Glutened Or Colitis?

[sandsurfgirl]

I had very bad colitis a few weeks ago and ended up hospitalized for it. It was so painful I went to the ER and they put me in the hospital for 2 days on massive antibiotics even though they weren't really sure if it was bacterial. My CT scan showed massive swelling on my left side of my colon. All my blood and urine labs were normal. The antibiotics helped though so I figured it was bacterial. It went away for the past couple of weeks.

I got pretty bad constipation the past couple of days. Cleared it up with stewed prunes last night before bed. But today I'm bloated and have that lower gut pain. I'm really uncomfortably bloated right now. I'm wondering if I have C again.

I did have some Trader Joe's chocolate macaroon cookie thingies with ganache yesterday. There are no gluten ingredients listed on the label but it is done with shared lines. But I thought Trader Joe's was very careful with CC so I didn't worry about it. A couple of hours later I had my usual anxiety and feeling like crawling out of my skin that I get when glutened.

Now I'm just not sure what to do. Wait it out and figure it's a glutening? Is there anything I can do if it's colitis? Should I go back to my doctor? I hate going to the doc for gut stuff because usually they shrug their shoulders. My good doctor changed jobs and I have a not so great one now. I need to find a new one, but in the meantime I'm stuck with him.

If any of you have colitis I would love any advice you have. I'm supposed to get a colonoscopy but now the insurance is reviewing it. Jerks. They might deny it and then I'll have to argue with them.

[SarahJimMarcy]

I just went through something similar -- dehydrated and a couple bags of fluids -- and Urgent Care said it was colitis. Though I had the colonoscopy, the GI hasn't really said if it's acute or chronic or just an inflammation or what. I wish I had some advise for you but all I can do is commiserate. I am getting the same set of non answers. It's very frustrating, isn't it?

[sandsurfgirl]

I just went through something similar -- dehydrated and a couple bags of fluids -- and Urgent Care said it was colitis. Though I had the colonoscopy, the GI hasn't really said if it's acute or chronic or just an inflammation or what. I wish I had some advise for you but all I can do is commiserate. I am getting the same set of non answers. It's very frustrating, isn't it?

It sure is frustrating! They gave me two types of IV antibiotics for 2 days in the hospital and they helped a lot until now. But my blood tests were all negative for infection so what does that mean? The doctors had no explanation, not the ER doc, the hospital doc or my doc. My white blood cell count was normal. They cultured my stool and it was all negative for anything alarming. They took tests for C Diff bacteria 3 times. Negative, yet antibiotics helped. Go figure.

I just wish I could tell if I was glutened or if it was colitis again. I read about colitis and it said diarrhea not constipation but I've had constipation. Even after going this morning I was stopped up again today and had to eat more stewed prunes. I'm afraid to take a laxative because if it is colitis then I think that might irritate it.

Sorry for the graphic poop talk. You people are the only ones I can have in depth poop conversations with! Thanks guys. LOL

[YoloGx]

"I did have some Trader Joe's chocolate macaroon cookie thingies with ganache yesterday. There are no gluten ingredients listed on the label but it is done with shared lines. But I thought Trader Joe's was very careful with CC so I didn't worry about it. A couple of hours later I had my usual anxiety and feeling like crawling out of my skin that I get when glutened. "

I hate to tell you, but its my belief you did get glutened by the cookies etc. I used to think it was OK to eat things made by TJ's on shared lines with wheat, but both my bf and myself have gotten badly glutened from cross contamination ('CC) eating such items.

My best advice is to only eat things not made on shared lines or in a facility that also processes wheat.

If you end up being really sensitive (as I am) you many need to make most everything from scratch, especially at first. Think of it this way, it costs far less and is usually a lot better for you.

Am also wondering why you were eating chocolate macaroon cookies right after having been in the hospital for severe intestinal difficulties... Might want to wait a bit to heal more before introducing sugary chocolatey items.

Meanwhile, consider taking some pro-biotics and eating things like papaya and pineapple maybe with some plain yogurt to calm things down, assuming you are not allergic to them. Vegetable smoothies made in your blender might also be a good idea... I like to make them combining chopped up celery with parsley and lettuce. Further, home made chicken/ vegetable/brown rice soup is very healing.

Bea

[YoloGx]

"I did have some Trader Joe's chocolate macaroon cookie thingies with ganache yesterday. There are no gluten ingredients listed on the label but it is done with shared lines. But I thought Trader Joe's was very careful with CC so I didn't worry about it. A couple of hours later I had my usual anxiety and feeling like crawling out of my skin that I get when glutened. "

I hate to tell you, but its my belief you did get glutened by the cookies etc. I used to think it was OK to eat things made by TJ's on shared lines with wheat, but both my bf and myself have gotten badly glutened from cross contamination ('CC) eating such items.

My best advice is to only eat things not made on shared lines or even in a facility that also processes wheat.

If you end up being really sensitive (as I am) you many need to make most everything from scratch, especially at first. Think of it this way, it costs far less and is usually a lot better for you.

Am also wondering why you were eating chocolate macaroon cookies right after having been in the hospital for severe intestinal difficulties... Might want to wait a bit to heal more before introducing sugary chocolatey items. One thing to watch out for too are Glutino cookies. Both my bf and I reacted to them. It didn't last as long as a regular glutening, however it was downright unpleasant as well as being unexpected. In Canada and Europe they sell baked goods made from de-glutenized wheat. For many celiacs its OK; however for other it just plainly is not. Some of us need a much lower count than 20 PPM of gluten that is the accepted norm.

Meanwhile, consider taking some pro-biotics and eating things like papaya and pineapple with a bit of plain yogurt to calm things down, assuming you are not allergic to them. Vegetable smoothies made in your blender might also be a good idea... As is home made chicken, vegetable, brown rice soup.

Bea

[sandsurfgirl]

"I did have some Trader Joe's chocolate macaroon cookie thingies with ganache yesterday. There are no gluten ingredients listed on the label but it is done with shared lines. But I thought Trader Joe's was very careful with CC so I didn't worry about it. A couple of hours later I had my usual anxiety and feeling like crawling out of my skin that I get when glutened. "

I hate to tell you, but its my belief you did get glutened by the cookies etc. I used to think it was OK to eat things made by TJ's on shared lines with wheat, but both my bf and myself have gotten badly glutened from cross contamination ('CC) eating such items.

My best advice is to only eat things not made on shared lines or even in a facility that also processes wheat.

If you end up being really sensitive (as I am) you many need to make most everything from scratch, especially at first. Think of it this way, it costs far less and is usually a lot better for you.

Am also wondering why you were eating chocolate macaroon cookies right after having been in the hospital for severe intestinal difficulties... Might want to wait a bit to heal more before introducing sugary chocolatey items. One thing to watch out for too are Glutino cookies. Both my bf and I reacted to them. It didn't last as long as a regular glutening, however it was downright unpleasant as well as being unexpected. In Canada and Europe they sell baked goods made from de-glutenized wheat. For many celiacs its OK; however for other it just plainly is not. Some of us need a much lower count than 20 PPM of gluten that is the accepted norm.

Meanwhile, consider taking some pro-biotics and eating things like papaya and pineapple with a bit of plain yogurt to calm things down, assuming you are not allergic to them. Vegetable smoothies made in your blender might also be a good idea... As is home made chicken, vegetable, brown rice soup.

Bea

Yeah I think I did get glutened. Darn those cookies were GOOD! Oh well. No more of those. I am very sensitive now, so it was probably crazy of me to try them. I even thought "Hmm maybe these are dangerous" and then I took a walk on the wild side.

I hope it is a glutening because that will go away soon. If it's colitis again then it might be ulcerative colitis or any of the other nasty forms of colitis and I do not want those!