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Time For New Job? And Other Questions


StrongLikeBull

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StrongLikeBull Newbie

Hello all,

Over the past 6 months or so, I was slammed with a bunch of symptoms, seemingly out of nowhere. Digestive, cognitive, visual, I mean, it was getting ridiculous. But after thousands of dollars in doctor bills and no answers, I think I finally may be on to something. I recenlty took the Enterolab test for gluten sensitivity and it came back positive. I've been on a gluten-free diet for about a month now. However, I'm wonder if I'm being "glutened" from my job.

I work at a bread bakery. The irony :D! There's wheat/rye flour all over the place. I'm wondering if touching/ breathing it is going to hinder the recovery process. I try to wear a particle mask and gloves when mixing the dough. This seems to be the most symptom-inducing part of the bread making process. If I don't take these precautions, my sinuses and lungs really pay for it. Kneading and baking the dough don't seem to cause any severe reactions. I don't wear the mask when doing those.

I'm just wondering if diet alone will be enough.

My tests also showed that I'm sensitive to casein. How important is this to recovery? Would it have separate symptoms from gluten or would the symptoms be intertwined (e.g can you get rid of symptom "x" without eliminating both)?

How exactly does a gluten "slip up" affect your body? Does it set healing back a week or something like that?

I've already seen some symptoms diminish since eating gluten free, but to make a full recovery, should I start paging through the want ads?

Any insight is welcome :).

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lcarter Contributor

Contemplating a possible career change because of a health issue is a REALLY HARD decision to make, especially if you love your career. I had to make that decision years ago after having carpel tunnel surgery on both hands as a Dental Hygienist. It probably was related to Celiac and Hypothyroid, though no medical person at the time associated it with either of those, since no one thought of either disease as a diagnosis. Anyway, I did eventually change to teaching. As for the gluten and casein combination...yes, symptoms can overlap. I have found that I need to eliminate all dairy [it seems to be more than just lactose intolerance] in everything I eat along with the gluten. I seldom get sick from mistakes anymore. But when I do, it can be anywhere from mild symptoms, only lasting a day or two, to a sever reaction, lasting over a week or more. At it's worst, I find the best thing to do is to stop eating solid food for a couple of days, and only consume liquids. The liquids seem to give the intestines a chance to rest and heal. I follow this for a day or two with white rice and applesauce. Then, I gently go back to a regular diet. Hope this helps you.

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tarnalberry Community Regular

I would consider trying wearing the mask the whole day, and make sure to isolate your clothing and shower (before going home, if possible).

Flour is going to be in the air (and settle in your nasal passages and mouth when you talk) and will stick on your clothing (unless you're in a bunny suit, but I expect they don't treat it like a clean room ;) ) and on your skin.

Impossible to do? No. But I'd treat it like you were working in a hazardous biology lab - very strict precautions.

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ranger Enthusiast

I worked as a chef for years. Thank God I'm retired now, because there's no way I could work in a restaurant kitchen where any flour was involved - and most of the good ones do in-house baking. I don't know what I'd do if I was younger and had to work, but I suspect a carreer change would be in order! Hope you figure this one out.

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StrongLikeBull Newbie

Thanks for the responses guys.

It's bit of a tough decision, but I'm already looking for other jobs and considering going back to school. It's gonna be rough in this economy, but we'll see what happens. I'm almost positive that I need to get out of that wheat-swamped environment before I can make any real advances in good health.

Man, it is amazing how suddenly your life can change. A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I were talking about opening a European-style bakery of our own. I suppose I'll have to reconsider this as well :(. Ah well, much to think about. Thanks again for the advice.

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tarnalberry Community Regular
Man, it is amazing how suddenly your life can change. A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I were talking about opening a European-style bakery of our own. I suppose I'll have to reconsider this as well :(. Ah well, much to think about. Thanks again for the advice.

Depending on your area, you might find success opening a gluten-free bakery of your own. :)

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StrongLikeBull Newbie
Depending on your area, you might find success opening a gluten-free bakery of your own. :)

Yeah I've been thinking about that :). Though I don't know how successful these tend to be. Definitely worth looking into though.

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
Yeah I've been thinking about that :). Though I don't know how successful these tend to be. Definitely worth looking into though.

Even if it isn't really popular at first if you do open one an internet site would help increase your sales. One thing you could do is check and see if any of your local health food stores or grocery stores would be interested in carrying your products. You could also consider making some gluten free take and bake items, things like pizzas, soups, casseroles etc might increase sales and make you the place to stop for those who need the diet and don't want to go to restaurants.

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      Thank you for your post, @Nedast, and welcome to the forum. It is interesting to read of your experiences. Although I've not had TMJ, from time to time I have had a bit of mild pain in my jaw, sharp stabbing pains and tingling in my face which appears to have been caused by issues with my trigeminal nerve.  I read that sometimes a damaged trigeminal nerve in coeliacs can heal after adopting a gluten free diet.  I try to keep out of cold winds or wear a scarf over my face when it is cold and windy, those conditions tend to be my 'trigger' but I do think that staying clear of gluten has helped.  Also, sleeping with a rolled up towel under my neck is a tip I picked up online, again, that seems to bring benefits. Thank you again for your input - living with this sort of pain can be very hard, so it is good to be able to share advice.
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      I made an account just to reply to this topic. My story resembles yours in so many ways that it is truly amazing. I also suddenly became lactose intolerant, went a little under 10 years attributing all my symtoms to different body parts, never thinking it was something systemic until much later. I had the same mental problems - anxiety, depression, fatigue, etc. In fact, the only real difference in our story is that I was never formally diagnosed. When I discovered that my myriad symtoms, that had been continuous and worsening for years, all rapidly subsided upon cessation of consuming gluten, I immediately took it upon myself to cut gluten out of my diet completely. I live in America, and had lost my health insurance within the year prior to my discovery, so I could not get tested, and I will never willingly or knowingly consume gluten again, which I would have to do in order to get tested now that I have insurance again. But that is not the point of this reply. I also had extreme TMJ pain that began within months of getting my wisdom teeth out at - you guessed it - 17 years old. I was in and out of doctors for my various symptoms for about 5 years before I gave up, but during that time I had also kept getting reffered to different kinds of doctors that had their own, different solutions to my TMJ issue, an issue which I only recently discovered was related to my other symptoms. I began with physical therapy, and the physical therapist eventually broke down at me after many months, raising her voice at me and saying that there was nothing she could do for me. After that saga, I saw a plastic surgeon at the request of my GP, who he knew personally. This palstic surgeon began using botox injections to stop my spasming jaw muscles, and he managed to get it covered by my insurace in 2011, which was harder to do back then. This helped the pain tremendously, but did not solve the underlying problem, and I had to get repeat injections every three months. After a couple of years, this began to lose effectiveness, and I needed treatments more often than my insurance would cover. The surgeon did a scan on the joint and saw slight damage to the tissues. He then got approved by insurance to do a small surgery on the massseter (jaw) muscle - making an incision, and then splicing tissue into the muscle to stop the spasming. It worked amazingly, but about three months later it had stopped working. I was on the verge of seeing the top oral surgeon in our city, but instead of operating on me, he referred me to a unique group of dentists who focus on the TMJ and its biomechanical relationship to teeth occlusion (i.e. how the teeth fit together). This is what your dentist did, and what he did to you was boderline if not outright malpractice. 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    • SuzanneL
      I've recently received a weak positive tTG, 6. For about six years, I've been sick almost everyday. I was told it was just my IBS. I have constant nausea. Sometimes after I eat, I have sharp, upper pain in my abdomen. I sometimes feel or vomit (bile) after eating. The doctor wanted me to try a stronger anti acid before doing an endoscopy. I'm just curious if these symptoms are pointing towards Celiac Disease? 
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