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Do The Symptoms Get Worse When You're Accidentally Glutened?

chelsya2011

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chelsya2011 Newbie
chelsya2011
Posted

I officially went gluten free a few months ago, for the second time. The first time was a trial, then I went back on a normal diet and the symptoms got worse (ewness, diarrhea and constipation, my hair started thinning, I had rashes, nausea and occasional vomiting, I had absolutely no energy and slept as often as I could. One of the worst parts was the bloating, I looked five months pregnant at times). After only one month on a completely gluten free diet, I felt SO much better. Now my hair has stopped thinning, I feel better, I've started to lose weight because I feel like exercising again. I've begin to add in some processed foods, again, but sometimes, I'm completely wrong about the labels. Or the site will tell me it's gluten free, or sometimes I take a chance (not going to anymore!) because it says 'maybe' gluten free, and But now when I'm 'glutened' the symptoms are terrible. My tongue swells and my throat begins to feel closed off. I get severely nauseous and end up throwing up almost every time. My body doesn't want to move, I feel stiff and sore all over. It depends on what I've eaten and when I ate it; sometimes, I throw up 30 minutes to an hour after accidentally ingesting it, other times it doesn't hit me until morning. It seems like when I throw up and get it all out of my system, the other symptoms ease up quicker (which makes sense). I was wondering if anyone else has experienced these symptoms (swollen tongue and throat) and if it is worse after you've been on a gluten-free diet for a while and accidentally ingest gluten. I'm going to go completely off processed foods and not take any more chances. I'm getting tired of throwing up (and people at work have absolutely no sympathy, they couldn't possibly understand).

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unknown Apprentice
unknown
Posted

YES! My tongue gets swollen and it feels like my throat is closing up, along with an intense burning/eating away pain in my stomach. Almost like that burning feeling when you drink too much alcohol and didn't eat enough food, but 10 times worse and not in the actual stomach...all over. I've had a thyroid scan, brain mri and then told to keep benadryl with me at all times, because all the imaging came out normal even though my doctor said my thyroid was swollen. Right when I went gluten free it all disappeared!

I 100% think the symptoms are worse when I get glutened. I think it's because you're not used to it anymore and when it happens you realize how painful and strong the symptoms actually are (I'm pretty sure I read someone else on here say the exact same thing).

I got glutened at Thanksgiving dinner. The next day, my throat feeling came back along with that burning stomach pain and I almost wanted to go to the emergency room. I felt like I couldn't breathe, even though my lungs are fine. I was so bloated that I couldn't even put on pants that I just wore days before.

It sucks so bad. It looks like both of us need to be more careful :)

I think that the eating away/burning pain and the swollen tongue/tightness pain in the throat is us feeling our immune systems attacking our bodies. But, it's just a theory.

As for people not getting it, I understand. A family friend actually looked at me at Thanksgiving and said that if I just drink water before eating gluten, that I'd be fine because the water will make it not be absorbed. WTF!!!! I don't know where people come up with this crap. Like they know more about it than we do. And I know how I got glutened. 1) That same famly friend cut the normal pie and used the same knife to cut my gluten-free one, and 2) The cook (another family friend) was drunk and as she made my plate she forgot if she poured my gluten-free gravy or the regular one. I should have said something, but I didn't want to be a rude guest and it was the first time I'd seen them in years. Plus, I told them about my diet before I agreed to even come to the dinner, so I just assumed they'd be careful. I will never try to be polite if it puts me in danger of getting sick again.

unknown Apprentice
unknown
Posted

Oh, and another thing. The gravy was horrible.

Celtic Queen Explorer
Celtic Queen
Posted

That's pretty bad. If you're going to get glutened it should at least be by something that tastes good.

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