Mystery Gluten!

[WhimsiKay]

Hi, everyone!

So, I'm sitting here dying -- chills, D, cotton-mouth, all of it -- and I've been at it since about 3am. The catch: I ate nothing bad. I touched, as far as I'm aware, nothing bad! The food was my own, prepared like usual with no gluten int he house to contaminate it and stored in ziplock bags that were fresh from the box. At first, I thought it might be my haircolor that I'd gotten on my hands, but by all accounts, Feria is gluten-free.

I seem to run on a system of about 5 hours, ish. 5 hours after I eat, I drop into full fledged glutening. (The minor symptoms like dry-mouth start earlier.) But I didn't eat anything at ten at night. I was at a friend's house, but I didn't touch anything except dishes and a tea kettle. Now, I may have picked up something from that, but it seems so unlikely because I've been there every Wednesday for two months and haven't had any issues.

That said, talking it out now, I suppose it's fair to say they could have splashed glutenous food on the kettle when they cooked -- you know, like splatters. But if it wasn't that... what on earth could it be?

Before anyone asks, my house has gone completely gluten-free: all detergents, soaps, hair- and body-care products, food, face-care, etc.

I'm miserable. I want to stop being sick now.

Have you ever suffered a "mystery glutening"?

[curlyfries]

You haven't been gluten-free very long....could be you have unmasked another food intolerance. Have you eliminated dairy? Many celiacs can't handle dairy until their villi heal. Others have to eliminate soy also. I have had to eliminate dairy and sugar.

[jerseyangel]

I would consider an additional food intolerance also. When you said that you had a dry mouth, it reminded me that this is the first symptom I had when I realized I was intolerant to tapioca.

Some common causes of food intolerance (in addition to gluten) are dairy, soy, and corn.

A simple food diary makes it simpler to figure out what may be at fault here.

[gabby]

Possible culprits that get me all the time at non-gluten-free houses:

-handles of all sorts: fridge door, microwave door, tea kettle handle, cupboard handle, cutlery drawer handle, bathroom door knob, etc

-tea towels

-placemats: they can hold lots of crumbs (even if they've been shaken out), and you could easily rest a wet spoon on the place mat and pick up a few

-plates that were not washed, but just brushed lightly with a tea towel because there was only a slice of bread on it (eek, happens a lot to me)

that's all I can think of for now.

I hope you are feeling better soon though

[WhimsiKay]

I hope you are feeling better soon though

I was! I mean, aside from feeling wrecked like you usually do afterward, anyway, I was, but now I'm suffering the same symptoms all over again. I'm so upset.

I ate out again, but this is a place that is usually very careful about my food. Is it possible I just got bad luck again?

The thing is, I've had cheese before (the only thing I had tonight, on crackers) and been just fine, but I had brie cheese tonight and I started the symptoms. That said, since I run a 5-hour cycle, as it were, I don't think the cheese would have done this.

Anyway, I'm ridiculously depressed over this and worried that since I don't have an official diagnosis -- from doctors, you know -- that there might be something else going on. I was completely fine for like a solid month, though! Why would it start all over again based on something I've been eating the whole time just fine?

Conversely... I understand that Minute Rice is NOT gluten free. If you use it to stuff a sock (for a heating pad), and then heat it up, and handle it, will the gluten get on your hands from that? I've been using that to soothe my tummy the past few days.

I get this sense that I'm dumb.

[mushroom]

Conversely... I understand that Minute Rice is NOT gluten free. If you use it to stuff a sock (for a heating pad), and then heat it up, and handle it, will the gluten get on your hands from that? I've been using that to soothe my tummy the past few days.

I get this sense that I'm dumb.

Sorry to hear about your double whammy! I don't have an official diagnosis either and have been glutened for the past week. When the symptoms lasted to long dh began asking me if it wasn't all in my head!! Darn, we get that enough from doctors. I assured him it wasn't. Finally feeling better today.

As far as the rice in the heating pad, I have a pad stuffed with wheat that I use for the same purpose and have not had any trouble with it. So I'm pretty sure it would not be that.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

[WhimsiKay]

Sorry to hear about your double whammy! I don't have an official diagnosis either and have been glutened for the past week. When the symptoms lasted to long dh began asking me if it wasn't all in my head!! Darn, we get that enough from doctors. I assured him it wasn't. Finally feeling better today.

As far as the rice in the heating pad, I have a pad stuffed with wheat that I use for the same purpose and have not had any trouble with it. So I'm pretty sure it would not be that.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Thanks very much. =)

Just out of curiosity, is it wheat or buckwheat? Buckwheat is gluten-free, so you'd be safe! Also, is the material porous and/or prone to getting moist when heated? I'm actually thinking that the "enriched" rice, when it's getting warm, is coating all over my hands through the very loose weave of the sock. Then I eat something or whatever.

So far, it seems to make the most sense. It's one of those cases where the Evil Rice Sock is supposed to be a help to a glutening, only to be causing a glutening, so I use it more to help!

And no, no, no, it is NOT in our heads. (Although I'm sure he's just trying to be helpful and fix the issue -- my husband hates the fact he can't make it all go away for me, which is funny because he is at least intolerant of gluten, too!)

Do you drape the heating pad on your abdomen when you're feeling glutenous? I do, and I find it's a great comfort. I'll even sleep with it! But be careful -- last night, about 3am, I was so miserable that I didn't pay attention that it was too hot. I burned the side of my hip!

[home-based-mom]

I understand that Minute Rice is NOT gluten free.

Where did you hear that? I eat it all the time!