Worse Before Its Get Better?

[AllergicToEverything]

After 49 years, with symptoms like chronic insomnia, eczema, bloating, constipation and frequent itching attacks, I've finally been diagnosed with gluten sensitivity. My GP thought I was nuts when I asked him to test me for celiac disease and was probably pleased with himself when my blood tests came back negative. Unconvinced, I decided to send a stool sample to enterolab and sure enough, the results show that am I highly gluten sensitive and allergic to everything else they tested me for (casine, eggs and soy), although to a lesser degree.

After getting my results, I've been trying to follow a strict gluten free diet and generally trying to avoid the others as well. A week later, it feels like I have mexican jumping beans are living in my abdomen. I had experienced this rarely before, but now it almost seems constant. I made a latte this morning with almond milk and agave nectar and it made me sick to my stomach. I hadn't made a latte in a month or two, but used to make them daily with skim milk and agave. I'm confused. I seem more sensitive to foods than ever before. Is this normal? Am I just now more aware? Or are these reactions somehow psychosymatic?

Bruce

[T.H.]

I seem more sensitive to foods than ever before. Is this normal? Am I just now more aware? Or are these reactions somehow psychosymatic?

It can definitely happen. Many of us find that we start reacting more to foods we are allergic to after going gluten free, as well as becoming more sensitive to gluten, too.

For some people, this happens over the course of weeks or months, for some it's very quick. I started having problems at about day 2 of my gluten free diet.

It might help to keep a food journal and go to whole foods(fruits, veggies, meats) for a little while, especially if you can drop the 8 most common allergens at the same time. That helped my family quite a bit when we were trying to track it down.

One of the issues for me turned out to be an allergy to something that is more common in gluten-free foods than in normal foods. Another was my sensitivity level of gluten.

Some of the alternative milks are pretty notorious for causing trouble with celiacs, actually, so it could be the almond milk, possibly?

And how are you doing on avoiding gluten cross contamination? If you live with others who eat gluten, or if you are still using old pots, pans, collander, cutting boards, toasters...that may be contaminating your food with gluten. Might be worth looking at.

[AllergicToEverything]

Thanks for replying. It's good to know hear that I'm not experiencing anything out of oridinary. I guess I'll just stay away from almond milk for now. I must confess that I'm a little depressed about all this. Avoiding gluten completely feels unsurmountable at times. Add to that all of other foods that I apparently need to avoid and the fact that I never seem to feel good after eating now, it's getting hard for me to keep my spirits high