Going Without Eating Gluten And Then Eating It Again?

[wikipedia]

Ok so I just went 2 days without eating gluten (I know it's not a lot) but then I was forced to eat a hamburger. Afterward (not right away though) my hands and feet felt kind of asleep or they were really tingly at least. Then the sides of my mouth and my lower lip began feeling almost numb and they still do.

Then later, I was laying down and began to cry and almost right away I started getting this extremely stingy pain in the back of my head, my eyes and nose. My mouth tasted like something really spicy. The pain was awful, I've never felt that kind before, it was like someone was rubbing red onions all over my eyes and everywhere, and I'm allergic to them. I sat up and it got less extreme but was still there. Just like blinking my eyes after tears came was painful. I thought I was bleeding or something....

I felt a bit nauseous but I didn't often feel like this after eating wheat before :ph34r: ..is this normal? Or related to something else?

[tarnalberry]

I certainly hope there's no one *FORCING* you to eat gluten!

What you describe sounds more like an allergic reaction, and pretty significant one! You might consider seeing an allergist about possible allergy testing, and avoid the culprit(s) in the mean time.

[wikipedia]

i was actually literally forced to but could it still be an allergic reaction if i didn't get like this many times before? well i have but not every single time after eating. i'm just not sure if it was because i avoided it for a couple of days or what?

[tarnalberry]

gah! please stay away from anyone who would force food down your throat. (I'm not even sure that's legal.)

it could well still be allergic if it doesn't happen to the same degree every single time, but yes, some people do find that their reactions are worse after being gluten free for a little while, usually not that soon, but it's not out of the realm of the possible.

[Jonbo]

Did you eat it with a bun? If not, any seasonings used on the burger? That's usually the culprit. Sometimes filler is used on hamburger meat from what I've read that can be bread.

[mamaw]

Any person who forces another against their will is neither a friend or a person I would want to deal with--- family included. This is a crime & is punishble by law.

Any adult should be able to understand . No one would ever force me in to anything I did not want to do. I would kick, fight & scream until I had no breath left in me.

I know this will not kill you but just think about this statement you made. You are not able to defend yourself from a burger bandit forcing you to eat a burger. What if it was a rapist? A kidnapper?

I do also believe it sounds like an allergic reaction unless you had a bun. Also , have you been dx'd with gluten intolerance or celiac?

Please find some new aquaintances for your own good!

[wikipedia]

well it was actually not forced down my throat but it's a long story. i didn't have a choice.

it had a bun, a large one. i've had these pains many times before but never the lip thing. it's pretty much gone now though. it lasted the entire night. i've had those pains frequently, though not always that severe but i guess i've never before really looked for them being right after i ate wheat. i do remember i got them at certain itmes of the day when i usually ate sandwiches. i don't know, thank you for your responses.

[tarnalberry]

well it was actually not forced down my throat but it's a long story. i didn't have a choice.

This is something that comes up from time to time: "I didn't have a choice."

Yes, you did. You might not have liked the consequences of not eating it (going hungry, upsetting a family member, looking awkward in front of others, etc.), but YOU control what YOU pick up and what YOU put in your mouth. (Unless someone is literally force feeding you, of course.) It IS a choice. You always do have the option of saying no. We don't know the situation, so I certainly don't want to judge the consequences so severe that the "better" decision was risking ingesting what is, for your body, poison. But know that you do have the choice.

This is all the more important, on each and every occasion, if you're dealing with an allergy. Allergies, particularly food allergies, can become anaphylactic without warning - meaning, unless you're really close to a hospital - that choice could become life-threatening.

[wikipedia]

i am under 18, i live with my parents. my parents think that i am going gluten-free because i'm anorexic, which i'm not. they're paranoid because eating disorders are in the family. my father was right beside me yelling at me and threatening to hit me and my mother was yelling at him to do it. if i had not eaten that bun, i have no doubt in my mind that my parents would've taken me to the eating disorder unit at the hospital or things would've gotten 100% worse.

when i say i didn't have a choice, i mean that it was the best choice i could have made, out of a few unfortunate ones.

btw i'm not diagnosed with this, i'm just testing it out to see if i do have an allergy since i have many physical symptoms that i'd like to be rid of.

[mamaw]

Thanks for giving us the story. I honestly think you should go for testing so that if you do have an intolerance or celiac that your parents will understand or I hope they would try to understand.

It sounds like no one trusts each other & that is sad. For years people thought my daughter had a eating disorder but I took her to the doctor & that was not the case. Years later after she had children & in her thirties we finally got a correct dx's . SHe is doing so well now but for twenty plus years she was sick but no one could fnd the answer.

I think in your situation that a medical dx's is needed for your parents.........

blessings

mamaw

If you choose to seek medical testing you do need to be eating wheat regularly for the test to be accurate....

[miles2go]

i am under 18, i live with my parents. my parents think that i am going gluten-free because i'm anorexic, which i'm not. they're paranoid because eating disorders are in the family. my father was right beside me yelling at me and threatening to hit me and my mother was yelling at him to do it. if i had not eaten that bun, i have no doubt in my mind that my parents would've taken me to the eating disorder unit at the hospital or things would've gotten 100% worse.

when i say i didn't have a choice, i mean that it was the best choice i could have made, out of a few unfortunate ones.

btw i'm not diagnosed with this, i'm just testing it out to see if i do have an allergy since i have many physical symptoms that i'd like to be rid of.

Let them take you to the eating disorder unit at the hospital. Let them call it whatever they want.

Someone there will surely know about food allergies and perhaps beyond and hopefully that will open the door that you need. Most of us have been called crazy before.

{{hugs}}

Margaret

[JNBunnie1]

Let them take you to the eating disorder unit at the hospital. Let them call it whatever they want.

Someone there will surely know about food allergies and perhaps beyond and hopefully that will open the door that you need. Most of us have been called crazy before.

{{hugs}}

Margaret

I agree. If you are brought to an eating disorder clinic by your parents, and you sit down and say to the staff, "I believe I have certain food sensitivities, and my parents do not want to allow me to try and figure out what they are myself. They have threatened to hit me if I do not eat the foods I think I may be allergic to or intolerant of. I will happily eat great quantities of whatever foods are safe for me, I simply need to figure out what those are first. Maybe you can recommend some blood testing to them.", I have a feeling that they will hear you quite clearly. If what happens is that one of your parents actually raises their hand to you, I have a funny feeling that no police officer would be sympathetic to hearing from a parent, "I hit her because she wouldn't eat something she thinks she's allergic to."

Hopefully, you'll be able to print out some information on Celiac disease and share it with them during a time of calm and they will be able to understand what gluten may be doing to you. When I was sick, I weighed 105 lbs, and I'm 5'7". I was eating all the time and nothing stuck. I went gluten free and gained 15 lbs in two months even though I was eating less because my choices were limited by budget, gluten does scary things to some people. I will happily send you before and after pictures if you want some proof. I had people bugging me all through my teen years about being anorexic too, until they saw me eating that is.

Can I ask you, is it just that you are very slender that your parents have this fear, or do you maybe have some other habits that might indicate an eating disorder to them?

[tarnalberry]

BTW, yelling at you to eat something and threatening to hit you IS ABUSE.

It's just.... ..... WRONG!

GAH! (at your father - and mother for supporting him) What HORRID parenting!

Sorry, but there is really no excuse for their behavior. You could try to reason with them, and say that you'll eat all kinds of X, Y, and Z, and they can watch. Just not <insert gluten containing thing here>.

Alternatively, you could consider calling your doctor (assuming that you're old enough to go out yourself), and leave a message telling the whole story. (As in "Hi, this is wikipedia. I'd like to leave a message for my doctor. My parents think I'm anorexic and are threatening to hit me at the dinner table if I don't eat bread. As far as I can tell, every time I eat bread, or pasta, or something like that, I get really sick - numbness in my face and burning pain in my lips. What can I do?") If you have the ability to get in to the office without your parents taking you, you might want to try this route.

Also, if there are any sympathetic family members (a grandmother or aunt or something), talk to them about the situation, and perhaps they can help intervene. (I'd not do this *instead* of talking to your doctor, but possibly in addition to doing that.)

[celiacmorna]

Thanks for telling the story. I do feel for you. I was in a very abusive relationship & was 'forced' to eat the wrong things as well. I know where you are coming from.

While it is hard to explain to people who think they have your best interests at heart you need to have a sit down discussion with your parents. If there are eating disorders in your family, I imagine they are a little paniced by the thought of you having that. It sounds like a very emotionally charged issue & forcing & yelling most likely can have some effect on you reactions as well.

Try & get them to take you to an internist or specialist. I am in Canada so I'm not familiar with what doctors specialise in the states. Maybe if you try & have a discussion away from the meal time so that eating is not the main event. Try to explain how you aren't opposed to eating, just trying to help yourself not feel sick afterward. Ask them to either take you to a doctor or get you an appointment. If they can understand that you want to help yourself, there may be less stress in the whole thing.

I hope you can get them to understand & help you get past the 'this is good food, there is nothing wrong with it' phase. Some 'good' foods are very bad for some people.

Please keep us updated, even if just to vent.

[nutralady2001]

((Hugs))

If your parents will not listen is there a school counsellor/teacher/pastor/youth leader/some-one you can trust enough to talk to?

Otherwise I would do as others have said and let them take you to the eating disorders clinic where you can talk to some-one who will listen

[mysecretcurse]

Your parents are abusive. I suggest you do whatever it takes to get out of that home ASAP!

Before it gets worse!

[ravenwoodglass]

If you are seventeen you are old enough to be emancipated legally. I agree with the folks who said to let them take you the hospital, you may be able to get some help through them. Getting a hold of your doctor is also a good idea, you are old enough to do that yourself. Also do you have any friends or family members who might be able to take you in for bit until you can get on your own feet? If you do go to them for help. Do you have a celiac support group in your area? They may be able to guide you to a doctor if your doctor has not been helpful with your stomach and homelife issues. You can also contact social services or an organization that helps abused women and see if there might be some help for you through them. Even living in a one room apt on food stamps is better than living in an abusive household. I grew up in an abusive family and I know how hard it is to feel helpless and trapped. You are in my thoughts and prayers, please let us know how you are doing.