Ate Something Baaaddd This Weekend...

[givenupgluten]

I must have had something to eat on Friday that threw my stomach off..although I'm not sure what it was. Anyway, i'm pretty darn careful when it comes to eating gluten free and rarely eat things that I don't cook myself (out of convenience more than anything else.) However, I do get bloated alot still...and most of the times it goes away eventually. However this weekend, after what I'm assuming was a bad food episode, I was gassy and disgusting all weekend. It hurt to sit up straight and I was so scared to leave the house the few times it did ease up, that I was homebound most of the weekend. In the past, before going gluten free I had ALOT of anxiety surrounding taking the train to work, or being in any place/position where a restroom wasn't near by. Some of this has carred over into my new gluten free existence, simply out of habit...although I'm trying hard to break it. I guess my question is, is there anything for the bloat that works? I've used gas x which doesnt even begin to touch it. Is there anything else? This doesnt happen alot...but it still happens - especially after eating certain foods (of which i havent' pinpointed yet) and everytime I travel. It's very embarrassing to be so bloated you can go out when you travel. I'm so sick of this...Will this be something I just have to live with?

[Mother of Jibril]

This doesnt happen alot...but it still happens - especially after eating certain foods (of which i havent' pinpointed yet) and everytime I travel. It's very embarrassing to be so bloated you can go out when you travel. I'm so sick of this...Will this be something I just have to live with?

I still had some gas, bloating, and abdominal pain after I stopped eating dairy and gluten. When I stopped eating corn it disappeared. Wow! I never would have guessed.

Is there anything you started eating a lot more of when you went gluten-free? Corn was my substitute. Maybe I always had a corn problem, but I didn't notice because I wasn't eating such large quantities. Or maybe it was just too irritating for my overworked digestive system... and I'll eventually be able to eat corn again. Keeping a diary of your diet and symptoms could really help you pinpoint the culprit.

Also... how diligent have you been about gluten? I had to stop eating Clif bars after I realized they have brown rice syrup and they were making my symptoms worse. Have you checked your medications and supplements?

[YoloGx]

Apart from herbal suggestions to help heal your intestines and liver from undigested food proteins (marshmallow root, yellow dock and dandelion root) I suggest taking a teaspoon or two of baking soda in a glass of water and then chase with another glass of water. It works miracles!

I also suggest taking bromelain/papain caps with your meals to help digest them--and pancreatin if you eat any meat or other heavy protein. Milk digesting enzymes could be important too... And for some they need HCL if they don't have enough stomach acid.

Bea

[jerseyangel]

Is there anything you started eating a lot more of when you went gluten-free?

This is a very good point. I began to have food intolerances a few months after going gluten-free. A huge source of symptoms for me (gas, bloating, eczema, cramping) were legumes. Other things to consider are corn, as was suggested, soy, dairy and eggs. I also have problems with tapioca which I never would have known about except that it's in so many gluten-free baked goods and mixes.

If you use artificial sweeteners, they can cause gas, bloating and D--even Splenda in some people (me).

My GI suggested Phazyme for gas--the softgels are gluten-free. (the chewable is not) Once I figured out that the legumes were the culprit, I didn't need to take it anymore

[givenupgluten]

Wow, great advice from everyone! Thank you so much...

I have started to eat more corn (in the form of tortillas and chips) since going gluten free. I'm a vegetarian, basically vegan, so I eat very little cheese/dairy and no meat products. However, I do drink soy milk once in awhile. I try to eat very little processed food and avoid 'fake meats' like the plague. I do feel I'm pretty deligent about avoiding gluten, but it seems like almost anything will set off the bloating. I have noticed a little trouble after eating corn tortillas. It doesnt happen every time I eat them, so I'm not quite sure whether that's the culprit or not. Seems like corn is a big issue for alot of people, so that's very possible. When I started having the MAJOR bloat this past weekend, it was after eating falafel (homeade, gluten free) with rice. I made a large batch and had been eating it for dinner all week. It's quite spicy though, so perhaps the spice was the problem? I guess I need to keep a very specific food journal in order to get to the bottom of it.

I do have some bromelain at home -I bought it awhile back as an herbal anti-inflammatory of sorts, but I had no idea it was good for digestion too! I'm going to start taking it..it's been sitting on my shelf just going to waste!

Also, is the Phazme your dr. recommended something you can get over the counter? I have never heard of it, but would be interested in having it around for really bad situations like I experienced recently..

Thanks again for everyone's help!

[jerseyangel]

I think a food diary is an excellent idea--that should help you detect a pattern.

Yes, Phazyme is over the counter.

[missy'smom]

If it was me, I would check all the ingredients in the falaffals and make sure there was no chance for cross-contamination, in the flours, spices etc. That would be enough to give me symptoms. I have had problems with spices purchased in bulk at an Indian market because they were processed on shared equipment. If there's a little, I might react right away but especially if I ate the same thing several days in a row. I've run into this with products that were labeled gluten-free and tested to be less than 5PPM. I figured it out because that was the only new thing I'd had and I called the company to get info.