Heavily Glutened Thanks To Ignorance

[dani nero]

I bought a flour mix that was supposedly gluten-free. I'm currently on a trip, and in this country, organic products are placed on the same shelf as the gluten-free ones. Meaning they have no clue what gluten-free products are for. I should have been more careful.

We made Korean dumplings with the flour and I loved them so much because they were so soft and perfect. When I went to check on the brand name to see if I can find it in Sweden as well I discovered it was an organic wheat mix :-(

I've been having a terrible bloat and some constipation, irritability and anxiety for two days and now I know why. I thought I ate something contaminated but turns out my beautiful dumplings were the culprit. I ate so much of them. I don't even know how long the anxiety will last :-(

Can't wait to get back to Sweden where gluten-free shelf is strictly gluten-free.

I know what to do to help with the digestive side-effects, but is there anything I can do to stop the anxiety and panic-attacks?

[IrishHeart]

Oh, you poor kiddo.

Those are the same symptoms I get with a glutening (anxiety, low mood, agitation and insomnia) and sadly, there is no magic pill to speed up the healing process. I have some low-dose xanax I can use if it is really bad, but I do not metabolize drugs well, and they create more side effects I do not need, so I just suffer through it for a few days.

It will subside. Everyone is different in how long it lasts, so I will not say how long it takes me and freak you out.

I drink a LOT of water, take extra probiotics (I normally take one in the AM and if glutened, I take one in the PM for a week) and eat plainly and --pardon the pun--wait for it all to pass.

Quite frankly, I do not use anything to stop the D ---as some folks do---because I want that OUT of me!! Water, water, water.

Rest your body. It is inflamed and unhappy right now. But you will be okay.

Take care!

[Strawberry-Jam]

I feel your pain. I cannot tell you how many times I see spelt products grouped with the gluten-free stuff. And the other day I almost bought some bread off the gluten-free shelf because it looked so brown and soft... it was organic WHEAT bread. No idea why it was next to the FreeFrom brand stuff.

get well soon ~~

[AVR1962]

How frustrating!!! I do hope you get to feeling better quicker than usual. Just does not seem fair at times!

I live in Germany.....gluten-free products are on the same aisle as the organic items here as well.

[IrishHeart]

  On 2/12/2012 at 4:39 PM, AVR1962 said:

I live in Germany.....gluten-free products are on the same aisle as the organic items here as well.

Just so you folks in Europe know....they are in the same aisle as the organic and BAKING aisles here, too!

SOME grocery stores have taken to having a separate gluten-free section, (hooray!) but not all. The other day-- in a small town store near me--I picked up a Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour and it was sitting right next to spelt and WHOLE WHEAT bread mix. I may have been overly-cautious, but I put it back down and hubs purchased it elsewhere.

We have to carefully read labels all the time. And we can still get bitten on the arse for it.

I had to school a chef last month on why a "gluten free flourless cake" made in a mass-producing large bakery with flour-filled products was NOT gluten-free at all and could not be labeled as such on his menu. That mistake cost me 8 weeks.

[Katrala]

Gluten-Free is a specialty food. Many "regular" stores group specialty foods together.

Some try to incorporate it into the regular foods so everything is in the same place you'd normally look for such ingredients.

[dani nero]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Drinking as much as I can and eating plenty of fibers.

This incident should be a lesson: Check everything!

It's a little easier in Sweden because I'm familiar with all the gluten-free brands there and they're always in their own section.

One thing worries me though since a lot of people looked at me as if I were a madwoman whenever I asked if their products contained gluten (one of them worked at patchi chocolate store!):

When traveling abroad and going to a restaurant, even if I explain to them what gluten-free is, how would they know that caramel color (for example) could contain gluten, and how would I know they aren't using the same cookery as others to avoid CC?

[AVR1962]

  On 2/12/2012 at 6:33 PM, dani nero said:

Thanks for the advice everyone. Drinking as much as I can and eating plenty of fibers.

This incident should be a lesson: Check everything!

It's a little easier in Sweden because I'm familiar with all the gluten-free brands there and they're always in their own section.

One thing worries me though since a lot of people looked at me as if I were a madwoman whenever I asked if their products contained gluten (one of them worked at patchi chocolate store!):

When traveling abroad and going to a restaurant, even if I explain to them what gluten-free is, how would they know that caramel color (for example) could contain gluten, and how would I know they aren't using the same cookery as others to avoid CC?

I do so hear ya! I have had the same issues here in Germany. I really think there generally is more awareness in the US. Where I live there is no such thing as gluten-free menus. When I ask waitresses or waiters they are clueless unless I tell them I have an allergy, that they get. We have BoFrost, not sure how much of Europe has this home delivery, but they ahve a wonderful line of gluten-free products. That's who I buy my pizza thru and it all is very tasty.