What Happens To You When You Get 'glutened'

[wilem008]

Hi Guys!

Im new to the gluten-free diet - Ive only been gluten-free for 4 days now.

The first few days I was feeling a little better, I didnt have any nausea or tummy aches after eating but

last night my mother-in-law-to-be made me a dessert which I though was gluten-free, after eating it, she tells me there is some wheat in it!!

Because im new to the diet I wasnt sure how eating the wheat would effect me but last night, I woke up at about 3am with terrible nausea and an upset stomach. Its now 11am and I still feel like I need to throw up! *sigh*

What happends to you when you get glutened?

How long do the symptoms last for?

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

Wilem

[mushroom]

Hi Guys!

Im new to the gluten-free diet - Ive only been gluten-free for 4 days now.

The first few days I was feeling a little better, I didnt have any nausea or tummy aches after eating but

last night my mother-in-law-to-be made me a dessert which I though was gluten-free, after eating it, she tells me there is some wheat in it!!

Because im new to the diet I wasnt sure how eating the wheat would effect me but last night, I woke up at about 3am with terrible nausea and an upset stomach. Its now 11am and I still feel like I need to throw up! *sigh*

What happends to you when you get glutened?

How long do the symptoms last for?

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

Wilem

Gassiness, bloating, nausea, fatigue--just feel crappy for 4-5 days.

Last accidental glutening at the beauty salon (well, they try) when I was offered a complimentary hand massage. I didn't wake up enough to check the ingredients of the lotion until she had done my right hand. Drat. The cost of being gluten-free is eternal vigilance!

[Ridgewalker]

Symptoms vary enormously between individuals. Symptoms can also change for for a person over the months and years. It's just about impossible to know what to expect until you've experienced it a couple times, and even then, again-- it can change.

My symptoms when I get glutened go like this (they come in dragged-out phases. ) : Severe, crushing heartburn is the first symptom. I ONLY get heartburn when glutened, so that's a dead giveaway for me. Fatigue usually starts quickly as well. Shortly thereafter, the abdominal pains join in. These can range from mild, to bent-over-double severe. Then the diarrhea.

If it was just a small glutening, I'll have these symptoms for a couple days, with the fatigue lasting up to a week. If it was a bad glutening, then I get violent nausea and vomiting for a day or two, and the fatigue is debilitating for at least a couple days.

It took several months on a gluten-free diet to work all this out.

[msmini14]

What kind of lotion do you use? What ingredients in lotion should I avoid? I have always used Aveeno

[mushroom]

What kind of lotion do you use? What ingredients in lotion should I avoid? I have always used Aveeno

Ouch! I threw out my Aveeno because of the oat extract. The lotion she used had oat extract in it, which is deadly for me. I use Dove and/or Neutrogena.

[Ridgewalker]

List of ingredients to watch out for in toiletries and cosmetics:

Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour

Colloidal Oatmeal

Cyclodextrin

Dextrin

Dextrin Palmitate

Hydrolyzed Malt Extract

Hydrolyzed Oat Flour

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein

Hydrolyzed Wheat Flour

Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten

Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein

Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein/PVP Crosspolymer

Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch

Malt Extract

Maltodextrin

Oat Extract

Secale Cereale (Rye) Seed Flour

Sodium C8-16 Isoalkylsuccinyl Wheat Protein Sulfonate

Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Extract

Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil

Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Gluten

Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Starch

Wheat Amino Acids

Wheat Germ Glycerides

Wheat Germamidopropalkonium Chloride

Wheat Protein

Wheatgermamidopropyl Ethyldimonium Ethosulfate

Yeast Extract

[AliB]

I have been gluten-free for 3 months. Saturday I got my first 'proper' glutening. I made some cookies with oats which I thought were safe, but whether it was the oats or whether they were contaminated I'm not sure, but after just half a cookie, within 2 hours my heart was almost busting out of my chest. I didn't sleep at all and at 4am I was emailing Terry Leahy at Tescos demanding more gluten-free foods (here in the UK the choice is crap!)!!

The next 2 days were spent in great discomfort whilst it worked its way through and the restless legs came back with a vengeance. Flip me, Tuesday it happened again! I ate some little nut and seed cookies that had oats in - I had noticed my stomach got a bit uncomfortable sometimes after I had eaten them but I thought it was because my stomach was still healing and perhaps the dried fruit or something was reacting. So yet another night with no sleep - this is getting to be a habit!!!

Again I had another all-out reaction. I think that my Immune system has just started to kick back in after being depressed for so long and that may be why I am getting a 'proper' reaction now.

It's made me realise that I have probably been getting glutened all through without knowing! I shot back to the doc yesterday to get retested and to have some extra ones done as I figured if my immune system is working better, it should be producing more antibodies.

It will be interesting to see what comes back and how different from the original 3 months ago. This time they have also taken for an EMA and an IGg too. I'm also waiting for a gene panel to be done - I'm determined to get this diagnosed one way or another!!!

[wilem008]

Hmm, I didnt think about that, I'll check to see what ingredients are in my lotions and body washes, I may have to switch.

Thanks! :-)

Im feeling much better today, Im a little fatigued and have a headache (thats normal for me) but my tummy feels heaps better!

I realise everyone is going to react differently, I guess I just have to wait and see how the diet goes for me...but if how I felt yesterday is how im going to feel everytime I get glutened, im NEVER eating gluten again! I felt terrible all day, on the verge of vomiting all day!

Anyway,

Thanks for responding guys.

[WhimsiKay]

I hope you're feeling better!

I'm by no means an expert on the subject -- Bully4You is my mentor of a sorts, really -- but I can tell you that I seem to be leaning towards the "extremely sensitive" side. I'm still figuring out my body's process, but it appears that "smaller" contaminations (i.e I get CC'd from lotion or kissing my husband after he's had a burger or something) take 4-6 hours to travel to my system and kick in. I haven't tried anything larger because, well, frankly, I enjoy my sanity and if I have to willfully gluten myself to figure it out, I'll do something drastic.

My immediate symptoms always include: diarrhea for at least 2-4 hours, stomach "discomfort", and full-blown nausea if I come into contact (sight or smell or thought) with food. The worst subsides after about 2 hours (I know this because I use the TV to while away the time), and then the full discomfort subsides after about 4, maybe 5 hours. My legs/feet also tend to get a life of their own, and a lot of the time, one foot kicks repeatedly or sort of "rolls", even when I doze. This, however, may be a lingering thing from childhood, when I would move something consistently when I wasn't feeling well because the pattern was soothing and took my mind off it.

Sometimes my stomach discomfort turns more into full-on cramping/roiling/gurgling, but that doesn't seem to be completely common.

Following symptoms seem to be down to a routine: I feel incredibly dehydrated, I can't stand the thought of food, my stomach will complain if I do eat (in a different, fretful way), my hip joints will hurt rather badly for a day, and I'll be exhausted. (So far, I'm not sure if exhaustion is because the previous is keeping me awake at night or if it's indicative of a glutening.)

Oddly enough, every so often my face will prickle before I actually suffer other symptoms -- this does, of course, put me in panic mode, which probably doesn't help.

So! I hope that helps, Wilem, and I really hope you're feeling better. I know exactly what you mean -- every time I'm hit (and it seems to happen a lot as I learn all this), my mental state just spirals. I'll swear upside and down, "Never again!", only to learn something new about some other product. ^^; The hard way!

Good luck to you, friend!