The Christmas/ New Year Period

[Saz]

So who got glutened over the celebrations?

I did I didn't reaise there were bacon bits in a potato salad, I checked about the Mayonaise. I also had one jube, that may or may not have been ok. Wish I'd know bout the salad though becuase I had a few little chocolates last night that I shouldn't have. Anyway back where I can get all my gluten-free goodies now, don't actually have any gluten things to be tempted by except for the remainder of the chocolates

[mtdawber]

I know I did because Christmas Day I felt horrible, then came the D and then the blisters..... I'll be glad to go back to "normal" and I can control my eating better.

[emcmaster]

Yup, and I'm still recovering.

[cathzozo]

I did really well and didn't get glutened during any of the celebrations, but I had a head cold and took some over the counter medication which I got glutened by. Ack!

--Catherine

[Viola 1]

Yup, with some seashell chocolates. The ingredients were good, but they were formed in a mold which was coated so they come out shiny. They don't put that in the ingredients list

[Guest motherof6]

yup, my daughters and myself got glutened. The corn chips my mother bought that she thought were gluten free. I took her word for it , my bad. My daughters have been miserable to live with. they get sooooo emotional. Every little thing is turned into this huge ordeal. They are fighting as we speak. I'm sure I haven't been to easy to live with either. No one has complained about my mood but I'm sure nothing has been said out of fear of how I will react or over react. Can anyone else relate.

[kbtoyssni]

I think I did because I certainly don't feel well. Went to visit my parents and my mum's gluten-free, too. My dad and brother still eat gluten on occasion, but the house is for the most part gluten-free. But somehow I manage to feel sick every time I visit...

[bklynceliac]

Yep, I did. As I mentioned in another post, got sick when I went home. Still not sure what it was, but I know my Mom was accidentally cooking with tainted chicken broth, so who knows what else got through. I'm thinking maybe it was some defrosted Shrimp Cocktail that wasn't 100% pure shrimp.

[Cynbd]

I didn't appear to get glutened at all! ... I just can't believe I made it through all the holidays without a few days of D. There were definitely days I didn't feel so well after I ate, but that was it, all was well in the morning.

I have been gluten free since November 28, and I had a bad weekend which I figure was due to the Thanksgiving feast, of which I hadn't gotten the celiac disease 'news' yet. I had a bad day the night of my last final-- which was Dec. 15th. Hit me all of a sudden, I had D and was throwing up. I can't believe that I haven't had anything since.

So that begs the question for me that I would love to hear about from others. I know a lot of the stories I read here seem to be of the really bad cases, where any amount of gluten is a killer and there are multiple allergies... So what about the rest of us with celiac disease? Could I be healing well and my body isn't reacting as violently as it used to?

I will say that I check every single ingredient that goes into my body and when in doubt I pass.., BUT... I don't have a gluten free kitchen yet-- so one would think I would be cross contaminated.

I am starting to take chances and took a chance at a Taco Shop and ordered two chicken tacos on corn Tortillas and didn't have any bad reaction (can't believe that was safe with cross contamination etc.) Went to Souplantation and so far so good, and I am just hoping the Thousand Island Dresssing was gluten free.

So how about some of you out there? Do you find your symptoms have retreated greatly after going gluten free? I wonder if I am getting glutened and am just not getting severe reactions... (which could be bad since I need to stay away from the stuff.)

Or am I just that lucky? How many of you out there aren't affected by crumbs after going gluten free? Also, I am a college student and am off for a few weeks, I know stress really affects me... would my symptoms be a lot worse if I were feeling the "exam" stress of school?

All these questions... It's been a horrible year and the results from going gluten free are so amazing, perhaps I am just moving into the denial phase :-)

Happy New Year!

Cin

[happygirl]

I hope everyone is feeling better, now that the holidays are over and we are in the comfort of our own homes!

This was my third gluten free Christmas, and I am proud to say, I survived multiple events, both at home, out of town at my in-laws, and out of town with my family (10 of us, staying at my Grandma's), without being glutened. I was gone for over a week! I didn't eat out once (which is pretty much the only place I get glutened, because my family is soooo wonderful about ingredients and cross contamination) so as long as I don't eat out, usually I'm ok. I even had gluten free cookies and snacks at everyone's house. And, I am an extremely sensitive Celiac (hence, the no eating out rule). If you had asked me at my first gluten free Christmas, if I would think it had become second nature, I would have said NO WAY.

[Ginny]

I got glutened by wine-which I thought was normally safe. My sister brought a bottle of Spumante to our Christmas celebration and I had a glass without checking the label. Within 20 minutes I was sick as a dog. I couldn't figure out how I got glutened because I cooked the entire meal--then my sister looked on the label of the Spumante and it was made with carbonated malt beverage. At least we figured out where it came from--the worst is when you get sick and you can't figure out where the gluten came from.

[celiacgirls]

yup, my daughters and myself got glutened. The corn chips my mother bought that she thought were gluten free. I took her word for it , my bad. My daughters have been miserable to live with. they get sooooo emotional. Every little thing is turned into this huge ordeal. They are fighting as we speak. I'm sure I haven't been to easy to live with either. No one has complained about my mood but I'm sure nothing has been said out of fear of how I will react or over react. Can anyone else relate.

I can relate to this. When we get glutened, one daughter is anxious, one is defiant, and I am irritable. Not a good combination.

Thankfully, we did not get glutened over the holidays. My mother and one sister and her family are all gluten free also but not as concerned about cc and trace amounts as me. They did make an effort for us and almost everything was safe.

[kbtoyssni]

So that begs the question for me that I would love to hear about from others. I know a lot of the stories I read here seem to be of the really bad cases, where any amount of gluten is a killer and there are multiple allergies... So what about the rest of us with celiac disease? Could I be healing well and my body isn't reacting as violently as it used to?

I will say that I check every single ingredient that goes into my body and when in doubt I pass.., BUT... I don't have a gluten free kitchen yet-- so one would think I would be cross contaminated.

I am starting to take chances and took a chance at a Taco Shop and ordered two chicken tacos on corn Tortillas and didn't have any bad reaction (can't believe that was safe with cross contamination etc.) Went to Souplantation and so far so good, and I am just hoping the Thousand Island Dresssing was gluten free.

So how about some of you out there? Do you find your symptoms have retreated greatly after going gluten free? I wonder if I am getting glutened and am just not getting severe reactions... (which could be bad since I need to stay away from the stuff.)

Or am I just that lucky? How many of you out there aren't affected by crumbs after going gluten free? Also, I am a college student and am off for a few weeks, I know stress really affects me... would my symptoms be a lot worse if I were feeling the "exam" stress of school?

All these questions... It's been a horrible year and the results from going gluten free are so amazing, perhaps I am just moving into the denial phase :-)

Happy New Year!

Cin

My symptoms have definitely lessened. I still get most of the old symptoms, but they're tolerable now, and I can still get on with my life.

Stress definitely makes my symptoms worse. But I've found that I am so much less stressed out now that I'm gluten-free. In fact, I rarely feel stressed out now.

Try not to push your luck with gluten, though. You may have gotten lucky at Taco Bell, but next time might not be so pretty. And if you keep getting trace amounts of gluten, eventually your body won't have time to do it's little bit of healing in between and you'll start getting sick again.

[gf4life]

I got glutened before christmas, about a week before...

First, I went to a birthday party at a local pizza restaurant. I've only been there 3 times and every time I walk through the door I get sick. The kitchen is up front and you can watch them make the pizza. I think there is just too much gluten in the air! I won't go there anymore. Which my kids are not happy about it, since their frineds have parties there. Oh well. I think we'll pass on those parties.

So two days later I left town with a stomachache and blisters forming on my arms. My husband decided he HAD to eat a egg salad sandwich from a gas station while we were driving (for 8 hours!) and I had to open the package for him. I was really careful and washed up with handi-wipes, but who knows. We also ate at In-N-Out, and it was a new location, so they might not all have been trained about keeping the lettuce wrapped burgers away from the buns...

Then we get to my grandma's house and she had forgotten about our food issues and had already made dinner. It was meatloaf, and she added oats to it. I tried a little, since oats are supposed to be okay, but I knew there was a risk there. Also there was the risk of contamination from her pans, kitchen, utensils, etc. I made the rest of the meals at her house using our own food and pans that I brought, but the stomachache and rash continued.

The next day we ate at my aunt and uncle's house. My aunt is hispanic and makes awesome mexican food. She knew about our food issues and made us beef enchiladas, rice and beans without gluten, but still the risk of contamination from her kitchen.

We ate at Outback the next day on the way home. By the time I got home my arms were covered by about 200 blistery, itchy bumps, but my stomach wasn't hurting. By christmas day I had literally thousands of bumps covering my arms, back, belly, and legs! I spent the better part of a week drugging myself with Benadryl to stop the itching and try to sleep. I didn't sleep very well. Just sratched myself silly! I am still covered, but there are no new blisters, only the sores from where I scratched them opened. I haven't ever had DH that was this widespread before. I think it was just too much contamination for too many days in a row. It had been close to a year since the last time I was glutened too. I am usually so careful.

Thank God that my kids didn't get sick. My daughter has been more moody lately, but she didn't get any stomachaches or rash, so chances are her body has a higher tolerance or she didn't get gluten from the same place as me. My kids didn't eat the meatloaf at all and my boys didn't eat the enchiladas either. Only one ate the burger at In-N-Out, and he takes the lettuce off, so there is less chance of getting glutened. They didn't touch the sandwich and ate different foods at Outback. Only my daughter was at the pizza place with me...

I am usually so careful, and when we travel on vacation I usually pack a lot of our food and plan to eat out only at restaurants we trust. This one was hard, because we were traveling to a small town in the mountains and my grandma was looking forward to our visit so much.

[NorthernElf]

I got mildly glutened...

I ate back bacon with a cornmeal edge. Nothing on the ingredients but I got a major sinus headache and had to go lie down for about 20 minutes.

I ate a ceaser salad at a restaurant and got mildly glutened.

I sampled some icing off the side of a 'regular' birthday cake and had a small amount of ice cream on my gluten free cake...one of those gave me a mild reaction.

As to symptoms - mine are firstly a sinus reaction and headache, followed by fatigue and crankiness and eventually joint pain. While I've had IBS for years (won't give up my coffee), my digestive reactions do seem to be increasing - crampy tummy, mild D, nausea. I had been hoping it was a flu but what are the odds of having it twice in 2 weeks and very mildly so ?!?? It just seems my digestive issues happen about a day after being glutened...

Definitely more reactive as time goes by (gluten free for about a year...with accidents!). Not diagnosed because the blood test was negative and the doc scoped after I was gluten-free for over 3 months...no biopsies.

[emcmaster]

I didn't appear to get glutened at all! ... I just can't believe I made it through all the holidays without a few days of D. There were definitely days I didn't feel so well after I ate, but that was it, all was well in the morning.

I have been gluten free since November 28, and I had a bad weekend which I figure was due to the Thanksgiving feast, of which I hadn't gotten the celiac disease 'news' yet. I had a bad day the night of my last final-- which was Dec. 15th. Hit me all of a sudden, I had D and was throwing up. I can't believe that I haven't had anything since.

So that begs the question for me that I would love to hear about from others. I know a lot of the stories I read here seem to be of the really bad cases, where any amount of gluten is a killer and there are multiple allergies... So what about the rest of us with celiac disease? Could I be healing well and my body isn't reacting as violently as it used to?

I will say that I check every single ingredient that goes into my body and when in doubt I pass.., BUT... I don't have a gluten free kitchen yet-- so one would think I would be cross contaminated.

I am starting to take chances and took a chance at a Taco Shop and ordered two chicken tacos on corn Tortillas and didn't have any bad reaction (can't believe that was safe with cross contamination etc.) Went to Souplantation and so far so good, and I am just hoping the Thousand Island Dresssing was gluten free.

So how about some of you out there? Do you find your symptoms have retreated greatly after going gluten free? I wonder if I am getting glutened and am just not getting severe reactions... (which could be bad since I need to stay away from the stuff.)

Or am I just that lucky? How many of you out there aren't affected by crumbs after going gluten free? Also, I am a college student and am off for a few weeks, I know stress really affects me... would my symptoms be a lot worse if I were feeling the "exam" stress of school?

All these questions... It's been a horrible year and the results from going gluten free are so amazing, perhaps I am just moving into the denial phase :-)

Happy New Year!

Cin

I have noticed that this has been the case for me up until the week surrounding Christmas. I think I got so badly glutened at Christmas that there was no chance I was going to get reduced symptoms like I have had when glutened over the past few months. Before my last glutening, I could tell I'd been glutened, but the symptoms were milder than normal and lasted about 15% of the normal time. It makes sense to me that healing of the villi could affect our symptoms because my symptoms became worse and worse over the years as I became more damaged.

[wifeandmomofceliac]

My husband and son were glutened Christmas Eve. The meal had been catered. All the right questions were asked, but apparently not the right answers. My daughter was fine, so that narrowed down the culprit food. We of course have contacted the caterer. My poor little one is only 13 months old, so has no idea why he feels so bad.

[Cynbd]

I have noticed that this has been the case for me up until the week surrounding Christmas. I think I got so badly glutened at Christmas that there was no chance I was going to get reduced symptoms like I have had when glutened over the past few months. Before my last glutening, I could tell I'd been glutened, but the symptoms were milder than normal and lasted about 15% of the normal time. It makes sense to me that healing of the villi could affect our symptoms because my symptoms became worse and worse over the years as I became more damaged.

It makes sense that as our bodies heal from the years of damage that the symptoms would be less painful. It makes it a little harder to tell if I have been glutened. I have been so extremely careful with every single ingredient that goes into my body and haven't taken a single chance. But I can't believe there haven't been some accidents. I went though every ingredient for my Mother-In-Laws breakfast Christmas brunch and at the end of the day learned that she had served flavored coffee.... Yikes... I didn't feel really good the next day, but I never got really sick, just a little bloating, but that would seem somewhat normal just simply going through the healing process and that there would be some discomfort for a while.

But then, maybe I am having a reaction and I need to watch it so I don't build up to more damage and pain.

It will be interesting to see what happens when school starts up again.... I am a 40 something year old student so the stress is harder for my body to take these days. eesh...

[SchnauzerMom]

I definitely got glutened during the holidays. I think the first time was cross contamination and the other time was from a dessert. For some silly reason I thought I could just scrape the filling out of the pie, eat that and leave the crust. I had a learning experience. Won't do that again!

[pixiegirl]

Yep both times and both at my moms house. And I hate to say but its almost intentional.. I swear she is passive aggressive about this...(I really do love my mom but this is turning into a huge issue with us) she has Celiac and should be gluten-free but won't do it, she "can't give up bread". and chips, and tortillas, and pancakes, and ....... you get the drift.

She describes herself as having a "touch of celiac" which of course drives me crazy (and yes she knows better) its her making excuses for her lack of will power. And at least once a week she will complain to me that she has the runs.. yeah no kidding!

Anyhow she buys things and says stuff like, "they don't bother me". "I eat it all the time", "it doesn't say gluten on the label". So once at Christmas and once on New Years day she managed to gluten me. I'm done eating at her house.

Susan

[Sweetfudge]

I am SO happy to say that I wasn't glutened over the holidays! I did however get glutened last night (ate McD's chicken in a salad)...and I'm pissed about it! What a way to go back to school and a new job!

I was very surprised though that I didn't get glutened! Especially b/c the week before christmas I was in San Diego w/ my mom, and we ate out the whole time (except breakfasts). I wasn't very careful, and thought maybe I wasn't as sensitive to gluten anymore, but this latest episode shows otherwise. I was just very fortunate I suppose.

I can't believe how many of you all got glutened! How sad And getting that stinkin' cold/flu bug over christmas is just as bad (I know, cuz husband and I both had it!).

But here's to lessons learned, and more food on the bad list. Hopefully we'll have a great gluten free 2007!