like "add avatar" and that's where you upload your picture file. 

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[elwood]

Gluten Free Student:

Thanks for the tip on the vitamins. I just ordered the small bottle of Quintabs - M online.

I too have been having some balance problems. This is new just the past few months - bumping into things as if I can't quite judge correctly where my body ends and the rest of the world begins.

It's annoying as well as brusinq on table edges ha!

I'm beginning to realize that Celiac disease/Gluten intolerance manifest in so many different ways because of the malabsorption of nutrients over time could result in many diverse sysmptoms.