How Soon Do Symptoms Appear If Accidently Consumed Gluten?

[braleycakes]

My three year old daughter was diagnosed with celiacs in April so we're still learning. My question is, if she accidently gets gluten, how soon do symptoms appear? I wonder if when she complains of a belly ache does it mean 1) she got gluten somehow 2) she just has a tummy ache like a normal child or 3) wants attention!

Thanks for any insight!

[April in KC]

We have a whole family of Celiacs - DH (husband) and i both have it, and so do at least two of our three kids.

With my 7-year-old son, he seems to get a sensation of fulllness while he's eating that is a warning signal. Then he gets a stomach aches a few hours later or that night. "D" can follow any time in the next 48 hours. Prior to going gluten free and now when glutened, he also gets car sick more easily.

My husband will sometimes feel a brief warning cramp while eating, but that disappears and then he gets sick feeling a couple of hours later, with additional pleasant symptoms the next morning.

I have the mildest GI symptoms. Usually I get a headache right away (1/2 hour after beginning to eat), and get mild GI symptoms the following morning.

When I was a kid (and undiagnosed), I had frequent stomach aches. Once I remember vomiting immediately after eating my first plate of spaghetti. My youngest son is more like this...he vomited cereals right after eating.

I think my parents didn't really know whether to believe it or not, which I can undersand. If your daughter is the only Celiac at home, chances are pretty good that she's getting gluten fairly often, and having some pain. There are so many foods that "should" be okay that are not always okay - the only way I know to avoid them for my son is because they bother me and my husband.

Good luck! It's good that you're out looking for info on how to help your daughter. And it's great that she's gluten free from a young age instead of enduring years of problems.

[Amyleigh0007]

I can tell my son has been contaminated when he falls asleep early in the evening. It's usually a fight to get him in bed but when he has been "glutenated" he will fall asleep on the couch around 6 p.m. Or, on the weekends, he will take an afternoon nap. His reactions happen within hours. He was eating Lays potato chips for lunch almost everyday during the summer and he would be asleep by early evening. I believe he was being contaminated by Frito Lay products so we have eliminated them (except for Lays Stax). It has helped.

[April in KC]

Amyleigh, I have had gluten symptoms with Lays and some other Frito-Lay products as well. I can't do Stax for other reasons (I have some other intolerance...but I can't figure out what it is). Have you found a brand of potato chips besides Stax that you trust? I'm always on the lookout...

[spunky]

I'm older and self-diagnosed, but here's what I've come to discover about myself and accidental glutenings...

my intestinal symptoms don't occur for two or three days... I've learned though, that there are early warning signs easy to ignore... while I'm eating, I might have mild, almost unnoticeable burning or acid reflux... hardly noticeable, but I've seen it as an early pattern. Later, I feel very irritable, again, it took a few times for me to realize that gluten caused these subtle symptoms right away, then a couple of days later the intestinal stuff begins.

For me, it's kinda like catching a cold... it doesnt' happen all at once, and there's a while where I don't really know something's wrong... then it all gradually falls apart and next thing I know I'm hit with it. I'm learning to recognize the early warning signs, but don't get glutened often enough to get "good at it".

I've heard of others, especially children, having much different symptoms than what I've noticed in myself. You have to become a very keen observer, and be able to scrutinize every little thing in hindsight to find a dependable pattern of symptoms.

[braleycakes]

Thanks to everyone for your input! Following up with another question and possible answer to the chips questions....we buy a LOT of stuff from Trader Joe's...how does everyone feel out there about foods that are technically free of gluten but made in the same facility as wheat, etc....that seems to me the only place (outside of restaurants) where she might be getting any gluten.

[Green Eyes]

Hello Braleycakes,

You may have just found your answer. I avoid all foods that could possibly be cross contaminated. If the label says made in facility with wheat - that is an automatic no-no. I suggest eliminating that completely from the gluten free diet and see if that works.

Jennifer