Have My Girls Been Glutened?

[Gluten Free Girls]

My 7 year old daughter, 13 year old daughter and I were all diagnosed with Celiac last summer. We are atypical and never experienced any GI symptoms. We are following an extremely strict and safe gluten free diet. Two weeks ago, we went on a trip to the beach. We brought all of our own kitchen supplies and food except for dishes and silverware. Within 24 hours of arriving at the condo, both of my Celiac girls were throwing up. I instantly assumed that it was a stomach bug because they have never had reactions like this to gluten. My oldest daughter had a quick recovery. My youngest daughter is tired. We are two weeks out and while she hasn't thrown up again, every night her stomach hurts and twice she believed that she was going to throw up. I don't know what the typical reaction to being glutened is. Our youngest can be fine all day long, and packed full of energy but then at night she falls apart. If they were glutened, this is their first reaction ever but I have heard that reactions can begin farther into the diet. Any advice?

[emaegf]

The typical reaction to being glutened is the same symptoms you would have had before going gluten free. Since each person is different their symptoms will be different. Open Original Shared Link

Since she is still having problems only at night there is something else going on. If she was glutened two weeks ago that should be out of her system by now. You could try giving her a small amount , about 1/4 cup, of tonic water (not the sugar free) having her sip it slowly in the evening to see if that helps. If not I would be calling her regular doctor because there most likely is something other than being glutened going on.

[mamaupupup]

A similar story from us...two girls dx with Celiac (I'm tbd, might know tomorrow!).

...we visited friends and used their dishes (but not their cutting boards or toaster, etc.)...we had glutened symptoms with our more sensitive daughter (5yrs old). Her symptoms are behavioral (really irritable, difficulty with impulse control).

We have since travelled with our backpacking set of cookware and dishes. Yes it feels funny (overly careful) to enter a friend's house and not use their dishes, but it does seem to help us. We also take a new sponge and our own dish soap.

Oddly enough, we seem to be ok eating at restaurants (maybe because their hot water for washing dishes is really hot?).

In terms of recovery, we didn't do anything particularly helpful...just really good gluten-free foods. I have read that lots of good hydration is helpful and possibly going back to very simple/safe/gentle foods. Our daily routine does include a probiotic which may be helpful (although opinions are mixed).

There are some nice teas which we used for our same little girl when she complained 6-8 times a day about belly aches when she first went gluten-free: Traditional Medicinals' Just for Kids Organic Throat Coat (because of the licorice root) and Triple Leaf Tea's Detox Cleansing and Revitalizing (has licorice root and ginger and other good things). Both are fairly benign tasting. We did let her add a little honey.

Otherwise, I think lots of love and understanding, maybe a smaller, gentler dinners (even something fun and out of the ordinary--breakfast for dinners for a week?), maybe a really nice gentle wind-down (read a new series of books?) and maybe an earlier bedtime for a few weeks? A hot water bottle to make her feel warmer/safer/cozier? Thinking of your little girl!

Sending you lots of sweet thoughts for a speedy recovery!

[Lfrost]

Prior to finding our son's allergies, he was vomitting each night/early morning yet seemed fine during the day--albeit tired and a bit run down. His doctor had mentioned that when the digestive system slows down (my son also has chronic constipation) that food is left sitting in the gut. When our bodies enter a state of rest, for instance when we go to bed, or take a nap, our body's natural tendency is to get rid of that food that is just sitting there in our gut, so we vomit (or get the runs) to get rid of it.

Not sure if it could be the same thing in your daughters' cases, or not, but it would seem that since with Celiac the body interprets gluten to be toxic, it might be their response to getting rid of that toxin?

Also, my son's symptoms prior to gluten-free were basically chronic constipation, behavioral, and that weird bout of vomitting nightly for almost a month. After going gluten-free for only a few days we gave him some gluten. All of his prior symptoms were back (except the vomitting, but he said his tummy hurt) and this time he also broke out in a rash on his face within 5 minutes of eating bread, his entire body was itching, he complained that his hand was hurting, and he started wetting his pants many times a day. It took about a week this time for the symptoms to go away again. It seems that in our case, when the gluten/wheat was taken away and then reintroduced, he developed a much stronger reaction to it! I am not sure if we took it away for even a longer period of time if it would cause an even stronger reaction or not.

It made me wonder if prior to going gluten-free our bodies (even though damaged) are used to fighting off these toxins so the symptoms were less severe. Then when the toxins are absent and our bodies haven't had to fight in such a long time when presented again, our body might come up with new ways to get rid of the toxin and it might take longer to get rid of it? Who knows? Just a theory, anyway, and I have absolutely no research or background to back it up!

[kareng]

It could have been a virus. Sometimes, the vomitting gets the balance of good bacteria off. Maybe some probiotics or yogurt everyday? She's good in the morning because she hasn't eaten for 12 hours. During the day she is eating and is having problems with the food. Just one thought.