Jump to content

  • 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

First Time Glutened? CVS Med To Blame?

GFshay

Recommended Posts

GFshay Apprentice
GFshay
Posted

I had my official diagnosis for Celiac 2 days ago but was able to start my gluten-free lifestyle one week ago (yay!) after my endoscopy. I have been starting to feel much better, but then today I took CVS Extra Strength Headache Relief (the generic for Excedrin), in the rapid release capsules because of a headache. I then cooked a lovely, carefully gluten-free meal.

Literally 15 minutes after finishing the meal (and maybe 20-30 min after taking the meds), I experienced rapid bloating and painful gas. It seems to be stabilizing now so I'm not getting any sicker than that, but it's frustrating. Could it be something from a cross contaminated kitchen (I'm still working on cleaning it fully), or is it the medication?

I saw on some other discussions that CVS in general varies greatly in terms of ingredients... the inactive ingredients were listed only on the outside box, which I threw away and only kept the bottle. I did find ingredients for the coated tablets. They are:

cellulose, hypromellose, polyethylene, glycol, povidine, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium starch glycolate, starch, stearic acid, titanium dioxide.

Could the starch or something else be the culprit? Do you recommend name brands? Are they more stable? Help!!

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

Unfortunately, medications (whether scrip or OTC) are always a crapshoot when it comes to starch. Often even the manufacturer cannot tell you whether the starch is wheat or corn because their suppliers don't tell them. It is so frustrating :angry: There is currently a petition running on the forum to try to get the FDA to force them to label gluten. Sign it!

And by the way, welcome to the forum!

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

In foods in the US, the single word starch must be corn starch.

There is no similar rule for pharmaceuticals, although the most common starch is, in fact, corn starch. In North America, corn is plentiful, and is generally the cheapest starch available, which is why it is the most common.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I agree with Peter that corn is the most commonly used starch in the U.S. However, I had a prescription filled at Walmart and found that it was manufactured in Mumbai!!

T.H. Community Regular
T.H.
Posted

Could be the pills, could be your food. For the meds.

gluten-free food can pretty easily be contaminated, or have higher levels of gluten than your body can tolerate. That's one of the frustrating parts about celiac disease. We all have differing levels of sensitivity, and 'gluten free' is merely 'gluten less than a certain amount', so we often have to feel our way rather blindly among the gluten free foods, discovering which ones we can tolerate, and which ones we can't.

Did you use any new product for your food? A flour, starch, oil, anything? Might be a good one to steer clear of, if you did. Or if you're feeling up for some pain, you could try just that new product and see how you feel, ya know?

GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

It's good that you went gluten free. The somewhat common thing is for people to get more sensitive to gluten after going gluten-free than they were before. At least that's what happened to me. I was surprised when I had reactions to crumbs from my old toaster not long after going gluten-free. People on this board told me that could happen but I didn't take it seriously until I found out for myself. Duh!

The diet can be a bit tough when starting out, and I remember thinking I was reacting to all kinds of things as first. Some of them I was right and others it was my body adjusting. It seemed like my gut was hypersensitive for a good while after going gluten-free. Then again I have eliminated lots of foods that began to very noticeably affect me in the 3 years since.

If you start a food diary it might help you pick out foods that cause reactions. Eating simply with whole foods that are home-cooked with minimal spices is a good way to start.

GFshay Apprentice
GFshay
Posted
  • Author

I ended up sick all night... it seems like it was some major exposure... I didn't start to feel back to normal till last night and even now am not back to the health I had been feeling last week.

My best guess is the meds since the food was very simple. Nothing new. Ingredients were just fish, OJ, lime peel, and garlic with rice and broccoli. However, cross-contamination is definitely a possibility. Do you guys recommend getting a new colander, even if it's stainless steel? I washed the broccoli in my colander, which had in the past been used with pasta often. Also, our rice cooker might have had some contamination because it's also a slow cooker and has had beef stew with gluten inside it in the past.

Very annoying. Do you all recommend buying brand name over the counter drugs to keep safer from gluten ingredients?

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Archived

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

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable. The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body. So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days. Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte...
    2. lizzie42
      - lizzie42 replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine?
    3. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine. Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine. Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats. Meat, especially organ...
    4. lizzie42
      - lizzie42 replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      6

      Son's legs shaking

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc. Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food....
    5. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to Russ H's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      1

      Anti-endomysial Antibody (EMA) Testing

      That is interesting, and it's the first time I heard about the umbilical cord beings used for that test. Thanks for sharing!
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,870
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    KABoston
    Newest Member
    KABoston
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable.  The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body.  So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days.  Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test.  But even that test has been questioned as to accuracy.  It is expensive and takes time to do.   Because of the discrepancies with thiamine tests and urgency with correcting thiamine deficiency, the World Health Organization recommends giving thiamine for several weeks and looking for health improvement.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Many doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition and deficiency symptoms, and may not be familiar with how often they occur in Celiac disease.  B12 and Vitamin D can be stored for as long as a year in the liver, so not having deficiencies in these two vitamins is not a good indicator of the status of the other seven water soluble B vitamins.  It is possible to have deficiency symptoms BEFORE there's changes in the blood levels.   Ask your doctor about Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine that is better absorbed than Thiamine Mononitrate.  Thiamine Mononitrate is used in many vitamins because it is shelf-stable, a form of thiamine that won't break down sitting around on a store shelf.  This form is difficult for the body to turn into a usable form.  Only thirty percent is absorbed in the intestine, and less is actually used.   Thiamine interacts with all of the other B vitamins, so they should all be supplemented together.  Magnesium is needed to make life sustaining enzymes with thiamine, so a magnesium supplement should be added if magnesium levels are low.   Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There's no harm in trying.
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
    • Scott Adams
      Anti-endomysial Antibody (EMA) Testing

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      That is interesting, and it's the first time I heard about the umbilical cord beings used for that test. Thanks for sharing!
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.