Does This Sound Like Glutening?

[CMCM]

I ate only 2 things yesterday. One was an omlet (at a local restaurant) which I have ordered many times with no problems. About a half hour later we went to Baskin Robbins and I had a hot fudge sundae....vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, blob of cream, a cherry. When I got home maybe an hour later, I vaguely remember not feeling great. I swallowed about 6 vitamins (I've had those before, too, with no problems). By another 1/2 hour I had this sharp, burning, gnawing pain in my stomach, up high. Never any D at all, which is usually my gluten reaction. This pain was really intense and unrelenting and lasted from around 5pm until about 2 a.m. when I was able to fall asleep. Today, all the pain is basically gone although I'm eating carefully and small amounts because I'm almost afraid to eat for fear of triggering this again. I've noticed before when I've gotten this that it can happen again the next day if I'm not really careful.

Has anyone had this before? I get this occasionally, and I can NEVER really identify the culprit. I've been eating a fair amount of ice cream/fudge lately at home with no problems at all, but I wonder if there is something in the Baskin Robbins stuff? Or could the vitamins have done it (since I wasn't eating them with a meal).

I'm really stumped. I've had this problem sporadically for years and have never figured it out. I thought maybe it wouldn't be a problem any more since I'm not eating gluten knowingly. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to eat anything at all!

[Lisa]

Carole:

Maybe the Baskins Robbins scoop, just before you, scooped up some cookies and cream?

[2kids4me]

Do you have lactose intolerance? Does this symptom occur with dairy? That may be the culprit. or the hot fudge sauce may have been cross contaminated or have gluten in it as part of the ingredients....or like the presvious post - the ice cream may have been cc'd forma scoop

Hope you feel better soon

sandy

[ArtGirl]

Sounds like what I went through for years with my gall bladder. I always thought it was something I ate - but it wasn't. The pain would be high up and felt like a knife was stuck in my stomach and being twisted - went clear through to my back. It would keep me awake into the wee hours and then subside. I don't know why it seemed to always hit me in the late afternoon or evening.

It got extremely worse just after Christmas one year - the year I ate lots and lots of pecans (fats!!!). Had to have my gall bladder removed because it was full of stones.

Not that this is what's happeneing to you - but you might want to do some research and see if the symptoms fit in with gall stones.

The first time I had this pain, I was visiting an aunt and sleeping in a bed that had a plastic matress pad on it. I was so uncomfortable and my back was hurting more than my stomach. I though tit was the hard mattress, or, at least, the plastic pad. So I ripped off the bedding and removed the plastic - it was the kind that encompasses the mattress and has a zipper, but it was sort of cracked and split in a lot of places. I made a real mess getting it off. Didn't help, though!

[jerseyangel]

I was going to suggest gallbladder problems, too.

The foods you listed are relitively high in fat--does this tend to happen after higher fat meals?

[Jo.R]

I also thought gall bladder. It may not even been stones. I found out after I had mine removed that untreated Celiac can cause gall bladder problems and that after going gluten free your body can repair it.

[CMCM]

Well, regarding the Baskiin Robbins....as it happens, my granddaughter had a cup of cookies & cream flavor, although I think my vanilla was scooped out first. Also, I am not typically that reactive to cc type things. I'm also doubting the gluten as a culprit because I have had no intestinal or D issues with this, just the terrible unrelenting pain for so many hours.

I guess the gall bladder is a definite possibiility, but then again, I've had rather a lot of icre cream and fudge in the last 2 to 3 weeks, and no reaction at all of this nature. So why this time? One small blob of ice cream, not all that much hot fudge, not that much cream. However, I looked up gall bladder reactions and there is some similarity...and an attack can be caused by chocolate, also dairy. I tend to be a rather low fat eater...always have been because years ago I realized I didn't do well with rich, fatty foods.

These pains are not always triggered by fatty things. Once I remember getting it after eating spaghetti with meat sauce, all home made. I figured it was the tomatoes, and also the gluten pasta (as the last time it happened was after eating it with wheat pasta). I had spaghetti (same sauce recipe) with rice pasta just a few days ago, no problelm at all.

I've had this problem after eating a lot...and I think I did read that overeating can also cause it. So having a somewhat large omlet, followed by the ice cream, might have been just too much in a short period of time. I don't know....

[Lisa]

Hopefully, you will be feeling better soon.

[CarlaB]

I ask them to rinse the scoop in fresh water rather than the running water most restaurants have that has the residue from the previous scoops ... some of which are onto cones, which may get crumbs in it.

Where did you have the omelet? I know IHOP puts pancake batter in theirs.

[johnsoniu]

I ask them to rinse the scoop in fresh water rather than the running water most restaurants have that has the residue from the previous scoops ... some of which are onto cones, which may get crumbs in it.

Where did you have the omelet? I know IHOP puts pancake batter in theirs.

I was going to suggest the omelet also for the source. If it was pancake batter, it wouldn't be a CC issue, you'd have full blown glutening. Lots of restaraunts use pancake batter to fluff 'em up. Even if you've eaten there before and had no problems, they may have changed their recipe. A phone call couldn't hurt to check. Hope you get it figured out and feel better soon.

[Guhlia]

I'm not dismissing that it may be a glutening or gall bladder issues, but perhaps it's just heartburn... Heartburn can be really painful, especially if you're laying down or reclining. Did you try getting out of bed? Did it get better when you did? Heartburn, for me, is caused very randomly and yes, I can get heartburn from ice cream AND vitamins. I can also get heartburn as my only glutening symptom if it's just caused by CC. Sometimes I get heartburn that makes me want to throw up (I can't throw up though, never have been able to unless I have food poisoning). Actually, vitamins often give me heartburn if I've also had dairy recently. Perhaps this is your answer. I hope you're feeling better soon.

[CMCM]

Hmmm, very interesting note here. I had heard about IHOP putting pancake batter in their omlets...I didn't ask at this place because I've had this particular omlet at least 4 times with no problem. But it was big and fluffy (my omlets at home never look this great). I should ask them.

And interesting that you can get heartburn from ice cream and vitamins. What's frustrating about the ice cream is that if it IS ice cream, it's sporadic. As I said, I've had it quite a few times the last month or so, with never any problems at all. I've had a sense that vitamins are problematic. I try to never take them on an empty stomach. And I know my son threw up once from doing that.

Does your heartburn last 8 or 9 hours? And sometimes come back easily the next day?

I'm not dismissing that it may be a glutening or gall bladder issues, but perhaps it's just heartburn... Heartburn can be really painful, especially if you're laying down or reclining. Did you try getting out of bed? Did it get better when you did? Heartburn, for me, is caused very randomly and yes, I can get heartburn from ice cream AND vitamins. I can also get heartburn as my only glutening symptom if it's just caused by CC. Sometimes I get heartburn that makes me want to throw up (I can't throw up though, never have been able to unless I have food poisoning). Actually, vitamins often give me heartburn if I've also had dairy recently. Perhaps this is your answer. I hope you're feeling better soon.

[Jo.R]

When I had my gall bladder problem it was hit and miss. I would eat something and nothing would happen, I'd eat it the next time and be sick. Although it did end up progressing until I was only eating plain rice.

[CarlaB]

Hmmm, very interesting note here. I had heard about IHOP putting pancake batter in their omlets...I didn't ask at this place because I've had this particular omlet at least 4 times with no problem. But it was big and fluffy (my omlets at home never look this great). I should ask them.

To be totally honest, I NEVER eat breakfast out, unless I'm travelling. Even then, we try to stay at a hotel that makes omlets so that I can watch them make mine. I think contamination is a huge issue at breakfast places -- there's lots of toast, they also make pancakes (did they flip my eggs with the same spatula?), and they're typically very busy.

You may not have gotten sick before because you were off gluten for a short time, but now that it's been longer, you are becoming more sensitive. I don't think you really become more sensitive, I just think that after you feel better for a while you notice it more.

Like you said, it could have just been overeating ... we sometimes forget that non-gluten intolerants get belly aches, too!!

[NoGluGirl]

Hmmm, very interesting note here. I had heard about IHOP putting pancake batter in their omlets...I didn't ask at this place because I've had this particular omlet at least 4 times with no problem. But it was big and fluffy (my omlets at home never look this great). I should ask them.

And interesting that you can get heartburn from ice cream and vitamins. What's frustrating about the ice cream is that if it IS ice cream, it's sporadic. As I said, I've had it quite a few times the last month or so, with never any problems at all. I've had a sense that vitamins are problematic. I try to never take them on an empty stomach. And I know my son threw up once from doing that.

Does your heartburn last 8 or 9 hours? And sometimes come back easily the next day?

Dear CMCM,

I also had my gallbladder out. As Jo R. and Artgirl said, it really is hit and miss. In 2003, my doctor told me since nothing showed up in those tests that I was fine. I knew better. I told him, I did some research and discovered those tests for diagnosing gallbladder disease were only about 33 percent accurate at best! He said "Well, that is true." You should have seen his face when I started spouting terms like ampulla of Vater and Sphincter of Oddi!

Well, the idiot doctor I had before him missed a gallstone, which I was never told I had until the tech running another test on me years later told me about it! I was furious! That moron told me I was crazy, doped me up on anti-depressant, made me go to counseling and all that crap. I knew I was sick! You know I have had to diagnose myself like three times now? What are these people getting paid for? I should be charging rent by now considering I probably own that building they are in!

Anyway, I drove the doctor I was with at the time crazy until he finally let me see a surgeon. He was very thorough, and on July 28, 2003, my gallbladder was removed. I went home the same day. At my ten day post-op check-up, I found out my gallbladder was very inflamed and irritated, and was about to rupture! The moral of the story is: listen to your body, not everyone else! Go with your instincts. They do not steer you wrong!

Gallbladder surgery did not solve much of the problem, but before it was taken out, I used to get a sharp pain below my rib cage on the right-side of my upper abdomen. It usually occurs many hours after eating. Normally, high fat foods irritate it, but after a while, it got to the point I could not even tolerate baby food without getting horrible reflux. That was also prior to finding out I was gluten intolerant. This is usually worse in the late evening and early morning hours, but I had trouble all day off and on. There were times where I would feel alright for a week or two, then it would come one suddenly. Often, I would get diarrhea, and it did not matter what I ate. My stomach would cramp to the point it felt like someone had stuck a double-edged sword into my lower abdomen. I would shreik in pain at times. Considering I made it through my surgery without any pain pills, this should give you an idea of how bad the pain was. The nausea, dry heaves, and pain hit without warning frequently, and it was miserable.

Gallbladder disease also tends to mimic lactose intolerance. We knew someone whose 12 year old son even stopped growing and was having stomach trouble. Dad asked him some questions, and told the guy about what happened to me. They had his son tested with a HIDA scan, and in the midst of the test he started screaming in pain. It turns out, his gallbladder could fill with bile, but not empty, which indicated a blockage in the common bile duct. He loved ice cream, but had gotten to the point he could not eat it anymore without becoming ill. Well, he got his gallbladder removed, and after that, not only did he feel better completely, but began growing again and was able to have ice cream like he used to!

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl