Gluten Free For 3 Months And Still Spend Days In Bed From Pain And Nausea

[cyberprof]

  On 6/8/2011 at 2:49 AM, Coolclimates said:

Is it possible for my food to absorb "gluten fumes" from the microwave? I'm just wondering if this might be an issue...

I think so. I'm certainly concerned about it because in the early days gluten-free, I got glutened and I think that was the source.

I cover EVERYTHING in the microwave, even at home where it gets little to no gluten. I use a plastic dome cover over plates. I wrap bacon in paper towels. I even cover things like butter when I'm melting it or soup when I'm heating it up. I put plastic wrap over bowls.

Call me paranoid, but I get sick a lot less often now.

[dilettantesteph]

I'm a super sensitive celiac. I wasn't able to find a gluten free cereal which I could tolerate. Could you try a diet of produce and meats?

[Kim69]

Hi miss Bonnie. Yes I am working full time as an engineer. To begin with I had a lot of time off work - a day off here and there and I worked from home in my pajamas. Now, a year later, I am certainly getting better, but on the weekends I am often in bed by 2pm for a few hrs. And by 2pm at work I am basically useless I am so tired. I managed to stay at work today till 4pm but I commented to my husband that really by 2 or 3 pm Every day i am ready for a nap. I am investigating as many avenues as possible and am further limiting my food in the hope of hitting the right combo of foods.

I am also seeing a therapist (who will be very disappointed that I have stopped eating breakfast cos I feel yuck) who is helping me deal with my issues with food and lack of energy.

It looks like you have a really healthy diet and it's really annoying to think that perhaps you may have other food intolerances. Fructose is a big no no for me - I can eat no apples, pears, onions, asparagus etc and I also can't eat legumes, cauliflower and more - I had a breath test to diagnose and avoiding these foods is reducing the pain so that I have some pain free hours. I still have issues with

gas so I have recently got stricter removing that. I haven't noticed any improvement though.

I hope you start to feel better soon, so that you can get

back to living!

[Coolclimates]

yes, your problems could be caused by lactose intolerance or other food intolerances. I would get checked for other food allergies to see if there is something else that is making you so sick. Although my blood tests showed I was not allergic to anything, I have pushed to get retested, this time with the skin prick testing. I have not been healing even though I've been on a very strict gluten-free diet, and have heard that the skin tests are better than the blood tests.

[GlutenFreeManna]

  On 6/10/2011 at 2:08 AM, Coolclimates said:

yes, your problems could be caused by lactose intolerance or other food intolerances. I would get checked for other food allergies to see if there is something else that is making you so sick. Although my blood tests showed I was not allergic to anything, I have pushed to get retested, this time with the skin prick testing. I have not been healing even though I've been on a very strict gluten-free diet, and have heard that the skin tests are better than the blood tests.

If you are talking about food allergy testing, my allergist told me the opposite was true--tha thte blood testing was more accurate than the skin pricks. My skin prick tests showed no food allergies but my blood tests picked up a mild wheat allergy. That said, it is also possible to have intolerances that make you very sick and not have it show up as an allergy with allergy testing. I have an anaphylactic reaction to milk. My tonuge tingles and gets puffy and I have difficulty breathing. If I can get Benedryl in me before it get too bad the swelling goes down enoguh I can avoid the emergency room, but it's still really bad. My dr has prescribed an epi-pen for the allergic response. My blood and skin prick tests, however showed no sign of an IgE milk allergy. The dr did admit the tests are not 100% (there is a small chance of false negatives). He said my best test was my own body's reactions and that I should avoid all milk and continue to carry the epi-pen.

Now, I'm guessing you do not have life threathening reactions to something, but intolerances that don't show up on tests could still make you very sick. IMO the best method of finding these intolerances is with an elimination diet. Strip your diet down to 3-4 foods only or cut out all 8 top allergens plus anything you suspect may be a problem for you. If you feel better after two weeks then add one new food per week until you have a reaction or are sure you ar eokay with that food. If you do not feel better after two weeks then rotate to a different set of foods and try again.