Removing gluten from my diet has put my IBS in remission

[drop247]

It's still early days but I wanted to put this out there in case it helps someone else. I've had IBS-D for around 10 years and I know a lot of other people here have similar problems. For me it manifests as loose stools and urgency to go. I've removed dairy from my diet many years ago as I believe I'm sensitive to dairy proteins as it causes acne and nasal congestion for me. Unfortunately that didn't cure my digestion. I have now done 3 gluten free trials and each time my IBS symptoms completely stopped (in as little as 24-48 hours). I did have a celiac blood test once but it came back negative so I never thought of giving gluten free a try until now.

What does this mean for my POIS? I don't know yet. I do know that I have been feeling the need to sleep a lot more. This happened during all 3 trials. I've never been someone that can nap in the middle of the day, but since dropping gluten I'm napping once or twice a day. I don't think it's because of lower calories because I replaced the gluten carbs with other carbs like potatoes, rice, and sugary gluten free snacks. Perhaps the sleepiness is due to my body healing? I see some people on celiac forums say as much. Maybe it's due to withdrawals since wheat can have opioid like effects on the body.

Anyways I wanted to throw that out there in case anyone else wants to try. I'll update if it helps my POIS. I imagine years of loose stool and intestinal irritation could vitamin and nutrient deficiencies, neurotransmitter deficiencies, hormonal problems, or immune system problems. I'm trying to eat a healthy variety of meat, vegetables, fruit, fats and oils, now that I can properly digest them.

[BoneBroth]

I think your absolutely on to something. I just got a negative celic test today but I have cut out cereals since long ago. However it doesn't help my SIBO or POIS. I think there are many things that can disrupt the permeability of the intestines, cereals are one, milk another, and the inflammation caused by hormonal imbalances itself. It could easy be tested if you do a 3-7 days water fast when you get POIS. If you do not have food in the stomach, there's not much substances that could be leaked into the blood and you feel better. I tryed it and it worked for me so I believe the problems are caues by a leaky gut. However, if the leak is caues by hormonol imbalances, you have to correct those first (you cant water fast all your life).

[Clues]

drop247, dropping gluten was the first measure I took to improve my gut, about 10 years ago when I didn't even know what POIS was. It was a huge help to me as well.

A couple of tips in case you want to explore more:

• A lot of products advertised as gluten free are heavily processed foods that may disturb your gut for other reasons. Natural, minimally processed foods are great because they make it easier to figure out what does and doesn't work for you, because you aren't stuck wondering whether it's the processing or the ingredients you're intolerant to. Also, they are generally healthier than heavily processed foods.
• Personally I've seen a huge improvement to my gut by going with a diet aimed at minimising foods that either contain a lot of histamine, or trigger histamine release in the body.
• Also, incorporating a lot of prebiotic foods like red onion, garlic and ginger seems to have helped a lot. Some people on the forum have seen improvements with Quercetin supplementation. A lot of nice healthy foods, like the aforementioned, and also apples and leafy greens for example, have lots of quercetin, which might be part of the reason these seem to help for me.

EDIT: I also tested negative for Coeliac disease btw.