Wheat-elimination - expected symptoms?

RE: Wheat-elimination - expected symptoms?

I would say that it wasn't normal to still be feeling worse after 16 days of avoidance and suggest that you refer her back to where she received this advice.
She aught not to actually see them for this, as any professionalshould return her call on this issue.

Although wheat is a common problem, there are often several other underlying issues that may need addressing first.

Are you sure it's just wheat and not gluten that she has been advised to avoid?

If it's gluten, then it's also found in other grains in smaller amounts and a reduced exposure could make the symptoms more overt or different.

Another possiblity is that by cutting out wheat she may well haveincreased her intake of carbhydrates from other sources i.e. rice,corn, potatoes, etc. Potatoes seem to also be a common problem. Rice less often & corn (maize) seems much more common inAmerica & Australasia than the UK.

Andrew.

RE: Wheat-elimination - expected symptoms?

Hi Andrew and many thanks for your reply.

Well, in this particular instance I don't think she will call the person who gave said advice. He is a highly-skilled practitioner with a faultless history - I've had treatment from him for many years, and I've never known hom to be wrong on anything at all, no matter how obscure his info might seem. If his credentials were dubious, I would indeed phone him myself. Unfortunately he is working in Holland at the moment, so it is difficult to contact him; I also wanted a second-opinion, as you can appreciate.

Yes, it is just a wheat intolerance (not gluten), although she was also advised that a mild potato intolerance was present too. I'm 99% sure she hasn't increased her carbohydrate intake - she is eating wheat-free bread at any meal where she would have eaten wheat-bread. She definitely hasn't upped her intake of potato, of that I'm sure. Logically, even with a mild potato intolerance, I have to say I expected some improvement by now. She has eaten almost the same thing every week for years (she thinks this is 'good', by the way!), so I wonder if the shock of such a radical change is partly the problem...

Thanks again - your suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Jo

RE: Wheat-elimination - expected symptoms?

Methinks you may be missing what I am getting at.

If someone is worse as a result of treatment or advice from a healthcare professional, then the first port of call should always be to get back to them.

No one is infallible and we're all different, so diagnosis, treatment &/or advice may need tweaking or not. Indeed the symptoms experienced may actually be within the norm of what that particular practitioner might expect in this case. But the only one that would know is the person she saw.

Do they have a website or email address you could contact them on? Although they are likely unable to discuss with yourself without written permission from your mum. This is one of the reasons thatit's imperative that she contacts them.

One shouldn't consider any Posting on HP as a second opinion, as we can only offer general advice. As it happens it's the sort of problemthat I have treated may people with, but probably use a different approach. That said, without a proper examination & case history, then general advice or pointers isall anyone of us on HP can offer.

Hope that helps - Andrew.

RE: Wheat-elimination - expected symptoms?

Hi again Andrew

Yes, I realised what you were getting at, but it doesn't alter the outcome, unfortunately. My mother will absolutely not contact the practitioner, but it is difficult to explain why without going into unnecessary detail. Suffice it to say that in the practitioner's view, she would not been seen as 'worse', and I have explained this to her with limited success. Her experience of allopathic medicine is such that she expected to 'get better' almost immediately, and certainly with no effects such as she is now 'tolerating' whilst using a naturopathic approach.

I agree that these symptoms may be what was expected by the practitioner (and myself, after having eliminated wheat myself), but I thought it a genuinely wise move to check out other opinions, professional or not. My apologies, the "second opinion" comment was a bad choice of words - I simply wanted a second 'voice' on the matter, due to the stale-mate situation with my mother. I realise I have not presented my query very well, and this is probably because I am too close to the subject. All I really wanted was confirmation that my mother's symptoms are usual, and a technical (so to speak) explanation of the elimination process with which to calm my mother's worries. I realise now that it was a foolish request, due to the many different approaches to this whole subject.

Thank you anyway, your time is greatly appreciated.
Jo

RE: Wheat-elimination - expected symptoms?

I worked as a practitioner for over 20 years (I now research and write on health), and for the first 6-7 years of that I concentrated almost exclusively on allergy problems.
I would say the following:

1. No one is always right, no matter how good a practitoner they are
2. Avoiding a major allergen - normally withdrawal sysmptoms last at most 5 days, say 7 days given your mother's age, so something is going on.

As she's not keen to go back to this practitioner, could it possibly mean that she's "cheating" as she doesn't value his point of view?
The other likely thing is, as Andrew says, that she's put another thing to replace wheat. It may not be potato but it could be something totally new. It isn't necessarily a carbohydrate even
The other possibility, of course, is that her feeling bad is a coincidence and nothing to do with the wheat avoidance at all

hope that helps!

best wishes

Jane