Gluten free and sorting to feel unwell...

[roobiedoobie]

Hiya..

I've been gluten free for over a month and initially felt really well.

I find now that I'm feeling sluggish, dizzy and I just want to sleep.

Anyone else experienced this?

Thanks in advance

Roo

[woodpecker]

Suggest you look at the site below:

purehealthclinic.co.uk/glut...

[Lynxcat]

Hi Roo,

Firstly, have you been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, Gluten Allergy, Gluten Intolerance, IBS or similar?

If you are experiencing dizzy spells and overall fatitue then it is important to visit your GP - your doctor can arrange for a simple blood test that will establish the cause of the symptoms which may be due to one or more vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies.

Just to give you an idea here are a couple of links for you to look at - but please go to your GP as a blood test is important in order to get yourself fit and feeling well again as fast as possible.

livestrong.com/article/2582...

livestrong.com/article/2814...

[roobiedoobie]

Hiya,

I have coeliac disease.

My bloods were done about a month ago, everything appeared fine apart from iron which is now 6 but had been 3 back in April. And my folate was low also.

The only thing they didn't check was glucose because the lady taking my blood was having a nightmare(5 times between both arms and finally got the blood on the second attempt in my hand and it wasn't free flowing!).

I just feel exhausted my poor kids are getting worried.

[hilly2 in reply to roobiedoobie]

hi there if you drink lots of water before your blood test this will help a lot, a nurse told me this as i have problems too

[Lynxcat in reply to roobiedoobie]

Hello Roobiedoobie, If you have only been diagnosed a month ago then it will take time for your body to begin to heal. It is a very long lesson that we have to learn when diagnosed as so many things prevent total healing and all of us are constantly learning all of the time.

If you wish to heal more quickly then quite a primitive diet is ideal. Stay away from bread, cakes and biscuits - even if they are gluten free. Instead eat rice cakes, corn cakes and cereals like Kallo plain puffed rice or puffed millet or cook the whole millet/quinoa/rice grains. Restrict coffee intake to either none or one cup per day. Avoid foods that contain any Codex wheat starch or oats even pure oats. Avoid any foods containing dextrose, dextrin, maltodextrin, etc. Avoid all malt or malted cereal including beers and wines. It sounds very extreme but making sure that any form of gluten is totally avoided - even the CUK recommendation of 20ppm will help to speed up how soon you will feel better.

Because you have mentioned feeling both dizzy and tired - it would suggest that best advice is to go back to the doctor - explain how you feel and see what they say. It could be something quite simple may be not even related to coeliac disease and so needs to be confirmed as such.

Vitamins are strange little things and Vitamin B12 especially is hoarded away in storage and when the body is craving it as it isn't receiving it through your intestines it draws it back from its stores - it may well be that your stores are nearly depleted and if this is so it probably may not register the shortage in your blood tests. Please persevere with your doctor to find the cause so that you can soon be on the road to recovery.

If you do wish to read a little about Vitamin B12 then here's a link:

livestrong.com/article/3484...

[Saphire]

I agree with going to your doctor. I cannot tolerate gluten free shop bought products. After a few days build-up they make me feel ill.

[JGG-ITSEC]

I agree with going to the doctor to check yourself out.

You did not mention whether you were medically diagnosed as a celiac or your gluten intolerant. keyword - medically diagnosed. Also you did not mention whether your antibody count was high.

If Coeliac, there are a number of associated medical issue that can and do occur with this autoimmune disease that are not looked for immediately after diagnosis. It is unfortunate that common vitamin\mineral and other hormone deficiency are not checked after a Coeliac or Gluten Intolerance diagnosis. I guess since Coeliac disease, Gluten Intolerance issues, and the damage it does is still not fully understood or remembered in the medically community that they do not immediately follow up with a vitamin deficiency check.

You should have been asked to come back for follow up blood check after a couple of months and then after a year to see if you still have a high antibody count or good progress. A lack of good progress could indicate that:

* Your originals counts were so high that you even though you are doing things right you have not yet gotten below the threshold used to indicate a problem.

* You still have other medical issues associated with Coeliac or Gluten Intolerance not discovered during the original diagnosis.

* You may have did a good job of being gluten free for a while but have exposed yourself to gluten, whether ingestion or inhalation (Glutened). If this happen it can be a good thing because now you know what it felt like to feel good and can use it to spot what happens or how you feel when exposed.

Go back and asked to talk with a specialist that deals with Coeliac and Gluten Intolerance rather than a GP.

[Lunarhine]

If you also get numbness or pins and needles it could simply be low blood pressure. As far as I know that's not linked to coeliac, but it's quite common and very easy to test for. Good luck.