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Glutened From Colonoscopy Prep.?

danikali

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danikali Enthusiast
danikali
Posted

Hi everyone. I know I've posted like a million times already today, but my doctor is NOT calling me back, so I don't know where else to turn right now!

Okay, so I was feeling REALLY REALLY GOOD for about a week of eating gluten free. But then Sunday came and I had to do the Phoso Soda and dulcolax prep test for my colonoscopy and endoscopy.......

Well, of course I was going "D" like a maniac (sorry-gross) but since that day, my body is aching all over,my stomach hurts (not too painful, but it's there on and off) my knees especially hurt again, and my legs and back!

I haven't eaten any gluten at all yesterday, or today (since I can eat again) and these symptoms aren't going away! :(

Does anyone know why this might be happening? I also had apple juice and that lemonade vitaman water on Sunday because I couldn't eat. Oh yeah......I also had some life savers and some life savers fruit chews that day too. (Just not the red ones because they said not to eat red jello, so i figured no red life savers? :rolleyes: )

But anyway, does anyone know if I could possibly have gotten glutened from one of these things? Besides that, all I've really been eating is fruits veggies and Amy's soup that I never had a problem with before.

PLEASE HELP ME!!! Am I doing something wrong? Or does this make sense? :huh:

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jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. I don't know about the phospho stuff--I had to drink the vile gallon jug of laxitive--the juice and other things you mentioned sound ok, but I wouldn't rule gluten out of anything without checking first. I have heard about people on here that have reacted to Amy's foods even though they are gluten-free. If you are glutened, hopefully it will pass quickly--how long does it usually last? Any chance you might have a virus--not causing the D, but the body aches? Its hard to have to wait for the Dr.'s call and they do manage to keep us waiting. Anyway, sorry this was not more helpful--feel better soon :)

jenvan Collaborator
jenvan
Posted

what kind of vitamin water did you drink? did you get on meds you took for gluten, just in case? if you had no gluten...the prep itself may have thrown your system off...the ducolax and laxatives are make your colon spasm, so that might be part of it... hope you feel better asap!

danikali Enthusiast
danikali
Posted
  • Author

Hi, thanks for your replys.

The vitaman water I had was that new stuff called "Vitawater" I think. Anyway, I wasn't thinking there would be any gluten in there. Maybe in the life savers chewie snacks?

I have no idea. It really started all over again on Sunday and I have been sick ever since! It was shortly after I had some of that lemonade water and the dulcolax. I don't know. I guess I should just stop eating any kind of processed foods right now until this is over. :unsure:

And I know it's not a virus because the pains aren't as strong as when you get the flu or something. They are just aching and they come and go. For example, my left hand pointer finger is cramping up right now. It's just really weird stuff.

mightymorg Rookie
mightymorg
Posted

I don't think the phospho-soda has gluten. It's just a salt saline solution. I know I felt like cr@p the day afterward, but those meds put a lot of stress on your body.

IF you did have gluten, I'm thinking there are 2 possibilities:

1) cross cotamination from Amy's

2) the life saver gummies. I know gummi bears are made in a starch mold, though I don't know what kind. Even though we're talking about the life savers kind, they might use a similar starch molding, though who knows what's in it.

danikali Enthusiast
danikali
Posted
  • Author
I don't think the phospho-soda has gluten. It's just a salt saline solution. I know I felt like cr@p the day afterward, but those meds put a lot of stress on your body.

IF you did have gluten, I'm thinking there are 2 possibilities:

1) cross cotamination from Amy's

2) the life saver gummies. I know gummi bears are made in a starch mold, though I don't know what kind. Even though we're talking about the life savers kind, they might use a similar starch molding, though who knows what's in it.

Thank you!

Can you tell me what you felt like after you had these tests done? Because from Sunday, until today, still, I just feel as crappy as I did when I was on the gluten challenge! And I'm so fed up with being sick! And did the gummi bears company say that they have gluten in their product?..........

mightymorg Rookie
mightymorg
Posted
Thank you!

Can you tell me what you felt like after you had these tests done? Because from Sunday, until today, still, I just feel as crappy as I did when I was on the gluten challenge! And I'm so fed up with being sick! And did the gummi bears company say that they have gluten in their product?..........

Well, I felt pretty weak...but with all those meds in my system, I'm not surprised! They gave me a memory suppressant and a pain killer (either vicodine or codeine, don't remember...haha). My procedure was at 1:40 pm and I came home and slept, then woke up around 7. That's when the memory suppressant wore off, too. Next day I didn't feel like doing much of anything, didn't want to eat or anything else. THough I liked feeling so cleaned out, ha ha.

I only know about the starch molds for gummi bears because I remember watching a show on Food Network, where they showed how gummi bears were made. hth!

Also wanted to add that for days afterward, my insides were so sore!! It's from the scope bumping up against the inner wall of the colon.

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jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

I had the colo. and endo. done the same day, also. The prep was rough--the worst part by far. I have to say that after the procedures, I felt pretty good. Aside from being thirsty, I was fine--no pain or anything. My husband and I stopped at the store on the way home. It must really vary from person to person--

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

The preps for these tests are gluten-free and so are the gummi Lifesavers. Some folks do indeed have a rough time with the preps, but not because of gluten.

Good luck.

richard

VegasCeliacBuckeye Collaborator
VegasCeliacBuckeye
Posted

Some celiacs have a rough time with Vitamins, Vitamin Water or Vitamin Mix.

Even though there is no "gluten" per se, my body still reacts to it something awful!

Hope this helps!

Rachel--24 Collaborator
Rachel--24
Posted

The first time I was scheduled for endo/colonoscopy I had been gluten-free only for a couple weeks and not 100%. I was in a hurry, not feeling good and apparantly not looking in the right place because I couldnt find the phospo soda so I got magnesium citrate instead. Back then pretty much everything bothered me...it was like my insides were raw because I couldnt even eat an apple...it felt like it was burning me. Lemon and citrus were even worse. The magnesium citrate had sucrose and citric acid...I took 2 spoonfuls and it burned and brought all my symptoms back. I called and told them I couldnt drink the whole bottle so they canceled my appt. Found out a couple days later I drank the wrong stuff. It wasnt gluten but I was just messed up and couldnt tolerate the drink. I ended up having to drink the phospo soda a few months later for a totally different test and all the salt made me swollen and I felt pretty crappy. I finally had my biopsy (6 months into the diet so pretty useless) and I didnt have to drink anything because they didnt schedule the colonoscopy. There is no prep for the endoscopy....just fasting. Too bad I didnt know all that in the beginning...I could have just nixed the colonoscopy and went ahead with the biopsy. Anyways...you probably didnt get glutened...your body's probably just not liking that stuff right now.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
Hi everyone. I know I've posted like a million times already today, but my doctor is NOT calling me back, so I don't know where else to turn right now!

Okay, so I was feeling REALLY REALLY GOOD for about a week of eating gluten free. But then Sunday came and I had to do the Phoso Soda and dulcolax prep test for my colonoscopy and endoscopy.......

Well, of course I was going "D" like a maniac (sorry-gross) but since that day, my body is aching all over,my stomach hurts (not too painful, but it's there on and off) my knees especially hurt again, and my legs and back!

I haven't eaten any gluten at all yesterday, or today (since I can eat again) and these symptoms aren't going away! :(

Does anyone know why this might be happening? I also had apple juice and that lemonade vitaman water on Sunday because I couldn't eat. Oh yeah......I also had some life savers and some life savers fruit chews that day too. (Just not the red ones because they said not to eat red jello, so i figured no red life savers? :rolleyes: )

But anyway, does anyone know if I could possibly have gotten glutened from one of these things? Besides that, all I've really been eating is fruits veggies and Amy's soup that I never had a problem with before.

PLEASE HELP ME!!! Am I doing something wrong? Or does this make sense? :huh:

Hi, What did you eat last Thursday, Friday, Saturday? Don't forget that gluten is a delayed reaction, my DS has a real hard time with this he always thinks the last thing he ate 'got him' when he needs to look a few days back. It is also possible that they could have used something that 'got' you in the procedure. I got a severe glutening from a spray of some kind used when they pulled a tooth. Also there is a tendency in the beginning to feel good then crappy for a while while you heal. I hope you feel better soon, the only good thing about a gluten reaction is that it goes away, not soon enough, but it will.

danikali Enthusiast
danikali
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for replying everyone!

Yeah, I was thinking of a couple of things.

1. We went out to eat at a resturant with friends on Saturday night and I tried to make as sure as possible they understood what gluten was.....but I don't think they ever heard of it, and it was a nice resturant! Well, I got tunafish (I told them plain, but I don't think it was) and a plain baked potato and the fish was on some lettuce, and after I ate half of the fish, I noticed there was dressing on the lettuce........so I stopped eating it. I don't know that it necessarily had gluten in it, but I stopped eating the fish anyway. It's so hard to be gluten free in NYC when there are resturants everywhere and when you're hungry, you stop and eat! I guess from now on I'm just going to bring lot's of snacks with me all the time. I'm so scared to eat out these days!

2. I also know that my stomach reacts to salt and I read the back of the phospho-soda and it had a warning about people who had problems with sodium. But then again, I think my body started hurting BEFORE I even had the stuff, like Sunday morning.......... <_<

Anyway, does anyone else have it where you notice something little, a little symptom, and then it gets worse over the course of a few days and then it finally goes away again? Because I've been feeling like crap since Sunday morning, and it kept getting worse until last night, my whole body was a COMPLETE MESS again! I couldn't sleep because of the achiness, so I took alieve......is that gluten free?

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

dani--I think the dinner out on Sat. is the culprit. It was kind of the missing link in your story :D . Even if the actual food you ate had no gluten in it, you have no control over the cross contamination that may have happened in the kitchen. If they "never heard of it" they probably didn't know what to protect you from anyway. I find the only time I get glutened now is when I'm eating out, so I almost never do. Not fun, but for me, better than being sick.

jenvan Collaborator
jenvan
Posted

I assume you mean Aleve? It is gluten free. However, I will note that it is rough on some people's stomachs and has been known to cause ulcers. So if your stomach is also bothering you, you may want to try tylenol. Just a thought...

danikali Enthusiast
danikali
Posted
  • Author

Thanks! :D

Yeah, that has to be it because it started the morning after..........

I get kind of mad.... ;) I told my fiance and my friends that I was scared to eat anything out and that I would be fine with something to drink and I'll eat later. But they kept saying, just explain it to the waiter, you'll be fine, tell them to make everything really plain!

So I did, and of course......... :blink: you know the rest!

Thank God it's getting a little better today. I couldn't do anything yesterday without pain! Horrible!!!!!!!!!

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

Glad you're feeling better today :)

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