Please Help

[jessimarie3]

Hello,

I've been gluten free for 6 months and have been fine until recently. After I eliminated dairy from my diet I was still feeling sick and my doctor had me stop eating gluten. My antibody screen came back normal, but I had definite reactions to gluten when I ate it so I haven't gone back. I began feeling sick again and met with a nutritionist who put me on a FODMAPs diet which helped a lot with my bloating and also made me realize i cannot tolerate any soy products. Recently I have found I am not longer able to tolerate any corn products. For the past three days I have had hunger pangs that have made me nauseous all day, and they don't go away after I eat. When I do eat I begin to have stomach problems and have to run to the bathroom within a half hour of eating. The only thing I have been eating differently is black tea. Sorry this is so long, but does anyone have any suggestions??

Thank you,,

Jessica

[veronika]

You said the only thing you have been 'eating' differently is black tea. Maybe caffeine is an issue for you? I know for me, I can't handle coffee or black tea (I get really nauseous and get some cramping). Caffeine tends to stimulate your GI tract, increasing peristalsis and can therefore lead to discomfort / cramping / diarrhea etc.

Perhaps try to cut out the black tea for awhile and see what happens.

More intolerances developing after going gluten free is not a surprise to me...I've had to cut out a lot of things myself after I began to see issues. Hopefully over time we may both be able to reintroduce some things, but if not, at least we will be feeling better for not eating them!

[tom]

If you're not already keeping a food/symptom journal, there's one thing that might help highlight what correlates to what. Especially because not everyone has same-day reactions.

Also wondering if you've considered an environmental aspect. Any change in workplace/school/home sometime before starting to feel poorly? Do you or someone close have a pet whose food you might contact?

[bartfull]

If the tea is in a teabag, that might be the problem. Many teabags have corn starch in them.

[jessimarie3]

Thank you for all of the quick replies! I haven't had problems with caffeine before, hopefully that isn't the problem. In the past week I have moved, started a new school and work schedule, which probably isn't helping. My family has many pets but I only handle the guinea pig and fish food, which hasn't given me a problem before. The tea I have been drinking is in a tea bag. I looked at the ingredients and they did not list cornstarch, but I emailed the company to see.

Thank you again for all of the help.

[bartfull]

It isn't in the tea, it is in the paper the bag is made of. There is corn in a lot of paper products - even some paper towels, paper plates, and TP! There are several corn allergy forums where you can find out some of the other places corn hides.

[ciamarie]

It might also depend on the brand of tea. I had to give up coffee because it was bothering me too much. I switched to black tea (which I would sometimes drink before quitting the coffee, anyway...); and I drink Red Rose brand. I did try a generic (less expensive) brand a few months back, and after a couple days I started getting glutened symptoms, so I went back to the Red Rose and it's been fine.