Celiac Support

You follow the gluten free diet, as well following your doctors orders.

Yes the doctors orders are a high fiber, gluten free, diabetic diet. I am finding no one to help me figure out exactly what I am going to be allowed to eat.

It's actually not nearly as difficult as it seems if you stick with a very natural diet. Focus on simple, non-processed foods. Meats, vegetables, fruits, eggs, etc. As long as you're not having a flare of your diverticulitis, I'm a believer in including nuts and seeds in my diet (I have it too and haven't had a flare since diagnosis). Obviously if you're flaring then you need low fiber but if your doctor has told you high fiber then when you're at that stage of your diet, you should be able to eat them. If you want a written "plan" type of diet, take a look at the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD).

Your doctor does need to get on top of your malabsorption issues as well. Hopefully as your gut heals your body will be able to resume absorbing nutrients but right now you've got some serious deficiencies due to your damaged gut. You need to get these deficiencies identified so you can take proper levels of supplements. Your doctor can run simple blood tests for a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.

I too am a diabetic with possible celiac disease. I bought a book that has been extremely helpful to me. Dangerous Grains by James Braly, M.D. and Ron Hoggan, M.A. I have decided to remain gluten free, because obesity and diabetes can be the result of undiagnosed celiac disease. In just one week by digestive symptoms have resolved, my gums have returned to normal and I am losing weight, even though we have been on vacation. My blood sugars stay normal if I focus on natural foods and don't eat things like corn and potato chips, which you can have. I am combining my gluten free diet with Weight Watchers points...and attending meetings, and exercising an hour a day. You will feel SO MUCH better, and your appetite and cravings will immediately come under control. I urge you to immediately get rid of the gluten....there are bread mixes, breads and other products in the store. You need the book to help you decode ingredients. I am more encouraged than I have been in years. I have lupus and diabetes and have been suffering a lot in the past few years....I even had to have my knees replaced. I am only 55 years old, but I think all of my health problems may have originated with gluten intolerance or even celiacs. Good luck to you!

don't have blockage of carotid artery that i know of but the rest is really familiar. dr says there is no other problems...I don't think they know what or how to deal with it

gotta do almost all research on internet. dr. handed me an obsolete print out and told me to not eat gluten - period - for the next 2-3 months until i healed and then i could have a cookie or piece of cake and that i would lose weight because i wouldnt be eating breat,cookies and cake. I never ate that anyway. then at my request to see if diet was working he ordered a new blood test and said i was cured. that the diet was now optional...i decided to maintain the diet - except for one sandwich on white bread 2-3 weeks ago! if feel back to step one. will not make that mistake again!

I have been wondering what would happen if I went off the diet since I don't feel much better after 4 months on diet. Still have mildly upset stomach. Others report losing weight, but I hadn't lost any. While thyroid was quitting, gained 50 lb that is still here. I also learned that I have fibromyalgia at the same time, which I think has been a problem for a long time.

I am also 55 and your story sounds like one I could have written!! I am so confused right now! I have also had Fibromyalgia for over 25 years. Yhe fatigue makes it hard for me to find the energy to cook, etc. This makes to hard for me to stay gluten & sugar free! I am a basket case! Good luck to all and I hope you all find relief!!!

Thank You for the information I will see if I can find the book.

I didn't start losing weight until AFTER six months gluten free, and have continue losing except for about three/four weeks when I ate that ONE gluten rich sandwich. After that it went back to losing again. Hang in there! The bread I usually eat is Sami's Bakery Millet and Flax Seed bread. They make hamburger and hot dog buns as well as rolls - but I figured if I got by without eating the rolls anyway - that's even better for the diet! I went to a new gastroenterologist and he referred to his medical school training "some 20 years ago" about Celiac... that was disappointing...Research places like University Of Maryland - Baltimore, Dr. Alesio Fassano and a University Illinois - Chicago - good information that most gastroenterologists practicing today aren't up on!

Thanks for the encouragement. My rheumatologist prescribed SAMe before breakfast and fish oil in large doses to improve mood and energy, which are helping.

I get discouraged because my immune system is so fragile. It has taken about 3 weeks to get over a cold. I am not allowed pain meds because my liver was compromised by Epstein Barre virus 6 years; that virus may be the cause of many of my health challenges in the last 6 years.

But can't change what has happened, need to get back to a fuller life with my family. I have a 15 yr old son and 7 yr old daughter who need me to do things with them and I need to feel more connected to them, too. There is such a big tendency to keep sitting in my recliner after eating breakfast, which probably doesn't help my health.

I am thankful for this support group.

Keep on the diet...It is remarkable that I actually got some energy back. Even sitting in a recliner you can lift small weights. I started out with yoga - really slow, learning the poses. some of them laying on the ground - following a video with as much as you can. If it is something you can't do - don't do it. You are home alone with the video - you do as much as you can. I am now able to walk about two miles a day as well (of course I need my asthma inhaler). The driving is a little shaky - I recently had a setback - mowing the lawn on a riding mower, Xanax and pain med - stuck my foot in the lawn mower and had to have surgery... but back on my feet!

I am in the process of trying to find a diagnosis for my lifelong anemia. Also obese, diabetic, arthritic. histroy of digestive problems, probably fibro too along with bad teeth nosebleeds scoliosis, spurs ans the list goes on. Ihave been avoiding gluten but not entirely off it. Today however I went off diet and ate a small amt of dressing, a few bites of a roll, some broccoli cassarole which had maybe bread crumbs on in it and two small slices of cake. I am now greatly bloated, very lethargic and somewhat drunk feeling. Is that what a celiac feels like when they fall off the wagon? So far all my tests have been neg except fecal fat. I go for the capsule on the 9th. When blood tests were done I was nearly gluten free. I'm 61 and have 2 grandchildren I am worried may be affected. Daughter is probably OK since she is not anemic. I'm taking many vitamins and supplemants to function at all. Please I need to know, is this bloating from celiac?

Hi! I also have celiac disease, along with diabetes and gastroparesis(this is from the vagas nerve, that sends messages to my stomach ,has been damaged due to diabetes).This means that my stomach only functions at about 18% most of the time. Along with this, I have fibromyalgia, severe anemia most of my life (just recently, found out that the anemia is due to AVM's found deep inside my small intestines).Oh! AVM's are atrial venous malformations. Which means - The arteries and veins in my intestines are all tangled- up and bleeding. I've been told that surgery is not an option as it would be too risky. The AVM's are too deep inside the small intestine to be able to reach them. Anyway, I also have osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease with bulging disc.,hypothyroidism(have lost great amounts of hair until my pharmacist told me about the side affects of levothyroxine. I immediately told my dr. and he switched me to synthroid. It has made a big difference. Much less hair loss now),
I too have had blocked arteries, including the carodids. Found a dr. in Louisiana that put me on a strict high-dose (1500 mg) of niaspan. Have been on it for about 5 years now. My cardiologist now considers me as blockage free and no more heart disease. He told me that niaspan has literally saved my life and never get off of it, or it will come back. There are some pretty heavy side affects that go along with it, so you have to be mentally committed to get through all of this but, if you can, it is well worth the effort.
Good luck!