I Could Punch Myself Right Now!

[AshBil]

Okay so I've been being really good with this gluten free diet for the last almost month now since I've been diagnosed. I'm doing research and reading labels and being really good with just doing whole foods as much as possible so I can reassure myself I'm not being secretly glutened. Well...it happened anyway. And a lot of it. Literally about 10 minutes ago now. I was in a rush this afternoon and had some stuff to do so I rushed out of the house and told my mom to make me something to eat because I was starved and hadn't eaten all day. So when I got home, I don't even think about it and ate what she cooked. I can't believe I didn't even think about it. All I've been doing is thinking about gluten and making sure it does not get into my body and here I was, chomping away on 4 peices of heavely breaded chicken and not even stopping to realize it. UGH! I feel so dumb right about now. I think my mom wasn't thinking about it either because she wouldn't have made them for me. I don't know what was hanging over our heads today that made us both completely forget about it. It's really weird. Maybe it's because it's only been such a short time...I'm not sure. But anyways, I'm now getting a little nervous about what I'm going to experience. The past 3 1/2 weeks, I still haven't felt much better to begin with but now that I've actually eaten a lot of obvious gluten, I'm worried. Before I was diagnosed, I didn't get D like I know some people get but I was having these terrible sharp stabbing pains all over my stomach and a lot of gurgling in my stomach as well as extreme nausea. Should I be expecting that or something much worse considering I've been gluten free for a while? I'm just in shock over how absent minded I was today. Thanks!

[GottaSki]

No punching yourself allowed (flipping thru Ceiac Handbook) - yep there it is - Rule #2 - accidents happen - especially in the early days.

It will happen again, not in the same way, but an ingredient will change in a product you have purchased before or you'll go out to eat and think you took all possible precautions or a million other scenarios. These accidents will become infrequent as you transition - you'll still get a bit angry with yourself each time it happens, but try not to.

You may not have a severe reaction, but if you do - hang in there and drink lots of water!

[Adalaide]

These things happen. After 10 months I ate soup that got me because I am apparently incompetent at reading labels. Everyone reacts differently. I take every time as a lesson learned, muddle through because that is all I can do with a gluten head and move forward. Accidents happen to all of us, the best we can do is learn from our mistakes, smile through it and carry on.

Lots of water. Foods that are easy on your stomach if anything is troubling you. Take it easy if you need to and if you feel like you need to sleep your weekend away, do it. Let your body take the time it needs to recover.

[AshBil]

I just feel so dumb about it. It took a couple hours but I feel disguting now. All it mostly is is really bad nausea. I feel like I want to throw up everything I've ever ate in my whole life! And my mouth feels really dry. Thanks for the support guys! Now I get to go through the best part...waiting it out. I can see this will be a fun weekend!

[GottaSki]

Oh...I am sorry it hit you hard. Lots of water. Ginger tea helps me as well - usually not until the next day.

Do you have digestive enzymes? They are a good thing to take daily while healing and do help a bit with accidental glutenings.

Hoping you feel better very soon

[gatita]

Ohhhh this was so painful to read... I have no idea why I haven't done that yet, because I am sooo capable of popping something into my mouth without thinking about it. It's been a miracle I haven't done it (yet). Done plenty of other dumb stuff though, like seeing "berries" on the label of a drink and not realizing until it was way too late that it said "wheat berries." Doh.

I sure hope you get through it quickly!

[moonablaze]

happens to all of us. I actually have nightmares about it sometimes. I'll dream that I'm halfway through a donut or a cookie or something when I realize and then I am just so SCARED when I wake up.

[GFinDC]

You can try some Pepto Bismol for the stomach nausea. Nettle tea may help if you are sore. Peppermint tea can help get gas out of the stomach. Lots of water is good too and some aspirin if there is lots of pain.

[CeliacShack]

I spent the first two months after my diagnosis using black pepper and baking soda that "could contain traces of wheat". I felt like a complete idiot when I discovered it, after thinking I was being so careful reading lables... and wondering why I was still having setbacks. I already had those in my cabinet, and never thought to look at them.

[MitziG]

Don't be too hard on yourself. After nearly two years of always thinking about what I eat, I absent mindedly grabbed a Nestle Crunch bar a few weeks ago and started to put it in my mouth before it dawned on me that DUH, I should probably look at the label! And of course it has Barley mAlt in it! Sometimes our brains just aren't on the ball, it happens. Hope you feel better soon!

[SMDBill]

I was at Olive Garden the other night with my daughter to celebrate the end of their soccer season. I wasn't sure if they even had a gluten free menu, but I'm not a fan of their regular food so I chose to just have a soda. I didn't even touch a breadstick or crumbs, but at the end the waitress brought me my bill for the sodas and handed us mints. I avoided food all evening and even spoke with a man about his health problem and he asked about mine. But there at the very end, what did I do? I opened the mint and had it almost to my mouth when I realized I had no way of knowing what was in it. It was chocolate and mint, but there was no way of identifying the ingredients. I was about 6 inches from the same thing you did when I caught myself. I gave it to my daughter to enjoy since she likes them and I made my way to the restroom to wash my hands.

I'm 2 months gluten-free and, although it was likely safe, I almost bit into it without even thinking. It happens. We've thrown out pots of noodles because we've cooked gluten-free and non-gluten-free on the same stovetop, carefully using only clean metal utensils in mine...and then making the mistake of using one utensil to quickly stir both. It's that easy to forget. If we're ever unsure we'll throw food out. What a waste and frustration. Since everyone is not gluten-free we do our best to make gluten-free dinners but sometimes they want non-gluten-free and they deserve to have it. But...our guard can't come down.

I feel your pain. I got glutened only once and it was rough. I know it will happen again but I pray and work hard to avoid it. We're human and prone to mistakes for sure. I hope you heal quickly and if you have any capsule probiotics, those may help. They don't break down until in the intestine so high doses of probiotics could also assist, along with the other great suggestions already mentioned. I take 20 billion cell probiotics (10 strains) but there are some much stronger. I doubled up when glutened for a week. Anything to help grow those healthy bacteria back, especially if you also have heavy D. Good luck!

[gatita]

happens to all of us. I actually have nightmares about it sometimes. I'll dream that I'm halfway through a donut or a cookie or something when I realize and then I am just so SCARED when I wake up.

I have those dreams too!!! Weird...