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What Could've Made Me Feel So Bad?

birdie22

By birdie22
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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birdie22 Enthusiast
birdie22
Posted

I've only been gluten free for a week. My usual symptoms (bloating, distention, heartburn, headache, haziness, exhaustion) have been improving. My celiac tests have thus far been negative but I'm trialing gluten-free to see if I see improvements. This morning DH made me gluten-free waffles that I topped with smart balance and maple syrup. W/in 10-15 mins I was visibly distended and nauseous. I took a phazyme and it helped. Last night I also had a similar reaction only I wasn't nauseated after dinner and dinner was pork, sweet potato and broccoli. I know the gluten-free is still so new and it'll take time to feel better (if gluten-free does work for me) but the reaction this morning was so immediate that I can't help but think it was something I ate for breakfast. Ideas?

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captaincrab55 Collaborator
captaincrab55
Posted

I've only been gluten free for a week. My usual symptoms (bloating, distention, heartburn, headache, haziness, exhaustion) have been improving. My celiac tests have thus far been negative but I'm trialing gluten-free to see if I see improvements. This morning DH made me gluten-free waffles that I topped with smart balance and maple syrup. W/in 10-15 mins I was visibly distended and nauseous. I took a phazyme and it helped. Last night I also had a similar reaction only I wasn't nauseated after dinner and dinner was pork, sweet potato and broccoli. I know the gluten-free is still so new and it'll take time to feel better (if gluten-free does work for me) but the reaction this morning was so immediate that I can't help but think it was something I ate for breakfast. Ideas?

Tell us how those waffles were fixed???

Hope you feel better fast....

birdie22 Enthusiast
birdie22
Posted
  • Author

Tell us how those waffles were fixed???

Hope you feel better fast....

Well, now that you ask I'm guessing there's a high chance of CC as the rest of the household isn't gluten-free (plastic mixing bowl, plastic measuring cups, etc). I guess I wasn't thinking that I could be that sensitive to CC, especially if I'm not celiac. But that's gotta be it. Bah humbug.

sa1937 Community Regular
sa1937
Posted

What about the waffle iron? Was it used for regular gluteny waffles in the past?

captaincrab55 Collaborator
captaincrab55
Posted

Well, now that you ask I'm guessing there's a high chance of CC as the rest of the household isn't gluten-free (plastic mixing bowl, plastic measuring cups, etc). I guess I wasn't thinking that I could be that sensitive to CC, especially if I'm not celiac. But that's gotta be it. Bah humbug.

I think you answered your question... btw, What type of surface were the waffles cooked on??

birdie22 Enthusiast
birdie22
Posted
  • Author

Yup, old waffle iron. W/out a celiac diagnosis I wasn't ready to ditch old kitchenware just yet...wanted to give the elim diet a try first to see if gluten was really my issue. As captaincrab said, I think I've got my answer.

Still not sure what the deal would've been on last night's dinner. The pork was cooked on stainless steel, sweet potato was microwaved on a clean plate, broccoli cooked in a non-stick pot that's only used for veggies. Reaction definitely wasn't like this mornings...just bloated w/ some gas pain (I get that often on a very empty stomach) but the heartburn really flared.

captaincrab55 Collaborator
captaincrab55
Posted

\

Still not sure what the deal would've been on last night's dinner. The pork was cooked on stainless steel, sweet potato was microwaved on a clean plate, broccoli cooked in a non-stick pot that's only used for veggies. Reaction definitely wasn't like this mornings...just bloated w/ some gas pain (I get that often on a very empty stomach) but the heartburn really flared.

Have any dairy with that meal???

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birdie22 Enthusiast
birdie22
Posted
  • Author

Have any dairy with that meal???

The smart balance has a very small amount of whey (pretty far down the ingredient list), but I've used that other times this week w/out issue. I don't seem to have a problem w/ soy either...use soy milk creamer daily, eat edamame, had tofu the other night...no issues.

sa1937 Community Regular
sa1937
Posted

Yup, old waffle iron. W/out a celiac diagnosis I wasn't ready to ditch old kitchenware just yet...wanted to give the elim diet a try first to see if gluten was really my issue. As captaincrab said, I think I've got my answer.

Still not sure what the deal would've been on last night's dinner. The pork was cooked on stainless steel, sweet potato was microwaved on a clean plate, broccoli cooked in a non-stick pot that's only used for veggies. Reaction definitely wasn't like this mornings...just bloated w/ some gas pain (I get that often on a very empty stomach) but the heartburn really flared.

I can't blame you for not ditching old kitchen equipment yet if you don't know if you have celiac or a gluten intolerance or something else. But if you plan to get tested, you really do need to stay on a full gluten diet.

That said, our bodies can be pretty wonky at first and we can have a very difficult time trying to pin down our reactions. And we can also react to something we've eaten a couple of days (or more) ago. I'm still puzzled as to why I react at times and I always want to blame it on gluten, which may not be the case at all.

ETA: Ooops...I should have read your first post that you were doing the gluten-free diet as a trial after having a negative test result. Sorry.

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Early on it could be anything (I'm referring to dinner), your body is adjusting 200 things right now....

I'd concentrate on getting the leftover gluten out of the kitchen and take it from there.

If you notice repeated problems with broccoli or pork then worry about it.

Btw, for me it would be the pork....they put preservatives in most pork these days, especially loins. They get me. I don't think it's gluten, but my body doesn't like them.

llama3 Apprentice
llama3
Posted

I've only been gluten free for a week. My usual symptoms (bloating, distention, heartburn, headache, haziness, exhaustion) have been improving. My celiac tests have thus far been negative but I'm trialing gluten-free to see if I see improvements. This morning DH made me gluten-free waffles that I topped with smart balance and maple syrup. W/in 10-15 mins I was visibly distended and nauseous. I took a phazyme and it helped. Last night I also had a similar reaction only I wasn't nauseated after dinner and dinner was pork, sweet potato and broccoli. I know the gluten-free is still so new and it'll take time to feel better (if gluten-free does work for me) but the reaction this morning was so immediate that I can't help but think it was something I ate for breakfast. Ideas?

I'm in pretty much the same position as you and I seem to have a problem with sweet potatoes. I'm guessing it's the starch. I also got very distended adn uncomfortable after eating some gluten free bread that had potato starch in it. It could be something else, but maybe you are having problems digesting starch right now? You could check the waffle mix and see if it has additives that you might be reacting to.

But I'm still having a lot of problems with a lot of things, so could be totally wrong here.

MarionG Rookie
MarionG
Posted

It could be multiple food intolerances. At first when I went gluten free, I was still feeling sick ALL the time! then I realized that I am sugar intolerant. This mean any type of fructose. Cane sugar, maple syrup, honey, agave etc. So I cut that out too. I didn't even hardly eat fruit for awhile! Then recently I was still feeling gluted sometimes, and I realized I'm one of the 13% of celiacs that are Oat intolerant. So out with the oats. In the early days when you are trying to figure everything out, it can be daunting. But never give up hope! You will find the answer, just keep persevering. also, as others have said, never underestimate the power of contamination. I have on many occasions and I certainly have paid dearly for it. Good luck!

birdie22 Enthusiast
birdie22
Posted
  • Author

It happened again tonight. For dinner I had leftover salmon and white rice with smart balance. I had both of these on Monday night w/out problem. About 20min after dinner I was visibly distended that I looked pregnant and the bloating was so uncomfortable that I wanted to rip my skin open to make more room for my stomach to expand. The feeling lasted about 1hr and then was gone but I still looked distended. Of course I only had one small piece of fish and about 1/2C rice so I was uncomfortable and starving at the same time. It was miserable.

Since I had this exact meal just 2 days ago the only thing I could think of was cc. When the meal was first cooked DH and DDs had a flavored lipton rice. Perhaps DH used the same spoon to put away the leftovers? I also reheated the meals tonight and put the girls food in the microwave first which had gluteny foods and then followed up with my foods. But I was careful to use different utensils and nothing that touched their food touched mine.

I just wish it was clearer that A causes B. All of my blood tests have been negative so I'm trialing gluten-free and when a night like this happens with no obvious gluten I can't help but wonder if I'm on a wild goose chase and headed to a dead end. Maybe it's not gluten at all???

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