Fairy Dancer

My dr is doing no further tests, so no biopsy, because the blood tests were normal.

I will look up lectins and oxylates. I have never come across oxylates before but have heard mention of lectins as I am trying a slightly modified version of the Paleo diet. But still don't know much about them.

Ok, my dr did not detail exactly what blood tests for celiac were done and I was only told that the test that was done was normal. However I went gluten free as a trial some 2 weeks before the test. I did try to put wheat etc back in 3 times after that just before the test but had a bad reaction to it each time so pulled it back out again. I am also starting to feel better without gluten and wheat etc in my diet. My fatigue is starting to ease up (although I am still having issues with some dizziness), my stomach symptoms have started to settled (until i eat either gluten or fresh sweetcorn again) and after nearly 4 weeks now of being on the diet I am feeling half human again, even if I don't feel completely well yet.

Could the tests have been wrong and should I stay on the diet anyway, regardless of what my dr says?

I would personally prefer to stay on the diet, but how do I explain it to people when my tests were normal? Especially as people can sometimes give you flack for being a picky eater lol.

Not something you would think would have gluten in but apparently due to manufacturing its was not safe for those on a gluten free diet. Of course I found out too late...like after I had eaten it.

Just as I'm starting to feel better I seem to end up eating something I shouldn't by mistake..grrrrrrrr

Last time my body took offence to some fresh sweetcorn. Now its vegetable stir fry with no gluten in the actual ingredients (it was just vegetables) but because manufactures have to have wheat and its derivatives in the manufacturing process.

For cyring out loud! Manufacturers STOP using gluten in everything!

I am not a happy bunny. Gah.

Next time I will make my own from fresh vegetables!

I could do with that benefit as I am going grey and have been for years! It's really noticeable on me as well because my hair is naturally very dark and the grey is white in contrast. I'd love for my hair to return to it's naturally dark colour but for now I have to use hair dye to help it lol.

Even my body hair is starting to turn white in places...can't dye that though lol.

On the bright side the hair blends in with my complexion as I'm naturally pale skinned. Unfortunately I burn like hell if I go out in the sun though. I don't suppose going gluten free can improve that at all?

You can't wash a wok? I won't eat from something that has not been cleaned between meals lol

Try the gluten free diet.

I had a blood test taken by a dr recently, although it was by no means as comprehensive as yours lol, and that was normal. The only abnormal blood test I had was a mildly elevated cholesterol but not so elevated that it needs any treatment at this stage (other than maybe a healthier lifestyle lol). I never had any stool samples taken or a biopsy done though. Just the blood test.

All the same I have found that the fatigue, dizziness, gastrointestinal symptoms etc that I went to my dr about have improved some on a gluten free diet anyway (except when I ate some corn the other day lol). My system feels much cleaner in general without the wheat and grains and I have started losing weight again, which is great (as I am overweight) because my body was refusing to play ball and take the weight off prior to the gluten free diet.

It does not hurt to try it. Personally I have put myself on a whole foods diet and avoid both gluten and processed foods in general (except as the occasional treat if its a gluten free one). It works...

Hope you start feeling better soon!

This was fresh corn also...

I was ok for the first few hours after eating it then started feeling unwell and some 10 hours later my gut is playing me up something awful. The corn is the only thing I don't eat on a regular daily basis that I can think upset me.

TY

It, err, seems to be passing through so hopefully it will wear off soon.

Potatoes (which i think is a nightshade) I seem to be ok with, although tomatoes I am not too sure about. Dairy I seem to be getting away with certainly in the form of natural organic bio live yoghurt anyway.

Soy I prefer to avoid as it seems to give me acid gut and I've not yet noticed a reaction to legumes although I don't eat many of them as I am not keen on them anyway.

Is rice generally ok to eat?

As I have been avoiding wheat and gluten like the plague on a whole foods diet, the only thing I can think of that I have eaten today that has upset my stomach is a corn on the cob that I ate for lunch. Every thing else I ate I have eaten on other days with no reaction.

ON the bright side, it's a good job I live alone really as I now have a major case of flatulence, and by the feel of it that's not the end of the issue...the stomach cramps and groaning are not a good sign...

I also seem to be in a vile mood for no reason whatsoever!

No it's not aunt flo, she has been and gone already lol

I have no choice but to place the blame on the corn.

Anyone else seem to have corn issues as well as wheat ones?

I was having a great day until I had corn on the cob for lunch!

Oh the flatulence...Its murder on the sinuses.

Not to mention I just don't feel good and I can feel my bowel starting to groan!

Has anyone else found that they have lost weight on a gluten free diet?

I have had problems with obesity for some time and for many years was tied to the scales and weighing and counting everything in an attempt to take the pounds off. Sometimes they would shift but they would go back on again and I noticed some time back that on weeks where my diet was predominantly whole grains the weight would refuse to budge completely.

Anyway 2 weeks into my gluten free, whole foods diet and the weight is moving by itself without my having to count, weigh or do large amounts of exercise.

Anyone else find that?

Rice, potatoes, sweetcorn, protein.

Ice cream, full fat dairy (if you are ok with it).

@T.H

You said:

"Another issue that might apply in your case is...becoming a different person, in a sense. Some of my symptoms that match yours would be: sinus problems, inflammation issues, chronic plantar fasciitis, lowered immune system, brain fog, fatigue, low concentration. There were others, too, like joint pain, anxiety or anger management issues, insomnia and light sleeping, overweight, vertigo, clumsiness, problems with the noise in a crowd and lights at night while driving.

Every last one of these is freaking gone. I can't even SAY how amazing that's been. Old injuries I had that always twinged when I'd do certain things finally healed up. I can walk without pain, think again, sleep again and feel rested, breathe, go through a day with no headaches or joint pain. And I can FEEL. Before, there was this low to mid level irritation that was always there, all the time. Same with this overwhelming sadness that never completely went away. And it is. Gone. Things that would drive me nuts before I just don't even mind at all right now."

I say:

I also get symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, headaches, depression, anxiety and anger issues, insomnia, overweight, vertigo, clumsiness and problems with noisy crowded places and light sensitivity. I have found in the time that I have been gluten free that my anger is slowly subsiding and I am now less irritable and grumpy than I was but I was not aware that going gluten free could help with other issues like the crowded places etc.

Now I am hoping that my issues with those things will eventually fade too! They, combined with my stomach issues, have long been a pain in the arse so to speak lol.

I have been almost gluten free now for two weeks (I had a few days where I did eat gluten in the form of wheat but had a vile reaction to it 3 times in a row so pulled it back out again) as I am trying a gluten free diet to see if it helps with some of the symptoms I am getting (fatigue, feeling hung over and unwell most days, stomach issues etc).

Anyway it's very early days but I have noticed very slight improvements in some ways, even if they have not yet gone completely (slightly less acid reflux, diarrhoea is slightly less frequent and the hung over feeling is and was passing until I spent today with a migraine (wrong time of the month) so for now its back again until that passes...although on saying that it feels more like I have had a labotomy than anything lol. Now I know how jack nicolson felt in one flew over the cuckoos nest *ahem*).

Anyway, I think it takes a bit of time for your system to clear itself out properly and to recover from any damage or upset. The amount of time that takes seems to vary from person to person. I hope your symptoms subside quickly and you are feeling better soon.

I am trying a whole foods diet consisting of fish, lean meat (white mostly but occasionally red), vegetables, fruit, nuts and in my case low fat dairy (as as far as I know I am ok with dairy produce for the time being). Most whole foods as long as they are not whole grains should be gluten free. I also get most of my starches from sweetcorn (unless you have a corn sensitivity which I don't as far as I'm aware), potatoes and rice. Foods like rice with a source of protein should help with weight gain if that is what you are aiming for. Oily fish can also provide the body with essential fatty acids and healthful fats as well.

I get dizziness and feeling hung over as well as stomach upsets.

I managed to get some details as to the results of the blood tests that I had earlier this week over the phone although I won't know the full details until I have seen my GP next week.

From what I can gather everything came back normal except for elevated blood lipids. I am not sure what test he ran for celiac disease but I did ask him to run tests for it, however I am told the only anomaly was the blood lipids. My cholesterol however is normal so I am assuming its triglycerides that are high.

Does anyone know what might cause that and if it could be due to undetected gluten issues etc as the result of the blood tests really does not explain all the symptoms I get such as fatigue, abdominal pain, acid reflux, soft rancid smelling stools etc.

Also so I can clarify when I see my dr next week, what tests should he have run for a full celiac panel?

Fairy Dancer...it really sounds like you have Celiac, or at least a very strong intollerance? Whetever the blood tests show it would be good for you to keep it out of your diet.

I've been thinking I have an additional problem with soy because I've been gluten-free for about 4 weeks and recently have started to get severe dizziness for no apparent reason. In my case..it might be that I'm getting cc? My reacttions to gluten now are much more intense!

I went from eating gluten every day to now being so sensitive that I can't handle glutem items like dog biscuits.

Good luck to you..I hope you get some answers.

I had blood tests taken on monday for a variety of things. The drs surgery rang me this morning to say the results were back and to book an appointment to see my gp as my dr has requested to see me but they would not give me the results of the tests over the phone! So I am still none the wiser until I see my gp! Gah. The curiosity...

He requested a routine appointment and one has been made for early next week so it can't be anything horribly serious or he would have wanted to see me straight away. So I figure either they are normal or there is a slight anomaly but nothing too horrible. I am not sure what exactly he tested for although he did say he was going to test for celiac disease, thyroid function and diabetes. I meant to ask about allergy testing but forgot lol. I may ask when I see him depending on the results etc.

The last time I had similar tests (minus the one for celiac disease as I did not request it at that time or mention that I had a family member with it) some 5 years ago for similar symptoms they all came back normal except for a slightly elevated white cell count which they thought was viral initially. After 6 months when the symptoms had not gone they didn't repeat the tests as they said a virus does not last that long, looked at my records, saw that I had had episodes of depression and told me it was that (even though my mood was not low at that time and I had not lost interest in my hobbies etc...I was just feeling ill basically lol). The stomach issues were passed off as IBS but no investigations were done (ie i have never had a endoscopy or stool sample taken etc).I am loathe to accept an IBS diagnosis without any kind of investigation to rule other things out.

It seems to me that with an elevated white cell count my immune system is reacting to something. If it's still elevated this time (as this is the first blood test I have had in 5 years since the last one) I want further investigation lol.

As I have a history of anxiety and depression they tend to blame that yet I don't have many of the symptoms of anxiety or depression at the moment..ie I am not feeling tearful, hopeless, useless etc, I have not lost interest in my hobbies, I am not worrying excessively, I am not getting any sleep disturbance (am sleeping fine), am having no problems relaxing lol and so on. That diagnosis does not fit just because I had an episode of anxiety and depression due to real life problems x number of years ago.

Anyway, I hope you get your issues resolved. I am still wondering if I have issues with other foods myself as it seems anything processed seems to set me off even if it says 'no gluten ingredient's on the label lol. Either that or I am wondering about CC. The only processed foods I have eaten recently that didn't seem to trigger a reaction was some live yoghurt, haagen dazs icecream (belgian chocolate flavour) and some gluten free pitta breads I ate.

We can have both celiac and true allergies. Your symptoms from the gravy are not unusual for a celiac reaction. Not a bad idea to get allergy testing as well but don't rule out celiac if the blood work comes back negative since you had already dropped gluten before testing.

I was wondering if being mostly gluten and wheat free for a couple of weeks or so before doing the test would affect the result. The reason I asked for celiac testing with my dr is because I have a brother with it, so when I started getting what appear to be food related symptoms that was one of the first things to come to mind.

I did try to put wheat etc back in my diet for the test but I got such vile symptoms after eating it I gave up and took it back out again. So out of the two weeks most of them were spent on a whole food diet with no processed foods gluten or wheat products and about 5 of them eating wheat or gluten or processed foods before I pulled it out again as twice in row I had bad reactions on eating it. 3 times now with the gravy lol. 1 reaction I thought could be a one off, two is a bit more than I like, 3 is starting to indicate an issue lol.

My reaction to wheat etc also seems to have been worse since removing it and then putting it back in again. The response seems to be amplified compared to what it was when I was eating it every day. Back then I was getting ongoing chronic symptoms but which were lower in intensity.

If I stick to meat, fish and fruits, veg and nuts I seem to be ok. I also seem to be ok with live yoghurt so have kept dairy in for now.

I seem to be getting what appear to be allergic reactions to things lately. I took wheat, gluten and processed foods out of my diet for 5 days. On eating weetabix again I vomited, bloated, had stomach pain, and felt dizzy and really ill (like I had a major hang over). I also had similar symptoms (minus the vomiting) when eating bread, so after a few days I took them back out again and the symptoms subsided. However yesterday I ate some gravy mix on a pork dinner and the symptoms have returned, this time with a rash (clusters of small red spots all over my abdomen) which has now faded but I woke up this morning feeling like I have a hang over from hell and the soft rancid smelling stools have returned as well.

I have checked the pork for signs that its off but it smells fine and tastes fine (tastes darn nice actually lol, as I have just been picking at cold left overs minus the gravy mix and thus far the rash has not returned nor have I vomited lol) so I am still blaming the gravy mix!

I am not diagnosed with celiac disease as I only went for blood tests yesterday morning but I have been off wheat and gluten for a few weeks anyway as I am sure my symptoms are being triggered by a food I am eating. I did try and put wheat and gluten back in for the test but was getting such a strong reaction in terms of the above symptoms that I couldn't eat it and pulled it back out again. I suspect an allergy though, so I may ask for allergy testing at some point. My symptoms, to my mind, suggest I am getting an allergic reaction...especially if I am going to start getting rashes on reintroducing certain foods back into my diet.

The question is what the allergy is from? My reaction to wheatabix would suggest a wheat issue but the gravy mix I used had no wheat ingredients. It was however produced on a production line that handles wheat (it was bisto best) so at the moment I cant tell whether it was cross contamination or something else in the ingredients list!

Gah, I need an allergy test lol.

Well the rash has faded this morning, the vomiting only happened the once after eating (vomiting is not one of my usual symptoms and the only other time I had that was after I took wheat and processed food out for a week and then had some weetabix...my stomach hit the eject button, but no rash that time...all the same i took the wheat and processed food back out again until the bisto...) and now I am back to the familiar ill feeling of feeling half hung over (even though I don't drink) and feeling like my body (but not my emotions) are in shock lol. Oh and a not so excited yay to the return of the acid reflux. The diarrhoea is still with me a bit but when I say diarrhoea I don't mean watery, I mean soft rancid smelling pale stools that today smell like....bisto!

I will look them up ty!

Also does anyone know if consuming wheat can cause a rash? To add to my stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea I now have a rash all over my stomach...

Is there a good brand of wheat/gluten free gravy at all? I did try bisto best but after eating it I am getting the same symptoms as I do when I eat wheat (bloating, vomiting, diarrhoea etc). It does not have wheat etc in the ingredients but does say that it's made on a production line that handles wheat. The rest of the meal was a fresh joint of pork that I had cooked myself and vegetables so I don't think they upset me.

I am fine with codeine or dihydrocodeine but not with aspirin or other NSAIDs (Non steroidal Anti-Inflammatories) as I get an allergic reaction to the latter (well Ibruprofen but I am told that if I can't take that I can't take NSAIDs at all).

I have not seen the paleo diet, but I will look it up. Thank you!!!

Basically the full blown Paleo diet consists of no grains, no dairy and no legumes. The theory behind it is that the human body has not evolved to eat these 'neolithic foods' and so has problems digesting them. However, many do a modified version (ie they may take out all grains but still consume some dairy..which I do). Legumes I have never liked much anyway (other than garden peas) so never did eat a lot of those. In short it's a whole food diet...so meat, fish, nuts (except peanuts which are a legume), vegetables, fruits and if you are doing the higher carb version things like parsnips and starchy tubers are included.

Grains were not a regular part of the human diet until agriculture came into practice some 10 thousand years ago. For around 200'000 years before that humans would have consumed mostly meats, vegetables and fruits etc, but not many grains (and certainly not on a daily basis). Starchy tubers would have also been limited (very seasonal) and so the diet tended to be relatively lower in carbs then the diets we eat today. We certainly had no processed foods or a local McDonalds. However, its not the Atkin's diet. Due to the lower carb consumption people can confuse them. The diet includes more carbs etc than Atkin's does.

For practical reasons I do the modified Paleo. I also have a free day where I consume a small amount of processed food as a treat but still avoid anything wheat based since I get horrible stomach pain and gut acid as well as diarrhoea when I consume anything with wheat in. Considering how unwell I feel when I eat them the wheat based foods are not really all that nice to me now and I don't really miss them lol.

Actually I am glad to see the back of wheat in my diet! I never was all that fond of things like pasta and bread, I mostly ate them because the diet industry said they were healthy. And because I was raised on a whole food diet and with a brother who had celiac disease, going gluten and wheat free is like a trip back in time for me. A blast from the past so to speak lol. Whilst I ate small amounts of gluten and wheat as a child most family meals were gluten free so that my brother could eat them. I only started eating more processed, wheat and gluten when I left home. So I have merely gone back to many of the foods I loved as a child. Now I just need to see if I can remember any of my mums old recipes lol.