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Does This Sound Like Glutening Or A Virus?

DarkIvy

By DarkIvy
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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DarkIvy Explorer
DarkIvy
Posted

Earlier this afternoon I went to lunch with a friend at a local restaurant. They have some gluten-free options and advertise gluten-free bread on their menu, but it's still a burger/pizza place where CC is absolutely possible. I ordered a burger, no bun, cooked in a pan instead of on the grill with a side salad.

Later on I went to work, and at around 7pm I went on break. I ate some food I brought from home, which I know was safe. Around an hour later, I was standing around (I work retail) with some of my coworkers at the counter chit chatting, when I started to get the worst stomach cramps I think I've ever had. I got a few waves of them over the course of about 10 minutes but figured it would pass. I don't remember exactly what happened, but it didn't pass and everything started to go black. I couldn't see much of anything and my two coworkers were asking me "oh my god, are you okay?" I managed to make it over to one of the chairs to sit down, and everyone was really worried. They even called the store manager and loss prevention because they had no idea what was going on. I got pretty nauseous, and had someone bring me a trash can. I never actually threw up, but I came very close a few times. I started sweating bullets, which is really odd considering that it's freezing cold where I work... but I mean, it was *dripping* off of my forehead. Five minutes later it switched and I got really cold, started shivering uncontrollably.

Fast forward about an hour: I drove myself home, got straight into my PJs and have been having diarrhea every 20 minutes or so. I still feel really queasy and dizzy, and I have to stand up slowly. My limbs feel really faint, too.

Typically when I get gluten, I feel tired, groggy, nauseous, get headaches, and have stomach cramps and diarrhea. However, I rarely throw up, and haven't thrown up from gluten in probably about a year. My diarrhea isn't usually this bad, either.

The sweating and chills makes me wonder if I just came down with something, but I'm not sure. I'm only mildly achey, and that also can be a symptom of gluten for me. But also, I do remember that before lunch, I was sitting at my desk and I suddenly felt quite dizzy. I chalked it up to having just rinsed my somewhat clogged (but not abnormally so) sinuses and my equilibrium being off.

Could it also have been food poisoning? Maybe I picked up a crumb on the cafe table when I was eating my safe food from home... does anyone else react like this? I just don't know if I should try and get in to the doctor or not. Mainly I'm just surprised at how severe and how completely sudden it was.

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ang1e0251 Contributor
ang1e0251
Posted

I'm no expert but that certainly sounds like flu to me. Especially when you mentioned earlier dizzieness. Not that it couldn't be gluten, it's darn hard to tell the difference sometimes. I react just the way you described when that naseous. Are you running a fever? Would a fever be a normal reaction to gluten for you?

When I had the flu this fall I wondered like you which it was, flu or crumb. But when it lingered on, then I knew flu. It just wasn't normal for me to react that long or be so naseous.

I hope you feel better soon. I had to eat very simply for a couple of weeks till it finally passed.

DarkIvy Explorer
DarkIvy
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the response.

Today I'm actually feeling much, much better. I still have my regular gluten symptoms though, of tiredness, D, brain fog, etc. I definitely don't feel flu like at all. I guess this rules out food poisoning or virus... It was just so weird. I'm still getting dizzy if I stand up too quickly, but it hasn't been nearly as bad. I'm not feverish or chilled. The stomach cramps have still been coming and going, but not anywhere as painful as their were last night.

mamaw Community Regular
mamaw
Posted

glad you are feeling better. we are sharing the flu at our house. hubby is going on his fourth day of purging from both ends. Me too, but I also have the weakness & very dizzy. It feels like someone is pulling my insides out. ...this stuff is nasty. I have heard that sometimes it only lasts for a couple of days , you fell better & it comes back. Ours is just hanging on...

mamaw

Takala Enthusiast
Takala
Posted

That's either a flu type bug or virus, or food poisoning.

Of course, you could also be getting a mild glutening reaction on top of it.

Whatever it is, I hope you get over it soon.

DarkIvy Explorer
DarkIvy
Posted
  • Author

Welp, it got worse this afternoon and the cramps and dizziness came back full force. I ended up in urgent care where they ran all kinds of tests and hooked me up to a hydration IV while everything was being checked.

Long story short, I don't appear to be anemic, have blood sugar issues, or have an infection of any sort. They didn't seem to think it was a virus, either. Everything they checked came back normal.

Finally, the doctor threw up her hands and said it probably was just gluten, and that sometimes pain can cause people to throw up and/or faint.

I'm not feeling much better at all, but at least I know it wasn't something crazy... they even checked me to make sure I didn't have an ovarian cyst the exploded (has similar symptoms, evidently). Ugh. No more restaurants for me.

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