Nutrition ideas needed for suspected wheat-gluten intolerance

I am nearly 10 months out from surgery and have developed severe stomach/intestinal discomfort and severe diarrhea (usually following meals) that may indicate I may be intolerant to wheat gluten, according to my PCP.  I have been losing too much weight and she suspects I'm not absorbing fat and nutrients. I am 5'4" tall and am down to 102.  She put me on some anti-diarrheal meds (since imodium wasn't working), and a short course of Prednisone to try to calm my intestines down so we can try to stop the immediate problem.  She also suggested that I try to avoid wheat and wheat gluten in my diet for the next 10 days.  If I get some relief from that, I suspect she will want to do testing for celiac disease. Do you have any suggestions of how I might be able to prepare my body to be able to absorb nutrients while I'm going through the diagnostic process?  I'm so afraid of losing too much and ending up in the hospital with TNP or a feeding tube. So far, my labs only show slight deficiencies in Zinc and Hemoblobin and hematorcrit.  Very slight anemia.  All vitamin and protein levels are still in the normal range. Thanks for any insight you may be able to give me.

There are many things that can cause intolerances and the symptoms you describe, so get the testing for celiac but don't stop there if it comes back negative.  You should be avoiding sugar alcohols as much as possible.  You should use a pectin to help slow your intestinal transit - benefiber is widely available.  There are also banana flakes on the market that do the same thing. During flare-ups, using glutamine helps some people.  You need about 12-15 g , 2-3 times per day, so the little pills won't help you.  Novartis makes a product called "glutasolve" with is 15 g per packet.  Glutamine is an amino acid that your gut cells just love! It can help to close some of those inflammed gaps in your gut mucosa. Give it a try - and good luck! Danielle Halewijn RD eNutritioncare.com

Thank you so much for your response!  I appreciate the tips about the pectic and glutamine.  I have some glutamine powder at home already that I haven't been using, so I think I will add that to my protein shakes, in addition to the creatine I'm using in my shakes. I do have a question on the difference between sugar and sugar alcohols.  I'm not sure what the difference is.  I know some people are able to tolerate sugar alcohol but not sugar.    I try to keep my sugar intake low anyway.   Thank you again for your time and answers to my questions.

Here's my sugar primer "sugar" Describes molecules called monosaccharides or disaccharides.  The mono (one) -saccharides are glucose, fructose and galactose.  These molecules can bind together to form the Di (two) - saccharides sucrose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar), or maltose (starch by-product).  Glucose is the most important of this bunch, as it is the primary fuel our bodies run on.  Put a bunch of these molecules together and you make starches.  Put even more of them together and you make fiber.  All of these substances are carbohydrates - the only variable is how complex the molecule is. Now this is all chemistry, but believe me when I say sugar and alcohol are chemically related compounds.  You know that sugar can be converted into alcohol through fermentation (think grapes made into wine).  Sugar alcohols share the name "alcohol" not because they contain ethanol (the alcohol in alcoholic beverages) but because of their structure.  In chemistry terms, there is a hydroxy group on this molecule - that is what gives it the classification as an alcohol. The sugar alcohols usually have a name ending in -ol such as mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, etc.  They provide sweetness to cookies, sugarless gum, candies, jellies, etc. The difference is these substances provide less energy than sugar and have a low glycemic response.  Your body absorbs these substances slowly or almost not at all.  In large quantities they can cause gas, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea.  Because of these side effects, if a food will provide more than 50 g of these sugar alcohols, it has to carry a label warning  that states "excess consumption may have a laxative effect".  These sugar alcohols are not calorie-free though they have less calories than sugar. Sugar alcohols are not the same as saccharin, aspartame, or sucralose.  Those are the non-nutritive sweeteners and those are a topic for another day Danielle Halewijn RD eNutritioncare.com

Thank you so much for your informative answer.  I'm learning so much!

My twin sisters have had sprue for many years.  The biggest thing I learned from them is that gluten is everywhere!  in your pudding, in your mayonnaise, in your vitamins!  Everywhere.  and at least for them, it doesn't take but a tiny little bit (ie. french fries fried in the same oil as chicken nuggets have enough exposure) to cause symptoms.   So if you are trying to avoid gluten, be very aware of what you put in your body.   you may want to check out this website, too - http://www.csaceliacs.org/ Good luck!