Going Gluten Free?

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chl0edavis0n
chl0edavis0n Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been gluten free for 2 years now and it was a gradual process. I started cutting things out of my diet slowly and replaced them. It's not easy and somtimes I still have cravings but there are many alternatives! I had to swap due to problems with my digestive system and now I feel so much better! Is anyone here gluten free or going gluten free or would like to try going gluten free? :)
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  • Bonny132
    Bonny132 Posts: 3,617 Member
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    I have been GF for about 1.5 years now, suspected celiac but cannot face going back eating gluten again to get the proper diagnosis. They took me off gluten before my blood work so only tested high. Best choice ever, I can now plan my days like normal people, not around is there a bathroom close by.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    There are a few of us. A small minority.

    Glad you are feeling better.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    I was diagnosed with celiac disease 18 years ago. Been GF for a long time.
  • kellellie
    kellellie Posts: 109 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I avoid gluten as part of a restricted diet to help control lupus flare ups. It works. I've been off my meds for a while and I am in much, much less pain and haven't had a major flare up since. It took some getting used to, because at first I didn't just cut out gluten, I cut out all kinds of stuff, then added them back in slowly to see how I reacted. These days I do okay by avoiding gluten, dairy, most nightshades, alcohol and too much sugar. I'm not as strict as I was at first, and some days I pay for it. One day as an experiment I purposefully ate a sandwich from a restaurant with plain old french bread. 2 hours later my entire body hurt and I wanted to pull my legs off because my hips hurt so bad. Not doing that again.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    chl0edavis0n wrote: »
    I have been gluten free for 2 years now and it was a gradual process. I started cutting things out of my diet slowly and replaced them. It's not easy and somtimes I still have cravings but there are many alternatives! I had to swap due to problems with my digestive system and now I feel so much better! Is anyone here gluten free or going gluten free or would like to try going gluten free? :)

    If you cut out gluten and your digestive system has improved, that's a plus!

    One lady I met said she is required to eat gluten free due to celiacs but she said she absolutely hates it. Other people are fine with it.


  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    edited December 2015
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    kellellie wrote: »
    I avoid gluten as part of a restricted diet to help control lupus flare ups. It works. I've been off my meds for a while and I am in much, much less pain and haven't had a major flare up since. It took some getting used to, because at first I didn't just cut out gluten, I cut out all kinds of stuff, then added them back in slowly to see how I reacted. These days I do okay by avoiding gluten, dairy, most nightshades, alcohol and too much sugar. I'm not as strict as I was at first, and some days I pay for it. One day as an experiment I purposefully ate a sandwich from a restaurant with plain old french bread. 2 hours later my entire body hurt and I wanted to pull my legs off because my hips hurt so bad. Not doing that again.

    Yep, elimination diet. Due to my own digestive problems, I have been slowly cutting out foods to see if they are the problem. While things have improved somewhat, my doctor suggested I try a full elimination diet with just the basic raw foods and then add in one by one what I used to eat to figure out the culprit. My problem is not overall pain since I've lost weight but acid reflux (which was not as bad when I was overweight).
  • swellirok
    swellirok Posts: 11 Member
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    I am gluten free. As well as dairy, soy, and blueberry free. (Blueberries are a strange one, right?) I've known I've had gluten intolerance for a few years but was in denial and ate whatever I wanted while feeling depressed and having an upset tummy the whole time.(I have been told I am a good candidate for having celiac as I have so many other food allergies, but am scared about getting tested for it!) I've been eating strictly gluten free for about 4 months now and feel much better. It's hard at first, but I think how I feel makes up for the 'inconvenience' of it.
  • kellellie
    kellellie Posts: 109 Member
    edited December 2015
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    kellellie wrote: »
    I avoid gluten as part of a restricted diet to help control lupus flare ups. It works. I've been off my meds for a while and I am in much, much less pain and haven't had a major flare up since. It took some getting used to, because at first I didn't just cut out gluten, I cut out all kinds of stuff, then added them back in slowly to see how I reacted. These days I do okay by avoiding gluten, dairy, most nightshades, alcohol and too much sugar. I'm not as strict as I was at first, and some days I pay for it. One day as an experiment I purposefully ate a sandwich from a restaurant with plain old french bread. 2 hours later my entire body hurt and I wanted to pull my legs off because my hips hurt so bad. Not doing that again.

    Yep, elimination diet. Due to my own digestive problems, I have been slowly cutting out foods to see if they are the problem. While things have improved somewhat, my doctor suggested I try a full elimination diet with just the basic raw foods and then add in one by one what I used to eat to figure out the culprit. My problem is not overall pain since I've lost weight but acid reflux (which was not as bad when I was overweight).

    Yup I did it the hardcore way, cut gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, corn, night shades, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, beef, processed meat... I'm probably forgetting one. Cut for 6 weeks, the 4th week cut meat entirely. When I started adding back I did it very slowly. Add one food a few days out of a week, the next week eat "normally" without that food, repeat. I was still adding foods up until maybe 5 months later. It's just kind of how I live now. If I have, say, bell peppers, I won't eat them again at all that week or maybe the next week too, depending on how crappy they make me feel. I tried cheese several different times and I seem to do ok having an ounce or two, but no more. My husbands lactose intolerant so we just don't bother buying it.

    I should mention the elimination diet did a lot more than reduce pain. I don't have acid reflux issues myself, but my periods got easier, my sleep and mood and sex drive got better, my energy increased, my skin looked awesome (after the initial first 2 weeks where it flipped out completely) and of course, I lost a bunch of weight.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I've done supporting a gluten free diet for 2 years, which unfortunately did not prove efficacious and was abandoned

    I found that a teaspoon of xanthan gum was a saviour in terms of baking cakes and gluten free breads and also that there are too many gluten free brownies in the world
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    Celiac too, there are lots of us. I always advise people that if they believe they have Celiacs to be sure to get tested before eliminating gluten. If that is not a concern for you, and you are eliminating for other reasons, that is not an issue.

    There is a celiacs group on MFP here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/112-gluten-free
  • adriennemarieb
    adriennemarieb Posts: 38 Member
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    My daughter is gluten free. She's two and a half has a speech delay. Before we noticed a delay I knew she had digestive issues (it's hard to NOT notice a digestive issue when you're the one changing that person's diaper lol) and we had gone GF and it helped a lot but I just thought it was a temporary problem after being on antibiotics, so we started eating gluten again after she got better.

    About 6 months later, her speech had really not improved at all from the 18 month mark to the 2 year mark, which you should see a pretty significant gain in speech in a child. We had her evaluated and she was diagnosed as having sensory processing disorder and potential hyperactivity, though they won't officially diagnose a child ADHD at 2 and I wasn't pushing for a diagnosis, just suggestions for how we could help her. My mom found an article about how gluten is a big problem for some kids with the issues my daughter has and I was to the point of desperation I'd try anything.

    We've been GF for over 2 months now and her improvement is downright astounding. My hyperactive, bouncing off the walls daughter is now reasonably calm for her age. (People always say all 2 year olds are hyperactive and that may be true, but you have no idea what I'm talking about until you've experienced a truly hyperactive 2 year old. Take normal and multiply that by about 50 and you might have an idea.) She can actually sit and look at a book or focus on an activity, which was an impossible thing for her to do before. Her vocabulary has more than DOUBLED. She couldn't even say "eat" before, and she is now saying "I want to eat" and telling us specifically what she wants to eat. She now says all her letters of the alphabet and can count to 12, is singing along with songs, etc. Yesterday, for the first time ever, she told me "I pooped." This is coming from a child who just two months ago had about 15-20 words she said on a regular basis and knew no letters, could count to 3 and didn't sing along at all. It honestly brings me to tears to think about how much progress we have made.

    We were just feeding her GF and the rest of us ate normally, until my son had a snack and dropped a piece and she ate it before I could get it away from her. She was back to being hyperactive like before and had horrible stomach pains for 2 days. From what I've read, gluten causes "brain fog" for some people and I think that's what was going on with her.
  • adriennemarieb
    adriennemarieb Posts: 38 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I shouldn't have to say this, but there's always multiple people who question me on this, but all of her diagnoses were done by a professional speech and occupational therapists as well has her pediatrician. I didn't just decide she had a speech delay based on being an over-protective mom.
  • kellellie
    kellellie Posts: 109 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    I've done supporting a gluten free diet for 2 years, which unfortunately did not prove efficacious and was abandoned

    I found that a teaspoon of xanthan gum was a saviour in terms of baking cakes and gluten free breads and also that there are too many gluten free brownies in the world

    Hah, I only just tried making gluten free brownies. They were devoured at thanksgiving and no one believed that they were made of beans and avocados.
  • adriennemarieb
    adriennemarieb Posts: 38 Member
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    I made a huge thing of GF baked mac n cheese for Thanksgiving so my daughter would have something I knew for sure she'd eat. It was a HUGE hit and some of my family was upset I took all the leftovers home instead of leaving them at my mom's house where everyone else was staying for the weekend. lol
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    I had to go gluten free 3 years ago when I found out I am allergic to wheat, barley and oat (can't even have gf oat). All 3 of those cause my throat to close, but I do not have celiacs. It was a hard learning curve. I can't even risk cross contamination so I never eat out. It was initially hard, but now it's routine.
  • holla18
    holla18 Posts: 60 Member
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    I have a similar story.

    1.5 yrs ago I started by simply cutting out bread and pasta. Now I am completely gluten free and I do not eat any of its substitute products.

    When I was young I would dream of bread. Seriously!!

    After 2 weeks gluten free those dreams and my craving are gone.
  • gettingreallyfedupnow
    gettingreallyfedupnow Posts: 79 Member
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    I'm gluten free too, although not sure if it's coeliac or just an allergy - I tried to go back on gluten for long enough to be tested but the gut problems were unbearable so I've resigned myself to never finding out. I'm also vegetarian, which is an awkward combination when eating out. Luckily I love Indian food.
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    My sister cut gluten to see if it helped with her adult acne. She brought this really dense but delicious GF homemade bread to Thanksgiving. Amazing with butter and honey! I have thought about cutting some gluten to see if it helps with my carpal tunnel syndrome and joint issues, including tennis elbow in both arms, butttt I love gluten and can't bring myself to
  • chelseavrb
    chelseavrb Posts: 10 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I was gluten free dairy free (a little lenient on the dairy free) for a few months. That plus working out a lot shed a lot of weight. I felt so much better too! It's definitely worth a try for those who are interested. Rice bread is a decent replacement.
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I am gluten free due primarily to migraines. Though now that I am I can link digestive problems as well. If I end up eating something unsuspectingly, I am informed of it shortly. Really explains a lot from the past years.

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