Has anyone else out there had some really bad symptoms shortly after starting their elimination diet? I was so sick last night I felt like I was gonna die and it's been that way for the last few days. After I got my lab results back I quit eating everything on the list which I reacted to. I was in a flare anyway, but now my symptoms are raging, and I don't understand why. I feel like my poor body is in revolt or something. Is this a common reaction or should I be concerned?
Thanks for any insight you can give me!
Rough going and need some input
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Rough going and need some input
Kim "The Outhouse Polka Queen"
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010
Kim,
I think there can be a very real detox type reaction when eliminating gluten. I don't know if I had a reaction to pepto bismuth or if it was actually detox from gluten. I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority, it can wax and wane while the anti bodies are dying off. Gluten and casein work on the same receptor sites as opioids so it kind of makes sense. Jennifer Esposito(actress) has spoken publicly about her struggle with celiac's and the severe Withdrawal she had after eliminating it. I had the same.....insomnia, tremors, night sweats. Not to scare you, just know you are not alone. It's not something widely discussed because I think it's pretty rare. Have you eliminated gluten and casein for awhile already? Depending on recent changes ( like drastically cutting carbs) you can feel pretty icky for awhile.
Hopefully Tex will chime in with words of wisdom. Hang tight!
I think there can be a very real detox type reaction when eliminating gluten. I don't know if I had a reaction to pepto bismuth or if it was actually detox from gluten. I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority, it can wax and wane while the anti bodies are dying off. Gluten and casein work on the same receptor sites as opioids so it kind of makes sense. Jennifer Esposito(actress) has spoken publicly about her struggle with celiac's and the severe Withdrawal she had after eliminating it. I had the same.....insomnia, tremors, night sweats. Not to scare you, just know you are not alone. It's not something widely discussed because I think it's pretty rare. Have you eliminated gluten and casein for awhile already? Depending on recent changes ( like drastically cutting carbs) you can feel pretty icky for awhile.
Hopefully Tex will chime in with words of wisdom. Hang tight!
Vanessa
That makes sense to me, Vanessa! I've had trouble sleeping, have had night sweats, and wake up more tired than when I went to bed. I feel like holy old hell and am completely exhausted today. My husband and I ate a LOT of gluten in our diets before I found out it was off limits for me. I really believe I'm going through withdrawal. I'm feeling a bit better now but woke up with a skull buster of a headache this morning. It's still throbbing away and all I can take for it is Tylenol. That doesn't do jack for me but NSAIDs are definitely not an option, so I guess I'll just have to ride it out. I'm also horribly nauseated, and the thought of food makes me want to barf! I know I need to try and eat something...I just don't want to cuz I feel so sick to my stomach! Hopefully these symptoms will pass soon because I'm miserable at the moment!
Kim "The Outhouse Polka Queen"
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
Kim
you are going through a rough 'gluten' detox. and with that carb detox, sugar detox, depending on how much you have changed your diet in the past week.
Drink lots of water, things like epsom salt bath/foot soak will help clear the toxins, stick with bland easy to digest meals, like soups /stews with small amount of ingredients. If you are safe with Rice, making 'gooey rice' with home made bone broth (cook the rice in the broth, do not strain or rinse) like a gooey soup. Add some safe protein.
hang in there....
you are going through a rough 'gluten' detox. and with that carb detox, sugar detox, depending on how much you have changed your diet in the past week.
Drink lots of water, things like epsom salt bath/foot soak will help clear the toxins, stick with bland easy to digest meals, like soups /stews with small amount of ingredients. If you are safe with Rice, making 'gooey rice' with home made bone broth (cook the rice in the broth, do not strain or rinse) like a gooey soup. Add some safe protein.
hang in there....
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Thank you so much, Gabes!
I was starting to get a little worried because I feel very unwell. I have cut out gluten completely plus eliminated sugary foods and a lot of natural carbs (I used to practically live on fruit) from my diet as well. I already drink quite a bit of water per day but will up my intake until this detox is over. Also, I have some lavender scented Epsom salts at home so a nice, relaxing bath will be the order of the evening!! I can eat rice so will try the "gooey rice" for supper. That actually sounds like something my stomach might accept and I really like rice. I'm so glad it wasn't one of the grains I reacted to because it's easy to make a bland dish out of rice.
Again, thanks for the advice. I took on a lot of diet changes at once and I think it really shocked my body! I had no idea it was going to be this rough, but it will be worth it in the end!!
Kim
I was starting to get a little worried because I feel very unwell. I have cut out gluten completely plus eliminated sugary foods and a lot of natural carbs (I used to practically live on fruit) from my diet as well. I already drink quite a bit of water per day but will up my intake until this detox is over. Also, I have some lavender scented Epsom salts at home so a nice, relaxing bath will be the order of the evening!! I can eat rice so will try the "gooey rice" for supper. That actually sounds like something my stomach might accept and I really like rice. I'm so glad it wasn't one of the grains I reacted to because it's easy to make a bland dish out of rice.
Again, thanks for the advice. I took on a lot of diet changes at once and I think it really shocked my body! I had no idea it was going to be this rough, but it will be worth it in the end!!
Kim
Something else that might help with wheat withdrawals is some of the ideas presented on Dr. Davis's sight. He has been giving tips on detoxing from wheat. I think Dr. Davis was on Dr. Oz's program at one point too talking about ways to deal with wheat withdrawals.
"The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox CHALLENGE starts Feb 17th!"
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2016/02/t ... -feb-17th/
"The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox CHALLENGE starts Feb 17th!"
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2016/02/t ... -feb-17th/
Thanks so much for sharing that link! The symptoms I'm experiencing ARE indeed from gluten and carb withdrawal. There's tons of helpful information on that site and it just confirms that Gabes was right on the money in her post. I guess I'm one of those unlucky people who is going to have to suffer through a rough detox phase. Poor old me! 
I've been through much worse so I know I can ride this out! I just have to keep telling myself that it will pass and I'll feel so much better once my diet is under control and I start to heal. 
I've been through much worse so I know I can ride this out! I just have to keep telling myself that it will pass and I'll feel so much better once my diet is under control and I start to heal. Kim "The Outhouse Polka Queen"
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010
I would almost but not literally "pour on the Magnesium" topically at this point.
I had some of the nasty gluten detox, but not as bad as you are having it. I get hormonal migraines... I am topically and externally now up to 700 mg magnesium when my estrogen is low but now upping it to around 900 during the time it is high. In your case you need a good strong dose of mag with your vitD3 at this stage to really support your system. Magnesium can't be stressed enough in this forum, LOL. Can't believe how many things it helps us get control of in our body!
The next thing would be to take a benedryl at bed time (if you can take that med). It will help with nausea, and histamine issues, plus help with sleep at least for the interim of this huge gluten revolt!
Gabes is right on with the bone broth (turn it into a filling soup with some over cooked carrot or zucchini and add some gluten free noodles too! This and Rice work great.) I use this as a daily lunch at my work.
Hang in there, listen to your body and add a few of the ideas and you will get through to the other side much sooner.
Hugs
E
I had some of the nasty gluten detox, but not as bad as you are having it. I get hormonal migraines... I am topically and externally now up to 700 mg magnesium when my estrogen is low but now upping it to around 900 during the time it is high. In your case you need a good strong dose of mag with your vitD3 at this stage to really support your system. Magnesium can't be stressed enough in this forum, LOL. Can't believe how many things it helps us get control of in our body!
The next thing would be to take a benedryl at bed time (if you can take that med). It will help with nausea, and histamine issues, plus help with sleep at least for the interim of this huge gluten revolt!
Gabes is right on with the bone broth (turn it into a filling soup with some over cooked carrot or zucchini and add some gluten free noodles too! This and Rice work great.) I use this as a daily lunch at my work.
Hang in there, listen to your body and add a few of the ideas and you will get through to the other side much sooner.
Hugs
E
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Kim,
I'm sorry that you're having such severe withdrawal symptoms. I'm having Internet connection problems, so I haven't been able to log on for a while, but it appears that the help you have received is right on target — I really don't have anything to add.
I hope you can get past this relatively quickly.
Tex
I'm sorry that you're having such severe withdrawal symptoms. I'm having Internet connection problems, so I haven't been able to log on for a while, but it appears that the help you have received is right on target — I really don't have anything to add.
I hope you can get past this relatively quickly.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
these detox symptoms are quite often the reason that people 'give up' healthy eating plans. Because they feel worse they think it is not working.
If it is too much /goes on too long then you may need to do a slow taper, albeit this will make the healing process longer. The important thing is to do what you can handle and come up with the eating and lifestyle plan that works for you.
There is no quick fix, and the changes you are making are for the long term. As you know from the hundreds of people that have done the same thing, it is worth it.
hugs
and agree with Erica, keep up the Vit D3, and mega doses of magnesium preferably topically.
If it is too much /goes on too long then you may need to do a slow taper, albeit this will make the healing process longer. The important thing is to do what you can handle and come up with the eating and lifestyle plan that works for you.
There is no quick fix, and the changes you are making are for the long term. As you know from the hundreds of people that have done the same thing, it is worth it.
hugs
and agree with Erica, keep up the Vit D3, and mega doses of magnesium preferably topically.
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Kim,
In line with Gabes' post, another thing to keep in mind is that every digestive system becomes customized for digesting the particular diet for which it is typically used. IOW, our digestive system tends to become more efficient at producing the enzymes needed to digest the various components of it's regular diet. Gut bacteria populations and population balances also become stabilized based on that diet.
Anytime a diet is changed, then modifications have to be made in the subsequent digestive procedures. If slight diet changes are made, then only slight adjustments need to be made (automatically by the digestive system). However, if drastic diet changes are made, then huge changes take place within the digestive system, especially regarding chemical changes (enzyme production changes). It takes a while for the digestive system to "learn" to produce more of certain enzymes, and to ramp up that production, especially for enzymes that have not been required in significant quantities for long periods of time. And this process becomes much more difficult if digestion is compromised by an IBD. The digestive system is like a complex manufacturing production line — it takes time to alter production methods, or to step up production quantities, especially if the machinery has mechanical problems.
But when inflammation is involved, the entire equation is changed, both before and after the fact. Inflammation interferes with enzyme production and therefore it interferes with digestion. It also interferes with absorption of nutrients. This results in huge shifts in the amount of partially-digested or undigested food moving through the digestive system. Undigested carbs, in particular, result in huge shifts in bacteria populations as opportunistic bacteria take advantage of all the partially-digested and undigested food available to them for fermentation in an ideal warm, moist, environment. So populations of bacteria attracted to rotting food can quickly build up. All of this of course happens before we change our diet.
So when we change our diet, our already-compromised digestive process is faced with additional changes (due to the removal of familiar foods, and the addition of unfamiliar foods). Initially, digestive efficiency may decline, because of the lag in the production of needed enzymes. But as increased quantities of needed enzymes become available, and as the antibody levels and associated inflammation levels begin to come down, poorly-digested food becomes less available, so populations of bacteria that are only there to help rot undigested food begin to decline. And eventually enzyme production and gut bacteria populations and balances will stabilize at an optimum level for the current diet as the digestive system continues to heal.
Any farmer or rancher will tell you that the diet of any animal should never be drastically changed, because that will often cause the animal to "go off feed" (stop or restrict eating, and lose weight, because of digestive system distress). Prudent livestock producers never make drastic changes to feed rations in a single step. They always make gradual changes over a period of a few days to a few weeks, depending on the extent of the diet changes that need to be made in the animal's ration.
For many of us here, cutting out gluten and dairy and possibly other foods may not be a drastic change, because those foods were not a major portion or our "ration" to begin with. That was certainly true for me — meat and potatoes have always been my diet staples, so cutting out almost everything else was a relatively minor change for me. I didn't need to add any "new" foods, I only needed to cut out all the junk that was making me sick, and that didn't present any new challenges to my digestive system. But for those of us who previously relied heavily on carbs and processed foods, the diet changes needed to heal the gut can amount to a drastic change.
So perhaps we need to modify our approach and recommend gradual diet changes (much as Gabes recommends gradual dosage increases when introducing a new supplement), in order to cut our digestive system some slack if huge diet changes need to be made.
. . . just thinking out loud here.
Tex
In line with Gabes' post, another thing to keep in mind is that every digestive system becomes customized for digesting the particular diet for which it is typically used. IOW, our digestive system tends to become more efficient at producing the enzymes needed to digest the various components of it's regular diet. Gut bacteria populations and population balances also become stabilized based on that diet.
Anytime a diet is changed, then modifications have to be made in the subsequent digestive procedures. If slight diet changes are made, then only slight adjustments need to be made (automatically by the digestive system). However, if drastic diet changes are made, then huge changes take place within the digestive system, especially regarding chemical changes (enzyme production changes). It takes a while for the digestive system to "learn" to produce more of certain enzymes, and to ramp up that production, especially for enzymes that have not been required in significant quantities for long periods of time. And this process becomes much more difficult if digestion is compromised by an IBD. The digestive system is like a complex manufacturing production line — it takes time to alter production methods, or to step up production quantities, especially if the machinery has mechanical problems.
But when inflammation is involved, the entire equation is changed, both before and after the fact. Inflammation interferes with enzyme production and therefore it interferes with digestion. It also interferes with absorption of nutrients. This results in huge shifts in the amount of partially-digested or undigested food moving through the digestive system. Undigested carbs, in particular, result in huge shifts in bacteria populations as opportunistic bacteria take advantage of all the partially-digested and undigested food available to them for fermentation in an ideal warm, moist, environment. So populations of bacteria attracted to rotting food can quickly build up. All of this of course happens before we change our diet.
So when we change our diet, our already-compromised digestive process is faced with additional changes (due to the removal of familiar foods, and the addition of unfamiliar foods). Initially, digestive efficiency may decline, because of the lag in the production of needed enzymes. But as increased quantities of needed enzymes become available, and as the antibody levels and associated inflammation levels begin to come down, poorly-digested food becomes less available, so populations of bacteria that are only there to help rot undigested food begin to decline. And eventually enzyme production and gut bacteria populations and balances will stabilize at an optimum level for the current diet as the digestive system continues to heal.
Any farmer or rancher will tell you that the diet of any animal should never be drastically changed, because that will often cause the animal to "go off feed" (stop or restrict eating, and lose weight, because of digestive system distress). Prudent livestock producers never make drastic changes to feed rations in a single step. They always make gradual changes over a period of a few days to a few weeks, depending on the extent of the diet changes that need to be made in the animal's ration.
For many of us here, cutting out gluten and dairy and possibly other foods may not be a drastic change, because those foods were not a major portion or our "ration" to begin with. That was certainly true for me — meat and potatoes have always been my diet staples, so cutting out almost everything else was a relatively minor change for me. I didn't need to add any "new" foods, I only needed to cut out all the junk that was making me sick, and that didn't present any new challenges to my digestive system. But for those of us who previously relied heavily on carbs and processed foods, the diet changes needed to heal the gut can amount to a drastic change.
So perhaps we need to modify our approach and recommend gradual diet changes (much as Gabes recommends gradual dosage increases when introducing a new supplement), in order to cut our digestive system some slack if huge diet changes need to be made.
. . . just thinking out loud here.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Slow and steady really should be one of the first approaches to our MC. I'm with you Tex that drastic probably upsets most of us and ofcourse it takes longer with more frustration to push something that will only go so fast.
I've certainly felt many of the detox symptoms, and they come and go as strange as that sounds. Just got over many water bumps in the mouth and a few taste buds falling off, that's been miserable. My neck even had a rough skin patch that felt sore to stretch the skin when turning the neck side to side...I've NEVER had these types of skin issues ever. So I have been going thru the motions, remembering to eat safe, take the couple highly recommended supplements Vitd3 and Mag and keep going. Sleep had even been a nuisance, so have needed to enlist in a little benedryl too.
I certainly feel that Progress and not Perfection really is the motto to live by too.
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Thank you everyone for your advice and kind replies. I still feel really icky so I think I'm doing too much way too fast. My gut and body are flummoxed and I can certainly understand why people give up when these heavy duty detox symptoms set in! I think I'll concentrate on the gluten first and gradually eliminate other foods once my body learns to cope without gluten. Since I ate so much fruit I may add some berries and such, back into my diet, because my body needs time to adapt...and I'm sure that I'm going too fast with this. When I quit smoking, I did it cold turkey and I was simply DONE! However, diet seems to be a much more delicate thing to deal with and I may need to slow down a bit. I knew I might feel some unpleasant symptoms, but WOW! Man, do I ever feel bad and this is way worse than I expected. I agree that slow and easy will win the game and I have no intention of quitting. I do need to get some magnesium on the way home from work as I don't have any on hand. Hopefully I can find the topical version and will slather it on as soon as I get home!!
I so appreciate your support and caring. Thank you again and again! Nobody but another person with MC can even begin to understand what I'm going through. I don't know what I'd do without all of you!
Kim
I so appreciate your support and caring. Thank you again and again! Nobody but another person with MC can even begin to understand what I'm going through. I don't know what I'd do without all of you!
Kim
Kim "The Outhouse Polka Queen"
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010
Raynaud's Disease, 1982
Thyroid Disease, 2007
Collagenous Colitis, 2010