Gluten
 

Has anyone here improved pain issues by going gluten free?

I tried gluten free for a while. Didn't do anything for me. I'm still trying to limit gluten to some extent, particularly from white flour. But no longer completely GF.

I know there are a number of stories of people with gluten intolerance that results in neuropathic symptoms. They supposedly do see improvement when going gluten free.

Didn't notice a difference here either.

A year ago, maybe even longer, I listened to two different seminars on line, one on going gluten free, the the other on hypothyroidism. The doctors on both seminars recommended gluten free to anyone with autoimmune diseases, and of course, hypothyroidism is that.

I have done that, and while I still have burning in my legs, it is not as severe as it was in the beginning--I can sleep at night where I used to roam around in the wee hours walking on the cool tile for relief. I also watch the sugar intake, and once in a while eat a cookie, or have a few bites of lime pie if I'm eating out, but have stopped drinking wine and eating night shades and do take the recommended supplements. So who is to say which remedy is helping with the pain? I think they all play a part.

Didn't do anything for me

My doctor recommended this as something worth trying. I'm on day three with no gluten. I plan to give it 3 months.

I did it for about 6 months. It really didn't make a difference for me.

No change for me either.

Gluten free helps my GI problems. When I cheat a bit, I do notice more foot pain at night. I think I have a FODMAPS issue, and gluten is not recommended for people with this food intolerance.

If I eat regularly (containing gluten) though my hands also seem to react much more to the gluten than when I am avoiding it.
So I remain on gluten free for the most part. Tinkyada pasta, Blue Diamond rice crackers, no pretzels/crackers, etc. I don't eat alot of carbs anyway.

MSG is really a big trigger for me, so I can only eat simple things now. I can have terrible burning from MSG.

if you have celiacs, gluten intolerance or sensitivity, it is advised to go gluten free, because of the autoimmune disease that results in it.
If your just going gluten free, without having any of those 3 diseases, it most likely wont affect you, except its more expensive food than gluten containing products.

How do you know if you have gluten sensitivity without going gluten free for awhile to see what happens?

There are blood tests... you have to be eating the gluten when you have them done. But some gluten intolerant people test normal with them anyway.

Going off gluten is a good way to see what happens.

I recommend 3 months as the minimum to see if there are any changes.

Thanks everyone. I'm about six weeks gluten free. I'll update in a few months.

Muireann,
Have you noticed any change in your pain level yet? I'm still having trouble reading labels and figuring out what's safe to eat, so I've been cooking from scratch. My husband and I ate better last week than we have in a long time!

I notice I'm in worse pain when I cheat on gluten but there could be other factors. This is a great cooking site with lots of inspiration :

http://deliciouslyella.com/

Have been tested for gluten,(celiacs)

I was tested years ago, negative. However, I am persuaded by the arguments of dr perlmutter in The Grain Brain, that gluten can be toxic to the cns even in the absence of obvious gut damage. Also, I'm from the west of Ireland which has one of the highest rates of celiac in the world and lots of sub clinical sensitivity. And I have Parkinson's disease which might be due to leaky gut and b12 def exacerbated by mthfr snp.