Being Glutened / Changes In Reaction?

[India]

I've followed the recent thread about reduced gluten reactions/recovery. I certainly don't think I've recovered, but I'd like to ask if you guys have experience of gluten reactions changing or decreasing over time?

I've only been properly glutened once (18 months ago) and my symptoms included GI problems and muddling my words, usually nouns.

Recently, I've been forgetting things, making mistakes and muddling my words constantly (nouns, grammar, pronunciation... it's horribly embarrassing). I've had a stupidly stressful couple of months (new city, new job and more) and my doctor says it's just stress.

However, although my home is gluten free, I recently spent three weeks staying with relatives, plus since moving I've been around gluten much more, though I try to be super-careful. I've had a lot of C lately but no the other GI symptoms I'd expect.

So - could small traces of gluten be responsible for these problems? Has my reaction to gluten lessened? I'm kind of answering my own questions as I write this but I'd appreciate your opinions.

[Marilyn R]

I recently had this experience too. I was glutened at a restaurant, and had C vs almost immediate D like I always had before. But I still had the neuro reaction. I cannot go up or down a flight of stairs for about a week after ingesting gluten. It's too scary because my balance and control are all off, and my feet seem independent of my brain. I take the elevators. (I'm in office buildings multiple times daily with my job.)

I could still show up for work though, and last year I would have had to call in sick. Even though I didn't sleep as well as usual, I didn't get insomnia.

My symptoms have definitely changed. I have a new one too, eczema. I hate eczema!

[India]

Poor you, your reactions sounds horrible :/

I don't know if I'm being glutened or not... going gluten-free made me feel wrectched so I've been so scrupulous about avoiding gluten that I have no idea how sensitive I am. But I've spent much more time than usual cooking in gluten kitchens and sitting in pubs (I'm British!) with beer stained tables and wonder if this is the effect of being regularly exposed to small amounts. I'm having a couple of weeks of staying home and being extra careful, to see how that goes.

[T.H.]

So - could small traces of gluten be responsible for these problems? Has my reaction to gluten lessened?

I definitely noticed a change in my symptoms as this has gone along (I'm only about 2 years into the diet, at this point). Trace gluten seems to have an effect similar to what you experience, mentally. My memory gets a little worse, forgetting words and things like that more frequently.

I kind of wondered what it was, too, until I ended up getting a BIG gluten hit and my neurological reactions were SO much worse. I hadn't realized it at the time, but apparently my words were slurring so much people would have thought I was drunk, I had no balance, I couldn't understand what people were saying very well, couldn't figure out the right words to say for it to mean what I wanted it to. It was awful. And at the tail end of recovering from that, my symptoms got down low enough to match what had been my 'low level cc' symptoms.

so at least on my part, my reactions didn't lessen, I just became more sensitive to low level cc. Hoping your body went the opposite and you just react less now! :-)

[Skylark]

Your reactions and sensitivity can definitely shift around. I never know what "grab bag" of symptoms I'm going to get from gluten. Sometimes it's horrible D, other times I just feel unwell; I've also had no reaction other than anxiety a couple days later. The amount that sets me off has also varied considerably over the past six years I've been gluten-free.

[heidi g.]

I have had stomach problems from anxiety/stress since i was 16. I believe it can make the symptoms worse. But stomach problems can also give you anxiety too. Also, at any restaurants, there are high risks of cc. You could touch the tables and maybe of stuck your fingers in your mouth while eating. I don't even go out to eat anymore. I don't trust anybody's cooking except my own.