Starting 4Th Week Gluten-Free . . .

[DieWalkure]

Hi, all.

I've just started my 4th week gluten-free. I haven't had any diagnosis, tests run, etc., but gluten-free seems to be working for a lot, if not most, of my health issues: vertigo, migraines, excessive fatigue, severe menstrual issues, severe bloating, etc. I could go on with the list, but I won't.

It wasn't as if I had a plan when I started eating/living gluten-free. I've always wondered if a gluten-free life would make me feel better. After reading an article about someone with decidedly similar health issues who was diagnosed with a severe gluten sensitivity, I made the final decision to do this; and so here I am. Being in the profession I'm in, I've been able to find most of the gluten-free life information I needed to make this change happen.

The kitchen and bathroom have been purged of gluten and scoured. I'm reading labels until I go cross-eyed. Since I was already lactose-intolerance, the dairy elimination has been something of a non-issue for me. I've never been a fan of eating out often, and I like to cook; so food prep is working out fine.

The first three weeks weren't necessarily the easiest I've ever experienced; but they were valuable. When the vertigo disappeared within days of going gluten-free, I knew this had been a good decision. I honestly don't remember the last time I felt so good!

And then . . . this past weekend happened. I went out shopping, touched all sorts of fun things, washed my hands using commercial liquid soap in store restrooms (what was I thinking?); and by Saturday night, I felt like I was dying--awful stomach pain, a return of the vertigo, rounded out with constipation. I didn't eat anything that was prepared outside of my home during the holiday week. So, I'm a bit stumped. Can a glutening happen so quickly, so slyly that you never quite figure out what happened? (The only food that contained gluten on Thanksgiving Day was a pumpkin pie brought to the lunch by a friend. I used a separate pie-cutter for it, and didn't let it touch anything else.)

I'm finally starting to feel a bit more like myself today, except for lingering vertigo and headache.

Anyone have any thoughts, suggestions?

[tom]

Sounds like you really can't be more thorough than you already are, so congrats on that.

What a PITA that mystery glutenings can still happen, but rest assured you're not the only one. I've seen plenty of threads started as a "what of these things could've glutened me" question.

Sometimes a likely culprit is found & sometimes not. One that comes to mind that has surprised ppl is handling pet food w/ gluten - surprising since their suspect list naturally starts exclusively w/ human food & the gluten-detective process doesn't always go back to step one - making a suspect list - after it's been done once.

For some, maybe their top suspect ends up being a trip to the country during wheat harvest or they were somewhere that may've had airborne flour exposure where someone had been baking (it's said to last a day or more) or they find their friend's Pam-type spray was the one w/ wheat flour, though they'd dutifully all 'actual' ingredients.

Anyway, to answer your question, yes it can happen so slyly that ppl don't always figure out how. Hope you're feeling much better asap. Omg how I hated the vertigo pre-gluten-free.

[DieWalkure]

Sounds like you really can't be more thorough than you already are, so congrats on that.

What a PITA that mystery glutenings can still happen, but rest assured you're not the only one. I've seen plenty of threads started as a "what of these things could've glutened me" question.

Sometimes a likely culprit is found & sometimes not. One that comes to mind that has surprised ppl is handling pet food w/ gluten - surprising since their suspect list naturally starts exclusively w/ human food & the gluten-detective process doesn't always go back to step one - making a suspect list - after it's been done once.

For some, maybe their top suspect ends up being a trip to the country during wheat harvest or they were somewhere that may've had airborne flour exposure where someone had been baking (it's said to last a day or more) or they find their friend's Pam-type spray was the one w/ wheat flour, though they'd dutifully all 'actual' ingredients.

Anyway, to answer your question, yes it can happen so slyly that ppl don't always figure out how. Hope you're feeling much better asap. Omg how I hated the vertigo pre-gluten-free.

Thank you very much. It took a couple more days for me to feel like myself again, but since then, all has been well. I had wondered about the cat food, but I've been trying to wash my hands after handling it each time. Pesky cat. I may put her on a gluten-free diet, as well.

Yeah, the vertigo was mean. I don't miss it.

Thank you again.

[shadowicewolf]

If i remember right, thats not enough. Cat eats the food, cat licks itself, you pet the cat, so on and so forth.

[GFinDC]

If i remember right, thats not enough. Cat eats the food, cat licks itself, you pet the cat, so on and so forth.

Right, it's not just that they eat gluten, they end up wearing it on their fur. My cat does much better with gluten-free food too. She eats BG (Before Grain) food. If I switch her to regular cat food with grains in it she gets sick every time.

[Celiac Mindwarp]

My cat has a new lease of life on gluten-free food too