Hit Hard... Not

[Woolygimp]

Edit: Clicked finish post before going back and deciding on a thread title, so that's why it's so ambiguous.

Been gluten free for a little under three months, and about four days ago I got hit with some nasty symptoms. Nasty symptoms included 'intense' fatigue, and weakness. Was sleeping for 14 hours a day, my muscles and bones ached, felt dizziness, had a hard time concentrating. Even my chest hurt, and even though I wouldn't call the pain all that painful even feeling my chest in the way I did was just weird and definitely not normal.

It was a lot like having a bad viral infection (i.e. strep) without the sore throat, congestion, or curricular symptoms that usually accompany the illnesses. Mainly just fatigue and everything hurting, a lot like having scuba weight belts strapped to my ankles. I'm 20 years old, and fairly athletic so feeling like this is not the norm, I assure you.

I'd also like to add that sudden outbreak of what looked like chest acne that was painful to touch, and a gain of around 8lb's accompanied these symptoms almost overnight.

I can't recall eating anything that had gluten, and only a few things normally not on my diet were eaten. These included some French Onion dip from Kraft, and even though I couldn't find any specific listing for the product saying it was gluten-free, people have said Kraft lists all their allergens and none were listed on the box. I ate a lot of Cottage Cheese, and I normally don't eat all that much dairy as I notice a general malaise after ingesting it. Everything else was normal, and all-in-all, I'm not positive that gluten had anything to do with it.

The Cottage Cheese was definitely gluten-free, and I'm just not convinced the Kraft dip was the culprit.

Kraft Dips: French Onion

Ingredients

"Water, Partially Hydrogenated Coconut And Soybean Oil, Corn Syrup, Whey Protein Concentrate (From Milk), Onions, Contains Less Than 2% Of Salt, Defatted Soy Flour, Food Starch-Modified, Sodium Caseinate, Vinegar, Lactic Acid, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Carob Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum, Mono- And Diglycerides, With Sodium Benzoate And Potassium Sorbate As Preservatives, Sodium Phosphate, Spice, Garlic, Natural Flavor, Artificial Flavor, Artificial Color."

Anyone else ever have a reaction like this?

[CMCM]

Two things stand out for me. First, is the ingredient "vinegar". My mom, who was diagnosed celiac 40 years ago, says she never eats anything with vinegar unless the exact source of the vinegar is lableled, such as "apple cider vinegar." So if you just see "vinegar", the source material is hidden. I myself got very sick the other night on a tuna salad I made with a mayonnaise that had as an ingredient "white vinegar." Too vague, I guess.

Second, there's a lot of "stuff" in the dip. I've found that foods with multiple ingredients often upset me. And for some people, soy causes problems, and you could also be sensitive to soy.

I've found I do best with very simple foods, and foods with just a few ingredients. Sad, but true.

The Cottage Cheese was definitely gluten-free, and I'm just not convinced the Kraft dip was the culprit.

Kraft Dips: French Onion

Ingredients

"Water, Partially Hydrogenated Coconut And Soybean Oil, Corn Syrup, Whey Protein Concentrate (From Milk), Onions, Contains Less Than 2% Of Salt, Defatted Soy Flour, Food Starch-Modified, Sodium Caseinate, Vinegar, Lactic Acid, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Carob Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum, Mono- And Diglycerides, With Sodium Benzoate And Potassium Sorbate As Preservatives, Sodium Phosphate, Spice, Garlic, Natural Flavor, Artificial Flavor, Artificial Color."

Anyone else ever have a reaction like this?

[Woolygimp]

Well I've been gluten-free for several months, so I'm sure this hasn't been the first time to accidentally ingest something. I've also had cottage cheese before, but this reaction was very bad. I would sleep for 10 hours, wake up for 3 hours, then go back to sleep for another 8 or so. That's how fatigued I was.

[Lisa]

I have been gluten free for almost two years and I am just now discovering that I react to dairy. Our bodies just do strange things sometime. I was fine with dairy until now. I think that my body just wants something to complain about.

Try to be as dairy light as possible and see if you feel better. Or, you can elliminate it all together and then do a challenge and you'll have you answer.

[elenarose]

...

[happygirl]

"Two things stand out for me. First, is the ingredient "vinegar". My mom, who was diagnosed celiac 40 years ago, says she never eats anything with vinegar unless the exact source of the vinegar is lableled, such as "apple cider vinegar." So if you just see "vinegar", the source material is hidden. I myself got very sick the other night on a tuna salad I made with a mayonnaise that had as an ingredient "white vinegar." Too vague, I guess."

This is incorrect information. Food labeling laws help us here. The FDA says that if it only says "vinegar" then it IS apple cider vinegar. It is NOT hidden.

[Joanne11]

I have spoken multiple times to a dietitian I used to work with who specializes in celiac in regards to vineger. As of now she and the group of doctors she works for say that it is OK to have vineger even if it is made from grains because it is distilled and the protein particles do not make it through the distilation process, the same happens when making alcohol like vodka and rum. The exception is Malt vineger because they do add malt flavoring after the distilation process so it will contain gluten.

But I know that everyone reacts differently to everything, just thought I would share the information