How To Tell The Difference Between Glutening And Just Getting Sick?

[Ikgbrd]

So I've been gluten free for about four months now, and generally I feel really good, better than I have in a very long time. I've been glutened several times since going gluten free, and so far every time I've had the same reaction each time (diarrhea the next day and a wonky stomach plus occasional diarrhea for the following three to four days) and been able to trace it back to the food that got me.

Last night though I got hit by sudden diarrhea, and for the life I've me I can't figure out what could have caused it. The day before all I ate was quinoa Mac and cheese with tuna and mixed nuts. I also took some cold medicine because I'd been having a sore throat. None of the ingredients on anything contained gluten, and I'm fairly certain there was no cross contamination.

How do I know if I was glutened or got diarrhea for another reason? Could I be reacting to the quinoa?

[BZBee]

I'm guessing it's the cold virus. Your body maybe trying to cleanse itself.

[AlwaysLearning]

I've gotten minor contamination from nuts. I've learned to go with unsalted varieties. (Roasted has been fine.) I'm suspicious of anything that comes in a powder form, including flavored or seasoned salts. I had to toss my garlic salt because the "anti-flaking agent" seemed to contain gluten. And even if your nuts were okay, they could have been processed in a facility that had some cross contamination issues. Trail mixes are another one to watch out for. Any of the items in them could have come across a conveyor belt that used a gluten-based powder to avoid sticking.

Though I haven't read the ingredients on cough medicines any time recently, artificial colorings are common allergens for people and perhaps diarrhea is a known side effect for the cough medicine you took? I'd suspect any color or flavor ingredients for gluten as well. And many medications seem to be good at listing "active ingredients" but not so good at other ingredients. Unless it actually said gluten-free on the box, or a pharmacist gave you a known gluten-free medication, I'd look into that further. I've seen some online lists of medications that are gluten free, from manufacturers and from some store chains, so if you haven't researched it already, you may be able to before you take it again. But who knows if the current versions of their products are the same as the version that has been sitting in our medicine cabinet for a couple years.

Now that you've been gluten free for a while, you may be more sensitive to very low doses just from minute cross contaminations?

D can also start very quickly after being glutened, so rather than look at what you ate the day before, was it something you ate in the hours before?

Quinoa? Well, that is actually a seed so more similar to nuts than to grains. Is it possible that your body just said "Enough with the nuts and seeds already. Give me chicken soup!" 

But you may never know. I know ... not what you want to hear now that you're in gluten-patrol mode. Sorry.

I do hope you feel better soon and congrats on the successes of the past four months! 

[Renegade]

Could be DXM, could be sorbitol, if you took too much of it, sorbitol cause diarrhea and some other stuff in cough syrup does. If you drink a whole bottle with sorbitol in it, you are also guaranteed a bad diarrhea.

[notme]

i can only eat plain nuts, so far.  my body doesn't like quinoa.  if i have a cold/allergies and i have excess mucous, it will disrupt my system and i will get the big D.  i can usually find a cold remedy that is labeled 'gluten-free' but you are still probably healing, so in the beginning stages you could be sensitive to dyes and such.  if you really want to know, do the food journal thing and eat just one suspect thing for a few days and note your reaction to it.  then try the rest, one at a time.  like someone else already said, sometimes it's a mystery.  you have changed your personal care (shampoo, conditioners, etc) stuff, yes?  i didn't believe i had to do that at first - thought it was overkill - until i couldn't figure out why i was feeling bad and i knew i was being strict with my diet.  also, that 'time of the month' used to fool me every month - tired, wonky guts, cranky , etc..  good luck & feel better  ps - haven't had a cold in over a year, attributed to my immune system working like it is supposed to    me!  who used to catch everything!!  whoda thunk?