DH going gluten-free

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:08 pm

Hubby update: My husband has been having the soft BM's and the urgency issue, and is not only stiff but sore, here almost a week after his major gluten intake last Friday. He even got up in the night last night and took an Imodium. I told him welcome to my world. He said this would never have happened if I had not taken him off gluten at home. I pointed out that he has been having a reaction for years--there are certain indicative characteristics of the output, and he is always stiff, fatigued, and has brain fog. He dismissed those as effects of gluten because he thinks the only effect of gluten would possibly be this flare he is having, but he still doesn't agree about gluten being a factor at all.

Methinks he's in denial.

However, I would be relieved if someone else gets sick and it turns out that what he has is actually the flu or something. Having the genetics from my side of the family is enough for our children. But I have suspected for some months that he is gluten-sensitive, so I don't have much hope that he is not.

draperygoddess · Post by **draperygoddess** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:46 am

Marliss,

Was he running a fever at any point? Any other flulike symptoms (cough, runny nose, etc.)? I'm not a doctor, but I would think that if it were the flu, he would be experiencing these as well. If he has a stomach bug, and is still having D after a week, I would suspect something else, but there again, you would look for a fever if he had a parasite infection or something like rotovirus, and the muscle pain/stiffness isn't usually part of that.

I mention this for two reasons: first, if he really did catch something, obviously, you'd want to know. Second, if he's having a gluten reaction, he might be more willing to accept it if he thinks about what symptoms he's NOT having.

Best of luck with your detective work! Hope he's feeling better soon.

Post by **tex** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:25 am

Remember that it's possible to have fever with MC, and while I'm not sure about celiac disease, I would think that fever would be possible with a celiac reaction as well, because it involves the same type of lymphocytic infiltration, (and therefore similar inflammation), in the intestines.

Tex

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:01 pm

Nope, no fever. No cough except a dry cough the first day associated with the vomiting. No runny nose, no other cold/flu symptoms, no more nausea after the second day.

He's one of those guys who can mistreat their bodies for years and years and stay healthy until they drop dead of a heart attack. It's going to be hard to convince him (if it is indeed the case) that he is gluten-sensitive. I will keep gluten out of our kitchen, but I know he will continue eating gluten weekly at our church meals. Maybe if he does have a problem with gluten, as time goes by, how he feels the first part of the week may convince him.

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:00 am

Marliss, in a weird sort of way I can sympathize with your husband's comment that he wouldn't be having a gluten reaction if you hadn't taken him off gluten. I can remember thinking, 'Maybe if I keep my body busy fighting gluten, I won't have to lose dairy and soy and other foods.' However, the fear of getting sicker and sicker quickly overcame that faulty strategy.

I hope he feels better soon.

Love,
Martha

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:19 pm

Me too, Martha. I am reconciled to the loss of gluten. I have gone from a dedicated bread eater to someone who rarely eats any grains at all, but when I do, I have many alternatives. The soy/legume issue knocks out so many foods for which there are not good substitutes. For example, I have tried different mayo recipes and have not found one that does not gag me. And dairy... I have to admit, I challenge that one pretty often, just not quite willing to give up on it yet. But with my genetics, family medical history, and reaction to gluten, I agree with you there, too--the fear of getting sicker and sicker keeps me vigilant.

DH is feeling better. But tomorrow is Sunday, and he will no doubt have gluten, at least in a dessert. So we will see how he feels on Monday. At least it's a holiday. And I pray that if he is not feeling well, that I can say "I told you so" in a way that he will accept it. I'd love for him to feel good all the time, and be energetic and athletic like he was as a young man.

Post by **tex** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:31 pm

Marliss wrote:And I pray that if he is not feeling well, that I can say "I told you so" in a way that he will accept it.

I have a hunch that it won't even be necessary to vocalize those words - that thought will automatically register on his brain, every time he sees you.

Tex

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:30 pm

I suspect you're right!

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:33 pm

Well, my husband is off on his overseas trip. He ordered a gluten-free meal from China Airlines, and said that not only was it gluten-free, it was also seasoning-free.

The three months he has been gluten-free have not made any noticeable difference for him. His BMs are still runny, like they always have been. He says when he gets home, he'll try going dairy-free. I suggested df in addition to gf, but he countered with df instead of gf. We'll see what he decides to do when it comes right down to it.

I'm not sure if he'll be able to sustain a gf diet while he is in Indonesia, since he'll be eating other people's cooking.

But I give him lots of credit for trying the diet at all, when he didn't have any symptoms that he felt were troublesome.

Love,
Martha

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:48 am

My DH is in his third month of GF too, I think. His mom is gluten intolerant, and our son has 2 gluten sensitive genes, so I know he has some genetics for it. Before this, he seemingly had a steel stomach, but other mild ailments - snoring, allergies, headaches, which all improved. He's only 97% GF - he's not too worried about hidden ingredients, he sometimes allows foods with traditional soy sauce, "low gluten" beers brewed with barley, etc. But now if he has a sizeable amount of gluten, he gets unrelenting, unbeleivable GAS... FOR DAYS!!! And extra trips to the bathroom (not D according to him, but he's private about that stuff). I've created a monster!!

I felt guilty at first for letting him try going GF, and now knowing he has to stay that way. He made me feel better by saying he was already a very gassy person before going GF. Interestingly, bloating and gas were his mother's major complaints too.

Does anyone know what causes the insane gas in someone like him? Is it a gut bacterium that's reacting to the ingested gluten?

Post by **tex** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:38 pm

Zizzle wrote:Does anyone know what causes the insane gas in someone like him? Is it a gut bacterium that's reacting to the ingested gluten?

Yes, it's simply due to the fermentation, (by gut bacteria - not necessarily desirable species), of undigested, (or partially-digested), food, in the intestines. Any sugars, starches, carbs, etc., that don't digest properly in the small intestine, will be "digested" by fermentation, in the colon, by bacteria who hang around, hoping for an opportunity such as that. That's the same thing that happens with lactose intolerance.

Tex

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:51 pm

But why are only gluten-containing foods causing this problem in him? Why not other starches, sugars, etc? Did going GF mean he simply lost his ability to digest gluten (which he had previously)? If he went back to eating gluten, his body would eventually resume digesting it, and the gas problem would eventually dissipate?

So...the gas is not a sign that he's truly gluten intolerant?

Post by **tex** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:44 pm

Zizzle wrote:But why are only gluten-containing foods causing this problem in him? Why not other starches, sugars, etc? Did going GF mean he simply lost his ability to digest gluten (which he had previously)? If he went back to eating gluten, his body would eventually resume digesting it, and the gas problem would eventually dissipate?

So...the gas is not a sign that he's truly gluten intolerant?

It happens only when he ingests gluten, because the inflammation is only generated when he ingests gluten, and the poor digestion that results from the inflammation, causes other foods to be mal-digested, as well. Actually, he never could digest gluten - no human can, (and probably no animals, either), but as long as it didn't cause an inflammatory reaction, it just passed harmlessly through him, and his immune system ignored it.

When he adopted the diet, he probably lost a tolerance that he had developed for it, over the years/decades, (didn't you say that he always had a gas problem?) The gas is a sign of low-level incomplete digestion. If I am correct, he should be able to start slow, and gradually increase the amounts of gluten in his diet, over time, until he eventually regains a tolerance to it. He might still have some gas, (due to slightly-reduced digestion efficiency), but his immune system should eventually learn to ignore it, so that it will allow it to pass through, without any major inflammatory actions directed at it.

Please be aware, though, that since he apparently has a celiac gene, he is almost surely vulnerable to small intestinal damage, at some level, so that if he continues to eat gluten, he will probably still accumulate bone damage, due to the connection of osteoporosis with untreated celiac disease. Whether or not that risk is high or low, depends on a lot of things, so it may or may not eventually become a significant problem for him. It won't, for example, lead to an increased risk of lymphoma, so long as he is asymptomatic.

At least that's how I see it.

Tex

mturn2 · Post by **mturn2** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:12 pm

Hi Zizzle,
You mentioned that your mother-in-law's primary complaint was gas and bloating. Was this only when "glutened" or with her colitis experience in general? I am just curious as I am c dominant with a main complaint of gas and bloating. I currently use gas x and am on the chicken/rice/eggs/potatos/bananas diet trying to settle the gas down. Maybe I am reacting to the eggs but it doens't seem that they bother me after I eat them. This diet thing is so hard to figure out and the Entero lab and MRT is not feasible financially right now.

Sondra

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:52 am

Hi Sondra,
My MIL was not diagnosed with colitis, but she complained of IBS, possible diverticulitis, lactose intolerance and muiltiple trips to the bathroom after her morning coffee, so no C that I'm aware of. Then she was saying she had horrible gas and bloating after the first bite of food every morning (which 99% of the time contained gluten). She also complianed of brain fog and neuropathy in her toes. It wasn't too hard for me to ID gluten as her problem.