Could I be yeast intolerant?

[gaelicsheep]

I seem to have traced the sudden episodes of extreme fatigue, which I have suffered for years, to eating supermarket uncut white bread. The past twice I have experienced this - which I would describe as a total shutdown leaving me almost comatose - I have had a cheese sandwich made with this bread about half an hour previously. I have been Googling yeast allergy/intolerance, and it seems that it can also manifest with a similar reaction to wine, which I get (particularly red wine in my case). I had never linked to two things before.

Where do I go from here? Does this sound likely? There could well be other things affecting me - I'm sure there are in fact. What are other likely culprits, other than the obvious bakery-type things? Should I go to the doctor?

bump

Don't discount the possibility that you might be coeliac. I am intolerant to gluten (protein in wheat flour) and lactose (milk sugar).

I would react to a cheese sandwich the same way. Its only a suggestion and there are tests but how are you drinking milk and eating bakery products generally?

Well now I'm not sure. I think I'm fine with milk and I'm not sure about other bakery products. I'm fine with pasta which is why I reckon glutem can't be the problem.

I suffer from general low level tiredness, but it is currently impossible to say if food makes it worse because I get so little sleep! The main problem for me is these dreadful episodes where I become totally unable to function or hold a conversation. I've linked them to eating for ages but not to specific foods. But I distinctly remember the last one occurring after I ate uncut bread with cheese, although why that bread particularly would be a problem I don't know. I guess I only eat bread AND cheese with uncut bread normally, and I'm wondering if it's the two together (cheese being a problem for yeast too).

And then there's the wine thing. It's always been a standing joke that I can't drink enough wine to get even mildly tipsy as I would fall asleep first.

gluten I mean

OK that is ringing bells.

There are coeliac tests you can take for gluten intolerance. You would need to go to a GP and then hospital for those (biopsy of the gut). However, some coeliacs dont show upon the tests.

The other way is for you to do an exclusion diet for two weeks strictly eliminating all gluten containing foods and all dairy. You can buy lactofree milk or soya milk and gluten fee products in supermarkets. You can eat normal food otherwise. Be very careful with sauces, stock cubes, oven chips and even cornflakes (sprayed with barley malt)and a myriad of products that all have gluten/lactose hidden in them usually. I only drink limted amounts of white wine now. Beer/spirits have traces of gluten in.

If your symptoms magically disapear withn a week I would say that is a good indication you might be coeliac.

If you want to then go on and have the coeliac tests you MUST go back to eating your normal gluten/lactose containing diet otherwise the tests won't work.

TBH people can be coeliac for years and not realise it. I didnt until a few years ago. People can get very ill. The wine sensitivity might be just a by product of having your system so overloaded and run down.

Incidentally, coeliacs do not absorb iron and other nutrients well because the gluten causes the villi in their gut wall to lay flat. Hence that may also be a source of tiredness.

The lactose intolerance also comes as a side effect of being long term undiagnosed coeliac.

Lots of info thanks. But if that's what is wrong, how is it that I am OK with stuff like pasta?

Are you sure you are OK with pasta or just that you are only 'really bad' with bread.

I was like that. Not noticeably 'bad' with everything. Then I started noticing I felt sort of a bit sick after latte coffee and a cake. I only really felt tired and oddly had quite itchy skin ater eating bread.

Well, now you mention it I have had a few rows with DH recently over food - me not wanting to eat and saying that I always feel crap after eating. So perhaps I am noticing, consciously or otherwise, a more general problem. I do eat a lot of pasta.

So with that exclusion diet you exclude gluten AND dairy at the same time? The problem is that I can't see my tiredness "magically disappearing" as my 8 month old is waking me to feed several times a night!

Yes exclude both but obviously you need calcium so definitley get some lactofree milk. Its normal milk but the lactose has been taken out with lactase enzyme. It just tastes a bit less sweet. Soya milk is OK but tastes funny.

When I did the coeliac exclusion diet the improvement in my energy, tiredness and my guts felt was astonishing within a week. You will definitley know within a fortnight. I also lost over 1.5 stone very quickly.

Interesting that you eat a lot of pasta. I used to be the same with bread. Sort of addicted to it.

I once talked to an acupuncturist who explained that the body often does crave things that do it harm.

You may not be coeliac. It may be yeast or something else but giving the coeliac diet a try for a couple of weeks will do no harm. I hope you get to the bottom of your problem.

Sounds very familiar! This could be 2 things. Coeliacs and/or Candidiasis of your gut. Firstly, do not give up gluten until you've had coeliac boold test and biopsy other wise the tests will fail. See coeliac.org.uk for advice.

Coeliacs: I suffered from low energy, constipation, diahorea, unexplained weight loss (although coeliacs can also gain wieght), fat malabsorption, lactose intolerance, bloating, cramps, vitamin B12 deficiency...It often doesn't get diagnosed because you could have some or none of the typical outward sypmtoms, but all coeliacs have damage to the lining of their gut (caused by an autoimmune reaction triggered by gluten) which affect their absorption of nutrients. Your body is basically attacking itself, hence the brain fog and extreme tiredness most people feel after eating gluten. Constant extreme tiredness could also be the result of Vit B12 deficiency. This can also make you feel emotionally low.

Candidiasis: This is an overgrowth of candida in your gut (same organism that causes thrush in women and babies). This thrives on a western diet rich in refined (not wholegrain) carbs and fermented foods and drinks. Basically the candida grows little roots (hyphae) that penetrate your gut wall making it leaky and so your body fights big food molecules which wouldn't normally pass into your blood stream. Candidiasis can make you appear to be allergic to lots of foods that you aren't once your gut is healthy again. I did an anti candida diet for 3 months with lots of probiotics and this sorted me out. I no longer rush to the loo after eating too much yeast or sugar.

I have to say that once I sorted out these two issues for me, I have had so much more energy and feel really well (except when I occasionally get "glutened"). Even being a mum and having sleepless nights with a baby was less tiring than being unwell for years!

Good luck!

Please, please do NOT go gluten-free!!! Go to your GP and ask to be tested for coeliac disease. If you go gluten-free and feel magically better it will be extremely difficult to go back on the gluten for at least 6 weeks in order to be tested. Too many people fall into this trap and end up suffering horribly when they re-introduce gluten (symptoms are often worse after re-introduction than they were before). The problem with intolerances and coeliac disease is that the symptoms are generally not immediate so it is incredibly difficult to pinpoint the problem. Just because you don't seem to have symptoms after eating pasta doesn't mean that gluten isn't the problem. I also don't think that going dairy-free is very helpful at this stage either. If you are diagnosed as coeliac, going gluten free should improve your symptoms within a few weeks. However, some coeliacs are temporarily intolerant to lactose too while their gut is healing but this is something that will be apparent if the gluten-free diet alone is not improving things. Cutting out major food groups from your diet without medical advice is never a good idea. Get tested first.