wheat / gluten sensitivity in adults....how long to see improvements after changing diet?

[CrunchyMama19]

Hi all,

My DH has had digestive issues his whole life. His family is really unhealthy with high sugar high fat , highly processed food diets and we thought maybe it was just a product of that upbringing. However, it has gotten a little worse over the years despite us eating very healthy. Basically, he has frequent bouts (once a week, sometimes twice) of loose stools and vomiting. It can never be pinpointed to food poisoning, or any other allergy or virus. The only common theme is wheat! AFter doing some research, it all points to wheat / gluten sensitivity. 

So now to determine that, we are going gluten free. I was wondering, how long being gluten free does it take to see improvement? Once we see improvement, should we re-introduce wheat to see if it triggers anything?

[sammyloo]

This is a good question! For me, I saw improvements within days, For others, it can be months or more than a year, My understanding is to go completely gluten free for a month and then heavily reintroduce gluten for a couple days to see any change! Good luck!

[anjsmama]

It varies by person based on the level of sensitivity and the extent of damage to the intestines. I have celiac disease, the autoimmune allergy to gluten. I first showed symptoms at 14 but was not diagnosed until 21. Several years of damage takes time to undo! The most severe of my symptoms (migraines that caused fainting spells, fatigue that kept me asleep 20 hours of the day) improved in about a month. I've been strictly gf for 14 months now and feel the best I have in years, maybe ever. It's a tough sometimes time consuming lifestyle but totally worth it if gluten is your dh's issue.

If you're looking to help him "feel better quick" you may want to consider eliminating gluten, soy, corn, and dairy for the first week or two to help rest and clear out his digestive system til he starts feeling better. Hth!

[sunnygir1]

I have never had digestive troubles from gluten.  Several times I quit eating it for a couple weeks or a month because a number of people in my family are intolerant.  I never noticed a difference when I started eating it again.  A few years ago I decided to try going off it long term to see if it helped with my recurring periodic bouts of depression -- I had NO depression symptoms for 2 years.  If he feels better going off it, maybe he should just stick with it.

If he really wants to try it again, I would definitely wait a couple weeks after the symptoms clear up before trying.  Then I would eat it repeatedly, not just once.