How Long Does It Take You To Get Sick After A Glutening?

[danikali]

Okay, I haven't had a question like this in a long time.....probably because I haven't felt this bad in a long time, and the last time I did, I knew what it was from. Okay, so 2 Sundays ago I ate some Puffins cereal that I thought was okay.....well, after having 2 bowls of it, I read the box again to just check out other things, and I noticed that it was NOT the gluten free cereal (the honey rice one is, I was eating the cinnimon one)....it was only WHEAT free. Sooooo I was really scared after I ate it because I know what happens when I eat gluten. Well, the next day I did a lemonade fast (lemonade cleanse) but only for 1 day and then I went back to eating regularly. My stomach wasn't normal the rest of the week, but I also had my 'monthly friend' so I kept telling myself it was that.....(even though I knew it wasn't because there is a difference in symptoms). But nothing really bad happened. So, come Saturday (almost a week after I ate the gluten), I started to have really bad 'D'......(I had it all week, but it was only once or twice a day, nothing too crazy). But as Saturday went on and Sunday came, it got 100 times worse. It was the REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY BAD KIND, I mean, horrible! Non stop......within one hour, I went 8 times, and A LOT every time. Not to mention, the whole weekend I probably went about 10 other times. And Monday, about 3 times. Then, the bad body aches came back, and (does anyone else get this?) when I touch any part of my body, it hurts. When I sit down it hurts because the chair is touching my body, when I lay down, IT REALLY ACHES because the bed touching my whole body, I'm extremely bloated, my muscles hurt, pretty much, everything inside of me hurts. Anyway, my question is, is it really possible that this is all happening from the gluten that I ate the Sunday BEFORE this past weekend? Right now, I'm living on applesauce and rice, maybe chicken soup for dinner. But I just feel so bad, like I did every day of my life before I stopped eating gluten.......what do you guys think?

Thanks for any help!

[gf4life]

Theoretically you could be having a gluten reaction 6 days later, but I would say it is unlikely to be as bad as you described. It is more likely that you have gotten yourself a nasty stomach virus. I hope you feel better soon.

BTW, we made the same mistake with the Puffins cereal years ago. It is oats that makes it not gluten free, right? Not everyone does react to oats, and I don't remember anyone in our family reacting to them, but we tossed out the rest of the box and never bought them again anyhow. Not worth the risk in my opinion.

[danikali]

Hmm...it's just weird because this is exactly how I feel when I get glutened. It's also weird because I don't have any other symptoms, like fever or anything. I just don't think it's the flu. No one else has ever had a really late reaction to gluten?

GF4life, you said that your family ate the 'wheat free' cereal before and didn't get sick from the oats in them? I thought that anything that didn't say 'gluten free' and had oats in it pretty much means that it is completely contaminated with gluten grains. Maybe I'm wrong.

I just hate feeling like this, and it's so bad that I get mad at myself for not knowing what I did to myself that made me feel like this. I am just positive it's not the flu. I don't know. I guess I just chalk it up to a BIG BIG BIG HIDDEN mistake and go back to my safe diet and not try anything new for a while..........

[gf4life]

GF4life, you said that your family ate the 'wheat free' cereal before and didn't get sick from the oats in them? I thought that anything that didn't say 'gluten free' and had oats in it pretty much means that it is completely contaminated with gluten grains. Maybe I'm wrong.

You are not wrong, I agree with the contaminated by oats thought and I am not saying they are gluten free, I am just saying that we didn't notice any symptoms. There is a big difference there. I would not recommend that anyone on a gluten-free diet eat them. I am only saying that for us the reaction was so minimal as to not be noticed, that does not mean that damage wasn't done inside our bodies. That is why we don't eat them anymore.

My reactions to gluten start within anywhere from 2-8 hours with mild stomach upset, and the majority of the symptoms happen the next day and last from 3-4 days (the severe stomach pain & D) to 2 weeks (the majorly severe fatigue and brain fog) to 2 months (the DH rash).

You may be ultra sensitive and very delayed reactionary, you need to go with what your body is telling you. If you are convinced this is a reaction to the cereal, and not a reaction from something else that you might have eaten in between eating the cereal and getting sick, then go with that. Every person's reactions are unique to themselves, others can only offer their experiences, which may or may not be similar.

Sorry, I know this doesn't help you very much. I do hope you are feeling better soon.

[elonwy]

I would think that it would be something else. I had that reaction last week to completely gluten-free bacon, for whatever reason. Horrible D for hours, cold sweats, whole deal. Felt like gluten, but no way it could have been.

That really sounds like it might be food poisoning or flu.

-E

[danikali]

Thanks for your replies. Well, whatever it was, it feels just like gluten. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore. I'm still feeling completely crappy today. I don't have anymore days at work to take off and I have a test in child psych. tonight so I can't even sleep it off! But I'm just going back to the way that I eat when I feel my best. The reason I thought it might be that cereal was because when I was eating gluten every once in a while, it would usually occur about 4-5 days after I ate it. And doesn't food poisening usually go away within 72 hours? It's been 6 days now. It's just identical to when I have gluten...........oh well.

[oceangirl]

Thanks for your replies. Well, whatever it was, it feels just like gluten. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore. I'm still feeling completely crappy today. I don't have anymore days at work to take off and I have a test in child psych. tonight so I can't even sleep it off! But I'm just going back to the way that I eat when I feel my best. The reason I thought it might be that cereal was because when I was eating gluten every once in a while, it would usually occur about 4-5 days after I ate it. And doesn't food poisening usually go away within 72 hours? It's been 6 days now. It's just identical to when I have gluten...........oh well.

Dani,

Food poisoning can take quite a bit to get over. On the other hand, if you think it was a glutening, go to just whole foods you make yourself- nothing processed- until it calms down. The body pains you describe remind me of when I had salmonella poisoning about a year ago. It took me weeks to fully recover. (In fact, I think it may have been an additional "trigger" to my gluten intolerance.) If I am glutened now, the WORST position is lying down because it feels like everything inside me is pressing on everything else- like glass. Not very good for getting any sleep! If you don't feel better soon you might want to check with your doctor- it sounds like you've lost quite a lot of fluids.

Take good care,

lisa

[danikali]

Lisa,

YES, that is exactly what I have been feeling like. When I lay or sit, it makes things hurt a million times worse because whatever is touching my body puts pressure on it and I feel like my insides are going to rupture. I picture them really swelled up inside of me, like a balloon, and when I lay down, the balloons are being squeezed and might pop! It's horrible! Is that what happens when you loose a lot of liquids? Because I know that I was 'going' so much this weekend and I remember asking myself every 10 minutes (running to the bathroom) where is all of this liquid coming from??? Because it sounded like a huge bucket full every time! Gross, I know.

Well, today I'm feeling a little better because yesterday all I had was applesauce and rice and TONS of water. Today I'm just going to have apple juice mixed with water and maybe rice for dinner.. ....and I do remember eating chicken out on Friday (this all started on Saturday), and I thought it was kind of weird. I told them not to put anything on it but when I was eating it, I thought it was kind of weird because there was like this brown syrupy liquid around it and the chicken was really soft. I didn't eat it all because it was so weird and usually I finish my plate completely. Anyway, that's what I thought it was at first. But it just felt so much like when I was eating gluten that I thought I had to be glutened from the cereal the week before. Then I wonder, why didn't I get sick from eating those two bowls of Wheat free (with Oats) cereal if they didn't say gluten free?

[oceangirl]

Lisa,

YES, that is exactly what I have been feeling like. When I lay or sit, it makes things hurt a million times worse because whatever is touching my body puts pressure on it and I feel like my insides are going to rupture. I picture them really swelled up inside of me, like a balloon, and when I lay down, the balloons are being squeezed and might pop! It's horrible! Is that what happens when you loose a lot of liquids? Because I know that I was 'going' so much this weekend and I remember asking myself every 10 minutes (running to the bathroom) where is all of this liquid coming from??? Because it sounded like a huge bucket full every time! Gross, I know.

Well, today I'm feeling a little better because yesterday all I had was applesauce and rice and TONS of water. Today I'm just going to have apple juice mixed with water and maybe rice for dinner.. ....and I do remember eating chicken out on Friday (this all started on Saturday), and I thought it was kind of weird. I told them not to put anything on it but when I was eating it, I thought it was kind of weird because there was like this brown syrupy liquid around it and the chicken was really soft. I didn't eat it all because it was so weird and usually I finish my plate completely. Anyway, that's what I thought it was at first. But it just felt so much like when I was eating gluten that I thought I had to be glutened from the cereal the week before. Then I wonder, why didn't I get sick from eating those two bowls of Wheat free (with Oats) cereal if they didn't say gluten free?

Dani,

Ooh, it COULD be the chicken itself (under-cooked at all?), OR I'm very suspicious of what was in the sauce. I'd say it was Friday's dinner. I can get that "balloon/pressure" feeling from gluten. But, MAN, did my body ache and hurt for a LONG while after I had salmomnella. I got salmonella from eating chicken that had gotten lukewarm in my lunchbox during a heat wave. Yuck! I don't get D from glutem, C, actually, like my whole system abruptly stops functioning. But, boy, did I have the D with food poisoning (AND throwing up, and passing out- a fun sideline of my body's whenever I throw up- sorry to be graphic) I hope you continue to feel better today. Bananas might be good to try- ripe only- as they are easy to digest and will help replace the potassium you've lost. Keep drinking pure water, too.

Take care!

lisa

[danikali]

Dani,

Ooh, it COULD be the chicken itself (under-cooked at all?), OR I'm very suspicious of what was in the sauce. I'd say it was Friday's dinner. I can get that "balloon/pressure" feeling from gluten. But, MAN, did my body ache and hurt for a LONG while after I had salmomnella. I got salmonella from eating chicken that had gotten lukewarm in my lunchbox during a heat wave. Yuck! I don't get D from glutem, C, actually, like my whole system abruptly stops functioning. But, boy, did I have the D with food poisoning (AND throwing up, and passing out- a fun sideline of my body's whenever I throw up- sorry to be graphic) I hope you continue to feel better today. Bananas might be good to try- ripe only- as they are easy to digest and will help replace the potassium you've lost. Keep drinking pure water, too.

Take care!

lisa

Thanks Lisa. Yeah, I wonder what that 'syrupy' stuff could have been.....? See, this is when I get mad at myself because why didn't I ask the waitress? Or not eat it all together? I get so hungry I tell myself that I'm just being paronoid and I make up a reason to eat it anyway. It didn't taste like anything really.....I don't think...

Anyway, you're the first person that understood that 'balloon' pressure, achy feeling before. It makes me sick just thinking about it. At least that part is over with. I can lay down now and nothing changes. I mean, that pressure is gone now. Thanks for helping.