Could gluten free be a cure?

After five days on a completely gluten free diet, I have no diarrhea for the first time in 13 years! At first I thought it was just a day or two coincidence, but no, 4 days I am completely regular like a human being again.
How can that be?
Today I had 2 slices of bread (long story!) and I have pain and diarrhea again. wow.
Could it be I suffered 13 years of constant stomach problems because my doc never suggested trying gluten-free????

Gluten free is not the cure, but certainly will help you reduce inflammation and relive your symptoms. It is amazing what we eat, thinking it is not adversely affecting us, when in fact it is doing so. You will find other triggers as well, but stay on that diet and you should find great results, since you are seeing it already. I would suggest getting on a GOOD daily probiotic to help balance the stomach and build up your immunity. You keep away the inflammation, you keep away progressive disease. Keep studying and experimenting!

A while back I read and/or heard that uncontrolled gluten sensitive enteropathy could lead to Crohn's. Which isn't to say that all people with Crohn's have celiac, just that some people with celiac may develop Crohn's if they don't get it under control.

That said, I hope avoiding gluten is the answer for you! Wouldn't that be wonderful and simple? If it has you feeling better I'd say it's worthwhile.

Not a cure but definitely can help your crohns. If you go to a doctor make sure you tell him/her about how you feel gluten free. Maybe they'll start suggesting it to others and others might have some relief from it. Tired of docs saying dietary changes won't make a difference, when it obviously has for some people. Educate these doctors.

Congrats on the gluten free diet helping so much! That is wonderful to hear. Hope the good gut health continues.

I wasn't cured when going grain/wheat free, but my gut and health overall improved greatly. Being gluten free seems to be part of the puzzle for me. In someways I'm lucky. I know from extreme diet experiments that my condition is food related. I've been well when on diets of only a few foods, eaten over and over for a month or two. Trying to figure out all the foods involved in disrupting the gut is difficult though. I'm writing a food journal now. And with a little bit of luck I'll find my cure soon.

I just read that up to 18% of Crohn's patients may be undiagnosed Celiacs (from a European study) so I now wonder why on earth Celiac testing isn't an automatic part of the initial diagnostic procedure with Crohns. It is a simple blood test.

If nothing else, Crohn's patients with Celiac are surely going to have difficulty controlling one disease if the other is still active and producing the same symptoms. I am going to ask for a test. Coincidentally, when I mentioned this to my mother, she said that my father was tested for something and told to not eat gluten -and that was back in the 50's! when there were no gluten free products yet and it was not a 'fad', so he just forgot about it.

Anyway, I am going to try to stick this out. The difference is remarkable. I know it is not a 'cure'.... but it goes a long way towards alleviating my symptoms and giving me a much more normal life. It is a big, glaring, obvious piece of the puzzle for me, and one that it took 13 years for someone to recommend! In fact, it was a lot of what I read on this website that encouraged me to at least try the gluten free.

Bangarang, I am definitely going to tell my GI. He is always telling me to avoid dairy, eat lower residue, and otherwise diet makes no difference. The thing docs don't realize is that they are right, ONE single diet does not make a difference in EVERY SINGLE patient. But dietary CHANGES of one sort or another, WILL make a difference, if you personalize those diets for each patient based on his needs.
I think a food journal is a great idea, I will start one too.

Gluten-free is definitely part of the package for a lot of Crohnies.

I'm glad you've discovered a very important trigger food to avoid.

Well done! :hug:

Jobell said:

The thing docs don't realize is that they are right, ONE single diet does not make a difference in EVERY SINGLE patient. But dietary CHANGES of one sort or another, WILL make a difference, if you personalize those diets for each patient based on his needs.

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I really like the way you phrased this.

I recently tried Gluten free for 5 days, just to see if it made a difference.. & it did, no pains then i had to have my colonoscopy last week & the bowel prep gave me another flare up .. so ive been eating normal foods again & the pains etc are back.. so im guessing Gluten affects me, my gastro doc is all for Gluten free diets in crohn's patients, also lactose free & limit the fructose.. it's so difficult to maintain this type of eating plan, even though i know its going to help me greatly.. so ive decided to ditch my meds,(having too many side effects) take fish oil, slippery elm, & VSL probiotics along with the gluten & lactose free diet.. lets see if it makes a difference..ohh and im now drinking decafe coffee & tea..and no chocolate..

Cheers , Fiona
Diagnosed Crohn's 2009

Fiona, you may want to look into the specific carbohydrate diet or paleolithic diet. Both will do what you're looking to do in a systemized way.

Valerian and selenium are both good to take with your vitamin and mineral supplements. Valerian relaxes, used as a sleep aid in Europe, but taking it daily for us helps relax us and our digestive systems, from what I understand. I can't remember how selenium benefits, or if it is just something we become deficient in because of the Crohn's. I know a man who has not medicated for Crohn's in 25-30 years, swears his mom cured him with brewer's yeast and something else. That's not to say he's "normal" (aka b.m.'s are as they were before Crohn's) but to not have to medicate and have colonscopies, etc...can't be a bad thing.

Valerian is the root in which Valium was first derived from. Keep that in mind, I'm not sure if there are any medication contradictions, but you should check first.

Is it the gluten or could it also be the flour?

No

Valerian is NOT the root Valium was synthesized from. That's a common myth because the similar sounding words and similar effects of the two, but they have nothing to do with each other.
Valium is in a class of drugs called benzodiazepines which were first discovered when testing synthetic industrial dyes. Valerian is a plant and an old insomnia remedy.
This is like that old myth that the German-developed drug dolophine(methadone) was named after Adolph Hitler, when the truth is it's just latin word roots (dolo = pain phine = good.) Someone hears two similar words and just makes up a story. Ignorance is a funny bird.
Anyways, just so you know, I cancelled my Infliximab infusions today because I have lost faith in the whole idea of "autoimmune" diseases that come out of nowhere and cause the body to destroy itself. That makes ZERO sense, but sure is a good sales pitch for expensive drugs!
I have been in infliximab infusions for a year. They did absolutely nothing to help, then I tried an elimination diet. Through eliminating several kinds of foods, primarily grains and dairy, and increasing my intake of fruits and raw vegetables, I have completely eliminated my symptoms.
But every now and then I have a moment of weakness and eat donuts or a bowl of cereal and guess what happens? Infliximab and all I find myself on the bathroom floor doubled up in excruciating pain.
Funny how the only foods that do this are the ones that I can't imagine a Paleolithic human having access to. We have strayed from the path nature gave us, and Crohn's is just one of the many ways we are paying the price.
Processed foods and too much of them are the cause of Crohn's, and if the universities and hospitals weren't bought off by Big Pharm they'd be screaming this simple truth at us. It's time we wake up and realize we are being scammed, folks.
My brother and I have the same GI problems, and we have both cured them with dietary changes.
But I'm no expert, that's just how I feel about this. I refuse to be a guinea pig anymore. I have already been damaged by antidepressants they said were harmless, I don't believe them ANYMORE!

dvdgrs said:

Is it the gluten or could it also be the flour?

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Hi,
I am new here and have celiac not Crohn's But I am on the GF diet so I thought I could answer a few questions anyway.

Gluten in the sense of celiac is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley grains. All celiacs have an autoimmune reaction to these gluten proteins. Between 10 and 15% of celiacs also react to the gluten protein in oats. So celiacs are not all the same in what they react to. Many celiacs also develop additional food intolerances beyond the gluten proteins often with foods that have nothing to do with grains.

Most flour on store shelves in the USA is wheat flour, whether it is white or brown flour doesn't matter. There are some alternative flours available now like potato, rice, amaranth, almond etc.

Gluten is tricky because it is used as an emulsifier in foods, it keeps ingredients mixed together so they don't separate easily. So it is often added to foods that you wouldn't think of having wheat in them. like salad dressing. Barley is often used as barley malt to add flavor to various food and drinks. So anything with barley malt has gluten also.

I hope that helps.

I was just dx 2 weeks ago with both Crohn's and Celiac Disease. After reading so many posts I feel very fortunate my doctor diagnosed me so quickly. I had been sick for about 3 months when I finally insisted on a colonoscopy and endoscopy. I had suspected Celiac disease about 2 months into my illness. At that time my GP did a blood test that came back neg. My GI told me he would do the biopsy of my small intestine just to make sure. Right after the endo he told me my small intestine looked fine and he suspected Crohns. A week later he emailed me the results, celiacs and crohns. This all took me by surprise as no one in my family has ever been dx with either and I had no idea what Crohns was. But like I said, apparently I'm very fortunate to have answers so quickly.

My doctor said that while they can't prove that Celiac has anything to do with Crohn's, he would not rule out the possibility that my Celiac disease may have triggered the Crohn's. I am currently gluten free (at least I hope) and taking prednisone for the Crohn's. He is hopeful that after the inflammation is gone that I can control it with a gluten free diet and exercise. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!