Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Gluten Or Virus

Bonnie

By Bonnie
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

Bonnie Explorer
Bonnie
Posted

Need some advice.

Been gluten-free about 4 weeks or trying to! Had a really bad weekend. Started feeling sick Saturday afternoon, really bad headache at the front, bloated, 'gurgly' stomach. Saturday night couldn't sleep, terrible aches in arms and legs. Then I started getting stabbing pains under my ribs. Never had that before.

Its now Monday and I still feel really unwell - headache, nausea. Have I glutened myself by mistake or is it a virus? The sore arms and legs and the stabbing pain are new to me.

I am so confused and feel really down. I think everyone thinks I am a total hypochondriac. They must be sick to death of me complaining when they ask how I am. Think I need to start lying and saying I'm fine. I'm convinced they all think I'm a pain in the butt!

I feel worse now than I did before going gluten free.

How do you know if its gluten or a virus?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


KaitiUSA Enthusiast
KaitiUSA
Posted

Well sounds like you could have been glutened. It does take time to feel better though. Took me 3 months to get alot of improvement and then 6 months to get back to normal. It just varies from person to person. Have you seen improvement before this happened?

You also may want to keep a food journal and see if anything else may be bugging you as well.

Have you had gluten free products too? Like things like lipsticks, toothpastes, shampoos, lotions, etc? Things you put on your head, hands, and face should be gluten free because they have high chances of getting into your mouth.

I hope you feel better...if you have any questions or help with anything let me know :D

jknnej Collaborator
jknnej
Posted

I feel terrible for you! I know how you feel-I, too, tell people I'm fine b/c how many times can I say I'm sick without them thinking I'm making it up or just a wimp?

Only the people that really matter will know how you feel. My husband is so good with that...my parents and siblings, on the other hand, not so great.

Can you stay in bed and rest or do you have a lot to do? If you have a lot to do maybe you can try some of the products we all use to help with the nausea/stomach pain.

And, like Kaiti said, look back at what you ate to see if you could have possibly had gluten.

Keep your chin up-it will get better!!!

Bonnie Explorer
Bonnie
Posted
  • Author

Thanks so much for the responses.

Katie, I haven't checked make-up etc. yet. I was concentrating on the food aspect first but I will definitely look into it now.

Was feeling very sorry for myself this morning obviously!! I know it will take time - I can see from this site that everyone goes through these 'teething problems' and accidentally gluten themselves from time to time. It's just frustrating when you are trying so hard to do it right!

I have been using buscopan and spasmopep (peppermint capsules) which do help a bit. Yesterday I took a buscopan and a nausea tab together and ended up with needle point pupils and was totally 'goofed'. I can't understand why people would want to feel like that! Ha ha.

Another thing, I have read that after you have been off gluten a while, when you do ingest the symptoms are worse but I really didn't realise how bad they would be. Teach me to be more careful in future if nothing else.

Thanks for the advice. It makes such a difference knowing there are others who know how you feel.

Yvonne

KaitiUSA Enthusiast
KaitiUSA
Posted

If you need any help with makeups and other products you can look in the product section or just contact me and I can help you out with some brands.

Lipsticks are extremely important because alot of them contain wheat starch and they are right on your lips which is pretty much guaranteed to get traces into your digestive tract.

I actually had a horrible reaction to some lip balm I was using that turns out it had vitamin e derived from wheat.

When I get glutened I get nausea really bad and I use this homeopathic spray that you put under your tongue and it works like a charm for me.

When you are not feeling well try drinking peppermint, ginger, or chamomile teas.

Rice is also good for the stomach as well as mashed and baked potatoes.

Feel better soon

judy05 Apprentice
judy05
Posted

Bonnie,

You might try going Dairy-Free for a while. A lot of my symptoms disappeared after removing these foods from my giet. A lot of Celiacs have a problem with this because of the damage done to the villi. I myself have an intolerance to wheat and dairy but am now able to eat Cheddar Cheese.

Merika Contributor
Merika
Posted

KatieUSA, what is your homeopathic spray?

Bonnie, if you don't want to be "goofed" (not sure what the meds are) try just some gluten-free peppermint candies, or the teas that katie mentioned. They work too!

Also, if you are newly gluten-free, it's so easy to goof and ingest gluten. And I'm looking at the post date of your message and it's Sunday night, and I'm thinking you probably went out to eat this weekend or ate at someone's house, or....did something that increased your odds of being glutened.

Hope it all passes soon,

Merika

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


cdford Contributor
cdford
Posted

In our cases, there is a specific pattern that a gluten incident causes. We went through that period of time when we weren't sure until we realized the pattern and one key difference...we usually don't run a fever with a gluten incident. In our cases, we also will break out with the DH spots but that can take several days to show up.

A typical reaction for me begins within minutes with tingling and swelling in my mouth. It then moves through the varying gastro problems and then the DH breakout.

Jenn's pattern is very different. She often does not react for days or weeks. She gets bloated and has relatively mild gastro symptoms prior to breaking out. Boy does she ever get irritable and difficult. Her immune system kicks into high gear and she picks up the first bug with which she comes into contact. If no bug is hanging in waiting, her sinuses start up. She also craves gluten and will beg, borrow, or steal to get it.

You will soon figure out your specific pattern and learn to recognize it. When you do, the question of gluten or virus will be more clear cut.

Bonnie Explorer
Bonnie
Posted
  • Author

Thanks so much everyone.

I have thought of coming off dairy for a while but I've been avoiding it - hard enough coming off gluten! I did go dairy free for about 6 weeks but at the time was still eating wheat so obviously the symptoms persisted.

I will take all the advice. Merika I actually ate at home - too scared to eat out - but as I'm still so new and don't understand labelling too well, I probably ate something I shouldn't have. The only thing that was different to normal was some gluten-free bread - store bought.

Anyway, I am going to Cape Town this weekend, staying in a hotel and I'm so worried about what to eat in the restaurants. Its my first time away since going gluten-free.

I'll just stick to plain meat and veg.

Thanks so much guys!

Yvonne

cdford Contributor
cdford
Posted

Be sure to take a restaurant card with you or at least print out the information for the chef. If they know what to do, they can usually give you something acceptable. Some places are better than others. If you are not sure where to get a card, e-mail me and I'll send you a sample of one of mine.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,186
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Kris46
    Newest Member
    Kris46
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Ginger38
      Food Allergies

      By Ginger38 · Posted

      So I recently had allergy testing for IGE antibodies in response to foods. My test results came back positive to corn, white potatoes, egg whites. Tomatoes, almonds and peanuts to name a few.  I have had obvious reactions to a few of these - particularly tomatoes and corn- both GI issues. I don’t really understand all this allergy versus celiac stuff. If the food allergies are mild do I have to avoid these foods entirely? I don’t know what I will eat if I can’t  have corn based gluten free products 
    • Kris2093u4
      Bread choice for a newbie

      By Kris2093u4 · Posted

      Geography makes a difference.  I'm in the West and Trader Joe's gluten-free bread tastes great and is a better price than most gluten-free breads sold elsewhere in my area.  
    • JForman
      7yo struggling!

      By JForman · Posted

      We have four children (7-14 yo), and our 7 year old was diagnosed with NCGS (though all Celiac labs were positive, her scope at 4 years old was negative so docs in the US won't call it celiac). We have started her on a Gluten Free diet after 3 years of major digestive issues and ruling out just about everything under the sun. Our home and kitchen and myself are all gluten-free. But I have not asked my husband/her dad or her other siblings to go completely gluten-free with us. They are at home, but not out of the home. This has led to situations when we are eating out where she has to consistently see others eating things she can't have and she has begun to say "Well, I can't have <fill in the blank>...stupid gluten."  How have you supported your gluten-free kiddos in the mental health space of this journey, especially young ones like her. I know it's hard for me as an adult sometimes to miss out, so I can't imagine being 7 and dealing with it! Any tips or ideas to help with this? 
    • Jane878
      My mo,ther married a bread making when I was 4

      By Jane878 · Posted

      By the time I was 5 I had my first auto0immune disorder, Migraine headaches, with auras to blind me, and vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound. I was 5 years old, and my stepfather would have pizza night, milling his own flour, making thick cheesy gluten pizza, that I would eat and the next day, I would have serious migraines, and my mother & stepfather did nothing about my medical problems. When I was 17 in my first year at college, I was diagnosed with my 2nd known auto-immune disorder, Meniere's disease. I was a elite athlete, a swimmer, and soccer player. And once again my parents didn't think anything of understanding why I had a disorder only older people get. Now after my mother passed from Alzheimer's disease she also suffered with living with gluten. She had a rash for 30 years that nobody could diagnose. She was itchy for 45 years total. My brother had a encapsulated virus explodes in his spleen and when this happened his entire intestines were covered with adhesions, scar tissue and he almost lost his life. He has 5 daughters, and when I finally was diagnosed after being pregnant and my body went into a cytokine storm, I lost my chance to have children, I ended up having Hashimoto's disease, Degenerative Disc disease, and my body started to shut down during my first trimester. I am 6ft tall and got down to 119lbs. My husband and I went to a special immunologist in Terrace, California. They took 17 vials of blood as we flew there for a day and returned home that evening. In 3 weeks, we had the answer, I have Celiac disease. Once this was known, only my father and husband made efforts to change their way of feeding me. At the family cabin, my stepfather & mother were more worried that I would ruin Thanksgiving Dinner. It wasn't until one of my cousins was diagnosed with Celiac disease. They finally looked into getting Gluten Free flour and taking measures to limit "gluten" in meals. He did nothing but ask for me to pay for my own food and wi-fi when I came to the cabin to stay after our house burned down. When he informed my mother, they proceeding to get into a physical fight and she ended up with a black eye. The is just more trauma for me. Sam had no interest in telling the truth about what he wanted. He lied to my mother that he had asked my husband if I could pay for "food" when he asked Geoffrey if I had money to pay for my wi-fi. My mother hates when he spends so much time on the computer so he lied and said I could pay for my own food. I will remind you I weighed 119lbs at this time. (At 6ft) that is a very sick looking person. Neither parent was worried about my weight, they just fought about how cheap my stepfather was. As my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2014. He had her sign over the will to a trust and added his children. He had no testimonial capacity at the time, so she signed without proper papers. Making this Trust null and void. When I gave my brother my childhood home, my mother stated I would be getting an equal part of inheritance to the house on Race. It currently worth 2.0 million $. I got nothing, and my stepfather has since disowned me b/c of my claim and he knows that my mother would never have left it uneven between my biological brother and myself. She sat me and my husband down, as we lived at the Race Street house and treated and took care of it as our own. My brother took over b/c he was going through a horrific divorce and needed a home so he could get a better custody deal with his soon to be ex-wife who was a Assist DA for Denver. She used the girls against him, and he & I were the primary caregivers. We, Judd and I spent the most time with them pre the divorce. Once Judd moved into the house, he threw all of my mother, grandmother and my family heirlooms out to the Goodwill. Nobody told my mother about this as she was going through cancer treatment and had Alzheimer's disease in her mother and her sister. My stepfather and biological brother took advantage of this matter, as I called a "family council" that my brother just never could make it to at the last moment. All of the furnishing, kitchen ware, everything was in the house my brother just moved into. He had had 2 weddings, I chose to elope b/c my stepfather ruined my brother's first wedding by talking about his relationship with my brother in front of my dad and his entire family, insulting him and having my grandfather leave the ceremony. It was a disaster. My stepfather just plays dumb and blames my father for the slight. I was the only child not to have a wedding. So, my mother and stepfather never had to pay for a thing. My mother had had an agreement with my father he'd pay for college and all medical issues with their kids, myself and Judd. So truly my mother never had to pay for anything big for me in her entire life. I am looking for anyone that has had a similar story, where they grew up in a household that had a baker that regularly milled flour and ate gluten. What happened to you? DId you suffer from different auto-immune diseases b/c of living with a baker using "gluten" Please let me know. I have been looking into legal ways to get my stepfather to give me what my mother had promised, and he erased. Thank you for listening to my story. Jane Donnelly  
    • trents
      Blood results

      By trents · Posted

      Possibly gluten withdrawal. Lot's of info on the internet about it. Somewhat controversial but apparently gluten plugs into the same neuro sensors as opiates do and some people get a similar type withdrawal as they do when quitting opiates. Another issue is that gluten-free facsimile flours are not fortified with vitamins and minerals as is wheat flour (in the U.S. at least) so when the switch is made to gluten-free facsimile foods, especially if a lot of processed gluten-free foods are being used as substitutes, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can result. There is also the possibility that she has picked up a virus or some but that is totally unrelated to going gluten-free.
×
×
  • Create New...