Nausea

[kateb]

Hi, my name is Katie. I was diagnosed about 3mothes ago, so I'm having a really hard time with this. Most of my symptoms like hair loss, joint pain, exhaustion have gone away. However, when ever I slip up or eat something I don't know contains gluten I'm bed sick for about a week. Not only sleeping sometimes for 18 hours but vomiting to the point were I can't keep down any water. This reaction is very severe just to something as small as a medication I took not knowing that it contained an ingredient. Does anyone else display any of these same symptoms?If so, does anyone know how to curve the feeling. I really need some advice because I'm in college and it is causing me to miss class and really effecting all areas of my life. Also, I think I've eliminated gluten completely but I've been getting sick this past month. Does anyone know were to look for toothpaste or anything else that might be effecting me?

Looking forward to your help!

Katie

[RiceGuy]

Sorry to hear that you're having such troubles. I guess my first thought is to not get any exposure to gluten. I know it must be hard to accomplish while in college, but that's really the only way I'm aware of. If you eat food prepared by others, my advice would be - don't! Make all your own meals, and you may also have to avoid eating near others who happen to be eating gluten containing foods. the problem of CC (cross-contamination, AKA second-hand gluten) seems like it fits your situation. I'd also avoid sharing things like snacks, as anyone else dipping their hands into a bag of chips, etc could easily contaminate the contents.

For toothpaste, I just make my own, using baking soda and water. I suppose you could also flavor it with mint and sweeten it with Stevia if you wanted. Do check your skin and hair care products too, as those items often contain gluten.

I hope you begin feeling better soon.

Welcome to the board!

[ravenwoodglass]

Do you live in a dorm? Do you have an 'offical' doctor derived diagnosis? The reason why I ask is because if the answer to both is yes and you have paid to eat at your cafeteria you need to let the powers that be at your school know. My DD was about to go into college when she was diagnosed. Her college put her in senior housing her freshman year (her school required her to live on campus her freshman year) and refunded our meal plan money so that she had her own kitchen facilities and no risk of CC from roommates.

One good safe toothpaste is Tom's of Maine, they clearly label all ingredients in English and what they are derived from. I wish our foods were labeled as well. I use the Cinnamint with Myrrh.

Do check your shampoos and lotions and other products as mentioned and spend as much time as you can reading here. Many products that look gluten free by label are not. As you have learned from your med even those need to be checked before you take them. There are no labeling requirments for drugs or supplements so you have to be really careful.

Welcome and I hope you get some relief soon, have you tried pepto bismal for the nausea? Name brand of course, it may help with the nausea and stomach pain. Read, read, read here and post any query you need to.

[confusedks]

I agree that you should check out all areas for CC and hidden gluten, but you may want something to help with the nausea. I have tried everything on the planet for nausea and Zofran tends to work best. My Dr just gave me an rx for dissolvable ones, so when you're at the "can't keep anything down" stage...they're great! You just put it on your tongue and it works fairly quickly. I hope you figure this out soon.