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Stomach Bug Or Gluten?

e&j0304

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e&j0304 Enthusiast
e&j0304
Posted

I feel as though I'm goint to blame every thing that goes wrong with Ella on gluten!! :)

She had been doing SO well on this diet (it's been almost a month now) and then yesterday she was acting really cranky and irritable. She did say her tummy hurt. Today she has had loose stools 4 times and says her tummy still hurts. She is also saying she is hungry a lot today. Her symptoms pre-gluten-free diet were loose stools and an insatiable appetite (in addition to some other things).

So, did she accidentally get something in her system, or does she just have a stomach bug? My nephew has a stomach bug so I know it's maybe going around although we haven't been around him for several weeks.

I know I'll probably never know the answer and I'll probably always wonder everytime she gets sick!! I knew you would all understand how I feel!

Shannon

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Carriefaith Enthusiast
Carriefaith
Posted

My gluten symptoms can be a lot like the flu (brain fog, dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea, a general sick feeling). For me there are a few things that distinguish a gluten accident from the flu, maybe some of them would apply to your daughter.

- I break out in mosquito/chicken pox-like bumps on the skin.

- localized stomach pain (it is in the same spot everytime I get glutened)

- bloating

- bad gas

scaredparent Apprentice
scaredparent
Posted

My son has been gluten-free since Feb and when he gets glutten he gets big sores on his bottom and dh. He is also very fussy. When it is the flu he just get dh.

e&j0304 Enthusiast
e&j0304
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the replies. I really don't know what she has...I guess it will be hard for me to tell just yet since we have not been gluten-free for very long.

Carrie, what kind of dog do you have? I'm asking because we just a King Shephard puppy. She is 3 months old. She is a pretty good little puppy most of the time, but has gone in the house 3 times today...

She hasn't chewed up too much! Anyway, just saw your dog and she looks a lot like mine.

Shannon

Guest taweavmo3
Guest taweavmo3
Posted

I can completely relate to this......Emmie did the same thing in the beginning of the new diet. It seemed like she was sicker than usual, and I was going nuts trying to figure out if it was gluten or a bug. Soon after starting the diet, Emmie seemed to pick up every bug possible. Before the diet, she may have looked deathly ill, but she hardly ever actually got sick with anything. This is just my little theory, but I think the initial stage of the diet put her body into a shock of some sort and made her more suseptible to bugs. For the first couple of months, she had several random fevers, and a few days of intense headaches and tummy pains. I clearly remember thinking how odd it was that she was so much sicker on the diet than off.......but something was working, b/c she was putting on weight and growing.

Then there was the one time I thought that she was having a definate gluten reaction, called every food company again to double check....and it turned out to be roseola! It's been nearly two months now though since she's had any sort of illness, and she seems stronger than ever. My son started school a couple of weeks ago, bringing home all sorts of little germies, and Emmie hasn't caught a thing. I think it just takes a while for their little bodies to adjust and build up their immune system again. The first few months are bumpy to say the least! Glad to hear Ella is still doing well......I love hearing her updates!

Carriefaith Enthusiast
Carriefaith
Posted
Carrie, what kind of dog do you have?
He is a German Shepard and he is the biggest baby :) He thinks he's a poodle.
e&j0304 Enthusiast
e&j0304
Posted
  • Author

Tamara,

Thanks for posting. I am still not sure what's wrong with Ella. Again today, she's just not herself. She hasn't had loose stools today, but is very moody and has been crying about eating all day. We have been on this diet for a month now and she was doing SO well and this just totally stinks. I guess we'll just keep going with it and hope that she gets back to where she was before. Now that I know how wonderful life with her can be, when we have a set back it seems worse than if it had just stayed bad. Hopefully that makes sense. It's kind of funny because when she was doing so well it made me realize how awful it really was before. Even though I knew she was sick and things weren't right, I guess when you're in the moment you don't always see things for what they are. Anyway, thanks for thinking of us. I hope little Emmie is doing well. :-)

Carrie,

Your dog is beautiful. I think ours thinks she's a lot smaller than she is too. I'm glad to see someone else who loves their Shepard. I'm so sick of everyone thinking that she's automatically going to be a mean dog because of her breed. I find that it's usually people who have never had one who think that. Usually people who have Shepards think they're the best dogs.

Thanks again,

Shannon

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Carriefaith Enthusiast
Carriefaith
Posted
Usually people who have Shepards think they're the best dogs.
I love shepards, they are people lovers and would do anything for their owners.
backwoodsmama Newbie
backwoodsmama
Posted

I can really sympathize with your worry - I have real gut-wrenching anxiety whenever my kids are up in the night crying (they're 1 and 4) wondering if it's teething pain, or a virus, or did I acccidentally feed them something with gluten in it? But my husband absolutely does not share ANY of my worry - just shrugs it off! I will spend hours going over everything they might have eaten in the past week which could have set off a reaction. Not him. Drives me crazy!

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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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