Glutened...or Paranoid?

[granolagal]

Hi All,

I've been diagnosed with celiac disease and have been gluten-free for a year now. Last night I went to my Mom's house for dinner (as I do on a regular basis). She normally makes "regular" recipes for everyone, and then my own special gluten-free version for me (e.g. scalloped potatoes with regular flour for everyone else, and a special pot made for me that is gluten-free). Everything I ate last night was TECHNICALLY gluten-free by ingredients. However about 10-15 minutes after I ate I started to feel really sick. I got a bad headache, I was so nauseous and dizzy and just felt awful. I ended up coming home and going straight to bed. I couldn't even see straight. Today I woke up and feel like I'm hung over (even though I don't drink) and am weak and irritable. I've never had noticable digestive symptoms or otherwise before. Even before I went gluten-free, the only symptoms I had were from malnutrition/malabsorption of my food. I wouldn't feel sick after eating a piece of bread, for instance. So this is all new to me. Could this possibly be a reaction to gluten?? Or am I just paranoid?? Also, does this make sense that I would react like this to a, probably, minor cross-contamination when I never reacted to eating full blown wheat/etc before?

Thanks for any replies...

[kareng]

It could be gluten. Could be a bit of food poisoning or stomach virus.

I used to try to cook gluten-free and regular at the same time. It's very hard to do. You forget and use the same measuring spoon from the gluten flour to the gluten-free flour . You have 2 pots of pasta going and use the spoon from one in the other without thinking, and on and on. She could have drained all the potatoes in her colander she uses for gluteny pasta. It's hard to know.

[Mdhriggin]

It doesn't sound unreasonable that you could have been glutened. It sounds like how my daughter reacts to even just a little cross contamination.

[granolagal]

Interesting. Thanks guys. I don't know if it would be food poisoning, since no one else got sick, but I guess there's a chance.

I guess it's hard to say. I worried right away "maybe I've been glutened!!" but I also didn't want to jump to conclusions. The good news is that I'm feeling better today. I just wondered if those were some signs I could look out for in the future. Has anyone ever done anything possibly stupid like take a bit of regular cake or something just to see what your reaction would be?? Or is that just crazy talk?

[frieze]

Interesting. Thanks guys. I don't know if it would be food poisoning, since no one else got sick, but I guess there's a chance.

I guess it's hard to say. I worried right away "maybe I've been glutened!!" but I also didn't want to jump to conclusions. The good news is that I'm feeling better today. I just wondered if those were some signs I could look out for in the future. Has anyone ever done anything possibly stupid like take a bit of regular cake or something just to see what your reaction would be?? Or is that just crazy talk?

Food poisoning can hit anywhere from hours to days after exposure...

[Dukebanta]

You were glutened. I have celiac, diagnosed 6months ago. Sounds like you caught yours early because of how you describe your symptoms. I did not have digestive problems for a long time but eventually did. The way you describe what happened describes many months for me until finally diagnosed. I would say don't try to figure it out because you can't. Anytime you eat in a group setting you increase you chance just because there is more people. I tell my family not to make something for me because there is always someone there that is a "picker"...they gotta try everything, and they use the same spoon. I have watched my family accidentally cross contaminate my gluten free meals. Their response is sorry and I am done eating. And these are the ones I saw. So that is a gluten hang over, it is real and I still get it. I also think you can refuse the symptoms with water and electrolytes'

[1desperateladysaved]

Well, I had a simalar response last evening to eating somewhere else. I brought my own food. My foods were lamb, kelp noodles, and an almond muffin. All of the foods I have been okay in the past. All foods made at home from scratch. I am having some for lunch, but not the ones I took alongs, but some I left home. I am thinking that rules out a problem with the particular foods.

On the way home I felt a pain in my abdomen and nausea, I also swelled up my abdomen and had general other swelling.

To heat the foods I placed them in a toaster oven. They were in a stainless steel small bowl with a lid. I put foil over the lid to keep it together in trainsit. I also had noodles cooked in a stainless steel pot which we brought from home. I rewashed a stainless fork that I used.

Some possible problems I could conceive of is:

The well used potholder I used dropped bits onto my lid which spilled into my meat as I removed the lid. Or

The stirring spoon touched something in the kitchen and went back into the pot.

Or the paper plate I used may have had gluten flour settle upon it in its history.

I am not saying that everyone has to be this careful, but it sure seems like I better be really careful.

I didn't have all of these symptoms in my glutenful days either. But I think my body is better able to complain. I mean I couldn't hear it complaining when it complained all of the time. Now, I have a peaceful existence contrasted with groanings. Does that make any sense?

Diana