Opinions Needed- What Did You Feel Like After You Ate Gluten?

[LoraW76]

I am new to celiac disease, as I was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago. Today being Thanksgiving, I ate gluten-free as I have been doing since I found out I had celiac, except I scooped the pumpkin pie filling out of the pie crust and ate that. Now I have spent considerable time in the bathroom having bowel movements. Was it the pie filling that had some crust in it that did this to me?

I was wondering, being a newbie and all, what happens when you eat gluten, either by accident or otherwise.

Thanks!

[katie may]

LoraW76 -

I'm sorry you've had to enter the gluten-free world but it's not so terrible when you know what to do to take care of yourself. Definitely do some online research so you'll know what to look out for and maybe learn some tips for how to deal with Celiac. One of the basic laws of eating gluten-free is NEVER NEVER NEVER eat anything that has touched gluten. This means the pie was a no go. You can apply the same concept to hamburgers; taking it off the bun just doesn't cut it. Also, I'm not sure about the pie's filling - were you? Now that you're gluten-free, you'll need to read all ingredients. You can look online to find the ingredients that contain gluten, and plenty of people post foods they have problems with.

Because you're new to this you should probably know a few other things: oatmeal (and dairy for many too) is usually off limits for Celiacs, you may develop more enviro or food allergies as a result of going gluten-free (esp. grains like soy & corn), and you're gonna mess up sometime. Don't worry about the last two. I'd just reccomend learning all you can about Celiac and the gluten-free diet. Try to go easy on the sugars and grains to give your gut a break; a lot of people focus on eating (pricy) replacement foods for gluten but you really don't need that - moderate amounts of all food groups is a great way to go! Proteins and vegies are actually a lot easier for most people to digest. Overdoing the alternate grains/ carbs can really bother you, especially early on, working on those additional allergies I was talking about.

Just don't be discouraged when you mess up!!! Just like with the pie, how could you know? Living gluten-free is an ongoing learning process, and it might be frustrating, and it might make eating more complicated in ways that people don't understand, and you might want to quit, but it's worth feeling good in the long run! Don't ever waste a day because you let it get you down. Gluten is not inherently evil - it's just impossible for some of us to digest because of the way we're wired. And it's not all about gluten; a compromised intestine is a compromised intestine, regardless of the diagnosis. If a food gives you trouble, avoid it! I used to think that as long as there was a gluten free label on something it had to be alright for me to eat, even when it tore up my stomach! Like I said, no food is inherently evil; it just might not be okay for this individual or that one (esp. a celiac), even if we've eaten for years.

I'm sorry for the ramble but I wish'd I'd have known all this when I first learned I had a problem a few years ago. I hope it helps! I pray you'll be blessed with abundance and joyful eating, especially on this Thanksgiving Day!