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Gluten Intolerance....but Not In Argentina

mastevano

By mastevano
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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mastevano Newbie
mastevano
Posted

Hello Everyone!

I am newbie here! This is a wonderful forum w/tons of good info.

Anyway, about 2 years ago, I started feeling a lot of tightness in my lungs/chest area - almost a suffocating feeling. It felt like an elephant was always standing on my chest, or like someone stuffed my lungs with cotton balls. It took my a while to figure out what was wrong w/me. Eventually I found out it was a gluten intolerance.....but I'm still trying to figure it out.

I just came back from a 10 day trip to Argentina where I at bread with every meal....and had no issues! The day I got back I ate a bagel and felt HORRIBLE! That feeling in my chest came back and it didn't go away for a few days.

Does anyone know why I could eat bread in Argentina and not here in the US?? I'm starting to think that maybe it isn't a Gluten Intolerance but some sort of other intolerance (preservatives, or something like that). If anyone has any feedback it would be great!

Thanks!

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lorka150 Collaborator
lorka150
Posted

Could it be a different type of grain?

Have you been tested? You might get more luck in the Coping With category! Good luck.

Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted

I was thinking the same thing as Lorka. Wondering if it was a different type of grain; a no- or low-gluten grain maybe? I know a lot of people here have enjoyed Chebe bread, which is a tapioca (manioc) bread common in Brazil. www.chebe.com

Or maybe you're having an issue with more super-processed US baked goods rather than unprocessed homemade baked goods.

My experience when we visited several years ago in Germany (where my husband's mom is from) was that I was sick as a dog. They had fresh, local, homemade bread 4-5 times a day- every day. It was so delicious, but to this day they think I'm 'not quite right'. I was emotional, exhausted and brain-foggy the entire time I was there. It was one of those times for me before I went gluten-free where I was SOOOOOO sick.

I would definitely ask some questions of the people you stayed with. Maybe they use different flours or mixes?

Nancy

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted

I'm just speculating here, but I believe it's possible that wheat has a much lower gluten content in some foreign countries. Add on the fact that the gluten content of a bagel is particularly high, and your reactions might make sense. I don't have research or links to back this weird theory up, but maybe some people who have read "Dangerous Grains" or other similiar works can pop in and either further explain this or tell me I'm totally off. :)

  • 1 year later...
Morris Newbie
Morris
Posted

Given the high level of awareness about Celiac here in Argentina, I can tell with great certainty that the bread does, in fact, contain as much gluten as anywhere else.

ShayFL Enthusiast
ShayFL
Posted

Is it just bagels? Awhile ago a study came out that said that eating a bagel for breakfast could cause IBS symptoms. Something about bagels......

  • 2 months later...
land-turtle Newbie
land-turtle
Posted

Interesting, these are the kinds of stories that I search for, because they are my same experience. When I lived in Venezuela I always felt good, coming home to stay during the summer I would gain weight and was so lazy, I thought it was the junk food my grandmother would feed me. I moved back to the states and my weight continued to balloon and my health deteriorated, all the while I blamed myself and my lifestyle, after I got arthritis I had a "gauge" to tell me which foods would make me sick but I thought it was preservatives and soy. On a trip to Cancun, I got better, and had more energy, but the trip was only a week. I thought that maybe they had better vitamins in their fruit. I ate bread the whole time. Then I progressively got worse until a doctor finally diagnosed me with celiac disease. On a trip to Guatemala, a maid accidently put wheat flour in the chicken and rice but I didn't even get sick even though I ate a lot. I came home from there and took 2 bites of some steak at the church until I realized OMG it had gluten in it. I was sick all night and had to go for more antibiotics for my arthritis, it's almost 7 months later and I am just finally getting better. I'm telling you folks, there's something here, but how are we going to prove this. My heart hurts for the Americans that their health is in jeopardy. Does anyone know of a reason the wheat is different here? Is it the Genetically modified wheat that is the problem? But don't they grow that also in Central and South America?

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      High DGP-A with normal IGA

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    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      Okay well the info about TTG-A actually makes a lot of sense and I wish the PA had explained that to me. But yes, I would assume I would have intestinal damage from eating a lot of gluten for 32 years while having all these symptoms. As far as avoiding gluten foods - I was definitely not doing that. Bread, pasta, quesadillas (with flour tortillas) and crackers are my 4 favorite foods and I ate at least one of those things multiple times a day e.g. breakfast with eggs and toast, a cheese quesadilla for lunch, and pasta for dinner, and crackers and cheese as a before bed snack. I'm not even kidding.  I'm not really big on sugar, so I don't really do sweets. I don't have any of those conditions.  I am not sure if I have the genes or not. When the geneticist did my genetic testing for EDS this year, I didn't think to ask for him to request the celiac genes so they didn't test for them, unfortunately.  I guess another expectation I had is  that if gluten was the issue, the gluten-free diet would make me feel better, and I'm 3 months in and that hasn't been the case. I am being very careful and reading every label because I didn't want to screw this up and have to do gluten-free for longer than necessary if I end up not having celiac. I'm literally checking everything, even tea and anything else prepacked like caramel dip. Honestly its making me anxious 😅
    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

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      So you're saying that you think you should have severe intestinal damage since you've had the symptoms so long?   DGP IgG antibodies are produced in response to a partial gluten molecule.  This is different than what tissue transglutaminase antibodies are  produced in response to.   TTg IgA antibodies are produced in the intestines in response to gluten.  The tTg IgA antibodies attack our own cells because a structural component in our cell membranes resembles a part of gluten.  There's a correlation between the level of intestinal damage with the level of tTg antibodies produced.  You are not producing a high number of tTg IgA antibodies, so your level of tissue damage in your intestines is not very bad.  Be thankful.   There may be reasons why you are not producing a high quantity of tTg IgA antibodies.  Consuming ten grams or more of gluten a day for two weeks to two months before blood tests are done is required to get sufficient antibody production and damage to the intestines.  Some undiagnosed people tend to subconsciously avoid lots of gluten.  Cookies and cakes do not contain as much gluten as artisan breads and thick chewy pizza crust.  Anemia, diabetes and thiamine deficiency can affect IgA antibody production as well.   Do you carry genes for Celiac?  They frequently go along with EDS.
    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      I was tested for celiac at the same time, so I wasn't taking naltrexone yet. I say that, because I don't. The endoscopy showed some mild inflammation but was inconclusive as to celiac disease. They took several biopsies and that's all that was shown. I was not given a Marsh score.
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