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Could This Be Due To A Glutening?

zus888

By zus888
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted

Since at least Tuesday evening, I have been SO FATIGUED and irritable. Wednesday was so bad that I went to the doctor on Thursday asking for stimulants to help me with my fatigue. Instead, she adjusted my thyroid meds. I have been getting 8 hours of sleep, though I have been waking between 2-4 times at night (for no reason) and can't get back to sleep for another 30-60 minutes.

THEN, I remembered that during lunch on Tuesday, my son had taken a drink from my water bottle and left a huge amount of chewed up cracker residue all over the spout. I wiped it off with a wet wipe and drank from it afterward. That is the only way I could have gotten glutened. I figured that wiping down the spout would have been enough. But since Tuesday night, I've been dealing with this horrible fatigue. I've been compelled to nap during the day and still get no relief from the exhaustion even after that. It's like no amount of sleep energizes me.

I've had no other symptoms. Could I react that quickly with fatigue (glutening at lunch and fatigue by dinner)? Could all of this be due to drinking from the same water bottle? I mean, I do deal with a lack of motivation and a bit of fatigue on an average day, but it's gotten out of control the past several days.

Any ideas? And if it is due to glutening, how long can it last?

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etta694 Explorer
etta694
Posted

You know how sometimes you can't really speak to an issue though it is familiar..? THIS is NOT one of those times... THIS IS ME.. before going gluten free. And yes, you can react that fast. I lived with this for years, eating and then, an hour or 2 later, almost passing out from the need to sleep. It would almost feel like I had been drugged. And at night, I was up (to pee) 3 or 4 times a night so you never get the good REM sleep you need. And waking up exhausted, yep, that was me (plus other crap) for about 6 years before figuring out I had a gluten problem.

darn that cc.. ;)

And because I am a C.. it takes time to get rid of the problem..

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

For the record, I've only been on the diet for 3.5 weeks, and if this is a glutening, then it will be my first. So, I'm not sure what I should expect.

etta694 Explorer
etta694
Posted

I've been gluten free since July and it was a process.. I think I would say I have really gotten everything out by Christmas. All my extracurricular :P gluttening has been exhaustion, C (really bad C) and grey complexion and circles around my eyes. If it's really bad I feel sickish. The 'sleep attacks' used to happen when I ate whole meals of gluten but since going gluten free and being more sensitive - it doesn't take as much. Your symptoms are so familiar.

Everyone's glutening symptoms are different though...

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Well, kiddo..it COULD be lots of things.

Etta is right. Everyone reacts differently.

Yes, when I am glutened by accident, I feel this same way.... like I have been drugged and I am spacey, exhausted and then, I feel agitated and cannot sleep. Then, I have the big C for a day or two....and an urge to pee all the time because the bowels are so swollen they press on the bladder and make my back hurt. My throat and mouth burn and feel closed up....There's more... but you get the drift. This was my life for years, so I KNOW when gluten gets in. It happened last week at the dentist (he had to make a mold for a TMJ appliance)and I paid for it for a week.

So, yeah, if your little one eats crackers and gives Mummy a kiss or drinks from her bottle.....well,....it's possible.

HOWEVER---

You are newly gluten-free and it is a major up and down process at first. You could still be healing. It could be withdrawal. I felt like crap for a long time and I still am not right, but I am better (3 months in)

Fatigue comes in waves with me. BUT..it has gotten out of hand --I mean, I am dragging and feeling depressed--weak---and my B-12 is great, so I KNEW it had to be something else. The irony is, I can't sleep much at night,yet I am so tired...so, I asked for tests for thyroid, folate and ferritin and lo and behold...folate deficiency anemia! This is very common in celiac. You can have BOTH a B-12 deficiency and Folate def. Doctor gave me prescription folic acid to boost me up.

You may have to see what else may be causing the fatigue if you do not start to perk up soon. Malabsorption in the gut causes many vitamin deficiencies and supplementing may be necessary until absorption improves.

Hang in there!

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

My pcp upped the thyroid, but my hepatologist (who I saw yesterday) ran some bloodtests for iron and b12 and some other stuff. I should know by next week what those levels are. He did forewarn me that if celiac is causing malabsorption, supplements may not work since I still will have difficulty taking up nutrients if the villi are damaged. I'm assuming if b12 is an issue, the injections will work, though they never have in the past.

It's so hard to tell since I've only been gluten-free for such a short period of time and that I really haven't been sick from it. I would say that I'm asymptomatic since I don't have any of the gut issues or neuro issues. My biggest "symptom" is a plethora of autoimmune diseases. And, really, any of those could also be the cause of my fatigue - even though they are all under control and completely stable at this point. That doesn't mean there isn't chronic inflammation that my body has to always deal with.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

The blood work may reveal something.

You'll probably have to have the thyroid meds adjusted a few times as your gut heals, yes?

I understand that the gut has trouble absorbing while so damaged and that supplements are not readily absorbed (my doctor says the same thing) and yet, my B-12 went up with sublingual tablets and he gave me prescription folic acid to boost my folate level. So, SOMETHING gets absorbed.

otherwise, no one's medication would work for them either....right?

Hope you feel better soon!

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IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

It's hard to see, but is that a medal around your neck?? If so, please tell me about it!! :)

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

LOL! Yes, it is! I completed the Couch to 5K program last summer. I was a verified card-holding couch potato with absolutely NO DESIRE to run. In fact, you could say I was adamantly against it. I don't know what bug crawled up there, but suddenly I got myself another couch potato partner and started the program. I went from not even being able to walk the hills in my neighborhood without getting out of breath to running 3.2 miles over all of them! It has been a real accomplishment for me.

The medal is actually something I had made for me and my partner for completing our first 5k race. A little cheesy, perhaps, but a little remembrance of our journey together. We're running the Pittsburgh Marathon Relay to raise money for Gilda's Club in May and hope to complete a 10k this year. :D

As for me, I feel about 100 times better this morning. I woke up feeling AWAKE and not already exhausted. I did end up getting 9 hours of sleep. I'm also much more clear headed too. What an awful experience that was!! Not sure if it was the thyroid or a glutening because I did up my thyroid meds this weekend, though I do think they typically take longer to take effect...

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

LOL! Yes, it is! I completed the Couch to 5K program last summer. I was a verified card-holding couch potato with absolutely NO DESIRE to run. In fact, you could say I was adamantly against it. I don't know what bug crawled up there, but suddenly I got myself another couch potato partner and started the program. I went from not even being able to walk the hills in my neighborhood without getting out of breath to running 3.2 miles over all of them! It has been a real accomplishment for me.

The medal is actually something I had made for me and my partner for completing our first 5k race. A little cheesy, perhaps, but a little remembrance of our journey together. We're running the Pittsburgh Marathon Relay to raise money for Gilda's Club in May and hope to complete a 10k this year. :D

As for me, I feel about 100 times better this morning. I woke up feeling AWAKE and not already exhausted. I did end up getting 9 hours of sleep. I'm also much more clear headed too. What an awful experience that was!! Not sure if it was the thyroid or a glutening because I did up my thyroid meds this weekend, though I do think they typically take longer to take effect...

Not at all cheesy--I think it's Great!!

Good for you!!

Glad you are feeling better. Could have been any number of factors. This is a rocky road we travel at first, getting the gut healed, but so many people assure me things will level off and we'll feel better . It is what I focus on. Stay well!

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