That Zombie Feeling

[YankeeDB]

OK, out to eat with friends on Saturday night. I do my usual routine with my dining card at a restaurant where I've done this before. I was assured my shrimp scampi had no wheat. I ate one delicious morsel and notice crusty bits floating about in the yummy garlic butter sauce so I question the waitress who checks and comes back to say "Oh no, honey, there's no wheat, it's just FLOUR." Eek! I do something I've never done in my life and sent it back for a different dish (prime rib).

This is my first clear-cut , know-what-did-it gluten exposure since diagnosis. I thought it would be a good test, if nothing else, to see when the reaction occurred and what it was. I've had definite reactions in the past (cramps, steatorrhea, fatigue) but couldn't absolutely pinpoint the problem food.

Fortunately, this time I did not get severe cramps. The day after I felt fine (!) but then Monday, Tuesday, and today, I'm a ZOMBIE (tired, tired, tired). Interesting how the fatigue did not hit me immediately.

Before I was diagnosed, I experimented with various energy supplements and one that helped me was ATP sublingual. I used that yesterday to good effect and will try some after lunch today. (Naturally, one should always check with medical professionals before using any supplements like this.) Too much or too frequent use gave me the jitters and insomnia so judicious use is best.

BTW, I'm thinking about writing "no flour" on my dining card although one would hope any chef in a sit-down, white table cloth restaurant would know flour has wheat!

[gf4life]

What is ATP sublingual?

Mariann

[YankeeDB]

Adenosine Triphosphate. It's an over-the-counter supplement I bought at bayho.com. It can be swallowed or left to dissolve under the tongue (sublingual) which I think allows better absorption.

[travelthomas]

Talking about the tired feeling, I had the same thing after eating some fresh chicken I bought at the H.E.B. here in Texas. Because the package said %100 chicken I thought I was safe. I did notice later that the chicken was actually frozen when it was put on the shelf.

What I wonder about is can wheat fed chicken be unsafe? I switched back to saltless wild canned salmon and the problem of tiredness went away. I read that the gluten protiens can get into mother's milk.

I'm going to watch carefully what my reaction to the chicken is down in Mexico. I have a feeling they don't feed their chicken wheat down there.

Thomas

[lovegrov]

Wheat-fed animals are not a problem. The gluten does not become a part of the meat. This has been addressed by numerous scientists (including some veterinary reseachers here at the university where I work). If it did somehow become a part of the meat, all of us celiacs would be getting ill from meat all the time.

richard

[debimashni]

I have both celiac disease and behcet's disease, which is a rare autoimmune vascular disease that causes extreme fatigue, along with some other nasty problems. I guess I have a double whammy of that zombie feeling. Anyways, I wanted to mention that my rheumatologist who treats the behcets prescibed Ritalin LA for me for on the days that I have a hard time getting out of bed. It does help me some, at least I have a little more energy. I know that some people might think that taking Ritalin for fatigue related to disease is foolish, but there are many patients with MS and other such diseases that are using it to decrease fatigue and improve their quality of life. There is also another medication, called Provigil(that was originally developed for narcolepsy), that is supposed to have less potential for addiction. Hopefully, most people on here are able to control their fatigue by remaining on a gluten-free diet, but I just wanted to mention it in case there is anyone else that has other autoimmune conditions and experiences extreme fatigue.

My craziest restaurant gluten story is when I told the waiter I couldn't any of the bread they brought to the table because it had wheat in it, so they brought me some white bread!

[travelthomas]

More than likely the chicken I ate was treated with wheat based chicken broth to keep it moist. I did notice that it really did stay moist when I cooked it. It could also be from all the chemicals they feed to the chicken.

[Guest Libbyk]

hey thomas- nice to see a post from you again. you post caught my eye, because my (poor, trying SO hard) mom poisoned me with something the other night. We cooked together, and everything seemed fine, unitl suddenly it wasn;t. I had an uh-oh feeling about the lamb my mom made, (from new zealand?) but we couldn;t pin it down. It tasted delisicous, but my intuition told me to stop after only one peice.

I have NO IDEA how her lamb could have made me sick, but maybe there is some processing contamination possiblity. Who knows when meat is flying all over the world, repackaged, handled some more... unsolved mysteries...

Lib

PS- how is mexico going for you? you are in a trailer this time? doing all your own cooking? how is grocery shopping?

[travelthomas]

Hi Libby,

I'm about to head south soon. With daylight savings time about to change, and all the birds flying south I think it is time to go. I do have a little trailer that I will take down with me. It has a 2 burner stove, sink, counter, and convertable sofa. Not much but better than cooking off the tailgait of my truck.

The shopping down there is not that good compared to the U.S., but it is easy to get by. There is one state crossing where they take away all chicken, beef and pork, so I don't buy any meat before crossing into Campeche.

It is a beautiful drive down into the tropics and I enjoy it every year.