Can It Really Make You Feel This Badly?

[GFreeMO]

I just started my gluten free diet 2 weeks ago. I noticed am improvement after a couple of days but now I am back to square one. I am pretty positive that I had gluten on Sunday either from a restaurant or from a pre-packaged tamale. Ever since then. I feel like I have the flu but I don't. My face is all red and splotchy and it burns. My lips are cracked and bleeding. I have horrible lower gut pain. Had D for 2 days straight now I have floating or grey stool full of undigested food or just a mucus discharge mixed with undigested food.

Last night I had a red itchy rash on my back and I woke up 3 times with night sweats soaking wet. Today I just feel very worn out. Flu-ish and have terrible lower gut pain with the mucus stuff.

I have so much to do. I have to pack for Christmas. We are leaving to go out of town. I don't know how I am going to do this b/c all I want to do it sit here and cry. I'm so weak and in pain and sick of being sick. My hands are shaking b/c my muscles are so weak right now and I had to sit in the shower. My face feels like it's on fire.

I went to the dr and had blood work and it all came back ok except I have elevated liver enzymes.

Thanks for listening. I just feel like I am at the end of my rope with all of this.

[shadowicewolf]

Quit eating prepakaged stuff and eat whole foods. You are still raw and its best to avoid such foods.

[GFreeMO]

Quit eating prepakaged stuff and eat whole foods. You are still raw and its best to avoid such foods.

Right now I am using Apple Cinnamon Chex, Kirkland - Costco's rice milk and Bisquick and Betty Crocker. Nothing else packaged but like hormel lunch meat and bacon oh and coffeemate in my coffee. Those things I assume are perfectly safe.

[jerseyangel]

I just started my gluten free diet 2 weeks ago. I noticed am improvement after a couple of days but now I am back to square one. I am pretty positive that I had gluten on Sunday either from a restaurant or from a pre-packaged tamale. Ever since then. I feel like I have the flu but I don't. My face is all red and splotchy and it burns. My lips are cracked and bleeding. I have horrible lower gut pain. Had D for 2 days straight now I have floating or grey stool full of undigested food or just a mucus discharge mixed with undigested food.

Last night I had a red itchy rash on my back and I woke up 3 times with night sweats soaking wet. Today I just feel very worn out. Flu-ish and have terrible lower gut pain with the mucus stuff.

I have so much to do. I have to pack for Christmas. We are leaving to go out of town. I don't know how I am going to do this b/c all I want to do it sit here and cry. I'm so weak and in pain and sick of being sick. My hands are shaking b/c my muscles are so weak right now and I had to sit in the shower. My face feels like it's on fire.

I went to the dr and had blood work and it all came back ok except I have elevated liver enzymes.

Thanks for listening. I just feel like I am at the end of my rope with all of this.

You poor thing Try to take a deep breath and relax a bit because it it going to be ok

Unfortunately, what you are experiencing isn't uncommon. The healing is often like a roller coaster--and it can be so hard to tell what set you off. The foods you mentioned in your post are all fine, but this early in the process it would make sense to go back to basics--whole foods like meats, veggies, non acid fruits, rice, potatoes, etc. If and when you can do dairy, Greek yogurt like Fage that doesn't have thickeners.

Also, could you possibly have caught a virus? I know here in Jersey there has been a stomach bug going around and those can make you dehydrated.

Food wise though, I strongly suggest putting aside the prepared things until you are feeling better. (some of us discover additional intolerances shortly after going gluten-free) If your personal care products are not gluten-free, try switching--and even if they are sometimes the fragrances and things can set off our healing systems. Unscented laundry products.....etc.

[Adalaide]

Whole foods means truly no pre-packaged foods. (I'm not meaning your rice milk that is saving you from milk, but honestly most things that have ingredients and aren't simply a fruit, veggie or meat.) A lot of recommendations are to also give up milk because of the fact that it is so difficult to digest with the type of damage that celiacs have before we begin to heal. On one hand this can truly be best, on the other this expectation can be completely unrealistic for some people. I never gave up cereals completely. I tried and failed completely at giving up milk. Giving up pre-packaged convenience foods will pretty much be a must if you want to truly heal without contaminating yourself. (Things like burritos, soups, pretty much anything you can microwave and eat.) On the other hand, I personally (although someone may disagree) don't see an issue with things like lunch meats as long as you aren't sharing the package of meat with a gluten eater.

One step at a time. Set backs this early in the diet are normal, don't beat yourself up over it. Do a little, take a break, repeat. And remember, you are more than this stupid disease, don't let some dumb protein ruin your holiday!

[bartfull]

Coffeemate is not dairy-free. Maybe you could start drinking your coffe either with the rice milk or black. Black coffee is better for you anyway. Regular milk or cream makes coffee more acidic. Don't know about rice milk, but I bet if you tried it black you would learn to like it quickly.

[tarnalberry]

Yes, it can. But you could also have the flu, or one of many other things going around. Or even both. There's almost no sure-fire way to know.

And, as everyone else said, if you're not certain about things glutening you, going whole foods (nothing with an ingredient list, which chex, rice milk, premade mixes, packaged lunch meat, and coffee creamer all have) is how you *know* that you're avoiding gluten. (Assuming you've removed sources of contamination from your home.)

You don't necessarily HAVE to do that, if you can be VERY CONFIDENT of those ingredient lists. But restaurants... I'd just stay out of restaurants until you are feeling better, and comfortable with figuring out if you've likely been glutened or not.

[ravenwoodglass]

In addition to the great advice you have already gotten if you are not feeling better by tomorrow then do call your doctor and go back in. You may want to ask for stool samples to be tested as your symptoms could also be food poisoning.

[GFreeMO]

Thanks everyone. It is gluten related and not a virus b/c I have mucus and floating stools. I just feel so so sick with this. Celiac disease is really hard to live with and hard for me to manage.

I was using a dish soap that was "all natural" with plant based cleaners and plant oil fragrances. I emailed today to see if it was gluten free and they said that they did not know and that were not making any gluten free claims due to the fact that it was all plant based.

So I guess with celiac, sometimes we have no idea what made us sick.

We also moved into a new townhouse. The kitchen was a total pig sty when we moved in here. It was suppose to be cleaned before hand but never was. I cleaned the appliances that best that I could but I still can't get all of the gunk off of it all.

I guess I just have to keep trying to do the best that I can with this and maybe one day I will feel better. Hopefully.

Also, does anyone else get the night sweats?

[jerseyangel]

Also, does anyone else get the night sweats?

I did when I was sick--it fades away over time.

Be sure to wear gloves when cleaning that kitchen--and it is a good idea to be wary of "natural" cleaning products until you check them out, as you did