Went gluten free, a month later everything reverted - help!

[happy2bamama]

I've been gluten free for a little over a month. Around week two, I noticed a huge difference in energy and my stools - all for the better I also started taking digestive enzymes at that time and I think they really really helped things too. But about three days ago, everything reverted back to pre GF days. The nausea, urgent diarrhea, head cloudiness and fatigue all set back in. I started my period three days ago as well, so it could be that (this is my first real GF period), but it seems strange that EVERYTHING would revert.

Has anyone else had this happen where they're reverted? I am starting to think that this whole thing is going to be a day by day thing and that I will never ever be able to count on feeling good. It's all a little depressing when I thought that I had found the "magic cure" after eliminating gluten and feeling so great.

TIA

[True Blue]

I wish I could help you, but I can't. I feel bad you've had no answers though. Are you taking any probiotics? I wonder if there is also an underlying yeast issue or something?

[happy2bamama]

Awww, thanks for posting

Yes, I'm on probiotics. Today was my first lighter day of my period and I do actually feel better. Still not sure if that was really it or not. I am considering doing this really intense gut healing diet called SCD but while on it, I can't have any rice, quinoa or garbanzo beans which are such staples in my diet!

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/index.htm

Anyone have any experience with it?

[maryeb]

Hellooo!!! I know the member FireFaery did the SCD diet. She used to post alot on the raw threads although that was quite a while ago. Maybe you could pm her? There must be more mamas too...

Sorry you aren't feeling well! I'm on my flow too...not myself with digestion either.

Happy to see your username, ha! Mary

[happy2bamama]

Originally Posted by maryeb

Hellooo!!! I know the member FireFaery did the SCD diet. She used to post alot on the raw threads although that was quite a while ago. Maybe you could pm her? There must be more mamas too...

Sorry you aren't feeling well! I'm on my flow too...not myself with digestion either.

Happy to see your username, ha! Mary

Hahaha! It's been a while since we've met up on here! I swear it's been over a year.

Thanks for letting me know about FireFaery. I have to look into the SCD diet a bit more before I commit. It is so limiting that I know I could do it for a few months or so if it would give me long term benefits, but in terms of doing it for a year or so, probably not. But I'll have to see. It doesn't allow quinoa, rice or garbanzo beans!!!

Also, I got this awesome protein powder from Vitamin Cottage today - it's raw, vegan, gluten-free and specially formulated for people with digestion issues. The guy who owns the company and makes the product had IBS and other digestion issues for 20 years and he finally figured out how to heal himself, so now he makes these products. I'm so stoked to try it, but the bummer is that it's made of all kinds of things like sprouted garbanzo beans, millet, quinoa, etc., but many of those things are not allowed on SCD. So we'll see if I can hack it.

Maybe we can chat this week while little guy's at school

[Theloose]

Is gluten the only thing you've cut out so far? It's not uncommon for new sensitivities to pop up as you heal from old damage.

I'd pay attention to how you feel wrt your cycle - and if there's a pattern, think about stuff like estrogen dominance. Those hormones are powerful!

It might also be worth keeping a food journal for a few weeks/months before doing something like the SCD. It might just be a couple extra foods that you're reacting to, and no need to cut out all starches!

Oh, and firefaery is now panserbjorn

[crunchy_mommy]

Hey I don't know but I seem to have a very weird similar issue myself, only I've been GF for 3 months now. The pattern I notice is that I feel horrible for the first 2 weeks of my cycle, and then literally the minute I ovulate, I feel 10000 times better. (Well obviously I don't know the minute I ovulate but it seems to coincide really well) Could be coincidence as there were other changes I made around the same time each month so this cycle (where I plan to change nothing) should be very telling... I never noticed this pattern until I went off gluten. So I have no clue what could be going on with me but I totally feel your pain, I just want to feel WELL & feel well predictably & reliably -- not a couple good weeks followed by a couple bad ones & on & on....

[happy2bamama]

Originally Posted by whoMe

Is gluten the only thing you've cut out so far? It's not uncommon for new sensitivities to pop up as you heal from old damage.

I'd pay attention to how you feel wrt your cycle - and if there's a pattern, think about stuff like estrogen dominance. Those hormones are powerful!

It might also be worth keeping a food journal for a few weeks/months before doing something like the SCD. It might just be a couple extra foods that you're reacting to, and no need to cut out all starches!

Oh, and firefaery is now panserbjorn

That's so interesting that new sensitivities can arise when I heal from old damage. That's sort of what it seems like. Like it says, "Okay, thanks for giving us a break with the gluten, but now we gotta ask you to hold back on the ______..." And that's the problem, I don't know what the next thing is! Now that my period is over, I feel better than I did, but the fatigue that I'm experiencing is overwhelming. And again, I was feeling better that first month of being GF in terms of fatigue - I actually had energy - and to know that that is a possibility, but not be able to attain it is depressing. I really don't know where to look next in terms of cutting something else out. I would LOVE to find that one thing instead of cutting ALL the starches out. Potatoes are like my staple when I'm feeling bad, so giving that up will be tough. The food journal is a great idea. So, I just write down what I eat everyday and then how I feel? Or is there more than that?

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Hey I don't know but I seem to have a very weird similar issue myself, only I've been GF for 3 months now. The pattern I notice is that I feel horrible for the first 2 weeks of my cycle, and then literally the minute I ovulate, I feel 10000 times better. (Well obviously I don't know the minute I ovulate but it seems to coincide really well) Could be coincidence as there were other changes I made around the same time each month so this cycle (where I plan to change nothing) should be very telling... I never noticed this pattern until I went off gluten. So I have no clue what could be going on with me but I totally feel your pain, I just want to feel WELL & feel well predictably & reliably -- not a couple good weeks followed by a couple bad ones & on & on....

YES... about the predictable and reliable part! That's what's hard too is that you really never know what is causing the issues - it could be your stress that day, your cycle, your environment, the food, etc. So finding out what that other sensitivity could be feels totally daunting - like I'll never get a clear read. And the other thing is that I had a stool and blood test for food allergies and the only thing that came up was gluten, so I feel like I shouldn't have anymore sensitivities, but I know those tests to account for everything so there's gotta be something, right?!

On another note, something that I'm experiencing that just makes me wonder is that I am feeling the uncomfortableness in my upper stomach - like three fingers below the center of my ribs which doesn't feel like it should be connected to my digestion at all (but I know it is). It feels like aching nausea and is tender to the touch. When I let myself get all freaked out, I wonder if it's my pancreas and something is wrong with it (since I also don't produce sufficient digestive enzymes). I know this is a shot in the dark, but anyone have any experience with THAT feeling??

Thanks for all the help and thoughts

[crunchy_mommy]

I don't know about that

I would say with regard to the food culprits, did you cut out the top 4 or only gluten? Before chasing down some obsure food, I'd try eliminating dairy, corn, and soy. Also any food that you really crave or "have to have" is highly suspect (so perhaps cutting out potatoes for a few days wouldn't be such a bad idea).

I would describe what I experience during & immediately after AF to be almost exactly what you describe -- overwhelming fatigue. So I would definitely keep track of how you feel in relation to your cycle.

For a food journal, keep a timeline of what you ate and how you feel at different times throughout the day. Also keep track of other things such as where you are in your cycle, whether you exercised or did anything out of the ordinary, etc. and make note of if you ate out (I keep getting glutened at restaurants!) as well as any supplements...

It's so frustrating to experience 'feeling good' for once and then suddenly go back to feeling horrible... it's almost worse than if you just always felt horrible, because you got a glimpse at the other side....

[Theloose]

It could also be your body starting to heal from the damage - it got a break, but now it's time to clean up the mess. So just waiting it out might be another option.

Overwhelming fatigue sounds a lot like thyroid problems, which can be hormonal as well - have you tried taking your temp first thing in the morning (like you do when charting for fertility)? It could also be a vitamin imbalance. My overwhelming fatigue while pg with ds had to do with biotin, pantothenic acid and potassium.

[happy2bamama]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

I don't know about that

I would say with regard to the food culprits, did you cut out the top 4 or only gluten? Before chasing down some obsure food, I'd try eliminating dairy, corn, and soy. Also any food that you really crave or "have to have" is highly suspect (so perhaps cutting out potatoes for a few days wouldn't be such a bad idea).

I would describe what I experience during & immediately after AF to be almost exactly what you describe -- overwhelming fatigue. So I would definitely keep track of how you feel in relation to your cycle.

For a food journal, keep a timeline of what you ate and how you feel at different times throughout the day. Also keep track of other things such as where you are in your cycle, whether you exercised or did anything out of the ordinary, etc. and make note of if you ate out (I keep getting glutened at restaurants!) as well as any supplements...

It's so frustrating to experience 'feeling good' for once and then suddenly go back to feeling horrible... it's almost worse than if you just always felt horrible, because you got a glimpse at the other side....

I have only cut out gluten. I did bloodwork that showed that the other three were not issues for me and since I had had such good results with just gluten, I was fine with that. But now it might be time to go further.

Thanks for the tips about the food journal. I think I will start doing that to draw some conclusions, if possible.

And I totally agree with your comment about feeling good and seeing the other side. Today was one of those days where I felt great. I even got a boost of energy after I put my son to bed. On days like this, I feel like, "There's nothing wrong, life's great!" but then on bad days, it feels like I am seriously ill. That going back and forth is insanity. But on the upside, it has really made me live more in the moment and appreciate little things like just being and not feeling nauseous or like I have to use the bathroom immediately. And who knew finally having a good solid poop could be the high point of the week!

Originally Posted by whoMe

It could also be your body starting to heal from the damage - it got a break, but now it's time to clean up the mess. So just waiting it out might be another option.

Overwhelming fatigue sounds a lot like thyroid problems, which can be hormonal as well - have you tried taking your temp first thing in the morning (like you do when charting for fertility)? It could also be a vitamin imbalance. My overwhelming fatigue while pg with ds had to do with biotin, pantothenic acid and potassium.

I think you could be totally right about getting a bit of a break and then having to go deeper. I also feel like maybe since I'm not absorbing things better, that's great, but it also means that all that toxicity and stuff that needs to get outta my gut is also being absorbed better.

I'm not totally sure, but I attribute my overwhelming fatigue to having been malnourished for sooooooooo long. I think I am probably deficient in most of my vitamins and am now finally getting what I need. But that also means that I have no reserves yet, so if I don't eat in time or do something strenuous, I am wiped out because I don't have any back-up. The thyroid thing makes sense though, although I was checked for that back in August and everything came back fine - not that blood tests show everything though.

At this point, I am looking to just gain some weight and get this gut healed! Gaining weight was my first priority because I have dropped down lower than ever before, but then when the weight wasn't coming on, I realized that maybe I needed to focus on healing my gut FIRST so that I can gain weight. It's all a journey and I have no idea what's going to work. Trial and error at this point.

[crunchy_mommy]

Are you taking supplements?

If I skip my supplements for even a day, I feel even worse.... I guess because, like you said, my body just doesn't have any reserves (and I'm still nursing too so everything goes to DS). I'm taking D, B12, B-complex, iron, magnesium, occasionally zinc & selenium... I hate supplementing (I believe in getting everything from food) but it really does help me feel more functional...

[happy2bamama]

Originally Posted by whoMe

Is gluten the only thing you've cut out so far? It's not uncommon for new sensitivities to pop up as you heal from old damage.

I'd pay attention to how you feel wrt your cycle - and if there's a pattern, think about stuff like estrogen dominance. Those hormones are powerful!

It might also be worth keeping a food journal for a few weeks/months before doing something like the SCD. It might just be a couple extra foods that you're reacting to, and no need to cut out all starches!

Oh, and firefaery is now panserbjorn

Okay, so I cannot find firefaery or panserbjorn at all! And I even just PM'ed some nice innocent mama with my entire story and it was the wrong person! Can you help me find the right SCD guru?!

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Are you taking supplements?

If I skip my supplements for even a day, I feel even worse.... I guess because, like you said, my body just doesn't have any reserves (and I'm still nursing too so everything goes to DS). I'm taking D, B12, B-complex, iron, magnesium, occasionally zinc & selenium... I hate supplementing (I believe in getting everything from food) but it really does help me feel more functional...

You know, I am not taking supplements really. And I know that I need to. Every time I have started taking them, I started getting digestive issues (not sure if it was just a coincidence or not), so I have stopped. But really, I need to and thanks for the reminder. Do you know of any vitamin supplements that work well for people with sensitive bellies? And are gluten free? And, I'd rather not take one of those huge honkin pills. Since I am underweight, I don't think I need a whole one anyway and usually end up cutting it in half, but then I have half of a huge pill with that HUGE cut end that gags me every time! It would be great if there was something for me that was perfect Oh and I have a B Complex that I keep trying to take here and there but I honestly feel NOTHING when I take it. I thought it should boost me up really good, but it didn't. Thoughts? Thanks!!

[happy2bamama]

Nevermind about Panserbjorne - found her! The "o" is actually an o with the line through it

[Theloose]

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/member.php?u=10767

Try the Thorne multis - they're in capsules, and have the good forms of things like folate (vs colic acid) and p5p (vs b6). For stomach upset, iron can do that, or zinc on an empty stomach.

I was avoiding supps for the first part of my allergy journey, preferring foods, and let me tell you - I felt AMAZING when I finally started them. That was the first time we got to baseline, and could trial (and pass!) eggs

[crunchy_mommy]

Maybe liquid vitamins would work well for you? They have a bunch of options at Whole Foods. Also last time I was at Target I noticed they have some 'natural' vitamins. Even NatureMade (or NatureSource? something like that, yellow bottle at Walmart) has some gluten-free vitamins but I don't know if they would give you digestive issues or not. I tend to just take what I can find cheapest without 'bad' ingredients... though I've been taking Floradix with B-complex which is pricey but seems better than some alternatives. And for B12, Jarrow sublingual methyl B12... that has xylitol though so it might bother your digestion as well...