Can'T Figure Out What Caused Reaction, I Need Help

[DoodleDog]

Hello,

Been very careful past two weeks with gluten, dairy and soy free diet and just woke up with a reaction. Ankles hurt, fingers little numb, head heavy, tired and very tempermental. I only had a few different things in my diet yesterday that I will list. Do any of these items look like a red flag for gluten?

White rice flour (I made Sue's white rice muffins from bobs red mill)

Almonds (used in the recipe above)

Popcorn (I air popped, and was purchased from local farmers market bag indicated tiny yellow popcorn)

[Darn210]

What brand was the Almonds? . . . sometimes they are processed in the same facility or on the same line as wheat products. My daughter doesn't have a problem with same facility type products but some people do.

So was the farmers market product actually commercially packaged or packaged by the farmer? If it was packaged by the farmer, that would be my leading candidate.

[horsegirl]

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:30 PM, DoodleDog said:

Hello,

Been very careful past two weeks with gluten, dairy and soy free diet and just woke up with a reaction. Ankles hurt, fingers little numb, head heavy, tired and very tempermental. I only had a few different things in my diet yesterday that I will list. Do any of these items look like a red flag for gluten?

White rice flour (I made Sue's white rice muffins from bobs red mill)

Almonds (used in the recipe above)

Popcorn (I air popped, and was purchased from local farmers market bag indicated tiny yellow popcorn)

Have you checked medications you're taking? Toothpaste? Vitamins? Is your kitchen completely cleaned of gluten/dairy/soy? There are many different things that could cause a reaction, & sometimes it's very hard to pinpoint what it is. Perhaps you are also sensitive to corn?

Good luck, & hopefully you'll feel better soon.

[Darn210]

  On 2/20/2010 at 3:30 PM, DoodleDog said:

Hello,

Been very careful past two weeks with gluten, dairy and soy free diet and just woke up with a reaction. Ankles hurt, fingers little numb, head heavy, tired and very tempermental. I only had a few different things in my diet yesterday that I will list. Do any of these items look like a red flag for gluten?

White rice flour (I made Sue's white rice muffins from bobs red mill)

Almonds (used in the recipe above)

Popcorn (I air popped, and was purchased from local farmers market bag indicated tiny yellow popcorn)

I also just want to mention that in the beginning, there are a lot of ups and downs that aren't necessarily associated with the food you eat and the products you use. You should still be thorough and check everything out (or not use those items again or at least not use them for a while) but sometimes in the beginning, you just won't be able to trace it to something.

[jststric]

I am very much that way with white rice flour also.

[DoodleDog]

Thank you all for your comments! The corn was packaged by some farmer, no list of ingredients, just packaged in a clear bag. The almonds were bought at marks, packaged by harrell nut company, no phone number. I am not on any medication, my stomach is just now tollerating fish oil gel pills, calcium plus V D3 and just today started taking a multi vitamin ... all of these are from solgar. Regarding the health and beauty I have gone through everything... I think all is gluten, soy free. Last I have gluten crumbs everywhere in kitchen ... I keep my stuff sep. from everything else and use kitchen cleaner bleach to wipe the couners down consistently. I have cleaned every cabinet.

So anyway I guess I should get rid of the almonds, and popcorn. Just not sure if I can have the rice flour.

I am trying to be positive and my reaction is just draining not as bad as I have had ... but... I am so frustrated with myself! I should only add in one new thing at a time. Sometimes I wish I would have just gotten tested before doing all of this. Maybe life would be a great deal easier!

[dilettantesteph]

Some celiacs, myself included are sensitive to the protein in oats as well. Last I knew Bob's processes their gluten free oats in their gluten free facility so their products are ruled out for people like me. Could that be your problem?

[DoodleDog]

I stay away from oats ... I can always trace a reaction back to them.

[GFinDC]

  On 2/20/2010 at 7:54 PM, DoodleDog said:

....

So anyway I guess I should get rid of the almonds, and popcorn. Just not sure if I can have the rice flour.

I am trying to be positive and my reaction is just draining not as bad as I have had ... but... I am so frustrated with myself! I should only add in one new thing at a time. Sometimes I wish I would have just gotten tested before doing all of this. Maybe life would be a great deal easier!

You can probably wash the popcorn and dry it. Or just wait a while until you are feeling better and test it. Packaging equipment is often shared, so cross contamination can happen during that process. Imagine famer Joe packed up some whole wheat flour in the morning, and then packaged up popcorn in the afternoon. Unless farmer Joe thouroghly cleans the packaging equipment there going to be some cc.

Adding only 1 new food at a time is good policy. Not adding a another for a few days is also a good idea as reactions can take some time.

Testing is a good thing to do but doesn't really change anything. You still follow the diet either wya. You could do the gene tests at any time, but they only include you in the group of possible celiacs, they don't diagnose you. There is also Enterolab stool testing that can be done for some time after going gluten-free. Again, it doesn't diagnose celiac but does indicate if you are producing antibodies to gliaden. You can also do your own gluten challenge. Stick strictly to the gluten-free diet for a while and then eat some gluten bread or cereal for a few days. If you have GI symptoms normally then they should show up when eating gluten for several days. For most people anyway. There are celiacs who don't have GI symptoms and this kind of challenge wouldn't work for them. But if it does work it is as good a reason to avoid gluten as any other test. The old doctor joke applies. The patient says "Doc it hurts when I do x" The doc says " Then don't do x!".