A Rough 3 Days.

[fran641]

I've been gluten-free for almost a month. I have felt so much better until the last 3 days.

It started with a headache then moved to extreme nausea, stomach pains and frequent BMs (not diarrhea). I have gone over all my foods and can't find contamination or accidental gluten. I did find out that a lot of raw veggies are hard for me to digest. Actually now that I think about it that may be what triggered the first stomach aches.

The first thing I did was get rid of the processed foods like chips, nachos and other snaky stuff to see if they were the culprit. I switched from soy milk to almond, have eliminated dairy for the last month. Since I woke up this morning I'm gassy but not feeling too bad. It has always been hard for me to know if I had just picked up a bug because of the long term stomach problems. I almost hate to eat today, afraid it will start all over again.

Are there any gentle foods to eat when you feel bad? When I felt really bad in the past I would eat nothing until that made me overeat all the comfort foods with gluten, than I felt 100 times worse. A viscous cycle.

[ang1e0251]

When I'm feeling bad, chicken noodle soup is my fallback food. I use chicken broth with a little chicken and rice noodles or bean threads. Also tea is very soothing to my tummy.

Hope you feel better soon!!

[rinne]

Sorry you aren't feelings so well. I would suggest mint or ginger tea, both are good for settling the stomach. As for food, I would probably eat a banana, I've always found them pretty gentle on my system.

I hope you feel better soon, it does sound like it might be the flu.

[jerseyangel]

You poor thing It can be so difficult in the beginning until you get a real handle on it. You've done all the right things--double checking for hidden gluten and avoiding dairy (at least for now).

What tends to help with symptoms for me is having a little something in my stomach--like a banana, mashed/baked potato or gluten-free toast. Hot tea is soothing--peppermint is good, or even plain tea with a little honey.

You've checked your personal care products/meds/suppliments also for gluten, right? Soon after going gluten-free, I found out that my hair gel contained wheat starch--it explained my afternoon stomach issues.

This time of year, it's also sometimes hard to tell if we're getting sick with a virus, or if it's something we ate. Hope you feel better soon!

[ravenwoodglass]

One of the most soothing things for me is Cream of Buckwheat. I use rice milk and add a generous amount of cinnamon. It does sound like something got you and I hope you find the culprit and are feeling better soon.

[fran641]

Thanks so much for all your responses. I am drinking peppermint and fennel tea all day long so maybe this thing will just run it's course. Thanks for the suggestions on foods. I checked my meds and only had to discontinue one, oxybutynin (for my bladder issues).

[Bobette]

I was reading in another thread that members have had success drinking a little bit of aloe vera juice.