Please Help! New Celiac In Need Of Advice

[MandaSue]

Hi everyone. I am looking for advice on what i possibly could have eaten last night that caused a reaction. Any guesses???

I have had minor undiagnosed "stomach issues" my whole life and was diagnosed as a Celiac about 3 - 4 weeks ago? I have been eating a very strict gluten free diet ever since and have seen lots of positive differences. I know it probably takes longer than this to really know though??

Last night, I made a family recipe with (what I thought were completely gluten free ingredients) and I had an "upset stomach"-- mild pain, "tightness, "gassy",-- these are typically the symptoms I had frequently before I was diagnosed.

The recipe had:

-lean ground beef (which i've eaten in other gluten-free recipes and have been fine)

- instant mashed potatoes (package said "gluten free" and only prepared with water)

-canned creamed corn (Walmart brand that contained : corn, water, sugar, modified cornstarch, salt) the package said "a naturally gluten free food," which i know is just the manufacturer's way of protecting themselves b/c they are not making any claims about the possibility of cross contamination) -- i went with this brand b/c it was the only one that said "modified cornstarch" instead of "modified food starch" and i thought it was the safer choice.

-- cheddar cheese (i've been eating cheese and dairy and have not had a problem.

Do you see an ingredient that could have been the "culprit"? the corn maybe? or is it possible that it was unrelated? like not drinking enough water or eating too much? or drinking too much coffee with food throughout the day?? (although symptoms feel very much like how i felt frequently before i was diagnosed). Oh, and my boyfriend also ate all this and was fine-- that's what makes me think it was gluten-- SOMEHOW.

THE OTHER PROBLEM.... I usually try to "isolate" a new food so i know if i have a reaction or not. However, since i thought it was ok, i also had:

apple sauce (said "naturally gluten-free...") - i've had this before and been fine

biscuits that i made myself with gluten-free bisquick mix (and I had a diff batch the day before and was fine)

gluten-free pumkin cookies-- that i made myself and checked the ingredients.

Sorry for the long post. please let me know your theories/guesses/advice. Thanks!!!!

[psawyer]

Welcome,

The phrase, "a naturally gluten-free food," has nothing to do with cross-contamination. It is because labeling a food "gluten-free" is only allowed if that is a distinguishing characteristic of that particular brand of the food. You can have "gluten-free bread" because bread often/usually contains gluten. You can't have "gluten-free apples" because apples are always gluten-free.

Unless you have other food tolerance issues, "modified food starch" is safe. Wheat was always very rare, and today it must be explicitly declared. It is commonly tapioca with corn running second.

At four weeks in, you may still have healing in progress. Until healing is complete, it is not unusual to have a reaction to something that is gluten-free.

[lynnelise]

Sometimes when you are still healing you'll just have a bad day here or there and it's not necessarily caused by gluten.

I've read other threads saying newly gluten free people could have cross reactions to coffee. At least one testing company (Cyrex) claims so.

[ravenwoodglass]

We often have ups and downs in the beginning and it doesn't help that some of us will have delayed reactions. It may not have been the meal that you ate right before you felt ill that got you it might have even been something from a day or two before. Have you taken care to get a new toaster, strainer and replaced scratched non-stick pans and wooden utensils? If not that needs to be done. Also if you have a significant other make sure they are brushing their teeth before you do any kissing. That can get us too.

[T.H.]

Also if you have a significant other make sure they are brushing their teeth before you do any kissing. That can get us too.

I was just thinking that - if he had gluten within a couple hours of seeing you and ya'll kissed, that can do it. Or if you kissed his skin and he had some kind of lotion/sunblock/powder with gluten on it on his skin. Or kissed his hair and his shampoo has gluten - although often that's self-correcting, as it is washing out of his hair, mostly. You might want to take care when using your own, however, if you tend to rinse off the shampoo down your face where it runs across your lips and might get into your mouth.

...bizarre, eh?

[eatmeat4good]

That's about the right time frame for dairy sensitivity...at least that is what happened to me. I happily kept eating my cheese and dairy...and thinking I wouldn't be one of "them". Well, it sure took me a while to realize it was actually dairy making me feel lousy...several weeks after giving up gluten... I know you don't wanna hear that...and neither did I...but giving up dairy sure cut down on what I thought was CC incidents. Just sayin....

[Fairy Dancer]

Id blame the corn lol

[Jennaand2kids]

manda sue....it sounds fine....what spices did you use? that has gluten in it sometimes...

also, do you often have dairy? i was told when you are newly diagnosed you are supposed to stay away from dairy because it doesnt allow the villi to heal that was damaged with gluten?

Also do you mind sharing your pumpkin cookie receipe?

[Bubba's Mom]

The meal sounds innocent, but you may have had something the day before and as it went through your system symptoms were triggered?

I also would question the sources for anything you've baked. I'm 3 months into gluten-free and went to a gluten-free bakery yesterday. I bought several different cookies and a couple of scones.

I ate the scone with tea in the afternoon and felt fine. After supper I ate 2 different cookies. Within a couple of hours I started getting hyper and gerd, etc. just like I had been glutened. I was up all night and very ill.

I called the bakery this morning to check that what I bought was truly gluten-free. I talked to the baker. She said the sugar cookies were made with Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour. I've heard other eople say they react to BRM products, but never guessed I'd be one of them. The baker said she's heard of very sensitive Celiacs having a problem like I did. She told me in the future to ask which items have that flour in them.

[domesticactivist]

What about your cooking utensils, baking sheets, etc? We found that we became more sensitive of slight amounts. I have a post on the blog linked from my profile called going 100% gluten free that might help you identify some potential sources of contamination.

[Michelle1234]

I'm also going to chime in on the cooking utensils. I found as I eliminated gluten I got more sensitive. Everything that had a seam in it it had to be replaced, mixer, toaster, pots and pans that had a handle with a seam, spoons, etc. If there was a scratch or crack I replaced that also. After I did that then I no longer got sick from innocent meals in my own house. Also had to have hubby go gluten free as he was incapable of keeping his gluten coated hands from contaminating the microwave, refrigerator and sink handles. He didn't mind as he would rather do that than have me complain at him for spreading crumbs.

Don't forget measuring cups and measuring spoons.

Michelle

[AVR1962]

By chance would there be any xanthun gum in the gluten free products you used to make the recipes? It does not set well with me.

[Sherry53]

I was diagnosed in Sept. and have joined a local support group with about 25 people. At the last meeting someone mentioned that the grated cheese that you buy in a bag has flour added to it, to keep it from sticking together. Is it possible that you used this type of cheddar cheese in your recipe?

I find that I have good days and bad days and was wondering if I had actually consumed gluten or if as many of you are saying, am just going through the healing process. This has caused me to second guess almost everything that goes into my mouth. I almost wish I did get an immediate reaction so I would know what to avoid. I have questions about quite a few foods...will be so happy in 2012 when mandatory gluten labeling becomes law here.

[kareng]

I was diagnosed in Sept. and have joined a local support group with about 25 people. At the last meeting someone mentioned that the grated cheese that you buy in a bag has flour added to it, to keep it from sticking together. Is it possible that you used this type of cheddar cheese in your recipe?

I find that I have good days and bad days and was wondering if I had actually consumed gluten or if as many of you are saying, am just going through the healing process. This has caused me to second guess almost everything that goes into my mouth. I almost wish I did get an immediate reaction so I would know what to avoid. I have questions about quite a few foods...will be so happy in 2012 when mandatory gluten labeling becomes law here.

Its usally corn starch added to shredded cheese. If they added flour, they would need to label it. Think about flour. Flour sticks together when wet or damp (like cheese). Its one of the properties of wheat flour that is hard to duplicate in gluten-free bread