Frustrated At The New gluten-free Diet Rollercoaster

[Aerin328]

Felt great all this past weekend (for the first time really since going gluten-free 7/6!), so wonderful that Sunday night I decided to celebrate by making some gluten-free peanut butter cookies (from scratch) and drinking 1 glass of milk. Immediately after eating the cookies and milk my stomach felt like it was under attack, all grumbly and nasty and unhappy and such. I’ve never had a problem with drinking milk before: but as this is the first time I’ve tried it since being diagnosed celiac 7/6, so at first I attributed the reaction to a newly acquired lactose intolerance. (My poor damaged villi. L ) Since Sunday, however, I’ve felt even worse each day… mostly crazy brain fog, fatigue, malaise, and even today emotional swings (I’m usually a very calm and collect person). I’ve been eating the COOKIES every day too… so I’m wondering if maybe somehow they’re what’s making me sick.

Their ingredients were:

· JIF Peanut Butter (gluten-free as per company response to my inquiry)

· Domino white sugar and brown sugar

· Egg

· Rice Flour <- (brandless foreign made in India, purchased at health food store bin)

· Wegman’s brand honey

Does anyone else see any potential for gluten contamination?

Or is it possible I’m still reacting to the milk 3 days later?

This roller-coaster of feeling better then crashing way down again has really got me discouraged. I want to root out everything that could be glutenous or harmful to my poor intestines, but it’s so hard when it seems like even great home-made gluten-free inert food is still causing me to be ill. Anyone have any thoughts?

[angel-jd1]

Felt great all this past weekend (for the first time really since going gluten-free 7/6!), so wonderful that Sunday night I decided to celebrate by making some gluten-free peanut butter cookies (from scratch) and drinking 1 glass of milk. Immediately after eating the cookies and milk my stomach felt like it was under attack, all grumbly and nasty and unhappy and such. I’ve never had a problem with drinking milk before: but as this is the first time I’ve tried it since being diagnosed celiac 7/6, so at first I attributed the reaction to a newly acquired lactose intolerance. (My poor damaged villi. L ) Since Sunday, however, I’ve felt even worse each day… mostly crazy brain fog, fatigue, malaise, and even today emotional swings (I’m usually a very calm and collect person). I’ve been eating the COOKIES every day too… so I’m wondering if maybe somehow they’re what’s making me sick.

Their ingredients were:

· JIF Peanut Butter (gluten-free as per company response to my inquiry)

· Domino white sugar and brown sugar

· Egg

· Rice Flour <- (brandless foreign made in India, purchased at health food store bin)

· Wegman’s brand honey

Does anyone else see any potential for gluten contamination?

Or is it possible I’m still reacting to the milk 3 days later?

This roller-coaster of feeling better then crashing way down again has really got me discouraged. I want to root out everything that could be glutenous or harmful to my poor intestines, but it’s so hard when it seems like even great home-made gluten-free inert food is still causing me to be ill. Anyone have any thoughts?

One ingredient jumps out at me for a couple of reasons. The rice flour. 1st reason being that it came from a bin. Bins are notorious for contamination. 2nd reason being, I have gotten sick from rice flour from a ethnic store before. I'm almost 100% positive it was CC in their processing somehow. Anyways.......I would put the blame onto the flour due to contamination either from the bin or from the processing.

Hope you feel better fast!

-Jessica

[Ursa Major]

Several things come to mind:

1) Yes, you could still be reacting to the milk three days later. In fact, you could be potentially reacting to it for up to two weeks.

2) The rice flour from the health food store was contaminated via glutenous flour getting in by various possible sources. Where is the bin located, is there anything containing gluten nearby?

3) You have other intolerances, for instance to other, non-gluten grains, like rice (rice anything will cause me to have almost the same symptoms as gluten flours). Or eggs? Check my link on lectins to see if there is a possibility that you're intolerant to lectins.

I hope you figure it out, and feel better soon.

[Nantzie]

Yea, I'd be most suspicious of the bin. Before I knew better, I'd sometimes use the same scoop for a couple different things when I bought bin stuff. Now, I never by anything in bins because I know I couldn't be the only one who has done that.

Milk could be it too.

Hope you feel better.

Nancy

[queenofhearts]

Well, a glass of milk would make me briefly ill, even though I can tolerate other dairy... just seems to be something about milk per se.

But I agree that flour from bins is VERY risky. I see other shoppers using one scoop to dip several flours... flour spilling from an upper bin into a lower, &c. The only kind of bin I feel relatively safe with is the dispensing kind where you hold the bag up to it... & even then I'm a little uneasy, because I don't fully trust the store employees to avoid cc.

I buy my white rice flour at an Asian grocery (in a bag) & it is very inexpensive, a much better deal than the health food store. They also carry tapioca & potato starch at a very low cost, & a whole spectrum of bean flours. Brown rice flour I order from Authentic Foods-- even though it costs a fortune, it's VERY good!

Hope you recover soon. You'll get the hang of it soon & know what you can tolerate.

By the way, I made peanut butter cookies last night, & my whole family loved them... I hope you can enjoy them again too once you pin down the culprit.

Leah

[Lisa]

Hope that you feel better soon.

One thought...anyone else dipping into the peanut butter? (I put a green dot on mine, that reminds other family members not to "double dip")

[queenofhearts]

Hope that you feel better soon.

One thought...anyone else dipping into the peanut butter? (I put a green dot on mine, that reminds other family members not to "double dip")

Oh, GOOD thought-- I have to keep a separate container of PB because the rest of the gang double dip without thinking. (Even though I put a big label on the lid that begged them not too, it seemed spreading PB was just too much "autopilot" to keep from cc.) I have my own mayo, too, & we share a mustard dispenser that has a squirt top. Jam we serve with a spoon.

Leah

[CarlaB]

If you have a casein intolerance to the milk rather than a lactose intolerance, the symptoms are pretty identical to gluten. I tried to not give up casein even though Enterolab's test showed I was sensitive to it, I thought I kept getting mystery glutenings like yours, but it always ended up being after dairy. Now I'm finding soy to be a problem, too. I've been gluten-free for 7 months now and I'm pretty sick of the ups and downs of it, too! Especially with these other intolerances showing up now. You caught me on a sick day

[Aerin328]

OK after reviewing this with my loving gluten-intolerant girlfriend who actually bought this rice flour for me, I guess it did NOT come from a bin afterall. The brand was "Joy Foods" brand, from India. Anyone have any opinions of this brand?

Also, I've seen several posts warning about granular processed sugar... could the sugar cause this much harassment? (This also is the first time I've consumed any significant amount of processed sugar)

Finally, Casein is something I hadn't considered before... tomorrow I'm going to the Upper GI specialist, not sure what he's going to say, but I will probably end up getting Enterolab testing. Meanwhile I will stay away from milk in case it is the casein... ugh, it's like a food witch-hunt!

[CarlaB]

Be careful, non-dairy stuff typically has casein in it! I don't really understand how it's considered non-dairy when the ingredients then say contains milk!

Good luck with your GI appt.!

[KerriAnne]

As a peanut butter-loving celiac, I have noticed that I often have a bad response to regular pb, but not to natural pb. It could be the hydrogenated oils as that's the main difference between regular and natural. The hydrogenated oils are what keep you from seeing the natural oil separation in regular pb, but you do see the oil floating on the top of natural pb (you just have to stir it in).

Just another suggestion.

Good luck!

[DingoGirl]

As a peanut butter-loving celiac, I have noticed that I often have a bad response to regular pb, but not to natural pb. It could be the hydrogenated oils as that's the main difference between regular and natural. The hydrogenated oils are what keep you from seeing the natural oil separation in regular pb, but you do see the oil floating on the top of natural pb (you just have to stir it in).

Just another suggestion.

Good luck!

This is exactly what I was going to say. I didn't buy JIF the other day (my forner favorite! ) because there were too many ingredients in it, and the hydrogenated oils. I once read that the PROCESS of hydrogenating oils can actually involve gluten - - but, the hydrogenated oils are just so unhealthy anyway, that I now avoid them and pretty much all processed foods - - they no longer agree with me, which is a blessing, really, since my diet is now mostly very pure.

And defininitely try another flour - Trader JOe's has a good rice flour, or go to a health good store, and AVOID the bins if that's an option (I think we've drilled that into you!). Make the cookies again with natural, pure PB and another rice flour and see what happens.

I had to cut out dairy for the first few months of being gluten-free and now am able to tolerate it. But, the dairy reaction was usually huge bloat and was gone the next day....everyone is different, though.

Good luck!

[tarnalberry]

My dairy reactions (casein) last at least a day or two, so that's one though. Cross contamination in the kitchen is another.

[zip2play]

Try making the peanutbutter cookies without flour. THey are GREAT! Even my gluten-free friends LOVE THEM!

Flourless cookies:

1 cup peanutbutter

1 cup brown suger (not packed)

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together and bake at 350degrees for 12 minutes. YUMMY STUFF!

[loraleena]

Some rice flours could be contaminated if made at a plant that also makes wheat flour. Also the bin could be contaminated. Buy rice flour from a company that only makes gluten free products.

[jenvan]

Several possibilites, but the bin looks most suspicious (flour). I don't buy any foods from bulk bins due to CC.