Starting eating gluten-free a few days ago and feel a lot better already?

[ibssis]

I had a negative blood test for coeliac's disease last year, but after suffering with recurrent stomach issues I started keeping a food diary and realised that my symptoms tend to coincide with eating a lot of gluten. Even on a 'normal' day, my stomach never seemed happy and I had a lot of stomach cramps.

I decided to trial a gluten-free diet for a week or so to see if it had any impact. It's only been a few days and my stomach seems to have completely settled, and my bowel movements seem normal for the first time in ages. It might just be the placebo effect or a coincidence, so I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced this kind of thing with their IBS?

It may be another coincidence but my eczema and TMJ has also calmed down. I also feel less foggy headed, which I had always attributed to anxiety.

My dad, born in 1939, suffered from nasal congestion his whole life. He was permanently blocked up and always carried a nasal inhaler stick and a tin of Fishermen's Friends. One out of three of his children and three out of five of his grandchildren are all dairy intolerant so I asked my mum whether there was any possibility that my dad was also dairy intolerant. She replied, "Don't be silly, he can't have been. He drank a glass of milk every evening." Just because it wasn't medically recognised, doesn't mean it wasn't happening.

OP - I gave up gluten over a year ago now to see if it would help with longstanding fatigue and IBS issues. Within a few days my IBS symptoms disappeared and nowadays I would say that I have zero issues going to the toilet, alongside much improved energy levels. This wasn't scientifically validated but I feel like I know my body and I know I feel completely different. It hasn't been that hard - I look at it as cutting out pasta and bread. I've also found a good local supplier of gluten free bread that isn't full of unnecessary ingredients. And I've found that I really like gnocci instead of pasta!!

There were plenty of food allergies years ago. Until my son had an epi-pen I didn't realise I had years of oral allergy problems as a kid.
Menopause seemed to ruin my stomach and only settled down when I quit gluten. I can't even eat marmite, I have to sniff the jar every so often.

Something to consider when looking at intolerances is Calcium Propionate. In its purest form, it's banned in this country, yet it is an ingredient in most processed bread products. I can't eat it. I get horrendous stomach pains for days afterwards.

😂

Well neither did a lot of the adults around me when I was crying and saying a nut was stuck in my throat still after eating a walnut whip or sugared almond. I learned early to avoid certain foods that made me feel awful and luckily my parents listened. Then people actually started talking about nut allergies as I grew older. I’ve had a few close scrapes and carry an epipen. It’s awkward when I travel or eat out. Still very few people like yourself, just assume I am being fussy. I usually put it down to a lack of empathy.

I was also recently patch and blood tested tested at hospital for allergies following an eczema flare up, hazelnut and walnuts were very high score. Born in 1975.

My husband is the same as you.. the coeliac test came back negative, but the GP admitted there is a lot they don't know about gluten sensitivity, and he decided to go gluten free anyway (about 8 years ago now). He feels so much better for it... brain fog has gone, IBS symptoms have gone. I have no idea whether it's real or psychological, but if it makes you feel better then go for it.

I would advise you to carry on with the not so strict rules if you can though, to make your life easier. My husband will not eat anything that says may contain gluten, and makes his life (in my opinion) so much harder than it needs to be.

I had a bowl of coco-pops yesterday (barley) and reacted. I miss proper pasta and cheese but look and feel so much better!

I read an autiobiography of a woman who’d been a nun in 1960s. She clearly had a dairy issue and became extremely sick while she was in the convent. They wouldn’t ‘pander’ to her and forced her to drink milk and eat cheese.

She left.

I was tested for Celiac and diagnosed with Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), meaning I have to go gluten free.

I had positive genes, but negative antibodies and biopsy. As I understand it, ir could be I “just” have NCGS, a reaction to something in wheat that is not gluten or it could be almost the start of Celiac Disease and if I continued to eat gluten, antibodies would eventually appear.

I thought candida was caused by sugar/carbs, not gluten. My father had trouble with candida and did some very strict diets at times. It did work for him, but he didn't cut out gluten except to the extent that he didn't eat bread when he was dieting.

As for nut allergies, people used to be worried about kids choking on peanuts but now they think kids were actually having allergic reactions which led to breathing difficulties, rather than choking on the actual nut. I remember my mum not letting me have them for years!

This is very helpful! I experienced the same issues with dairy & gluten so cut them out. 3 years along, I started trying milk again and I can handle it!! So you're post makes great reading! I never knew this.

I gave up cheese until sons girlfriend said try brie and camembert low lactose. Yep I'm fine

As a student she spent a summer in Africa got so sick with one of their bugs she's now gluten, lactose intolerant.

After my youngest child was born I started having terrible gut problems. I was in a right state, and the only way to avoid them was to not eat anything. Obviously that was not sustainable, so in desperation I tried cutting out gluten. I felt better straight away. I have now been GF for about 8 years. I have never seen a doctor about it. I know that was probably a huge mistake. However, there is no way I am going to start eating gluten again now in order to get tested.

Yes I had awful digestive issues that went away eating GF.
My cause? Underactive thyroid (but not according to NHS) medicated that and no more digestive issues any more and many of the other issues have miraculously cleared up as well.

@EmilyBrontesGhost

But there was no food intolerances, no nut allergies, no asthma

I have no idea about 'in the war' but I can assure you that growing up in the 1970s I knew people with asthma and nut allergies, including my brother . I first came into contact with someone diagnosed with coeliacs when I started work mid 1980s.

How on earth can you 'disbelieve' a poster telling you of what she has herself experienced ?

The blood test isn’t always definitive. To get a diagnosis you’d need to have an endoscopy and bowel biopsies taken to confirm either way.
it could just be that you are intolerant to it rather than an allergy.
I’d urge you to contact your GP and ask for further testing as if you do have coeliac I believe you are entitled to some GF options on prescription (or you used to be)
I am glad being GF is helping you. I have Crohn’s so have been through all the coeliac testing and then some, but finding answers isn’t easy. 15 years in and I still find things that don’t agree with me.

Coeliac disease was first described in ancient greece, and in fact in was during WWII that they realised what caused it when some children in blockaded Amsterdam actually put on weight when there was no bread to be had. The classic description of children with coeliac disease was that they were normal until weaning, and then just faded away once they were on solids. There is a vastly higher proportion of people with coeliac disease in Ireland than in England as the traditionally potato based diet meant they survived to adulthood.

There is of course a difference between intolerance and an allergy. It doesn't matter when you're in pain, chained to the loo what the heck it is. Either way it's debilitating.

Yes my mother (born in the 50s) would rather continue with her gut problems that she sees as 'normal' rather than consider that she may be intolerant to something.

It's pretty stubborn to live your life around where the nearest loos are or turning down, cancelling invitations because you're cuddling up to a roll of Andrex

Do you know if you have any other issues with your immune system? Lack of IGA can be mean that you will not show as positive on a coeliac test because it uses the IGA reaction.
You can have intolerances without having Coeliac so if you find it helpful to restrict then that's good to do but just remember if you've been restricting before you have tests then they likely won't be accurate.

You can be gluten intolerant without having coeliac disease. I am gluten intolerant; if I have gluten, my IBS rears its ugly head.

My doctor told me that both gluten and lactose intolerance ramp up significantly post 50