Should I Take This As Proof I'm Gluten Intolerant?

[diapason05]

I'm a 22/f.

Alright.. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis... I had Hodgkin's disease (lymphoma) when I was 15. My appendix burst when I was 6 and I had terrible allergies (sneezing kind) til I was about 12 when they started to die down and I sneezed less. but still constant stuffiness.

Once I was dxd with Hashimoto's (Nov 2006), I started thyroid meds. I still felt fatigue and foggy brain a lot (constipated!).. so after doing some research about auto-immune disease, I decided maybe gluten was an issue.

tested positive on skin allergy test for wheat and soy.. also all kinds of wild grasses, mold and dust mites, so doc said the wheat wasnt a "real" reading cuz of the other grass.

5/13/07- started gluten-free diet. I messed up maybe 3 times ever... until last week. I thought I felt a little better.. but the fatigue was still bad and my doc has just upped my dosage of thyroid,.

So I've been gluten-free for 2.5 months and now I'm not.

I started by eating some cheez-itz.. Nothing too bad seemed to happen, so I was like.. hmm maybe I was wrong.

Then a day or two later I had a plate of pasta. Nothing too bad... This wheat stuff tasted like SAWDUST though to me now.

I started getting low-grade nausea (I've had it for over a week now.)

I also noticed I had more.. mucous? probs and was sneezing out of nowhere randomly.

No D or anything.. a little C.

I was eating a bowl of lucky charms a day...

I started thinking I might be pregnant or something bc of the nausea!

I'm not pregnant, though.

Last night we ordered pizza.

I ate maybe 2 or 3 pieces and some breadsticks. Felt pretty nauseaus, as usual.

Woke up this morn with the worst nausea yet - thought I was going to Vomit... and took another pregnancy test,,, Still not pregnant.

Silly me, ate 3 pieces of leftover pizza for breakfast this morning. I immediately started getting a mild pain in my head(didnt develop into a full-on migraine or anything) ..and then took a nice BM and I went back to sleep.

Woke up feeling like I needed water so so bad. my throat feels like cotton. I have a SORE under my tongue. like a cankersore or something. just appeared... and the roof of my mouth is itchy and feels hot and swollen! The back of my throat feels funny.. kind of like when the beginning of a cold starts and you sneeze a lot, first you know? thats how my head feels right now, but I'm not sneezing or sniffling.

I'm not as nauseaus as before though, but stil nauseaus.

OH! And this morning, another thing. I don't have muscle ACHING.. but in various parts of my body (my arms it seems) my bones/muscles feel .. weak. I don't know how else to describe it. Kind of like when you have the flu and your limbs feel.. umm.. bone-weary or something.

If this is wheat, I don't WANT to continue this just to get a blood test.

If I'm not pregnant, though,,, It seems this is the obvious reason for my nausea as it's origination seems to be around when I started eating it again!

Ectopic pregnancy that the home birth control is not picking up? That's my other far-fetched idea. I'm on BC pills and I have never missed one.. though I have been late (no later than 3 hours tho!) on maybe 4 of them this month. I am on monophasic pills and don't let myself get a period on them...

I'm sure you are all just like. DUH! stop eating it!

I just would like some opinions of people. Sometimes I don't feel validated in being so picky and gluten-free.. I feel like I'm being a hypochondriac instead. I just don't think I could cause this kind of nausea or this sore on my tongue.

[Jestgar]

What you describe is EXACTLY what happens to me when I eat gluten. My throat also had that tickle until the entire back of my throat swelled up and I could hardly breathe. My guess is if you eat enough gluten you will start vomiting, and when I did my whole face swelled up and I looked like a cabbage patch kid.

And what kind of doctor would just assume that you could be allergic to some grasses and not others even though all of them were positive.

[ElenaDragon]

I am new to the gluten free thing, but twice now I have had what I previously thought were allergies, and both times it happened the day after my symptoms flared up (I thought I had been glutened). I get all stuffy and sneezy all of a sudden, and it can last for a few hours. The funny part was that the first day was the gas and bloating. The second day was a little more gas and bloating and the sneezing/sniffling. I guess I will have to wait and see if that is a pattern or coincidence.

[diapason05]

What you describe is EXACTLY what happens to me when I eat gluten. My throat also had that tickle until the entire back of my throat swelled up and I could hardly breathe. My guess is if you eat enough gluten you will start vomiting, and when I did my whole face swelled up and I looked like a cabbage patch kid.

And what kind of doctor would just assume that you could be allergic to some grasses and not others even though all of them were positive.

You sound like you have a pretty bad allergic reaction to it?

My reaction does seem more allergic than intolerant to me... I mean... bc I am not having the celiac symptom of D...

But even if it IS an allergy, it doesn't seem to be a life-threatening one. I ate wheat my entire life and had chronic sinus issues my whole life.. (mostly a constant post nasal drip. gross, I know)..

It's not very pleasant.

I may continue to eat wheat and my body might adapt again and go back to having some low-grade chronic thing instead of this reaction.

But. I don't know if this means anything. I read white spots and brittle nails could be a nutritional deficiency. I always had that. Once I went gluten-free, I grew a whole new set of nails with NONE of that. I duno if we have a coincidence or what.

[Jestgar]

but still constant stuffiness.

I still felt fatigue and foggy brain a lot (constipated!).. so after doing some research about auto-immune disease, I decided maybe gluten was an issue.

5/13/07- started gluten-free diet. I messed up maybe 3 times ever... until last week. I thought I felt a little better.. but the fatigue was still bad and my doc has just upped my dosage of thyroid,.

I started getting low-grade nausea (I've had it for over a week now.)

I also noticed I had more.. mucous? probs and was sneezing out of nowhere randomly.

No D or anything.. a little C.

Felt pretty nauseaus, as usual.

Woke up this morn with the worst nausea yet - thought I was going to Vomit... a

I immediately started getting a mild pain in my head(didnt develop into a full-on migraine or anything) ..and then took a nice BM and I went back to sleep.

Woke up feeling like I needed water so so bad. my throat feels like cotton. I have a SORE under my tongue. like a cankersore or something. just appeared... and the roof of my mouth is itchy and feels hot and swollen! The back of my throat feels funny.. kind of like when the beginning of a cold starts and you sneeze a lot, first you know? thats how my head feels right now, but I'm not sneezing or sniffling.

I'm not as nauseaus as before though, but stil nauseaus.

OH! And this morning, another thing. I don't have muscle ACHING.. but in various parts of my body (my arms it seems) my bones/muscles feel .. weak. I don't know how else to describe it. Kind of like when you have the flu and your limbs feel.. umm.. bone-weary or something.

These are not symptoms of allergy. Constant congestion can indicate whole body inflammation, not just nasal inflammation.

The bottom line is: It's your body, it's your choice. But keep in mind that if you decide you can keep eating gluten and never test to see if you are intolerant, you could end up damaging your nerves, your kidneys, your pancreas, your joints...

If you really want to eat wheat, go to the trouble of getting the full battery of Celiac tests to make sure that (at least right now) you aren't having a damaging reaction to gluten.

[jerseyangel]

Yea--I agree with Jestgar.

I have grass allergies and Celiac both. The symptoms you describe sound very familiar to me. For the allergies, I take an antihistimine and use steroid spray daily.

I'm on a strict gluten-free diet, of course, for the Celiac. If you do have Celiac, continuing to eat wheat will lead to complications up the road--lymphoma included.

Here is the Celiac Blood Panel--while you're consuming wheat is the perfect time to have this done. If you decide to be tested, don't try gluten free/lite until after.

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

Total Serum IgA

[diapason05]

Yea--I agree with Jestgar.

I have grass allergies and Celiac both. The symptoms you describe sound very familiar to me. For the allergies, I take an antihistimine and use steroid spray daily.

I'm on a strict gluten-free diet, of course, for the Celiac. If you do have Celiac, continuing to eat wheat will lead to complications up the road--lymphoma included.

Here is the Celiac Blood Panel--while you're consuming wheat is the perfect time to have this done. If you decide to be tested, don't try gluten free/lite until after.

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

Total Serum IgA

I'm going back to gluten-free tomorrow!!

I read you need to be eatinga bunch of gluten for like 2 weeks to 2 months to get an accurate blood test. Clearly, I'm allergic. I don't understand why I crave the gluten sometimes even though it makes me feel so bad.. hmm

[darkangel]

I don't understand why I crave the gluten sometimes even though it makes me feel so bad.. hmm

Intense food cravings are a very common sign of food allergies and/or sensitivities. It's like an addiction. Dairy can also cause the nasal stuffiness and extra mucous. Folks who have problems with gluten often have problems with lactose, too. With the pizza, you're getting a double whammy.

Sometimes I don't feel validated in being so picky and gluten-free.. I feel like I'm being a hypochondriac instead. I just don't think I could cause this kind of nausea or this sore on my tongue.

Try reading back over your original post with an open mind, as if someone else posted it. Your body is desperately trying to tell you something's very wrong. It's up to you to decide if you're going to listen and do something about it or continue to suffer.