Can It Happen This Fast

[jrose]

I have been gluten and dairy free for 2 and a half days now. That awfull gas is nearly gone, my high blood pressure is going down.I even lost 5 pounds. I am very hopefull.

This morning my wife was making a pound cake because she is having her friends stop in tonight. I did not touch anything involved with the cake, but the smell of it baking was driving me nuts so I had to get out of the house. She sent me to the supermarket for some coolwhip. It was located on the same asile as the stiore bakery and the breads. I didnt walk any closer than 30 feet from the bakery area.

15 minutes later after I came home, I began having Diarrhea. Now as far as celiac symptoms go diarrhea is not one of my top symptoms. Would anyone know or guess if this happened because of the baking in the house,

the trip to the market, or something that happens when you start the diet?

Thanks

Jim

[Lisa]

I think that it's not the baking, nor the bread aisle, but the short time that you have been gluten free. Your body does go through and adjustment period.

You have been on the diet a VERY short period of time. The learning curve is steep with regards to knowing what is safe and what is not. Don't forget to check your toiletries, lip balm, meds, vitamins....shared toasters, wooden spoons and cutting boards or scratched pots and pans can all hide gluten.

(Not knowing your history) Allow your body time to heal and to ride itself from gluten.

[RiceGuy]

I have heard of reactions from the aroma of wheat products, and I've also heard of such severe intolerance, so as to cause the person to lose muscle function and literally drop to the floor, just from getting within 20 feet of the offending substance, even though it was in a sealed bottle.

However, I agree that this seems unlikely, and considering your short period of time gluten-free, I'd think it caused by something else, or simply one of the changes accompanying your recovery. If you happen to come into contact with gluten someplace, like even a bit of flour residue in the kitchen, that might be a more likely cause.

[AliB]

Yes, I found that my severe stomach pain and the diarrhea settled down within a few hours and within a weeks most of the bloating and discomfort had gone, but it still took several weeks for my digestion to properly settle down.

I had dropped dairy at the same time as the gluten as my digestion had all but collapsed and even though I was only eating quite basic foods it still took a while to adjust.

It has obviously taken a while to get bad so it won't heal overnight. Just be patient and give it a few weeks and hopefully it will settle down.

Just be mindful though that those who are Celiac/gluten intolerant often also have issues with dairy as the enzymes needed to digest it are lacking either due to the gut damage or genetically.

You may still have gluten creeping in here and there - it has taken me 4 months to properly figure it all out - you wouldn't believe the ways the stuff can get through! I thought oats were safe and was eating them for weeks and getting odd reactions I put down to gut damage then when I had a particularly violent one I twigged that the oats were highly likely to be contaminated! Doh! That's so annoying as oats would be very useful if not for that risk!

If you are still not improving after a few weeks try dropping dairy and see if it makes any difference.

[Ursa Major]

It could be that now your body realizes that dairy is a problem, which can definitely cause diarrhea. I would advise you to eliminate it for the time being. The same goes for soy.

It could also be the baking going on in your house. It would be advisable if your wife would stop baking with wheat flour in the house, as flour particles will be in the air and all over the kitchen, glutening you. I've banned all gluten containing flours from my house.

I baked a cake for my husband for Valentine's Day three months after going gluten-free (I've been gluten-free since October of 2005), and was sick with stomach cramps and severe diarrhea for three days afterwards! And obviously I didn't eat any of the cake.

And yes, you could be that much better so fast after going gluten-free. I had severe, chronic watery diarrhea, a very inflamed stomach with dreadful stomach and bowel cramps and awful weakness for six months prior to trying the gluten-free diet. I also had a terrible backache that was getting worse every day.

The day after I stopped eating gluten, the diarrhea stopped (it hadn't stopped for even a single day from May to October), and the day after that the backache started getting better. Within two weeks I was off the codeine I had been taking 24/7 for five years for intolerable fibromyalgia pain.

I had known for nearly thirty years that I didn't do well with dairy and didn't have any, anyway.

For six months after going gluten-free I was unable to tolerate any raw food at all. That goes even for vegetables and fruit. Eating a raw apple or carrot stick would give me instant stomach cramps and diarrhea. My stomach and intestines were too damaged to handle raw food, which is harder to digest.

So, the problem could be that you were glutened (a very likely possibility), that you are still consuming dairy and/or soy, that you can't tolerate raw food right now, or a combination.