Another Allergy?

[Hamster101]

I havent had gluten for about three weeks now, and for two of those I felt brilliant. I tried to eat some pork at the weekend (an intolerance I gained with the gluten intolerance) and that had a nasty effect on my stomach, but five days later the symptoms have gotten worse rather than better.

- had a headache all week, which water and painkillers wont touch.

- sleeping is out of whack.

- Upper stomach feels gassy and delicate

- GI tract uncomfortable, gassy and slightly painful.

I have been meticulous this week because of the paint hat started on monday evening, and am certain I have not eaten anything with gluten in. At University I have double and triple checked what I eat there has no gluten and little to no risk of contamination, though my intolerance is yet to get that severe, and yet I am still experiencing these symptoms.

Recently, we started using a different kind of flour which is wheat free, made from Maize, rice, potato and buckwheat flours, and tapioca. These are the principle ingredients, with raising agents (mono calcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate) and Xanthan Gum. We had a cake made from this yesterday because it was my father's birthday, and the following morning I'm feeling horrible.

It could be that I'm already unwell, but I'm almost certain this is not a sickness pain. It's too familiar.

Could it have been something in the flour, or maybe the egg? I want to track this down before I have to go through another few weeks of discomfort and pain. I havent eaten eggs since I came off wheat, so that is going to be my next step along the road.

My mum will laugh. She suggested I could be allergic to that as well.

[Kay DH]

After I went completely gluten-free in January my body became a lot less tolerant of gluten. Before this, cc did not result in obvious symptoms, and now minor cc does. I have to make sure that flours that I use are certified gluten-free. Binned flours commonly have cc with other grains. If a labeled gluten-free food has "processed in a plant that also processes wheat...", then you are risking whether the food has gluten. Some baking powders have gluten. You need to become a bit of a chemist to wade through the morphs of gluten, such as "hydrolyzed vegetable protein." That said, you may still be getting glutened. You might try a very safe diet for a couple of weeks and see if your symptoms go away. Safe as in meats with no sauces, fruits and vegetables, rinsing rice before it is steamed. It is a bit of a pain, but becomes automatic through time. It also takes your body a while to detox, so symptoms can be influenced by that. If the symptoms are too different than before, you might want to check with your doctor.

[SGWhiskers]

If you are eating cafeteria food at the university, it could easily be cross contaminated. Lots of people have had problems with dorm food. Your reaction to the cake makes me think it could be possible cross contamination. Are the cake pans new? Did you use the same mixer that has years of flour dust impacted in the motor? Spatulas with gunk in the junction between the handle and paddle? Hot pads coated in old flour? A plastic cake plate? Aside from that, there are a number of people who have trouble with tapioca or xanthum gum. You will probably find that staying away from processed gluten free foods for the first 6 months will help. Then try reintoducing. But I do understand having gluten-free cake for a birthday. The way to test out eggs is to get over this one and then reintroduce just a plain egg. My suspicion is you got some accidental CC or an additional grain intolerance. Most of the time, other food intolerances cause you to feel poorly or have GI problems, but don't cause the same sensation as gluten.

You are still early in the diet and accidental cross contamination is common. Keep a running list of suspects and see what happens each time you are exposed to them. I hope you feel better soon.

[Skylark]

There was just a conversation in another thread about people being unable to eat tapioca. Apparently sensitivities to it are common. Maybe it's the tapioca or buckwheat.