You may have a gluten allery and not know it

Dauntlessness
Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just found out I have a gluten allergy a few weeks ago and that has had a huge impact on my weight gain. 3 weeks a go I was really sick. When I am that sick I tend to binge a little bit and I certainly wasn't exercising but I gained 8 lbs...um yup, 8 of them! I know some of it had to be water because of course there was no way I ate and extra 28000 calories on top of my tdee.

Well, I was bored being stuck at home and started researching alternative treatments to my psoriasis because my medicine is around $700.00 a month to keep my skin clear. There were a bunch of studies that linked a gluten intolerance to psoriasis. I guess you don't have to have full blown Celiac disease to have it affect you and there are many levels of it. The thing is, while researching that, it was also linked to weight gain and the inability to lose weight no matter how much you exercise. Really? Hrmm. Thats sounds like me.

So then I went off gluten for a week. I lost 7 lbs in 5 days! Because its winter my psoriasis was acting up, after 2 weeks on a low gluten diet it was about 70% gone. Its never done that in that short of time! Then... I ate pizza on the weekend, gained 3 over night. I was sooo itchy too!
It can be hard and I have struggled. 95% of the time its really not an issue but when I go out to eat its much tougher. I wont eat it for a few days then have something with it and then I gain the pound I lost back. Sighhhh

I talked to one of my trainer friends about it and a few years ago she went on a low gluten diet too and it had dramatic results! I guess her skin was constantly breaking out and she was bloated all the time. She was having a really hard time getting the last 10lbs off. She went off wheat and boom, she lost weight and her skin looks amazing! It cleared up 100% and when she eats gluten too she gains like 2-5lbs....

I read that some studies think that around 6-7% of the US population have a gluten sensitivity and probably more but its too early to tell without more time. I have also read that the reason why Adkins is the only diet that works for some people is not because of carbs they eat (because carbs are actually good for people) but its the wheat!!! They have results because they gave it up from the diet. I guess sometimes tests wont show you have the disease and its only evident through trial and error. There are a TON of stories out there of people who's doctors said they didn't have it but when they tried it themselves that had amazing results. Shows how much doctors know sometimes...

Here are some classic symptoms:

*Diarrhea or Constipation
*Heartburn or stomach pain
*Issues with your skin -acne, psoriasis, breakouts, rashes, dandruff, being overly itchy
*Joint pain and bone issues
*Hormone imbalances
*Foggy Brain
*Pins and needles
*Attention deficits
*Infertility and conception issues
*Depression, irritability, and Anxiety

I have every one single of those...

Also, people have problems with their teeth. I brush my teeth at least twice a day and floss after every single meal and snack and I get cavities like crazy. I also thought I was doing something wrong...

I just thought Id put it out there :)

Replies

  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
    Bump, anyone? haha
  • photog_nurse
    photog_nurse Posts: 1
    Thank you for this information! I have every one of those symptoms and I never thought it was related to gluten. I am starting to make my grocery list to try a week's gluten-free diet to see if it makes a difference with some of the symptoms. Thank you again for sharing this!
  • nokanjaijo
    nokanjaijo Posts: 466 Member
    I am with you. I took grains and sugar out of my diet and I can not believe how many problems of mine are just disappearing. I did it for weight loss but the benefits are just piling up.

    I am happier, I have a ton more energy...I used to want to eat all day but now I am hardly interested in food at all.

    I use T-Gel shampoo every day. I wonder if I should try stopping to see if my scalp issues have cleared up?
  • Nino_Kan25
    Nino_Kan25 Posts: 13
    I just made a thread about this. But its great to know... I am experiencing some of these too.
  • ctheluck
    ctheluck Posts: 14 Member
    I am actually reading "Wheat Belly" right now and it talks about how grains have become so far genetically modified from what they were 60 years ago and all the different effects that wheat gluten has on different areas in the body, including psoriasis, dementia, diabetes. The book is pretty technical but a good read, and remember that it is one Dr's interpretation of studies.
  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
    It is just crazy how many people have gluten sensitivities these days and I really do think that it is related to how modified it is now.

    As far as the psoriasis, one of the only things that has really helped me other than the gluten free thing is photo-therapy and 5000mg of Vitamin D a day as we tend to have a deficiency. Its fairly safe if you use the Photo therapy booths at a dermatologist because they use different UV rays. They use UV rays that don't penetrate the skin like the sun does (which has a higher risk for skin cancer) and it only targets the surface as to treat the skin with little damage. I highly recommend it, even for your scalp. Mine was really bad at one point. So much I was one of the worst cases my doctor had seen. My body was 90% covered, no kidding. I started photo-therapy and 3 months I was only 10% covered and by 6 months I was 99% free of it. In the winter it comes back on my elbows and knees then when it starts getting nicer out it tends to fade again. The gluten free thing is making ti go away sooo fast though.

    Tgel never really worked for me. I find that Dovonex ointment really works though (A vitamin D based medication but it super expensive) , plain ol cocoa butter cream helps alot when I am out of medication and I haven't tried it but I have heard people are getting good results for Dermarest Medicated moisturizer (you can buy at Walmart for around $10.00).
  • ForbiddenFruit
    ForbiddenFruit Posts: 62 Member
    It was psoriasis that tipped me off to a possible wheat/gluten problem too.

    I've had stomach problems for years but just assumed it was one of those things. It wasn't until the psoriasis started and I started reading around it that I put two and two together (only took me until 46 years of age lol).

    My doctor tested me for coeliac disease (that was painful, as I'd already cut gluten out of my diet and had to put it back in for the test). That came back all clear but she also RAST tested me for allergies to common foodstuffs such as wheat, nuts, lactose and shellfish and wheat came back positive, as well as peanuts.

    Having struggled for years and years to lose weight I'm now doing the Dukan diet. I reckoned it would fit with the way I was going to have to eat anyway as I can't eat anything with wheat in it. I've lost 11lbs in the last month. My psoriasis has very nearly cleared up and I feel like I have so much energy.

    As an aside to this, I've suffered from chronic respiratory allergies for many, many years, since my early teens (pollen, dust, feathers, cats, dogs etc). Since I took wheat out of my diet I haven't taken a single anti-histamine, when I used to take them 365 days of the year. My doctor reckons that the wheat was the 'tipping point' at which my body just decided to react to all sorts of things. Taking wheat out of what my body feels it needs to react to has stopped it's reactions to a number of other things too.
  • AlexFryer
    AlexFryer Posts: 8
    Interesting post. I have had similar problems for around eight years, inevitably worse in the winter like you say. Interesting suggestions you made, especially on coconut oil I have heard similar but never tried. And not much luck with Vitamin D supplements, probably need to go stronger. The sun is the single best cure for me, clears up completely.

    Nutrition-wise, I cut out gluten three years ago for completely separate reasons (mainly being inspired by Robb Wolf's book !). I am not celiac but I've maintained gluten-free, legume-free and dairy-free since I began (sometimes creeps back in, probably about 90% gluten free and 95% dairy free now). Seen similar benefits to what you have mentioned, skin slightly improved. Main other improvements are sleep, digestion and performance ! A couple of times I've slipped completely back into eating gluten and I've had absolutely horrendous digestion points, to the point of not being able to walk ! Will never go back.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I am actually reading "Wheat Belly" right now and it talks about how grains have become so far genetically modified from what they were 60 years ago and all the different effects that wheat gluten has on different areas in the body, including psoriasis, dementia, diabetes. The book is pretty technical but a good read, and remember that it is one Dr's interpretation of studies.

    Just note that most of his "facts" are not true. Wheat has been cross bred to have better production but it is not GMO in the sense that the term is used. He makes a lot of wild stabs at promoting an idea that while it may pertain to a few isn't the epidemic he'd like you to think it is.
  • Drea_ann
    Drea_ann Posts: 65 Member
    bump
  • hannahpark3r
    hannahpark3r Posts: 50 Member
    Huh, that's really interesting. I have most of those symptoms. I'll try going gluten free for a few days and see what happens!
  • Ramberta
    Ramberta Posts: 1,312 Member
    I used to work in grocery stores, and I would frequently hear about people being diagnosed with gluten allergies and it had been a shock to them, but now that they were on this diet plan they felt miraculously better. Or, people who were doing it specifically to lose weight faster, recommended by their doctors.

    I'm not keen on a restrictive gluten-free diet "just to see", but since I have several of those symptoms I'm going to do more research and try to at least cut back on it and see if that helps. Thank you for posting this.
  • cineshome
    cineshome Posts: 97 Member
    bump
  • Fairysoul
    Fairysoul Posts: 1,361 Member
    I have gone gluten free recently, and I feel so much better, all those cronich stomach aches have gone away, and I feel like a person again! For anyone who doesn't know me, I have had stomach aches my whole life and now I know why.
  • SorchaEilis
    SorchaEilis Posts: 99 Member
    Hmm... bump
  • sethysgirl
    sethysgirl Posts: 45
    I found out that I have a gluten intolerance by going off Gluten for a month, due to a friend's prognosis (RN). My eczema cleared up, my moods became a lot more stable, my stomach problems evened out a bit, I went from having at least a migraine a week to one every 2 months now. I have now been gluten free for over 6 months. When I do get into gluten, I get sick for weeks...stomach, migraines, pain and my fiancee wants to leave at that time (I really get bad mood swings). The best way to tell is to go off gluten for 1 month if you do not see results before that. It takes about a month for the gluten to leave your body completely. Be careful of restaurants and relatives that do not have allergies...they will not understand.
  • njean888
    njean888 Posts: 399 Member
    Where would be a good place to start? It seems really overwhelming on what you can and can't eat. I have been considering putting my son on a gluten free diet. But of course if he goes on it then that means I do too. I just don't know where to begin? Any reference points you found helpful?
  • ForbiddenFruit
    ForbiddenFruit Posts: 62 Member
    Where would be a good place to start? It seems really overwhelming on what you can and can't eat. I have been considering putting my son on a gluten free diet. But of course if he goes on it then that means I do too. I just don't know where to begin? Any reference points you found helpful?

    I'm making the assumption your son is a young(ish) child, so please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I would say that it's one thing to start playing around with your own diet on a hunch as an adult, in fact I did it myself to see if I felt I needed to be tested, which I then was to confirm the wheat allergy. However, I really, really don't think you should be doing the same with a child. It's far too risky, especially if you're not sure about what to replace the gluten containing products with. You risk giving him a deficiency of something a growing body really ought to have.

    If he is showing symptoms that make you concerned he may have a food intolerance (and it may not even be gluten, lactose intolerance can show similar symptoms), before you go cutting out an entire food group you really, really need to be talking to your doctor to have tests run.
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    How is taking gluten out of a child's diet in any way risky?
  • ForbiddenFruit
    ForbiddenFruit Posts: 62 Member
    How is taking gluten out of a child's diet in any way risky?

    Potentially in a lot of ways if you don't know what you're doing and you don't replace what he's getting from grains with minerals, vitamins, fibre with the same from other sources.

    Don't get me wrong, children (and adults, and I know, because I can't eat wheat and I've had to learn how to manage my diet) can manage perfectly well without it but the poster openly said that she had no idea how to go about it. You might chose to risk a deficiency in your child (potentially not required because she has no idea whether he actually has an issue with gluten or not) but I certainly wouldn't.

    What's the problem with suggesting that, if she feels her child may have an issue with gluten, that she gets him tested? Then she can learn how to manage it properly if indeed he is coeliac or has a wheat allergy. Learning how to manage it takes time and effort and also puts a burden on other people too, because she will have to say to the host of any party he goes to 'oh, my son can't eat anything with gluten in it' and have him take his own food or have them cater especially for him - different cake, different cookies, different sandwiches - and, depending on how old he is, trust him not to eat something he shouldn't just because it looks nicer.

    Why go through all of this with a child when it may not even be necessary? It's hard enough as an adult and I know as I have to deal with the events I go to where I end up eating a nut bar I've kept in the bottom of my bag because there is literally nothing else I can safely eat.

    If an adult chooses to make life harder for themselves that is their choice and they reserve the right to do it without knowing if they really have an issue with gluten. I stand by what I said that for both health and social issues I wouldn't do that to a child without knowing if it was required.
  • matthewnelson1235
    matthewnelson1235 Posts: 5
    It can be more complex than being allergic to gluten. I have had symptoms (22) for as long as I can remember. I have heard it all from doctors. Basically what my research has concluded is that you can have a number of things associated with wheat/rye/barley/spelt grains. First is Celiac desease, which causes rapid and severe damage to the small colon. Second is gluten intolerance, which causes the exact symptoms as Celiac but does not generate antibodies that are detectable in a blood test. Finally up to 23 different allergies to the grains forementioned exist, they can be tested for and contribute to disrupting the small colon. It appears to me that the small colon is like the brain of the digestive track and is responsible for extracting most of the nutrients out of the foods it breaks down. It also controls the stomachs acid levels and controls the flow of the large colon.

    Diarrhea, upset stomach, cramping/pain, and heartburn that never ends are the most common signs of a gluten/wheat issue. The normal food cycle from end to end should be 40-50 hours depending on sex, age, and activity levels. I believe that what happens is that the typical frequency for gluten/wheat intake is every 6 hours with a meal and therefore the digestive track is in constant battle with it. The foods you eat do not get the nutrients extracted like they should and this is what causes the other symtoms like skin issues, migrating joint pain, muscle spasms/soreness, and fatigue.

    Personaly my digestive track has been on hyperspeed forever and a solid bowel movement was not my normal. After going gluten free my system returned to normal in 48 hours, the heartburn gone, fatigue gone. Almost every single symptom is showing signs of improvement daily.

    Things that used to really upset my stomach no longer do such as dairy products, red meats, and salad vegetables. Also foods that used to produce large amounts of gas such as refried beans have a much more acceptable journey through my system.

    Now for the wierd. A pizza place by my house sells a gluten free pizza that I can eat and its pretty darn good. One night I had it with sausage and it jacked me up big time. After doing some research the only ingredient that was in the sausage and not in any other food I eat was BHA/BHT as a fat preservative. So I tried gluten free pizza at Dominoes with and without the sausage and guess what? The same exact experience except it felt like anaphylactic shock. It took 5 minutes and throat starting getting tight, sinuses clogging up and for the next 5 hours my gut got ripped apart. so it appears the levels of BHA/BHT are much higher in the Dominoes sausage.

    Cutting wheat out of a diet is not that hard until it comes to crackers, cereal, pasta, and bread. Wheat can be replaced with many other grains. For instance no more sandwiches, since good gluten free bread is hard to find unless you make it yourself. So for me I put whatever I would put on a sandwich on gluten free crackers of which there are lots of good ones. Another thing one can do is go to food manufactures websites such a Frito Lay as an example. Frito Lay has a product listing of every product that is gluten free. Go through your pantry and pull product and read labels. Lots of people say no more ranch dressing. But my favorite is hidden valley ranch and the only one sold that is not gluten free is the homestyle sold at costco. So I buy the others or make it from the packet.

    The problem is that our society is hooked on wheat. Its like heroin to an addict! Its soft, sweet, chewy and has a buttery flavor and the government has been pushing it down our throats since the major advent of food preservatives in the 50's.

    The other thing that I did was add vitamin D3 1000iu, Walgreens multivitamin equal to centrum and if I need it a potassium supplement which is not that much but its better than nothing if I am close to my daily allowance. All other supplements have been ditched. I try to target foods that add to what I am low in for the day.

    I hope my gluten/wheat experience helps.

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