Amazing How Fast And Severe My Daughter Reacted To Gluten Today.

[TammyK]

I've been working on cleaning her diet up for weeks now but all it took was for one little friend to offer her a nible of her cookie. (We are working long hours at the county fair and are surrounded with gluten. Heck, we are surrounded by gluten anywhere but home). She admits now that it was totally not worth it. One hour later after the cookie, she started to tremble, body was so weak she thought she was to faint or collaspe, became extremely dizzy, whole body tingling, her head weird, blurry vision, weird facial sensations, couldn't respond to my questions .... My daughter first sat down on a cooler to protect herself from falling and then decide to lay down onto a filthy, cold cement floor until it passed. This lasted atleast 5-7 minutes, probably more. For the remainder of the day her head has been "recovering". (But no headaches). This episode was very scary and caused us both to cry later once home. She kept saying over and over, "I hate seizures. They are horrible."

One little bite!

I'm thinking that her little friend won't be able to entice her again. Should I mention it to the girl's mother? (Maybe my daughter will be strong enough to resist now). My daughter doesn't want her to get in trouble knowing their will be heck to pay. Afterall, my daughter agreed. What are your thoughts?

TammyK.

[Beth in NC]

How old is your daughter? Did the friend know she wasn't supposed to have it?

[ravenwoodglass]

I would not mention it to the friend or her parents unless it happens on a regular basis. Your DD learned a hard lesson with that one little bite. It was an important one so don't be too hard on her. The one who ultimately is going to have to keep her safe is her. This one incident and her reaction is going to go a long way to helping her resist other offers. While we hate to see our children suffer we can't be with them all the time and the strength of her reaction is going to help to keep her safe in the long run.

[ShayFL]

I agree. I wouldnt mention it to the friend. It might make the friend disappear. Better for your daughter to learn to resist. Because throughout life there will be A LOT of temptation.

[TammyK]

How old is your daughter? Did the friend know she wasn't supposed to have it?

She is 11 yrs. old. This is the first time I have had her out in public without practically sitting on her since it started in May. Plus, it's been a long while since she has actually eaten pure gluten. We've had many reactions but it has been to hidden gluten.

I think this is great advice from you all. I thought for sure people would say to tattle. The mother would be mortified if she knew. This family has been particularly supportive regarding our circumstances having prayed for us every single day. The little friend absolutely did know. Good thing she got to see the whole thing having commented, "I didn't know just one little bite could do that." I did watch her sit in front of my Maddy and eat gluten all day long. That was hard for me.

Maddy said, "Mom, I fell temptation" in a very sobering manner and matter of factly. I'm hoping she won't forget too soon how awful she felt.

[kbtoyssni]

I'm guessing most non-gluten-free 11-year-olds don't realize the severity of the disease. After all, how many times have we heard from grown-up friends and family "one little bite won't hurt". And she might see your daughter eating (gluten-free) cookies and think that a bit of cookie is ok. Or she may have forgotten that cookies have gluten - it's easy to forget if you don't do this every day. I doubt her friend was purposely or maliciously trying to make her eat gluten, sounds like she was just trying to be nice and share her yummy treat. I'd let it slide. In the end, it's really up to your daughter to know her diet.

[ShayFL]

Kids do need to learn on their own. Here is a good example. For years I have drilled healthy eating into my daughter's head. And we dont eat junk around our house.

Her school has an annual dance every year. Well the one before last, Althea was sick when I picked her up. She said she had eaten cake and a bunch of soda. She wanted to puke. Well this last dance was very different. I didnt say a word to her....just "have fun". When I picked her up, she was beaming. She had had a great time! She said, "Mom I had sooooo much fun!! I didnt eat any of the junk and I only drank water".

They do learn......