jess-gf

Hopefully it wasn't a stomach flu bug or food poisoning - so sorry it hit you, though!

I wanted to add another story on the 'getting sick eating the same food' front. I've caught stomach flus and had food poisoning when my husband did too, and when I was still eating gluten (aka, not completely healed)I would always be sicker than he was, if he was at all. Maybe the same thing for you?

That said, just for informational purposes for the future, since you mentioned you've only been gluten-free a very short time.

Unfortunately, a lot of what you mentioned could have given you a gluten reaction. For us, we've had reactions to pie crust, to ham, to bacon, to oil (processed on a line with wheat germ oil, ugh), and to quinoa. All of these were listed as gluten-free. My kids have also had these from different companies with no trouble at all, though.

It's a sad thing, but a lot of us discover that not all gluten free products are created equal. Some companies test every batch of their product very carefully. Some don't always test every batch, so there can be contamination one time and it can be fine another time. Some have higher levels of gluten that may be too much for you. Some call their products gluten free even if the food is being made right next to a machine that uses flour and poofs it into the air so it likely falls into your gluten-free food and contaminates it.

Usually, after a while you figure out which brands are better and worse for you. I tend to check out brands on-line, looking for the name + 'glutened.' Often people will be talking about these on forums, which helps. It does get easier to avoid gluten after a while (if this was gluten), but in the beginning it can be hard.

So sorry you were sick on the holiday!

I'm starting to feel better now, thankfully. I felt like crap for days after. I am totally with you on using this forum's search tool - I use it every day! I have a laptop downstairs near the kitchen and whenever I have a question about what I can eat, or what I could buy to make to eat I do a search. This place is a great resource!

What I am most anxious about now is what to do for Christmas. We're going to his mom's place again, so it will be the same environment, mostly the same people, and it will probably be the same potluck type of situation. I have not told her that I got sick because I honestly am not sure what it was from and she is very nice and did try fairly hard to keep gluten-free stuff separated. I mean, can you really tell someone "Thanks for having me over for Thanksgiving, by the way something poisoned me and I was in the ER all that night". I can only think that I'll just have to try harder next time and ONLY eat what I bring and keep it wrapped up or something :/

I second nuts and nut butters, healthy oils, avocado would probably be good too. Maybe try cooking with some full-fat coconut milk? yum. Oh I have had this before and it's quite tasty: coconut milk ice cream, no dairy no soy: Open Original Shared Link

My hair stylist noticed this about my hair too a few months ago. I think over the past year I've just been slowly loosing hair whenever I wash it or comb or brush it, regardless of knots. Fortunately I have a ton of hair and nobody really notices it except for me and my hair lady. I'm just assuming it was from malnutrition and I'm hoping that soon it will go away.

When I asked my GI about stopping eating Gluten before my Endo, he said that 2 weeks would not be long enough for it to completely heal (my endo appointment was within 2 weeks of the initial visit). I had not been gluten free at all up until that point, however, and my blood tests backed up Celiac. If you've only been gluten free for 10 days and your endo is going to be in the next few days I think you should be okay.. but I am a newbie to all this and the other members here probably have better info I guess it might also depend on how "strict" you have been with being gluten free and how likely it may be that you've been getting cc'd or glutened without knowing it.

As for the procedure - it was a piece of cake! Easy peasy. I went in, they prepped me up, rolled me into the room and gave me some drugs and I was pretty much out. It only lasted 30mins. I had a slight sore throat after but that was gone by the next day. The only thing weird for me was the "ringing in the ears" the drugs gave me right before I went out gave me a bit of a mini-trip. Afterwards my bf drove me home and I had some tea and then took a nap on the couch.

I can relate to the 'oh I'm late I'll just get something at the office'... I am trying not to do that anymore and I only go into the office three days a week (work at home Mon and Fri) so it shouldn't be that big of an issue should it? Ha! I need to start preparing meals ahead of time so I can grab and go from my fridge or freezer like was suggested. I have this other issue that's really not an issue at all but it's irritating.. My son lives with me and he's very supportive of the gluten free (he's not) but when I make something that I can enjoy HE EATS IT ALL!!! I'm glad that he's not gluten free phobic and he likes some of the things I'm making but I hate it when I go to grab some rice crackers or my flourless peanut butter cookies and they are all gone! Done venting now and I did tell him to eat his own stuff or at least tell me when he eats the last of something.. lol

Sounds like you need a secret stash!

Should I get additional b12 if my gummy multi has some in it? My gummy has "Vitamin B-12 (as Cyanocobalamin) 6 mcg - 100%"

Wow, VitaCost has some good deals it seems. SourceNaturals appears to be gluten free. I found some L-Glutamine and Bromelaine I'm thinking about getting. Open Original Shared Link Open Original Shared Link

I also found some cheap b12 lozenges that dissolve under your tongue, which is nice for me because I hate swallowing pills - makes me feel like I'm about to choke Open Original Shared Link Not sure if they're gluten-free though: "Other Ingredients: Sorbitol, Natural Flavors and Magnesium Stearate"

Maybe I'll just go with SourceNaturals again and pay a couple bucks more Open Original Shared Link

I made one with crushed up Gluten-Free ginger snaps. I just whirred a whole bag full in the food processor, added in about 4tbsps of melter butter, 1tsp of sugar, patted it into the pie pan. I forget what I baked it at, but it was only for about 5 mins to brown the crust. It can over-brown easily I found, so you have to keep an eye on it.

Wow, VitaCost has some good deals it seems. SourceNaturals appears to be gluten free. I found some L-Glutamine and Bromelaine I'm thinking about getting. Open Original Shared Link Open Original Shared Link

"Heat-sealed tea bag paper usually has a heat-sealable thermoplastic such as PVC or polypropylene, as a component fiber on inner side of the tea bag surface." says Open Original Shared Link

So it's.. plastic?

Will tinyurl work? The article is here Open Original Shared Link

I read it, but I'm still not sure :/ There was a comment on the article saying it was untrue. Gah. I must do some more research. It would be nice to be able to drink all of my teas again, I have quite a stash!

Hmm.. I have a bottle of Acidophilus in the fridge, I could start taking that regularly too.

I emailed Equal Exchange about their teas, since their Earl Grey is my favorite and I like what they stand for. I asked them about wheat being used in tea bag glue and this was their response:

"Hi Jessica,

Thank you for your question to Equal Exchange regarding the use of gluten in tea bag glue. As our current line of tea is packed in India, I would have to inquire about the glue specifics. However, we are replacing our 2 lines of tea with a new line in a couple weeks! The tea bags in this new line do not contain any glue, as the string is tied to the tea bag with a knot. The teas will be packed in the U.S. and we hope to add a gluten-free seal on the box in the near future. Thank you for your support of Equal Exchange tea and small farmers!

Take care,

Jodi"

I've also had some neuro symptoms that I didn't realize were connected to Celiac until now! I'm only 28 and I have a B.A. but I also have memory problems, brain fog, mental tiredness, and problems remembering names of things. I also have emotional fogginess too - I feel ambivalent about most things but then silly sappy movies can get me teared up.

I was layed off a few months ago which has turned out to be bittersweet. The money was good, the environment was poor. But I can't imagine having to go through what I have in the past 2 months and still have to drag myself to work every day. I have been hesitant to go on any interviews because I still don't feel very well and I'd rather stay home. But I need the money, so I'm having some anxiety trying to find something where I could work from home :/

So, it's been about a week and a half since I was diagnosed and I am curious as to if there are any herbs, vitamins, oils, teas, etc etc that I should be taking to speed up the healing process and ease my symptoms while my body is adjusting to being gluten free.

I bought a gluten-free gummy multivitamin (VitaFusion) today at the grocery store and I'm going to start taking those. They don't have iron though :/

I have found that drinking ginger tea can help take the edge off an upset stomach too. Even better if it's fresh - I peel a bit of ginger root, grate it so that it looks like pulp, then add a tsp to a cup of hot water with lemon and honey. Smells and tastes pretty good too.

Anything else that I should be doing?

Last night was a bit better. Yesterday I just had 3/4ths of a banana with some peanutbutter and honey for breakfast/lunch and then at around 7:30 I had about 1.5cups of plain brown rice. Then I had a cup of ginger tea and 1 vanilla gluten-free merenge cookie from TJ's at about 9pm. Then at about 11pm I took a dose of Pepto. I had some discomfort while trying to fall asleep but I was able to fall asleep relatively soon and I was able to lay down more (didn't need to elevate myself that much).

So now I don't know if I was better last night because of what I ate that day, or because I just got better with time, or because I had ginger tea + pepto before bed. Hrmmm!

Signed - 581!

Are those instant grits from a gluten free facility? I would think the chance of cross contamination would be high if not, but I could be wrong. You are also very new to the diet and it takes some time for us to heal. Are you avoiding common CC issues like using the same toaster as you did before you went gluten free, have you changed out cutting boards and scratched pots and pans that have been used to cook gluten? If there was a lot of baking going on before the dinner you went to that could result in CC as could someone using the same utensil to stir a gluten item and then using it on a gluten free one. There is a great deal to learn about with the gluten free lifestyle but you will get the hang of it. Some liquid Pepto Bismal may help with the stomach pains. I hope your feeling better soon.

The grits were Quaker's and the ingredient list looked gluten-free, and I had done a search on this board and it seemed like most people here could eat it and be okay.

I guess their could have been a chance for CC at TG even though everyone was so careful. I have been avoiding it at home - we threw out old wooden spoons, changed cutting boards, pots and pans were okay, etc.

This morning I had 3/4ths a banana with a drizzle of peanut butter and honey. We'll see how that goes.. of course I probably won't find out until 2am :/

Last night was troublesome again, but not as bad as the previous night.

All I had to eat that day was some instant grits at about 1pm (slept in late sine we didn't get home from the hospital until about 6am) and then at about 9pm I had a baked potato with some salt and butter, and a gingerale since I had been feeling nauseous.

When we went to bed I had a hard time falling asleep, my stomach pains were worse, nausea was worse, and had several trips to the bathroom. During the day however I didn't have any of that. It's worse at night I think, and when I'm laying down. I have tried sleeping while sitting up but it doesn't quite work out :/

Is it normal that with food poisoning you'd feel sick but then slightly better during the day, and then sick again at night? I'm kinda scared to eat anything today.

I noticed the food you ate included ham and bacon. My daughter has the same reaction when she eats nitrates as she does if she is accidentally glutened. Nitrates are in bacon, hot dogs, corned beef, some cold cuts, and I am not sure as we do not eat it, but maybe in ham. I don't know if you eat these things often, but just thought I would throw that out there as a possibility.

If you feel this may be a possibility, you can by nitrate free bacon and Hormel has a line of nitrate free cold cuts.

The ham I had was Open Original Shared Link but I only had a few bites. I don't eat that much - not much of an appetite for these past few months. I only started eating meat recently since my diagnosis so I haven't had any hot dogs or cold cuts or anything. The bacon I had was from Trader Joe's and said it was nitrate/antibiotic/etcetc free, and I've been eating a slice a day or so for the past week without any issues. So confused.

So last night I had a trip to the hospital at about 1:30am and I'm a bit baffled as to what happened to me. I was feeling nauseous and my stomach was hurting as I was trying to fall asleep, but that isn't news to me. But at about 1am I started feeling worse, the back of my head had that white-noise sparkler feeling like if I moved I would pass out, my heart was beating rapidly, I was sweaty, nausea was worse, stomach pain was worse. It reminded me of how I felt a couple years ago when I had what I suspected at the time was food poisoning after eating a prepared salad from Whole Foods - only that time I DID pass out and I had D all night. This time I didn't have D right away, I didn't end up having any until I was at the hospital and then it was only a few times.

The doctor there basically couldn't give me a reason why I was sick. He gave me a script for some nausea pills, which helped to take the edge off a little bit. I did feel a little better after going to the bathroom but that's about it. He said that I could have a stomach virus that's going around, but he didn't know and he wants me to follow up with my GI.

I've been wracking my brain to see if I was glutened at Thanksgiving. But I was so careful, as were my hosts! I ate the quinoa salad that I made, a bit of the gluten-free pumpkin pie I made, a few bites of ham that said it was gluten-free when I looked it up online, and a few bites of some roasted veggies that only had salt and olive oil on them. That was at about 2pm. At around 9pm I felt a little hungry so I made scrambled eggs with 1 piece of bacon. None of these things send any red flags, and I've been Gluten-Free for about a week. I thought about food poisoning, but my boyfriend along with other people ate the same stuff I did and are fine.

What the heck happened to me??

I have bought from Adagio before and liked their teas, and they're cheaper than Teavana. They say they are gluten free on their website Open Original Shared Link however I have not tried them yet since being diagnosed.

You are right to feel hurt, I would be! This sounds like there are some other issues going on and they're just using gluten-free as a scapegoat. It's about them. Maybe you and your hubby can go somewhere special that night to have fun, or volunteer at a homeless shelter or something

Yup, I had tons of nausea. First it was off and on, maybe just after eating.. but then it got so that I was always nauseous. I've been working on being gluten-free for about 3 days now and since I've started, it's gone down some.

I'm sensitive to dairy as well, though I seem to be able to tolerate Goat Milk without side effects. That might be an option for you, perhaps?