Please Help! Worried About Upset Stomach

[GFyogi]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this message, but I'm hoping someone might be able to help. About a month ago, I decided to eliminate gluten from my diet because I suspected I might have an allergy to it. (I have not been clinically diagnosed.) Before going gluten free, I had basically no stomach/intestinal issues. Now I have bad cases of diarrhea and upset stomach every so often. I should also mention that on occasion I have accidentally eaten foods containing gluten. So here are my questions:

1) Is there an adjustment period to going gluten free?

2) Is is possible that a gluten free diet causes increased sensitivity to gluten when accidentally ingested?

3) Once you have consumed a product containing gluten, about how long might it take for my body to experience a reaction? Would it occur 20-30 minutes later (during digestion) or could it also happen several hours later? (I am trying to trace the cause of my stomach issues to possible gluten ingestion).

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help/advice you can give!

[SGWhiskers]

I don't have the answer to your first two questions. In regards to the third, I've found that I get a neurological response 10-30 minutes later. It increases for 24 hours and continues for at least 3-4 days. After the first 24 hours, I get some digestive changes that continue for the same time. My reaction has always been more neurological than digestive. From reading these forums, I've gathered that everyone's response is very different in both timing and type.

[frec]

I usually get diarrhea the next morning. There are some early warning signals--mostly gas. As SFWhiskers says, everyone reacts differently. Many people say that their reaction to gluten has become more severe now that they are off it. You also might be eating a lot of some new product as a gluten alternative that does not agree with you. I started eating a lot of soy products only to find soy was a problem as well. If you have celiac disease you might also have trouble with dairy because of the intestinal damage.

I hope you feel better. You might keep a food journal for a while--it's a pain but it helps.

[ravenwoodglass]

1) Is there an adjustment period to going gluten free?

Yes, it can be difficult at first to ferret out all the hidden gluten and that combined with needing time to heal can make the first few weeks kind of up and down. Gluten can also be a neurotoxin for many of us which can lead to withdrawl symptoms until it completely clears the system.

2) Is is possible that a gluten free diet causes increased sensitivity to gluten when accidentally ingested?

Yes if the diet is needed. Your body is telling you that it was very happy to not have to deal with the antibody reactions and when you do consume those reactions can become more severe. If you are having increased reactions to gluten that is a clear sign you were on the right track to eliminate it.

3) Once you have consumed a product containing gluten, about how long might it take for my body to experience a reaction? Would it occur 20-30 minutes later (during digestion) or could it also happen several hours later? (I am trying to trace the cause of my stomach issues to possible gluten ingestion).

Reaction times can vary from person to person. Symptoms to exposure can also vary. Myself I get neuro symptoms very quickly, within an hour my balance will be affected and the next day I will be hit with a very powerful but thankfully short lived depression. The upset tummy takes for me 3 days but I willl have tummy rumbles within less than 2 hour of injestion and at times severe stomach pain before the D hits. Once the D hits for me my tummy troubles are done but my fibro and arthritis will usually flare by day 3 and the flare will last up to 3 weeks.