Gluten Withdrawal

This is something I was not expecting.  Gluten withdrawal.  I hadn't actually read anything about it when I was reading up about gluten intolerance, coeliac, thyroid nodules, aspergers and going gluten-free.

Yesterday I felt a little light-headed.  I didn't pay too much attention as it wasn't too bad.  I was hoping that it may be my blood pressure and this new gluten-free diet was having a positive effect on that and lowering it.

Late this afternoon and this evening I have basically spent on the sofa.  I am so very light-headed and it seems to be getting worse.  I am also so bloated in the stomach.  This afternoon I was looking in the mirror thinking I looked 6 months pregnant.  I'm always a little bloated but today my stomach is so rounded, a lot more than it usually is.   I was feeling a little dejected when I noticed that this afternoon to be honest.  I thought that going gluten-free was supposed to get rid of my bloatedness (is that a word?), not make it worse and being four days in I was expecting things to get better not worse.

So tonight, lying on the couch, really light-headed and tonight  I've had a bit of a headache. I decided to do a search of the internet, looking up new to gluten-free light-headed.  Well, up came the results, page after page, of people who experience "Gluten Withdrawal".   It's apparently not uncommon to feel like this and it can last from a few days to weeks!  I read that this is a good thing!  Shows that the removal is working and that my body was addicted to gluten and it's now withdrawing from its removal.    I really hope it does not last a few weeks.  It's not a pleasant feeling.  But I am so glad that I've taken myself down this path.  I am really looking forward to moving past this phase and moving into the feeling great phase!

Interestingly, my son, at this stage, has not had any withdrawal symptoms.  He's not bloated (but he wasn't before), he's not experiencing any light-headed feelings.  He is a little lethargic (so seems a bit fatigued, but this could be the teenage boy symptoms).  I will keep an eye on him and see if he does start experiencing anything.

I do hope that my withdrawal symptoms subside soon!

Hi Everyone.

I am sorry that I have been neglecting my blog.   Life has been very busy, no excuse I know, I am sorry.

So my life is taking a new direction.  In the health area anyway.

As many of you know, I am the mother.  But many of you may not know that,  I have had a life threatening peanut allergy my whole life.  40+ years (did I just admit I'm in my 40's?).   It has never really been a big thing for me to avoid nuts.  Yes I say nuts as I am allergic to all nuts except Almonds and Macadamia.  My allergist has said that I need to avoid all nuts as those may be contaminated, so it's completely nut free for me.  Being nut free is all I know.  I don't buy a product without reading the label, I don't put any food in my mouth if I can't read the label or speak to the person who made it (or the waiter or chef).  I avoid eating at functions, cocktail parties with lots of nibbles being passed around on trays.  Just too risky for me.   Due to my allergy being so severe, it's a trace and airborne allergy, we don't have anything in the house that contains nuts.  The whole house is nut free, thanks to me!

Again, I have never found it to be a big deal.  It's all I know.  It's the only way I have ever lived.  I've never been able to eat them.  So avoiding nuts has been a lifelong habit and I don't even think about it.  I don't have to remember to read a label, I just do it.   But we, my household, is about to make another change.  We are becoming Gluten Free!  This is a whole new ball game for me, for us.

Why are we becoming Gluten Free you may ask?  Well there are a number of reasons.

 I have been anaemic for over 4 years now.  I take up to 6 times the amount on the bottle (on doctors advise) and it keeps my iron, most of the time, just below the bottom of the normal range (sometimes it drops a long way below normal).  I've had many tests to find out why this may be happening.  Both my son and I were recently tested for Celiac and they came back negative (borderline it actually said, but I really don't know what that means).  I also just found out I'm very low in Vitamin D and seem I to have trouble absorbing Magnesium and Potassium.  So there is clearly some sort of problem with absorption.

 I have just found out I many thyroid nodules.  One quite large.  I have read that thyroid and gluten are not friends, that thyroid problems can be greatly improved with a gluten-free diet.

Both my son and I have a range of digestive issues, sometimes quite bad and rather embarrassing and painful, very painful (trying not to give you too much information here as I'm sure you get the jist).

I have psoriasis, an auto immune skin disease.  I've been doing a lot of reading about how a gluten free diet can also help. 

I think that both my son and I have a gluten intolerance at the least.  So no more gluten it will be for us to see if it helps any of our "issues".

It's a big thing cutting gluten out of your diet completely.  We are going to do it 100%, see if there is any improvement in my thyroid, my iron levels, my energy, my digestive system, my son's iron levels, his aspergers, how he feels in his skin, his digestive issues.

For the last couple of weeks I have been buying gluten-free products, flours, snacks, bread to move over completely.  I'm hoping we will be 100% gluten-free by the end of this week.  

So here on my blog I'm going to share our progress, our success, our recipes, some of our new favourite foods and share our new journey into the world of Gluten Free living.