3 Months Gluten Free

[zentex]

I'm new to the forum and new to the gluten free lifestyle. Making the transition was easier than I thought. I did love my bread and beer...

A bit o' background info: I'm in my late 40's, female and have been fairly healthy and active all my life. For the past several years I've suffered stomach upset and bloat after almost every meal. Sometimes it was severe, but mostly it was a minor annoyance. A friend casually mentioned that I should try going gluten free. I thought about it for a few days and did a bit of research and gave it a go. I'm not diagnosed as being a Celiac sufferer nor have I been diagnosed as gluten intolerant.

I have IBS that I have historically treated with diet (double fiber breads, whole grains, etc.).

Here come the questions: (They are buried in the story--sorry I'm long winded)

#1

I went 100% gluten free and right away the stomach aches went away within 24 hours. Yay! For a month or so the IBS was fine...and then I got constipated. No go for over a week. I added psyillum; lots of it (tid). I tried mineral oil--nothing. I tried laxatives--nothing. I was ready for urgent care when I finally started going.

Now I've been alternating between bouts of constipation and diarrhea--typical IBS for me. What do you all do for fiber??? Does anyone else have IBS? Any advice/insight?

#2

I've been careful but casual about my diet. I haven't intentionally eaten any gluten, and I've been nearly 3 months into this before I got glutened. Either I had been lucky and not been glutened before this or this was something different. I ate a piece of fried okra that I thought had corn meal only batter--but it also had flour. The next day I was really feeling ill: cramps, watery stools, general malaise. It has lasted off and on for about a week. Is this a normal reaction? Yikes! If so, I've got to be more careful.

Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from y'all soon!

[jebby]

Hi Zentex, I had a history of IBS for years before being diagnosed with celiac last year, but am pretty sure that I had celiac all along. My main sources of fiber are fruits and vegetables, as I think is probably the case for many of us on here. If you've been casual about being gluten free, you have probably been getting a fair deal of cross-contamination the past 3 months. You can learn a lot about cross-contamination through hunting around this forum, for example, making sure to keep separate tubs of butter, jars of peanut butter, etc. to avoid getting exposed to bread crumbs. It it typical for those of us with celiac and/or gluten intolerance to feel sick for days and days after consuming gluten, that is why we try to be so careful about avoiding it. Good luck!

[zentex]

Thank you for your response. I am making changes towards being more careful. I went into this on my own and it's made a difference, so I'll continue. I guess I'll have to experiment to see where my tolerances lie. I'd like to see if my issue is just a wheat intolerance, but after that violent of a reaction to a little piece of breading--I'm nervous about trying rye and barley.

MY IBS may or may not be gluten related. As a child and young adult I had horrible bathroom habits due my being extremely shy and self conscious. I would not "go" in public--ever. I didn't like to "go" in my own home if there was a chance that someone else would hear or smell my business. I held it a lot. I tried to wait for the all clear before using the toilet--nearly impossible in a family of six, but I tried. Now my body is conditioned to holding on for days and any change (diet, exercise, lifestyle, etc) will have it's toll.

The only other person in my home is my husband. We do share peanutbutter, but he rarely eats it on bread--he's a spoonful kind of guy. We each have our own tub of butter--I prefer real butter; for dietary reasons he eats margarine. Mayo we share--there's a potential source of CC.

My issues are going to be in restaurants and at social gatherings.

Thanks again for your insight!