Gluten free on year three and I got gluten'ed SO badly -

[Pia Hallenberg]

Hi all - I guess I'm mostly looking for a little reassurance: 
I was diagnosed with celiac three years ago and usually do pretty well staying gluten free. If I accidentally eat gluten (as in cross contamination) I get stomach upset/diarrhea but it's usually manageable with lots of water and gluten-free Tums + strict homemade gluten-free food.
Until this last time ... I got so, so sick. I rarely eat out for lunch but this time I did and I must have gotten a huge dose of gluten. It's the sickest I've been in 3 years. Within 30 minutes I had watery stools, severe stomach pains, I was lightheaded and sore all over - all I could do was go home and go to bed. The initial issues lasted about 24 hours. Today, 1.5 weeks after the gluten episode I still have not recovered. And I am so worried this episode put me over the edge somehow 😪   The diarrhea has not disappeared yet. I'm usually very regular but now go to the bathroom at all hours. 
I take probiotics and now I am looking at enzymes - but do they really work? I have no dreams of eating gluten ever again, but I wouldn't mind taking something that could help my ailing gut recover. There is just so much snake oil out there. Any advice? 
My recovery diet is meat, gluten-free bread (of a brand I know I tolerate), eggs, potatoes, soups w veggies, honey, jam, some grapes, a few apple slices, mandarines. 
I've severely restricted my coffee intake (one mug per day), gone off diet soda completely (it was not a daily habit), and I avoid all dairy (+ take lactase) and alcohol. 
I just don't seem to be able to shake this episode. I'm afraid I've somehow done permanent damage to my insides  😥  

[trents]

It can take two weeks to recover from  good episode of glutening. Also, don't rule out other causes such as COVID or food poisoning. Sometimes we make assumptions about illness causes based on experience or timing and something else coincidentally is actually the culprit.

[Pia Hallenberg]

Very true - thank you. And wouldn't you know I took a home COVID test? It was negative. 
It could be food poisoning, but no one else in my party got sick. 
Thank you for replying - knowing that it may take two weeks makes me feel lots better. 

[cristiana]

It can certainly take a while to recover from glutening, but I have taken a couple of weeks in the past to get over an upset stomach caused by drinking a very large iced drink in Spain which we call slushies here in the UK, not sure what they are called in the States.  I expect there was something dodgy in the water.  I couldn't get rid of it, until one day I got thoroughly fed up with eating bland food and ate a curry and it got better overnight!  Not that I'm recommending that treatment!

Anyway, I'd say if it goes on much longer it might be worth taking a stool sample to your GP to see if you have picked up some bug - there are some forms of food poisoning that can drag on for a while and it would be a shame to be suffering if there was something you could take that would help.

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by cristiana

[trents]

4 minutes ago, cristiana said:

It can certainly take a while to recover from glutening, but I have taken a couple of weeks in the past to get over an upset stomach caused by drinking a very large iced drink in Spain which we call slushies here in the UK, not sure what they are called in the States.  I expect there was something dodgy in the water.  I couldn't get rid of it, until one day I got thoroughly fed up with eating bland food and ate a curry and it got better overnight!  Not that I'm recommending that treatment!

Anyway, I'd say if it goes on much longer it might be worth taking a stool sample to your GP to see if you have picked up some bug - there are some forms of food poisoning that can drag on for a while and it would be a shame to be suffering if there was something you could take that would help.

 

A curry what? Curry is a spice.

[cristiana]

Sorry, it must mean something different in American English!  If someone in England says they've eaten a curry, this is what is meant.

 

From the Cambridge Dictionary:

a dish, originally from South Asia, consisting of meat or vegetables cooked in a spicy sauce.

 

[Scott Adams]

A curry is also a dish, usually from India, but they also have curry dishes in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and even China.

[Pia Hallenberg]

22 hours ago, cristiana said:

Sorry, it must mean something different in American English!  If someone in England says they've eaten a curry, this is what is meant.

 

From the Cambridge Dictionary:

a dish, originally from South Asia, consisting of meat or vegetables cooked in a spicy sauce.

 

I knew what you meant, Cristiana :-) 

[Pia Hallenberg]

I feel much better today. Thank goodness. 
I dined on pork chops, applesauce and home made fries - no gluten there. 
I've tripled my probiotic intake. I drink lost of water and peppermint tea. 
Thank you for listening yesterday. I was really scared. Celiac has never made me THAT sick. 

Take good care out there. 

[cristiana]

1 hour ago, Scott Adams said:

A curry is also a dish, usually from India, but they also have curry dishes in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and even China.

I put a sad face above there as I haven't been able to eat a curry from any of those places since I was diagnosed coeliac. The Indian ones in the UK supermarkets are generally gluten-free, none of the rest are... I miss Chinese curries in particular.  I guess I could try to cook my own from scratch though!👩‍🍳

[Pia Hallenberg]

1 minute ago, cristiana said:

I put a sad face above there as I haven't been able to eat a curry from any of those places since I was diagnosed coeliac. The Indian ones in the UK supermarkets are generally gluten-free, none of the rest are... I miss Chinese curries in particular.  I guess I could try to cook my own from scratch though!👩‍🍳

Get cooking!! I'm so spoiled: my boyfriend is a great cook and makes a great curry. 
We also have one Indian restaurant that has all gluten free curries.
Oh, and a Thai restaurant that uses only gluten-free soy sauce. My favorite jar curry sauce, however, is off limits. 

[Scott Adams]

I think I read somewhere that Curry has become the #1 dish in England, but can't verify this. Yes, unfortunately some curry powders do contain gluten. I recently found this to be the case with one that I had purchased, and later tested with one of my few remaining Nima Sensors. The curry brand did have a warning on it that was so small I didn't notice it: "Made in a facility that uses wheat," so I should not have bought it. I currently only buy ones that say "gluten-free" on them.

[cristiana]

17 minutes ago, Scott Adams said:

I think I read somewhere that Curry has become the #1 dish in England, but can't verify this. Yes, unfortunately some curry powders do contain gluten. I recently found this to be the case with one that I had purchased, and later tested with one of my few remaining Nima Sensors. The curry brand did have a warning on it that was so small I didn't notice it: "Made in a facility that uses wheat," so I should not have bought it. I currently only by ones that say "gluten-free" on them.

Yes, you are right, Scott - the dish you speak of is Chicken Tikka Masala and I read that one in seven curries sold is a Chicken Tikka Masala!  It's my favourite by far!   In fact, I ate one last night!

But don't talk to me about the small warning!  That's one of my bugbears with food labelling in the UK - too small to read, or, listing a "may also contain" allergen outside the main ingredients box.   Time and time again I've fallen into the trap of missing these details.  I never learn!

[cristiana]

41 minutes ago, Pia Hallenberg said:

Get cooking!! I'm so spoiled: my boyfriend is a great cook and makes a great curry. 
We also have one Indian restaurant that has all gluten free curries.
Oh, and a Thai restaurant that uses only gluten-free soy sauce. My favorite jar curry sauce, however, is off limits. 

I feel I ought to start a new thread for curry recipes.  Maybe one for the New Year, for all the leftover turkey!

[trents]

My wife gets her curry in capsule form. Must be an asian meal in a pill.