2 Weeks No Gluten

I've been struggling with health problems for the past year, and I still have no answers. I do know of a condition I have called R-CPD, but after trying with several doctors to get them to take my condition seriously, I had to give up, because they just don't know anything about the condition and basically just gaslight me and act like I'm making crap up.

I know that R-CPD could be causing some of my issues, however, there really isn't any way for me to fix that problem right now, or maybe ever. So I am trying to consider if other problems might be effecting me as well that might be fixable.

Several of my close biological family members are gluten intolerant and have similar symptoms to me, so I'm really hoping this will be the thing that finally makes a difference.

It's gonna suck, because in case you haven't heard, gluten is in like everything that's good. But I need to try this to see if I have an intolerance and if I can finally overcome these problems I've been plagued with.

So here we go. Starting tomorrow, 6 weeks of no gluten.

If anyone else here is gluten-free, for whatever reason, I'd love to hear from you and have your support.

 

Day one mostly done. It's gone okay so far. I didn't have the right groceries this morning, so I had to make due with what I had. I've been having sandwiches for breakfast lately, so I just made it a lettuce wrap instead, without the bread. Significantly less tasty without bread. lol

But after work I was able to go get some groceries, so now I have gluten free bread, bagels, mac and cheese, tortillas, and some box-dinners to replace the rice-a-roni/hamburger helper type studded I usually have a lot for dinners.

 

Day 2 was interesting. I might have made a discovery.

So a few days ago, I had spaghetti, which is a meal that has a good amount of gluten, because of the noodles and the garlic bread we have with it. It made me feel pretty sick, and I've noticed several of my sick nights have come after spaghetti.

But then, last night, I had the same meal, but with gluten free bread and gluten free noodles, and I still felt sick afterward.

I was talking to my sister about it and she said that she has two foods that are not gluten related that she can't eat, and they are pepperoni and spaghetti sauce. She said she can do pizza fine, but she can't have a whole plate of spaghetti with sauce without feeling sick.

So that's really interesting. It's possible my issues might be more related to acidity, which would actually make quite a lot of sense because of my R-CPD. If that's the case, I would be pretty happy, because avoiding acidity would be much easier for me than avoiding gluten.

I'm still trying this diet though, just to see. I might as well. With so many people in my immediate family having gluten intolerance, it seems like a reasonable thing for me to check on.

 

Well it's a little complicated. I've been having a variety of health problems for the past year.

Mostly nausea, diarrhea, fatigue. I also have a skin condition called urticaria, which I've had for many years and has no known cause. My mother has had eczema since before I was born, and ever since she started eating gluten free, she hasn't had any break outs.

 

I don't think bloating is anything to worry about. That happens to most everybody at various times for various reasons.

 

4 days down. This is day 5.

I'm feeling a little bit not great at the moment. Stomach bothering me and really exhausted, although the tiredness could just be because I woke up pretty early.

It's interesting that my stomach is kind of bothering me though, because I had a burger and tater tots and some sweet potato fries tonight, and that's something that often bothers my stomach, I think maybe because I have so much ketchup when I eat tater tots.

And since I couldn't have a bun and didn't really want to do a lettuce wrap, I just cut up the burger and dipped it in ketchup as well. So maybe this is more evidence that my real problem is acidic stuff. So far, spaghetti sauce and ketchup seem to be problematic.

 

I don't really eat very much dairy, but I'm sure I definitely eat quite a bit of refined sugar. But I'm not trying to do a huge drastic change all at once.

 

I definitely need to try to quit drinking soda though. Maybe I'll give that a go after this. Every time I've tried, I haven't even made it a week, but I really hate how much I feel dependent on it. I'm sure if I got over the hump of difficulty I would probably end up feeling a lot better in general and not want it anymore. My husband kicked his soda habit years ago, and since he never drinks it now he says he doesn't even really like it anymore.

 

Definitely having some major stomach issues again tonight so I'm gonna record the meals so far that have bothered me, for my records:

- Spaghetti with garlic bread and vegetables

- Gluten free spaghetti with gluten free garlic bread and vegetables

- Burger meat with tater tots, sweet potato fries, ranch, and ketchup

 

Has spaghetti again tonight. Which I know sounds weird. Lol but we make our food in bulk, so we make a big batch of sauce that will last for several meals throughout the week, so cooking through the week is easier/faster.

It didn't seem to make me feel sick this time though, which is strange, because I really suspected that was a common denominator the last couple times I had it and felt sick.

This is why it's been such a challenge for me to figure out what my problems are lately. There doesn't seem to be any recognizable patterns. I try to keep track of my symptoms, what I've been eating, etc, and it just seems like nothing makes sense and I am left with no answers.

 

I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue doing this diet. Not because it's too difficult, but because I'm not sure if it's worth my time.

I was skeptical from the beginning about whether or not I'm intolerant of gluten, and now I've had 2 different days where I felt sick even when I had not had any gluten for several days. So it seems fairly evident that gluten isn't my problem.

I've only been off of gluten for a week, but I'm wondering if that's long enough for me to try having it again and see if I have any reactions. So many articles just say to "avoid gluten for a time" and then reintroduce it and monitor your reaction, but they don't say how long "for a time" means. So I'm not sure how I want to proceed.

 

After talking with my mom and sister who are both gluten intolerant (my sister's kids are as well), I've decided to do one more week. So 2 weeks total, and then I'll try gluten again and see if I have any bad reaction to it.

I changed the title of the thread to be more accurate.

 

I thought I had IBS and I recently bought a water distiller a few months ago. Turns out, I had a sensitivity to all the nasty crap that's in drinking water (including bottled water) and distilled water has gotten rid of 99% of my stomach issues. I'm not saying that's a solution, but drinking 100% pure water has helped me immensely.

As for R-CPD, my aunt has that and she takes medication for it. I would chew your food into oblivion and avoid any food that can cause gas build up. Maybe start avoiding foods entirely that can produce gas as a byproduct of digestion. Some of the more obvious things would be beans and carbonated drinks. I have food allergies and there are foods I will simply just not ever eat again because I'm done with the stomach issues they cause.

 

What kind of medication does she take? I'm not familiar with any medication for R-CPD.

 

I would gladly do that if I had any way of knowing what foods cause me problems.

But that's the problem. There doesn't seem to be any discernible pattern. I've been tracking my food and stomach issues for about a year, and I just have no idea what causes me to have problems.

 

What I've done is eat the same kinds of food for a while. If something is causing me issues, I will then start eliminating/isolating them to find out what the primary source of the issue is. If you've already done that though, which it seems like you have, I would also consider seeing a doctor about food allergies. They can run tests to see what kinds of things you are sensitive too. You could just have an issue with food in general. I would get some tests done. If a doctor is being an ignoramus like the ones you've described in this thread, find a new one. I run into awful doctors all the time and I keep going to different ones until I find one that actually cares about my issues and wants to help. Or it may not be food and might be some other underlying issues that should be taking care of. Sometimes it's about finding everything it isn't before you can find what it actually is. It's a pain, but it's worth discovering.

I'll ask her the next time I talk to her.

 

Thank you for your advice. There are many reasons I'm not continuing to pursue doctor after doctor anymore. Mostly the stress. Being constantly gaslit and going through the stress of constantly being reminded of my problems, while having to find and schedule appointments only to spend hundreds of dollars to have them basically say absolutely nothing and just act like I'm lying about my symptoms because they don't make sense to them, was not helping me.

So right now I'm not interested in wasting money on any more doctors. If my condition gets worse that would be a different story, but right now I'm super sick of doctors and them stealing my money and giving me no care or help at all.

 

I don't blame you. I've dealt with my share of crappy doctors that only seem to be in their position for the social status. It's infuriating. Hopefully you figure out what the problem is.