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Bulimic Reaction To Gluten

Hedgie

By Hedgie
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Hedgie Newbie
Hedgie
Posted

I am 43, I have been gluten free for more than 10 years. I was diagnosed in my 20s with Chronic bulimia because it didn't go away at the time "most girls" get over it. I now know that yes, there were some emotional aspects...especially in my teens and early 20's but mostly, it's gluten. So most of the time I am just fine and dandy. Once in a while though I'm not careful enough and I get gluten into my system. This almost invariably causes a binge/purge cycle...and I am just so very, very "over" this. Can anyone tell me the best and fastest way to get gluten out of my system so that I can reduce the reaction. Both my autistic 18 year old and I are gluten free, but my husband and 19 year old daughter are not, so there is always gluten in the house. My latest adventure involved soy sauce. I forgot to tell them gluten free at the restaurant, and decided to eat the food anyway. This was a mistake...

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Sorry to hear your reactions are so severe. :( I know about those ill-considered "oh, I'll eat it anyway" moments. I zapped myself last month with french fries from a shared fryer and I knew darned well I shouldn't eat them. Gluten messes with my mind too, though it's mostly anxiety/depression.

It sounds to me like you need a gluten-free house. Your husband can get his gluten favorites away from the house. You really shouldn't be worrying about CC at home when it makes you so seriously sick.

Some people have luck with L-glutamine for gut-healing. It seems to encourage your GI to heal faster. I also find it helpful to take some extra B-12 if I'm glutened, and inositol helps my anxiety. Is there a strong anxiety component to your bulimia? I also take natural anti-inflammatories like MSM and bromelain but I haven't the foggiest clue whether they do much. It helps the anxiety to feel like I'm doing SOMETHING.

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

I am 43, I have been gluten free for more than 10 years. I was diagnosed in my 20s with Chronic bulimia because it didn't go away at the time "most girls" get over it. I now know that yes, there were some emotional aspects...especially in my teens and early 20's but mostly, it's gluten. So most of the time I am just fine and dandy. Once in a while though I'm not careful enough and I get gluten into my system. This almost invariably causes a binge/purge cycle...and I am just so very, very "over" this. Can anyone tell me the best and fastest way to get gluten out of my system so that I can reduce the reaction. Both my autistic 18 year old and I are gluten free, but my husband and 19 year old daughter are not, so there is always gluten in the house. My latest adventure involved soy sauce. I forgot to tell them gluten free at the restaurant, and decided to eat the food anyway. This was a mistake...

Hi Hedgie and Welcome!

You post kinda hit me hard. Two years ago December 21 my gorgeous classical dancer niece died. She struggled with an eating disorder, and also had some emotional issues in her youth. She enjoyed some drinking, but not to a great excess...and her system just could not handle it and shut down. We lost her. And it was tragic loss for the world.

I feel the power is in your hands or ask for the hands of others. I would advise you to be more careful with your diet, so a bulimic response is not necessary. And if you need some additional counseling to manage your eating, please do. If you need your home to be totally gluten free for your health, do it. Your gluten eating family members are old enough to deal with it. They can eat gluten outside the house and respect your health as well as your daughters, while they are in your home.

There are many resources here...take a walk around and welcome again. :)

EDIT: Skylark always has good advice, I just post slowly ;)

Hedgie Newbie
Hedgie
Posted
  • Author

Thank you, excellent idea to make the house gluten free. Now that my daughter is in college especially, I can at least have a several month period of time with nothing to worry about. My biggest problem has been that according to the doctors I don't have celiac, and I went gluten free at a time when celiac was the only acknowledged "problem" with gluten. So there is still as small voice that tells me ( it's all in your head) I think today has shut that voice up! I will try the b-12 now... I don't think that I need further counceling, especially having found this site and feeling very vindicated! I just really need to accept the fact that even trace amounts of gluten are not going to be tolerable for me.

  • 1 month later...
carriej82 Rookie
carriej82
Posted

I am 43, I have been gluten free for more than 10 years. I was diagnosed in my 20s with Chronic bulimia because it didn't go away at the time "most girls" get over it. I now know that yes, there were some emotional aspects...especially in my teens and early 20's but mostly, it's gluten. So most of the time I am just fine and dandy. Once in a while though I'm not careful enough and I get gluten into my system. This almost invariably causes a binge/purge cycle...and I am just so very, very "over" this. Can anyone tell me the best and fastest way to get gluten out of my system so that I can reduce the reaction. Both my autistic 18 year old and I are gluten free, but my husband and 19 year old daughter are not, so there is always gluten in the house. My latest adventure involved soy sauce. I forgot to tell them gluten free at the restaurant, and decided to eat the food anyway. This was a mistake...

Hi Hedgie. I don't have any sage advice for you, but just wanted to offer an empathizing ear and pass on some virtual hugs! I too have suffered 18 years of bulimia, I am turning 30 this year and very happily married with 3 lovely children so I should not be suffering with this eating disorder anymore either. I should be over it. I found out only recently and quite by accident that I am gluten intolerant (have not been tested for celiac yet) and that some of the symptoms that completely disappeared the first time I went off gluten include: depression, anxiety, obsessive and negative thoughts, suicidal feelings, anger, irritability, feeling "out of control", brain fog, confusions... I felt these things since I was 12 years old and never understood why. My parents gave me such a hard time for being sad and depressed after I hit puberty, and I beat myself up for not being a more positive happy person, but I just couldn't be. I felt horrible all the time. It's no wonder I turned to binging and purging, food was the only thing that game me any comfort or sense of well being for a short time. It was also gluten-filled food though so it also intensified all the awful symptoms and I sensed it was some kind of poison I could not keep in my body. So after eating, I got rid of the food. After 18 years of this behavior, and then feeling normal after being off gluten, I had no need to binge or purge. When I am gluten-free now my eating disorder is just plain gone. So I understand you completely and I too consider it a symptom of gluten. Best wishes and luck in your recovery. Sometimes its nice to know you aren't alone!

  • 1 month later...
cindy.k Newbie
cindy.k
Posted

I am 43, I have been gluten free for more than 10 years. I was diagnosed in my 20s with Chronic bulimia because it didn't go away at the time "most girls" get over it. I now know that yes, there were some emotional aspects...especially in my teens and early 20's but mostly, it's gluten. So most of the time I am just fine and dandy. Once in a while though I'm not careful enough and I get gluten into my system. This almost invariably causes a binge/purge cycle...and I am just so very, very "over" this. Can anyone tell me the best and fastest way to get gluten out of my system so that I can reduce the reaction. Both my autistic 18 year old and I are gluten free, but my husband and 19 year old daughter are not, so there is always gluten in the house. My latest adventure involved soy sauce. I forgot to tell them gluten free at the restaurant, and decided to eat the food anyway. This was a mistake...

Hi Hedgie,

I have also wondered what is the fastest way to get gluten out of my system. I drink a lot of water, thinking it will help the gluten go through my system faster and if I feel like walking I walk some thinking that the gluten will be used and go through my system quicker. These are just my non-medical person thoughts :) I would like to know the answer to this also.

I have 3 college age daughters and my husband who are not gluten free. I cleaned out some cupboards away from the others and claimed them as my own and put gluten-free signs on the front of them. I also bought containers for my foods in the fridge and labeled them also. I bought all new dishes for just myself. I wash my hands a lot also because of gluten left on door knobs, or wherever....

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      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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