How Much Gluten Does It Take To Make You Sick?

[livelifelarge24]

I have accidental glutening before and my reactions are almost always exactly the same down to the hour. I usually know exactly what to expect, I also always figure it out and discontinue the culprit within a few days. Well this time I didn't realize I was getting glutened. I was eating some candy every day for two weeks that was making me sick but because the symptoms were milder I didn't catch it for a long time. The candy itself doesn't have gluten but was processed on shares equipment. Apparently that was enough to make me sick. But my symptoms are now much worse than they usually get! It's a much smaller amount of cc I think but over a more extended period of time. Do you find your reaction to be worse depending on the type of glutening you get? I would think I would have gotten sicker from the swig of beer I accidentally took once but I think this is much worse.

[AVR1962]

Yes, you have described it well, same type of reaction for me. I used to love this one cajun salt which I used for my crab boil. One day after eating the crab I woke up with these tiny bumps under my skin on my fingers. Checked the bottle and it said it could conatin wheat. Not sure if it was the wheat or the spice that created this. Had no stomach issues. I have tried candy that said it was manufactured on machinery that contains gluten which did give me a sick stomach for a day but nothing more. Had a recent bewildering experience with choco covered raisins, nothing listed in the ingredients I could not have and did not say anything about how it was processed but I have a feeling there was some cc there, made me pretty darn sick, like you, I had been slowly munching on them. But if I get a crumb of bread, I know it!

[ravenwoodglass]

I think if you are getting small amounts of gluten over an extended period of time that it is giving the antibodies more time and strength building up. I guess I am lucky that I get enough of an effect quick enough so that I don't get the chance to have things build up as my reaction becomes evident within a few hours at most. I have neuro issues that clue me in and let me know I am in for a rough few days. I do react to very, very small amounts of gluten. I do have to even be careful moving wrapped bread at my volunteer job and I have to wash my hands very often to stay safe as even a residue I can't see will get me. Learned that the hard way.

The delayed reaction many of us get can be troublesome as it makes it hard for us to know sometimes what is getting us. We also have to factor in other intolerances when we are new to the diet. Many times early on we can have other intolerances that show up and for some the symptoms will be similiar to our gluten reactions and can make us think we are reacting to gluten when the reaction may be to dairy or soy, as examples. It took me a long time to figure out I was reacting to soy and for a couple of years I thought items that were gluten-free and made in dedicated facilities we somehow CCing me. It turned out it was the soy in them and had nothing to do with gluten.

[burdee]

The last time I got gluten cross-contamination was after eating 2 corn tortilla chips which were fried in the same oil that flour tortillas had been fried in. I was sick for 3 weeks with excruciating cramping gut pain, bloating, nausea, etc. That was October 2005. I haven't had a gluten reaction since. However, I've accidentally consumed tiny bits of each of my other 6 allergens and reacted almost as strongly, but had only 1-2 weeks of symptoms from my other allergens.

[dilettantesteph]

You did describe it well. I get hit badly from that tiny contamination built up over a long time. I think it is because it gets pretty bad before I pay attention to it enough to figure it out. Then it takes me a few more days or weeks of eliminating things before I get the right thing. By then I'm in rough shape. The system is damaged and needs to do a lot of healing. I'm finally getting over one of those myself.

If you are looking for a scientific explanation for your question, the FDA did a paper in which they evaluated research in that area:

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