Wheat Withdrawal Symptoms?

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ZiaLater
ZiaLater Posts: 23
in Food and Nutrition
I have recently (two weeksago) removed wheat, sugar and caffene from my diet. I came to the conclusion that wheat is my enemy and the probably cause to all my sinus infections and zero metabolism. Has anyone else suffered massive withdrawal symptoms of removing wheat? This is what I've been going through: nausea, bloating, severe mood swings, feverish, sweating, no energy, loss of appetite and missed two days from work with these symptoms, plus vomitting and other bathroom issues.
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  • needamulligan
    needamulligan Posts: 558 Member
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    Are you sure that these symptoms are related to removing wheat from your diet? I'm a serial yo-yo dieter. Many, many years ago I did a spell of hardcore Atkins and, for longer than I probably should have, I stopped eating all carbs. I never experienced any of these issues. Hate to be so nosy but if you are constipated could you be impacted? I'm not a medical professional, just a mom. I think it's time to see a doctor, don't you think? And, maybe, reconsider the drastic diet change. I wouldn't guess that removing wheat, sugar and caffeine could do all of that to you. Your symptoms may be completely unrelated to your diet change.
  • buffalo77
    buffalo77 Posts: 8
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    Also, could it be caffeine withdrawal?
  • needamulligan
    needamulligan Posts: 558 Member
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    I've gotten massive headaches from caffeine withdrawal....that could make you nauseous....
  • auntbliz
    auntbliz Posts: 173 Member
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    I have heard of it, though for me it was opposite. I know you can have some big withdrawal symptoms from removing sugar and caffeine though, I have definitely experienced caffeine withdrawals in a bad way. My husband has those symptoms when he accidentally gets any gluten, so, since he's stopped eating wheat, rye, barley, and anything with them, if he gets some by accident, he gets sick like you are describing, minus the fever, plus sinus symptoms.
  • KatieM7
    KatieM7 Posts: 588 Member
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    I would say that it more then likely a caffeine withdrawl! When I quit caffeine 10 years ago I had major headaches for the first few weeks. Also if your headache is bad enough then you could be nauseous from that.
  • Lparault
    Lparault Posts: 100
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    I agree. I'd bet it's caffeine withdrawal, before I'd think wheat. I quit drinking cappuchino several years ago, and let me tell you, I was drinking 5 or 6 cups a day. If I slept in, I woke up with the shakes I needed it so badly. I had the full blown dt's when I quit. All the symptoms you state for almost 8 days. Massive headaches made me irritable and nauseaus. Sure enough, once I got out of the habit, I felt better. Getting there was hard as hell though.
  • kjrosa
    kjrosa Posts: 34
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    how many days have you gone with out wheat, sugar, and caffeine? i'm trying to do the same thing; also watching my sodium! i am allergic to gluten, am pre-diabetic because I got pregnancy induced diabetes in all 3 of my pregnancies, and have hypertension which now is under control from not drinking any caffeine and and having a goal of consuming less that 1200mg of sodium a day...when i first went off the gluten i felt like i was going off drugs or something; i felt jittery, had cold sweats, nausea, diarrhea, awful sharp pain in my gut, aches all over my body, and fatigue. now i feel that every time i have even the smallest amount of gluten; in fact sometimes i react to something that i think is gluten free and find out it actually isn't and that it was processed in a factory with other products that have gluten in it...hang in there you'll be glad that you did. about a month out from excluding those things from your diet i started to feel better; with some people though it could take as long as 3 months to feel the difference...it depends on how much gluten you use to consume and for how long.

    i hope that helps :)
    *cheers to being healthy*
  • ZiaLater
    ZiaLater Posts: 23
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    when i first went off the gluten i felt like i was going off drugs or something; i felt jittery, had cold sweats, nausea, diarrhea, awful sharp pain in my gut, aches all over my body, and fatigue. now i feel that every time i have even the smallest amount of gluten; in fact sometimes i react to something that i think is gluten free and find out it actually isn't and that it was processed in a factory with other products that have gluten in it...

    OMG!!! okay I wasn't going crazy!! I have been tested to see if I am gluten intollerant, and I'm not, just a wheat addict. I had decided to do this to see if there would be any change in me, and so far there has been. I'm not as sluggish, I dropped alot of weight fast for me. I am sleeping better, sinuses are not as stuffy and so forth. I've eliminated as much of it as I can and so far so good. I'm eating way more salads and when I want that "bread" type thing, I resort to rice crackers of various kinds. I have found out how much I've missed hummus...lol. Next on my list to do is an intestinal cleansing to remove toxic and unwanted/undigested foods from my innards. I'm sure I'll get symptoms again from doing such a thing, but it is for the greater good. WHEAT FREE SINCE Thursday April 22, 2010!!!!! (cept that one little mistake on Mother's Day....grrr!!)
  • slimkitty
    slimkitty Posts: 418
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    Definitely wheat withdrawal. Caffeine or sugar withdrawal wouldn't last that long with such symptoms. My son went through similar symptoms to yours. It lasted for a couple of weeks and then he started to get better. It took about 6 months for the gluten to completely leave his system. At the end of the six month period there was a marked improvement in mood, health, physical strength. He suddenly opened up to the world. Keep at it and you feel better soon.
  • 78ee
    78ee Posts: 1
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    I am going through the same as you and believe me its definitely wheat i have had to miss three days of school because of this. ha today is one of them :laugh:
  • TaraLangston
    TaraLangston Posts: 9
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    I'm so glad to hear this - I thought I was getting really sick. I've been off wheat for a week, and at first it was just body aches everywhere, so I thought it wasn't bad at all. Now today I'm dizzy, nauseous, shaky, and feel awful. I was going to go home from work but it was too busy, and I just thought about googling wheat withdrawal. I hope it gets better soon - I'm going on vacation on Thursday...maybe I should have waited til after to cut it out of my diet?
  • hockey7fan
    hockey7fan Posts: 281 Member
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    I've found it takes a couple of weeks for your body to adjust. And all those symptoms sound like what you get from giving up wheat. Are you eating other grains or not? Did you really lower your carbs? It's called low-carb flu and it will go away.
  • MichaeltE
    MichaeltE Posts: 1
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    Has anyone had trouble sleeping after removing wheat from your diet. I'm on day 2 and can't sleep.
  • janekangas
    janekangas Posts: 1
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    I had to give up gluten a week ago due to celiac and I also have been trouble sleeping and dizzy spells off and on. I'm better today than the last two days but I try to eat something every couple of hours, I was also super thirsty the first week of going GF, so I have been trying to drink more water. I went to the Dr. and they found nothing but low blood sugar.
  • Greenseed
    Greenseed Posts: 2
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    You are smart to quit Wheat entirely... i'm going through the same exact thing.. i listen to a radio program called "Red Ice Radio" with the guest speaker being Dr. William Davis, cardiologist .. He exposes "healthy whole grains" for the incredibly destructive genetic monsters they've become. Over 80% of the people he meets today are pre-diabetic or diabetic. In an effort to reduce blood sugar, he asked patients to remove all wheat products from their diet based on the simple fact that foods made of wheat flour raise blood sugar higher than nearly all other foods, regardless if the wheat is organic, multi-grain, whole grain or sprouted. The results were positively drastic. Dr. Davis will discuss the benefits of going wheat free. We'll cover genetic changes of wheat verses ancient grains. He explains how modern wheat is an opiate and appetite stimulant. William also breaks down the internal components of wheat and how they interact with the body in negative ways linked to a slew of health problems. He also explains the great lie of gluten free bread. Why aren't doctors giving this important research any attention? After i heard that program i checked his web site "Wheat Belly"... Then i did my very own research... courtesy of the internet.. Turns out it's ALL True !! Wheat is terrible in any form.. it triggers your brain to initiate a Hard Wired Hunger Response.. Goodbye Wheat, Goodbye Beer.. and to think of ALL the Processed foods i will NEVER eat again... makes me smile every time !!!!
  • Greenseed
    Greenseed Posts: 2
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    P.S. most Gluten Free foods are horrible for you... Google "Wheat Belly"
  • overfences
    overfences Posts: 96 Member
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    What you're describing is VERY typical for those that go low-sugar/low-processed carbs. When I first went Primal (love it!) I felt like I had the flu for about 4 days; felt yucky for about a week. But I knew what it was from and so I just pushed on through. After that passed I felt AWESOME.

    From everything I've read it's from yeast dieoff. Make sure you're drinking tons of water to help flush it out of your system.
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 450 Member
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    I have recently (two weeksago) removed wheat, sugar and caffene from my diet. I came to the conclusion that wheat is my enemy and the probably cause to all my sinus infections and zero metabolism. Has anyone else suffered massive withdrawal symptoms of removing wheat? This is what I've been going through: nausea, bloating, severe mood swings, feverish, sweating, no energy, loss of appetite and missed two days from work with these symptoms, plus vomitting and other bathroom issues.

    Wheat and gluten are silent enemies that no one wants to address b/c they don't want to have to sacrifice their treats.
    I have heard of "Carb flu" and your body can experience symptoms similar to a druggy in rehab.
  • AliceCuriouse
    AliceCuriouse Posts: 1
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    Wheat withdrawal is common in people with eliminate wheat from their diet. Typical symptoms are fatigue, fuzzy-headedness, depression, etc.

    Here are some resources:

    http://www.everydiet.org/diet/wheat-belly
    http://crossfitfire.com/wheat-addiction/
    http://www.medpedia.com/news_analysis/68-The-Heart-Scan-Blog/entries/62642-Heroin-Oxycontin-and-a-whole-wheat-bagel

    There's a recently published book called "Wheat Belly," and it's major premise is that wheat is an addictive substance which affects opiate receptors in the brain. For some people, eliminate wheat from their diet is as difficult as it is for a smoker to eliminate cigarettes.

    Right now I'm experiencing wheat withdrawal symptoms, mostly depression and lack of motivation. You're not alone!

    What I'm looking forward to is the dramatic increase in energy and mental clarity that comes after the withdrawal symptoms are over. I'm told that should be a week or less.

    Good luck!
  • ralgirl
    ralgirl Posts: 1
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    My dad just told me about Dr. Davis and the Wheat Belly book and I hope it will help with my ulcerative colitis. I pre-ordered his wheat belly 150 recipes through walmart online - comes outdec 24. Day 2 without wheat and couting! I now shop atwhole foods or online through vitacost for things wheat free.

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