I have gone gluten free and its been just over a week now, when do people start to feel some of the benefits if any? Thanks

[missdove]

[Mia1057]

If you are coeliac and have just started the GF life, it can take a while. Your villi have to heal and it took them a while to be destroyed soot can take a very long while for them to heal

[missdove in reply to Mia1057]

Thanks for that, I have an underactive thyroid and have been unwell for 4 years I have really high antibodies and appear to have absorption problems and loads more health issues as I have become more unwell, so have been advised that going GF can help...

[Regalbirdy]

Hi,

I have found that going GF is no quick fix to instant full health.

I was diagnosed a coeliac last November, so going gluten-free was a necessity for me.

I started feeling a tiny bit better after a couple of weeks. However removing the gluten from my diet meant that other health issues that had been masked (and caused) by eating gluten started to become much more noticeable - and needed sorting out.

The first one to show up was a B12 deficiency, then I needed calcium supplements for osteoporosis. This led to a severe vitamin D deficiency also being found. In between all that was a dairy intolerance and a diagnosis of depression!

My advice would be to be patient; to be kind to yourself mentally and physically as much as possible; and to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables (prosaic I know!).

I also relied on the coeliac UK website a lot in the beginning. Their members food directory is quite a good place for a newbie to the gluten free life to draw information from.

I wish you every health and happiness.

R.B.

[missdove in reply to Regalbirdy]

Thanks R.B. No sadly there appears to be no quick fix when it comes to auto immune illness, I feel this is the right way to go and have already discovered I am lacking B12, D vits, and I am sure as hell depressed because of what I have lost so far being unwell, not surprising really I suppose. I try to be kind but its hard sometimes. I also wish you the best recovery possible...Best wishes D x

[Pink_Bear]

I'm not diagnosed coeliac, but went gf to see if it would help me feel better. I'd been diagnosed with Hashimoto's in 2011, improved somewhat once properly medicated, but always had this feeling that there must be something more I could do to get back to being myself again. Within about a month of removing gluten I started to feel a bit better, but it took more like 3-6 months before I can honestly say I feel pretty well. Nothing would tempt me back to gluten now. Hope you start to see some improvement soon.

[missdove in reply to Pink_Bear]

Thanks MaryC, that's helpful and hopeful to know, my body is not dealing with going GF very well I am having lots of stomach upsets, but am not sure if I am doing something wrong or that is just normal while my body is getting used to its new regime...Best wishes D x

[jmjhoh]

I have an underactive thyroid, and once absorption of food improved following going gluten free, I had to alter my dose of thyroxine a couple of times to get things right again - hopfully it is ok now. I am just now starting to feel like I used again after nearly 18 months since cd diagnosis, and now have vit d3 tabs and B12 injections.

[missdove in reply to jmjhoh]

That's interesting to know that you had to alter you dose of T4, I am on small amount of T4 and also T3 along with the usual supplements. Great to hear that you are feeling better I hope it continues for you...D x

[jmjhoh in reply to missdove]

I am only on T4 and my dose had always been 50mcg, but after starting a GF diet, 6 months or so later I started to have symptoms similar to before I had my underactive thyroid diagnosis - tiredness and loss of hair but my digestion of food still seemed to happen too quickly which I thought was still me healing with the CD, but a blood test revealed that my T4 dose was too high!!! so I dropped to 25mcg and felt great I started to gain some much needed weight and my hair stopped falling out, but 3 months later a routine blood test showed that I needed my dose increased again! I was dubious as I was feeling better so agreed with my doc to have a mixed dose of one day 25mcg and the next 50mcg - I will find out if this is successful next month but I am feeling well in general

[Hidden]

Took nearly 12 months before I felt normal again, my hair stopped falling out and my joints in my hands went back to normal size....but I do remember starting to feel better after a couple of months....I was just shocked at how much stuff has gluten/wheat in....

Good luck....

Janie x

[missdove in reply to Hidden]

Hi Janie, I so hear you....I am finding out how many products have gluten in, its actually quite daunting to go into a supermarket now and know that you cannot have the majority of its products! Have to start getting inventive in the kitchen...Yikes D x

[Lexy]

Hi missdove, I think everyone has different reactions to how going 'gluten free' (and it all depends, very much, on precisely HOW gluten free you are!) affects them. I was quite fortunate in that I saw immediate relief within the first week/10 days of going gluten free. It then plateaued out for quite a while.

I have Dermatitis Herpetiformis - I kind of consider myself lucky as I get immediate skin reactions to gluten (and other things that my body 'reads' as though it were gluten): I get itching and then I get blisters and these can last for several weeks. I've almost been two years 'gluten free' - although to be honest, I am far more gluten free now than I was in much of my first year! The mistakes included using so-called 'gluten free' products (from flours, to breads, to cakes, to all sorts of foods and drinks).

Something labelled 'gluten free' can contain up to, if not more than, 20 parts per million of gluten. If you are very sensitive (as I am) then you may as well be eating full-on gluten! So the best advice I can give you is to eat simply, to prepare all your food yourself and to only rarely resort to 'gluten free' labelled items (ie in a pinch, when there is absolutely nothing else you can eat/drink and you have to have something). It may well be that after some time (a year, two years, longer?) you can start to reintroduce some of these items, once your body has recovered, or at least has gone some way toward recovering.

Personally, I react to coffee, some teas (green tea and several herbal teas, especially if they have liquorice in them), some wines - I have in the past reacted to chickpeas and lentils, corn, millet, I still can't tolerate Dove's gluten free flour at all, nor can I tolerate xanthan gum. I have become very used to closely inspecting each and every label on any item I eat, drink, put on my skin, in my mouth etc.

I am not saying that you too will have problems with those items I mentioned, I'm just flagging up that once you truly cut out the gluten (ie avoiding processed readymade 'gluten free' food) your body will let you know if there are other things it doesn't cope with. It is an ongoing process and everyone makes 'mistakes' but you learn from them all and gradually you should hopefully feel some improvement! Good luck!

[missdove in reply to Lexy]

Thanks for the heads up Lexy, its just so complex and I feel for our poor bodies...I am getting quite a lot of upset stomachs at the moment, even though I am being very strict but like you say even in the so called GF stuff there is still Gluten!! So I am not sure if my body is trying to get used to the changes that I am making or I am still reacting to things that have hidden Gluten, I suppose its just over time I will work out whats what. Thanks for the luck I think its going to be needed...Bet wishes to you and your health D x

[jmjhoh in reply to missdove]

I continued to get upset stomachs after going gluten free until I cut out dairy too and things (touch wood) have been ok since then. I still have days where I need to stay near a loo but that is because my bowels still havent regulated themselves and so I still have constipated days followed by days where everything has to go (hope I am not being too graphic) but is not diarrhoea like it was before diagnosis. It could well be something else still causing your upsets, it's a process of eliminating things and seeing if that works or not...could take some time to get it right I hope you feel better soon Missdove x

[missdove in reply to jmjhoh]

Hi jmjhoh, I think I found what was causing my stomach upsets, I had recently started taking iron supplements as I am quite low, I stopped taking them for a couple of days then tried taking one again and had an upset stomach with in hours!! So am now trying to source an iron that my stomach can tolerate...Any ideas? Arggggh cutting out dairy as well thats tough...Best wishes to you and your health D x

[roobarb in reply to missdove]

Hi missdove, I also had similar reaction to iron tablets. My sister has given me some sachets to try called spatone. They say they contain only iron rich mineral water. I haven't tried them yet as waiting for my tummy to fully settle first.

[missdove in reply to roobarb]

Let me know how you get on. Also some one said modified release iron is good that apparently I can get from my GP, am seeing her this week so will check.

I cannot see your profile picture fully but is it a pic of a blobfish? D

[missdove in reply to missdove]

Ha ha I seriously need my eyes tested yet again, its a little field mouse!!! Doh

[roobarb in reply to missdove]

It's a dormouse. I chose it coz, like me, they sleep a lot. How's your tum now missdove, did you find an iron supplement to suit. I also seem to be having more tum probs 2 weeks into GF diet. I can't blame the iron, as not tried it yet. But I think I am relying to heavily on free from products.

[missdove in reply to roobarb]

Hi Roobarb,

Tummy better, so def think it was the iron, have got some modified release iron from GP but am scared to take it! Yes I think the free from products prob are not that good, I am trying to cook from whole, and have even started baking not with much success though, baking is a precise art as it is and its even harder using the Doves farm flour, I have made some weird creations to say the least!!! Luckily I have an award winning bakery that bakes a sunflower and buckwheat loaf that is like a brick but tastes good, but I am not sure how long I can keep eating for, as the novelty will wear thin me thinks! But its better than that Free from stuff, the bread is disgusting and not for me I would rather go with out completely...

I think I have even lost a little bit of weight, but think thats where I am not eating some of the naughty stuff I used to eat pre G/F!

Its my time of the month and I am craving so many naughty things, I really want a chinese and to eat crisps and loads of chocolate, and am finding it quite hard at this moment! Do you do of lot of G/F cooking and baking? D x

[roobarb in reply to missdove]

I'm glad your tummy is feeling better. I am 2 weeks into GF diet, so still learning. I am lucky that my hubbie is a great cook, & we have successfully adapted many of our favourite recipes. I love baking & made my first GF cake on Friday. It was a chocolate mouse cake I saw on Sat kitchen last week, & it was yum! I never had much success with bread making pre GF, so have thought about getting a bread making machine to try GF bread. Although I have found Genius bread from the supermarket to be very nice, but obviously not as healthy as home made. Then I saw a flat bread recipe on Sunday brunch this morning that seems like it would adapt well, so will give it a try. Can you tell I am food obsessed?!

[Mia1057 in reply to missdove]

Hi there the secret for me when I was diagnosed and started going gluten free was to only eat those things that are naturally gluten free. So only meat, fish, veg, fruit at the beginning, then introduce a bit of dairy but you may find that you can't tolerate that or at least not at the beginning while your villi are healing.Then introduce the pulses to see what you can tolerate, then the grains and flours, corn, quinoa, buckwheat, rice and rice flour , chickpea flour and only after all that anything on the free from aisle at the supermarket. This way you identify the other things that you can't tolerate that being coeliac was masking. I personally cannot eat anything with any gluten in it even if it is only 20ppm but many others can. I also have Hashimotos and am coeliac so both of these diseases are autoimmune and can take a long time to get right.

[Hidden]

Hi Missdove, I was diagnosed in the middle of October and it seemed daunting going gluten free. There was a gf food demo near me 3 days after diagnosis so I went to that and the food was so processed I was not impressed, so I decided to see what I could do for myself as I had been into a whole food diet when diagnosed.

I was diagnosed because I had severe anaemia so knew it wasn't going to be a quick fix. Around Christmas that year I was doing some DIY outside and it was bitterly cold but a really beautiful crisp sharp day and I had this sense of warmth inside and a feeling of well being that I had not experienced for may years and I knew that I had responded to my diet. So I went for a blood test and my iron levels had returned to normal.

The price I paid for this was that when I tried codex wheat and other products with below codex in them I had a reaction so have avoided them.

The advantage is I feel very healthy have lots of energy and all my vitamin, mineral and iron levels are normal so I have been able to be a blood donor again which I have been doing for many years and I give blood 3 or 4 times a year. They have now started doing Mrs Crimbles chocolate macaroons at donor sessions so I don't miss out on a biscuit with my cup of tea afterwards.

Having been diagnosed many years ago my advice is to be positive because you have been diagnosed and KNOW what is wrong with you. Take each day one day at a time and focus on what you can eat. Also check out what you can eat from shops near you and I'm amazed at the gf options for me as I have 3 cafe's within walking distance of my house that serve gf options. I regularly cycle along the Bristol to Bath cycle path and the cafe at Bitton not only serve individually wrapped gf cakes but have a gf menu with a gf quiche!

So keep on the sunny side and if you have any questions then you just ask away and good luck.

Jerry

[missdove in reply to Hidden]

Hi Jerry, that feeling you described sounds fab, thats what I want to be able to feel that again, I so used to love life and embraced it fully. That is great that you have your energy back, oh to have a 1/4 of mine back...Just anything. Its good to hear that its been worth it, and hey getting a Mrs Crimbles after giving blood, how lovely.

I have been checking out everything local to me, and luckily have a great health food store, who also have a little deli counter with G/F goodies and I have tried their fresh baked sunflower bread, it feels like a brick but tastes great, I hate that free from bread! And have a couple of little cafe's that bake G/F cakes if I fancied a treat so its not so bad...

It would be just nice to feel a little bit of improvement but I suppose after being unwell now for 4 years that there is no quick fix, but certainly do not want the next 4 years to be the same!

Continued good health to you D x