Do Normal People Have This Problem?

[gointribal]

I find it interesting that after being gluten free for a while and then eating something with gluten I am worse then I was before I went gluten free. Does this happen with normal people, people without celiac disease? I don't know if I have Celiac Disease I haven't been offically diagnosed yet so I was wondering if it was just me or what? Got any ideas?

[jerseyangel]

Gointribal--That is a good question! I have wondered that, myself. One thing I remember is that several years ago, a friend and I did the Atkins diet together. When I started to eat breads again, I did notice that it didn't seem to agree with me. But while on the diet, I was not anywhere near gluten-free, just cut down on the carbs and breads and things like that. Now that I'm completely gluten-free--as close to 100% as is humanly possible--I get sick from microscopic amounts.

[nikki-uk]

Mmmm well I don't know if I would be classed as 'normal' LOL !but I'm not a coeliac.

I've been gluten-free for nearly a year now,initially to support my husband,who was having a hard time sticking to the diet and was in denial big time.

After about a week of gluten-free I noticed that my skin complaint of eczema was clearing up dramatically (it's never gone completely but much better,I don't have to rely on steroid creams anymore)

I've since tried several times (whilst out the house!)to eat gluten with pretty disasterous results!

First time I went out for a meal with friends which included chicken in breadcrumbs.Spent the rest of that evening on the loo! By the next day my skin had flared up too.

Another time I had pizza round a friends house.Around 10 mins after eating it I came over nauseous,sweating,tingling on my tongue and heart racing

I've no idea what that was all about,but to be honest it's put me off trying it again!

To be fair,I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome as a child,so that may be part of the reason,or maybe I'm 'gluten intolerant' as opposed to being a coeliac?

Perhaps when I've nothing to do,(and nowhere I have to be) I'll try it out again!!

[gfp]

[dfsaaaaaaaa

[Rusla]

I have never been normal nor shall I ever be normal and I don't know any normal people. So, this whole question could be lost on me. But now when I get even a few crumbs of gluten by accident I get very, very sick. I had a few flakes by accident at a wedding in Jamaica that got into my food. I was so sick I had to go up to bed.

[key]

This is an interesting question. I have never eaten meat in my life and I am terrified to try it, because I don't think I would be able to eat it. Also one time in my life when I was on a diet I gave up cheese for two years. My stomach would just hurt SO bad when I would eat it. It took me eating it in small amounts to work up to being to eat it again. I think maybe when we don't eat certain food groups, our bodies may not produce the enzymes to digest those foods. THe cheese thing though was nothing like it is when I eat gluten now. I get D and very sick. I know this is different.

If you have had IBS though, they say that the gluten free diet helps people with IBS, so you could be gluten intolerant too. My philosophy is though, that if something makes you feel gross and sick, then you probably shouldn't eat it.

Monica

[nikki-uk]

It's interesting that you say you had to 'work up' to be able to eat cheese again.

After having gone on a weight loss diet a few years ago-and avoiding excess fats I now also find I can't eat these foods(i.e fried foods) without getting the dreaded 'griping' tummy pains,but maybe if I upped the fat content in my diet little by little I could manage it.

Not that I want to do that!As it is a good deterrent to keep me away from these foods-and they are not good for you anyway! (Being gluten-free keeps me away from take-away foods!)

[debbiewil]

Well, I think it is any food that a particular person is intolerant to, but I think it is only "problem" foods. There are a number of foods that most people only eat occassionally, and yet never show any problem with on the rare instances when they are eaten - take watermelon for example. Most people will eat it only during the summer, so go 6-8 months without eating it every year, but have no problem eating it the following year come the July 4 picnic or whatever. And there are a number of other "seasonal" or holiday foods that are eaten with long breaks between that never seem to bother people. But foods that can be problems, like gluten and highly allergic foods, do seem to cause major symptoms in people after thay have been free of them for a while. For instance, I have a friend who is allergic to shellfish. She didn't have a problem most of her life. She lived in Florida for many years and had fresh fish and seafood all the time with no problem. Moved up north in her 30's and didn't get fresh seafood for several months one winter. Had a major reaction next time she had shellfish, and now can't eat it at all. So she might actually have had the allergy all her life, but always had the food in her system, so never reacted.

Debbie

[Guest cassidy]

The same thing is happening to me. When I get cross contaminated I get very sick. When it would first happen I would say "I feel how I used to feel." So, I think someone made the point that we don't realize how sick we were until we get better.

Also, I've found soooo many other foods that I can't eat now. I guess that I felt so bad before that I didn't realize if I ate something else wrong. I also have noticed that food (non-gluten) would bother me but I didn't think anything of it. I know that strawberries make my stomach hurt, but I would always eat them anyway and I never even thought to stop eating them. Now, if anything makes me feel funny it goes on the list of things I'm not going to touch.

[prinsessa]

I find it interesting that after being gluten free for a while and then eating something with gluten I am worse then I was before I went gluten free. Does this happen with normal people, people without celiac disease? I don't know if I have Celiac Disease I haven't been offically diagnosed yet so I was wondering if it was just me or what? Got any ideas?

My mom doesn't have Celiac and that happened to her. She went to India where they don't eat a lot of wheat products (at least the part she was in). After a couple of weeks of not eating wheat she got IBS like symptoms when she did. I keep telling her that she should get tested for Celiac/wheat intolerance, but she doesn't seem to want to. I think she is a little worried the test might come back positive. She is Swedish and says that she gets really bloated when ever she eats too much bread.

[Ursa Major]

Debbiewill, you make a good point here. I believe that you likely were intolerant all along to a food you can't tolerate any more after not having it for a while. That goes for the cheese, Monica (you are likely casein intolerant), or the breads (gluten intolerant all along without knowing). If it makes you feel bad in any way when you eat it, cut it out of your diet altogether, you're not meant to have it. Just my honest opinion.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

It's interesting that you say you had to 'work up' to be able to eat cheese again.

After having gone on a weight loss diet a few years ago-and avoiding excess fats I now also find I can't eat these foods(i.e fried foods) without getting the dreaded 'griping' tummy pains,but maybe if I upped the fat content in my diet little by little I could manage it.

Not that I want to do that!As it is a good deterrent to keep me away from these foods-and they are not good for you anyway! (Being gluten-free keeps me away from take-away foods!)

It intersting that you bring up fried foods.

I mentioned this about the McDonalds Fiasco -- I know quite a few Celiacs that the only fried food they ever ate was French Fries and they often felt sick right afterwards. My repeated attempts to convince them that it may be Fried Foods in general (as it was 99% eliminated from their diet when they went gluten free) fell on deaf ears.

Then MCd's had the February press release and it all went to hell.

To this day, I am still 100% convinced that some Celiacs cannot handle fried foods (like MCD's French fries) not because of the supposed cross-contamination (which is always a possibility), but rather that there digestive systems do not receive Fried foods on a regular basis anymore and it is difficult for a tummy to handle...

Sometimes we as Celiacs are convinced that we have been "gluutened", but it is very possible that we have other intolerances or are unable to digest certain types of prepared food (even if they are gluten free )

JMO

[ravenwoodglass]

Sometimes we as Celiacs are convinced that we have been "gluutened", but it is very possible that we have other intolerances or are unable to digest certain types of prepared food (even if they are gluten free )

JMO

I agree totally with this, I kept thinking I was getting CC anytime I ate potatoe chips or frys, thought I couldn't handle grain vinager because everytime I had a salad I got sick. Turned out to be a nightshade intolerance, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. Almost every time I would eat something that had a chance of CC it contained one of the above food ingredients. We can't always assume it is CC or gluten. Really look at your reactions, there are, for me and likely for all, very subtle differences in the reaction from gluten and the reaction from nightshades or other intolerances (casein may be an exception), the biggest for me is the lack of ataxia with the nightshades that is always present with a gluten reaction.

[plantime]

To this day, I am still 100% convinced that some Celiacs cannot handle fried foods (like MCD's French fries) not because of the supposed cross-contamination (which is always a possibility), but rather that there digestive systems do not receive Fried foods on a regular basis anymore and it is difficult for a tummy to handle...

I agree with this. I have known for a long time that fried foods just made me sick to my stomach, and so I avoided them. However, I am perfectly normal. Normal and Regular and Average are all subjective terms, subject to how each person defines them, therefore, according to my terminology and definitions, I am perfectly normal!

[flagbabyds]

Celiacs are normal people!

But really, it is just the normal stories you ehar, when people are vegetarian for 15 years, then suddenly start to eat meat, you might get sick from it because your body is just so not used to it.