Casein? Something Else? Mild Headache Cause

[CGally81]

Okay, I've been gluten-free for a little over 2 months now. I'm going through the "hungry all the time" phase, and have also had withdrawal symptoms (muscle twitching, pins and needles, itchiness) flare up and gradually calm down (they come and go but mildly).

Anyway, I'd been gradually getting better with my hunger as it went down, then up again, then down, then up again, etc. Just 2 days ago, I realized that Fudgsicles, one of the things I swore didn't gluten me, have malt powder in them, and so I stopped eating them. I also decided to stop eating turkey lunch meat, as even though the brand is gluten-free, there's risk of cross-contamination.

Since removing those 2 things, it feels like my hunger - at least as far as the gradual "can't concentrate due to hunger" problem went - has noticably reduced even more.

But it's still not as far gone as I would like. I guess it's because I'm still in the "hungry a lot" phase, even if it's not as bad as it was before.

However, I seem to get mild... not "headaches" per se, but this kinda feeling in my head that's hard to describe, seemingly any time I eat something - ANYTHING. Even popcorn. Or hamburger (patty only, of course! I never liked buns) and brown rice. It's sometimes more pervasive than other times. It's been a problem for only a week now, so it may just be another recovery symptom.

However, you think it could be casein? Today I did not drink milk or eat yogurt. My only possible casein sources are cheese (on the hamburger) and this morning, the water in tuna fish (it says it's in water, not oil, but doesn't tuna fish water have casein in it to preserve the tuna?).

You think it could be something else? Or is this just a recovery symptom that'll also go up and down? I haven't been able to trace this to any particular food or food type. It seems to happen after eating anything. A "fuzzy head" feeling (and that's not describing it well - it's not brain fog!) and in some cases, fatigue. Furthermore, I saw another topic on here where someone said that eating makes him/her tired, and someone else said "me too, I think it has to do with digesting the food better" or such, and that it would go away over time.

Oh yeah, if it means anything, I took Wednesday and Thursday off from work due to waking up and feeling super fatigued, and very tired throughout the day. You think maybe I'm just coming down from something? A mild illness like whatever made me so tired those two days?

At the very least, I can say that so far, I've eaten less this weekend than on most weekends, while not feeling as hungry.

[CGally81]

Some more information.

Today, waking up around noon, I had for lunch and a snack (at the same time - still in the "hungry" phase, if recovering) tuna fish, 2 bananas, some peanut butter, and 3 yogurts.

I started to feel a bit tired and somewhat weaker (I felt the glass of water I was holding seem to weigh a bit more), and decided to take some L-glutamine. I went with my dad to see a movie, and lay back and let the somewhat lightheaded/mild headacheness (that I get after eating ANYTHING) and tiredness wear off, and concentrate on the movie.

It's 6 hours later now, and I haven't felt intensely hungry or anything like that.

I wonder what would have happened had I not taken the L-glutamine? I know it fights against glutenings, but if casein has the same effect, does it fight against "caseinings"? If it does, maybe I have an intolerance to casein? If not, again, since I get the lightheadedness and/or mild headache after eating... anything at all, even stuff like popcorn or rice, could it be something else? A symptom that will go away?

I was super fatigued on Wednesday and Thursday of last week and took off from work for that reason. I spent a good time of Wednesday afternoon lying on my bed.

I cut turkey lunch meat (for risk of cross contamination) and Fudgsicles (malt powder is an ingredient) out of my diet. Am I coming off from them?

Any ideas?

EDIT: Milk used to give me a headache, and so did dairy products when I ate them if I'd drank milk earlier. This was in my glutening days. It's possible, I think, that if I was getting glutened mildly by the Fudgsicles without realizing it, then they may have also been causing my headaches. I sure hope so. I sure hope it isn't casein that's doing it. I'd hate to have a second intolerance!

[RollingAlong]

I don't have any good ideas about your general recovery questions, but I've seen posts recently where a neurologist recommended a casein free diet for migraines and chronic headache. It worked too. So it is certainly possible. I took the enterolab test for casein for just this reason - I needed motivation to give up dairy. I tested negative, my headaches seem to be all from gluten. However, I later gave up dairy in support of my spouse and I find that I feel better overall (and no excema!) without it.

I did not have any problems stopping dairy, but my spouse did. He found day 4 and 5 to be particularly exhausting. Just FYI for your scheduling, if you decide to try it.

[CGally81]

I don't have any good ideas about your general recovery questions, but I've seen posts recently where a neurologist recommended a casein free diet for migraines and chronic headache. It worked too. So it is certainly possible. I took the enterolab test for casein for just this reason - I needed motivation to give up dairy. I tested negative, my headaches seem to be all from gluten. However, I later gave up dairy in support of my spouse and I find that I feel better overall (and no excema!) without it.

I did not have any problems stopping dairy, but my spouse did. He found day 4 and 5 to be particularly exhausting. Just FYI for your scheduling, if you decide to try it.

Thanks. I know that I had just recently removed turkey lunch meat (CC issues) and Fudgsicles (malt powder is an ingredient) from my diet, and that helped hunger issues. I'll keep eating casein for a few days to see if it seems to cause anything gluten-esque. If it does, then my food choices got limited even more (no yogurt, cheese on hamburger, milk, or tunafish (casein is apparently in the water used for freshness)). Or would a digestive enzyme help? I am considering ordering one in the mail anyway.

[ENF]

The DPP IV enzyme is supposed to work for casein, which may help you.

As far as casein, I have less trouble with goat's milk products, but even that can get to me if I overdo it so I don't have it regularly. I don't consume cow's milk, or anything that contains it, at all anymore.

Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh turkey slices are gluten free, and I've never had a problem with any of their varieties of Deli Fresh turkey. OM is owned by Kraft, and they do a great job on labeling foods that contain, or may contain, gluten.

[CGally81]

The DPP IV enzyme is supposed to work for casein, which may help you.

As far as casein, I have less trouble with goat's milk products, but even that can get to me if I overdo it so I don't have it regularly. I don't consume cow's milk, or anything that contains it, at all anymore.

Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh turkey slices are gluten free, and I've never had a problem with any of their varieties of Deli Fresh turkey. OM is owned by Kraft, and they do a great job on labeling foods that contain, or may contain, gluten.

When would I take the enzyme? I wouldn't have to take it to work before having lunch, would I?

Also, I am thinking that maybe it is casein. My hunger is less now that I cut the other two "mild gluten" foods out of my diet, but I'm remembering that, seemingly like clockwork, I tend to get hungry and fatigued about 2-3 PM every day at work. What do I have with lunch? Yogurt. Great. Well, I'm going to try a few more days with casein anyway, without the two gluten foods I removed and see if things are better. If I still get that way, I'll try it without casein.

Yet more foods I have to remove from my diet. What fun. I might add that getting a headache when drinking milk was actually a symptom I used to have when I'd been eating gluten, but it went away after I went gluten-free. Now suddenly milk is turning into my next enemy? I'd hate for that to be the case. This stupid celiac disease is so random and arbitrary.

[cyoshimit]

Maybe you still need to eat more even when you are not as hungry? I had a similar issue, where I didn't feel as hungry so I ate less but I started to notice fatigue and a listlessness feeling so even when I wasn't hungry I still had something to snack on or eat and it would help. It was hard at first because I wouldn't be hungry and really didn't want to eat but after I felt better.

[CGally81]

Maybe you still need to eat more even when you are not as hungry? I had a similar issue, where I didn't feel as hungry so I ate less but I started to notice fatigue and a listlessness feeling so even when I wasn't hungry I still had something to snack on or eat and it would help. It was hard at first because I wouldn't be hungry and really didn't want to eat but after I felt better.

I used to have that problem a lot, and you've got a point - it's possible I still do have that problem.

For breakfast today, testing the casein hypothesis, I had 2 cans of tuna fish and a full glass of milk. I got a headache, but I haven't yet gotten "can't focus due to hunger" problem. It's only been an hour though, but sometimes, I'd be feeling that way only an hour after I ate. Yesterday, in fact, I started to feel fatigued/weak while I was fininshing my large lunch (/breakfast, if you consider that I got up at noon).

So maybe even though the hunger has gotten better, it still is just that phase. I really hope it isn't casein! Milk contains more of it than yogurt, right? Since I downed a full glass of milk (intentionally), if casein is the problem, I should know later this morning. (on the other hand, I had less calories for breakfast than I normally do... so talk about a confounding variable)