Reacting To Trace Amounts Of Wheat

[happylittlemama]

Ugh. Today I have spent the day bonding with the toilet. And the only thing I can think of that has caused this bad of a reaction is a trace amount of wheat warning on a bottle of paprika my son used in spaghetti sauce last night. It seems that now 4 months on the gluten-free diet has caused knee jerk reactions to even trace amounts of wheat in spices. Is this normal? Do others have this reaction? And ohmigosh it's in everything! Almost immediately after eating anything risky I'm getting migraines, joint pain, canker sores and then the emergency dash to a bathroom. It was never this bad except on rare occasions before I got diagnosed. My husband gave me 5 small bottle cap candies to eat a few weeks ago and I had horrible stomach cramps from those, which we later realized had been processed on machinery that processes wheat containing products.

Is there anything you can do to speed up the "elimination" procedure on getting wheat out of your system (besides befriending the nearest toilet)?

[dilettantesteph]

It is perfectly normal for some of us to react to minute amounts of gluten. It is not normal for the rest of us. When I first got diagnosed I couldn't understand how it was that I reacted to things that other celiacs ate without any problems. We aren't all the same. It was such a relief when I finally figured that out. I only use fresh spices which I can wash first. I pretty well only eat things that I can wash first. I even wash my whole grains. I don't eat the processed ones. I also sort them and every once in awhile I find gluten grains in there. No wonder. I haven't figured out a way to make it go away faster except to wait for my body to heal. Glutenings are not nearly as bad now and they go away faster too.

[Skylark]

I went through a phase this spring where I was reacting to trace amounts of gluten. Fortunately, now that I'm on the right amount of thyroid medicine, my immune system seems to have decided that a molecule or two of gluten is actually not going to kill me. The high sensitivity can come and go.

Drink lots of fluid to help your body flush the gluten out and keep you hydrated from the D.

[jerseyangel]

I've been gluten-free for over 5 years and I continue to be extremely sensitive to trace amounts of gluten. I was hoping that it would settle down, but I've about given up hope on that and stick with what I know is safe for me which is mostly whole foods that I cook myself.

It's different for everyone

[Mari]

I'm still very sensitive to gluten after 5 years gluten-free. I don't have a wheat allergy so my symptoms start about 6 hours after eating gluten. If I inhale gluten as with a pot of boiling pasta I begin reacting almost immediately with brain fog, poor balance and decreasing energy.

[polarbearscooby]

It seems every month I get more and more sensitive to wheat...I used to be able to eat out more...at certain places...and now I can't eat out hardly at all. I can't eat anything that's "made in the same facility as".... It's a struggle

[GFinDC]

Try searching on "glutened" and see what other people have tried.

[Marz]

Unfortunately yes, some of us are that sensitive. Anything with "traces of gluten" makes me just as ill as the "real thing". I took a flavoured version of maize/corn porridge a few weeks ago when the non-flavoured was out of stock, not checking the label, and found out only after eating a bowl that it had "traces of gluten". I checked after the unexpected loo befriending, and lo and behold! Love that choice of words btw

I sometimes use products that are "made in the same factory as", hoping they've at least kept the products separate, but I'm sure some people don't even risk that.

[Rowena]

*runs* I'm gettin outta yer way! Don't push me! Darn it! *falls from running so fast*

Ugh. Today I have spent the day bonding with the toilet.

Ah, John and I have become quite good friends. I've talked with him a lot in the past year and a half. *grin*

Anyway, I've only been on this diet for just under a month. ( five days till its been a month!) But I can tell ye, ye ain't the only one who reacts like that to traces of gluten. (But for me its very annoying because I cannot throw up. Not for the life of me. Only times I throw up are when I eat fish. Strange thing is I don't throw up when something contains fish oils or something, I just get nauseous and the pain is awful.) As for how to cope with it, I don't cope well probably. I curl up in my bed with a bowl, just in case, ye know. Then I read or play video game. (By which I mean watch my hubby play video games. I never have enough energy to do more than that. And I only do so for a few minutes before falling asleep.) Sometimes I'll eat a larabar... (My version of the whole eat crackers to settle your stomach deal.)

[happylittlemama]

Thanks for your posts. It's always nice to know you aren't the only one suffering out there. I've been getting a little better that when I am glutened within two days I'm ok again. I used to never throw up, and now I notice I have a lot more nausea with cases of throwing up as well. My iron is back up (thanks to IV infusion iron) so I think that helps me not feel like I'm dragging and keeps me down for days at a time. All part of the healing, I suppose. I had read that eating apples helps? Anyone tried that? I take benedryl that helps with the hives I'll get. Oh, and I didn't think this was going to be an issue but I got suckered into trying some kind of facial stuff in the mall one day and while the reaction was immediate, I had acne and hives within a few days of using it. So, now I know I have to watch for what is going on me externally too.

Thanks again for the posts. HOpe you all have faster recoveries after your glutenings.

[Gormur]

yea i'm more sensitive than i thought. i went out for dinner (big mistake) and only had a salad, but apparently the salad dressing had gluten in it cause within 30min i was feeling really depressed, anxious, dizzy and hot..sweating.. Luckily my mom was there and had an epipen, so i gave myself a shot and started to better within a few hours

Visiting my family over the holiday, i found out my cousin is also celiac. Apparently her allergy is so severe she has a reaction from the smell of wheat/gluten in the room

I also can't eat anything with trace amounts or possible traces of wheat/gluten/etc. I ate a couple nuts today, got a headache, rash and my body started to itch like i had fleas. My joints are still really rigid. Then i looked at the back of the container - may contain wheat, soy and other nuts.

Beware!