Stomach/intestinal Flu And Celiac

[CindyK]

Have any of you had problems with the severity and duration of a stomach/intestinal virus seeming to be much worse and a longer duration then what other people seem to experience? About two weeks ago I caught a virus with typical symptoms; low fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and followed by diarrhea. The problems with diarrhea lasted about 5 days until I gave in and took imodium as we were leaving for my inlaws for Thanksgiving. I did fine over Thanksgiving and had no problem avioding gluten.

However, two nights ago when we came home I gave in to a craving and ate pizza with my husband. It was a very cheesy pizza with the regular wheat crust. About 3-4 hours later I was record sick. I have not been sick like this since I started to avoid gluten 5 months ago. And I have to admit I have done this pizza thing a few times. I did get a little trouble from it but nothing to this level.

So here I am Monday morning looking for some reassurance and support becuase I am still feeling bad. I had to call in sick to work this am becuase I could not get out of the bathroom.

I have always had problems with keeping the stomach/intestinal flu longer then I think I should. Is this common? Also, is it possible my reaction was so severe to the pizza because I had recently had the stomach/intestinal flu?

I have to admit I have been living with a certain level of denial about my diet. I have not been totally gluten free. I think I have been fooling myself. When I had the blood test my doctor told me I had a positive result but that it was a "weak psoitive". I had not been eating much of anything when I had the test because I was sick so often I simply avoided all food to try to get through the work day. Could this have affected my results? My MD told me I did not have to avoid gluten entirely but to avoid it for the most part. Could this have been wrong? She is a GP and I have not seen anyone else. I never had a colonoscopy and she did not even advise it.

Also, I feel terribly guilty about having to miss work today. Does anyone else ever feel this way? Sorry to be such a whiner. I just feel discouraged and I am confused about whether I have Celiac or just Gluten intolerence. Do you have to avoid all gluten either way?

I did schedule an appointment with a homeopathic MD my friend saw for chronic gastritis. I don't know if I should go ahead with this without knowing what my diagnosis is. I did find the thread celiac3270 posted on the subject helpful.

[lovegrov]

With celiac a weak positive is still a positive. It means you need to be completely gluten-free.

While it's certainly possible you're reacting more this time because of the recent virus, it also sounds like you were over it if you did fine during the holidays. The other possibility is that you're now getting more and more sensitive to gluten, which happens to some people when they go gluten-free. If this is the case, you will pay like this -- or even worse -- every time you eat gluten.

richard

[telcobud]

With celiac a weak positive is still a positive. It means you need to be completely gluten-free.

While it's certainly possible you're reacting more this time because of the recent virus, it also sounds like you were over it if you did fine during the holidays. The other possibility is that you're now getting more and more sensitive to gluten, which happens to some people when they go gluten-free. If this is the case, you will pay like this -- or even worse -- every time you eat gluten.

richard

I have had the same trouble, I have been on a gluten-free diet and diagnosed as well 3 years. Just last night we went out with some friends for mexican food at the same place we have eaten at before. Well I had a chicken enchilada with I thought was a cheese sauce. It turned out to be a white sauce which probably had flour in it. I stayed home from work today because I had to make several trips to the restroom and had crampa badly. NOw I'm doing ok!

Patrick