Reaction Time

[TINADOYLE]

Hello,

It's my first time using the email support group. I was recently diagnosed 4 months ago and have been diligent with my gluten-free diet. Yesterday, I was at a soccer tournament all day. I brought food along to sustain me the whole day, but when a group of people suggested a little Italian restaurant for lunch-I caved in. I thought I was eating gluten-free by ordering a salad with chicken strips (no breading). I am suffering terribly for the first time in months, I guess the chicken may have been fried on the same grill as their bread or buns???? Well I learned a very valuable lesson----------I eat my cooking or a restaurant that I have already deemed gluten-free by my many questions. My question is---------on average how long does it take to get a severe reaction (cramping, gas, diarrhea)? This is my first time being sick, I don't think it is a viral infection. How is one sure? Thanks!

[tarnalberry]

For me, it takes 15-30 minutes to start noticing symptoms (head) and about half a day for the rest of them (digestive).

[stargirl]

I find the time differs. I can have reactions as quick as 20 minutes and as long as 6 hours before I get sick.

[byuiemily]

My reaction time seems to depend on what I eat...weird. But for the most part it is within 30 minutes or less that I very much notice it both digestively and bye my stomach and heart hurting. Definitely not smart for me to injest something questionable out in public if you know what i mean.

[Alexolua]

I either haven't had wheat since I went gluten-free, or my body doesn't really show any reactions to it. Didn't really before either. My health just slowly fell apart, lol.

Though if I do ingest casein, something else I have to avoid, I feel a reaction in about 24 hours. Like maybe it needs to react the end of my large intestines? I dunno.

[celiac3270]

I've heard that, obviously, it varies from person to person between quick reactionsn (the 30 min. kind) up to about 48 hours to get a reaction. So, if you get contaminated, but you are unsure of what it was from (here you're lucky to know why), you should really examine your diet for the past two days.

You can't be sure, really, that it's not something else.......however, I find that I can feel the difference. I'm so used to those abdominal pains that I know them really well (in addition to the nausea, style of vomiting....rather gross, but yes, I notice patterns, gas, bloating, etc.). I know I could tell the difference between this and a fever and the flu. It might be harder to tell with diarrhea, though........

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Mine depends on how full my stomach was before eating the gluten and how much of it and what it was. . .sometimes with in minutes. . .other times a day.

I am sorry to hear about you accident.

[ErraticBinxie]

I learned something interesting about eating out. My mom has celiac disease as well and sometimes when we eat out she gets a sore throat from something that we later find out we are allergic to. I learned from somewhere that everyone has some villi in the back of their throat. Since gluten damages our villi this makes sense that we get a sore throat if we eat it. This doesn't always work and I wouldn't use this as a reliable source to determine what is glutenous and what isn't but it's just a thought.

[Sterndogg]

I notice symptoms almost instantly (within 5 minutes I feel bloated) and it depends on how long it lasts (45 min to a few hours) which I guess depends on how much gluten was ingested...I try to be gluten-free as much as possible but when eating out cross-contamination is tough even if I tell them I am gluten intolerant.

[lilliexx]

i ate in a restauraNT the other day and within minutes my stomach was growling a lot and i had a feeling i ate gluten, but then the next morning is when it really hit me. it lasted 2 days it was my first time eating gluten in the 2 months that i have been gluten free. ) my stomach is not all the way healed, i still get stomach ahes, bloating and gas and slight constipation, but this was really strong (almost like mild flu) so i am postive it was gluten.