Disclaimer: I am not a licensed medical doctor or counselor. All of my posts are from my own personal experiences in the areas of my own health and wellness.  My posts are meant to inspire you in your health journey, but do not qualify for professional medical advice or diagnosis. Please consult a licensed medical professional or counselor. I cannot be personally held responsible for any advice you take from my blog postings and implement into your life without consulting a medical professional first. 

The question everyone asks me after I tell them of my Celiac Disease and Gluten Free life is, “what happens to you when you eat it?”
You have to love the curiosity we humans have sometimes.
I do not mind getting asked this question and their curiosity because it shows that they are eager to learn more about the disease, which is something I always welcome.
When I polled my personal Facebook and asked people what they wanted to read this upcoming month, my best friend said to write about what happens when I get gluten in my system. Specifically, the first time I got it into my system in the most unusual way. She even told me “don’t hold back on details” with my explanation, so you have been warned.

The first time I ingested Gluten after going gluten free:

When I was first diagnosed, I took my diagnosis and life change seriously. There was no “cheating” on my gluten free life. I was already feeling the positive effects of being gluten free and did not want to feel like garbage physically.
The first time I ingested gluten, and any time I have gotten sick from eating gluten, was of course an accident.
At the time I was a senior in college and had been Gluten Free for about a year at that point. I was working at the grocery store in my hometown, and had been for around seven months.
Whenever I would ring up flour at my cash register, I would always be very careful. Sometimes when you sit a bag of flour down there would be a puff of flour that comes out of the bag, so I was always really careful with this. However, it was Christmas Eve, and everybody needed some flour at the store.
I had a long line at my register, an anxious customer, and a buggy packed to the top, so my coworker was helping me unload to ring things up faster. Before I knew it she sat down the flour really hard and a puff went into my face as I was inhaling a breath of air. I tasted the flour in my mouth and knew that this was it, I have gluten in my system. At that point it had been over a year since I last had true gluten in my body, and I had no idea what to expect. I had read horror stories of what happens when you eat gluten after going gluten free, but I had no idea how my body would react.
Around three hours had passed by since I inhaled the flour, and I was feeling lethargic and weak. I also felt really hot and was getting nauseous. Every time I would bend down to get groceries out of a buggy I felt like I was about to puke my guts out. After holding back for a few customers, in the middle of ringing up one customer I knew if I did not run to the bathroom I was gonna vomit right there in front of everyone and on that persons groceries. That was a level of embarrassment I did not really want.
I darted to the bathroom and spent a few minutes getting sick.
Every time I thought I was done and would start getting ready to go back out into the store, I would get sick again. I knew that I could not continue working the rest of my shift, so I told my manager who had been covering my line that I needed to go home.

My sister and her ex-husband were in the store and about to leave when they saw me walking out the exit. My sister had asked me what happened and I started crying uncontrollably and hysterically.

“In that moment I felt weak and like a failure. I hated my body and how it was not normal, and how my normal life was long gone. I had done my best to protect myself, but I failed. This is a feeling I get every time I get sick from gluten.”

It took me an hour to get home that night, and my sister was the one who ended up driving me up to my parents house as I laid in the back seat of her car. We had stopped at her house on the way to my parents since I kept having to get sick.

That evening on Christmas Eve I spent most of the night throwing up, and had a few rounds of diarrhea. My family ended up having Christmas Eve dinner at my Grandmas, which was right below our house. I obviously stayed home not being in any shape to go anywhere. Even when there was nothing left in my body I would throw up stomach bile, and had a hard time keeping water down. I tried taking some of the medicine the doctor gave me to keep my stomach pain and spasms down, which are similar to muscle cramps, but I could not keep it in my system long enough.

I ended up taking some anti-nausea medicine, and my mom had me drink pedialyte that she went to the store for. We had no idea what to do since I could not keep any fluids in. Thankfully the medicine helped and I was able to shower and just lay in bed.
Later I found out that my mom debated on taking me to the emergency room, but thankfully we did not have to end up doing this.

The next day on Christmas morning, I ended up not getting out my bed until 2:00 in the afternoon. I was exhausted and weak, could not stay awake, and had lost five pounds in 24 hours. My brother in law at the time ended up helping me up the stairs so my family could finally open up the gifts.
Thankfully that day I did not have any intense throwing up spells, or even much diarrhea. However, I had spasms in my stomach, was weak all over, and really exhausted and lethargic. Was able to keep fluids and food down though, which was a win.

It took days for me to feel mostly back to normal with the initial physical symptoms. However, my joints hurt, my mood was all over the place, and my bowel movements were irregular and temperamental for a solid three months afterwards.

Thankfully, my body does not react this violently every time I get gluten into my system, but it is very close. You can read about another time I accidentally got gluten in my system a few years ago here, when I bought the wrong cookies at the store. These are the only two times I know I knowingly got full blown gluten into my system, however I have been sick multiple times throughout the years, from something known as “cross contact.”

What is Cross Contact and How is it Different?

Cross contact is when you are exposed to gluten due to unsafe handling of gluten free ingredients. Often times it is because gloves are not changed after handling gluten containing products, cooking surfaces are not cleaned properly, same utensils are used with the gluten containing ingredients and gluten free. I would say 99% of the time when I have gotten sick, it is because of cross contact, not because of actual ingredients. A lot of things are naturally gluten free, but the way things are handled is everything.

The best way to avoid cross contact is to treat gluten as you would raw chicken. You would wash your hands throughly before touching everything else right? You would not use the same cutting board or utensils would you? If you practice on that level of cautious thinking, you will be able to uphold safety measures when making something gluten free, outside of checking the ingredients of course.

What happens if I get sick from cross contact and not straight gluten?

The way my body reacts to gluten from eating it straight up to being cross contacted is the same but somewhat different. When I eat gluten in its pure form, I feel that my body reacts more violently and my physical symptoms last for days. With cross contact I feel like it is more for the evening with the initial physical symptoms and I am for the most part back to normal feeling the next day. However, it takes a few months for me to feel fully back to myself in regards to my mood, joints, and bowel movements regardless of the amount of gluten exposure.
Depending on the level of cross contact I feel depends on if I throw up from it or not. Sometimes I will have a super bloated belly and have abdominal spasm and cramps, and a few rounds of diarrhea. Other times I full on throw up once or twice to get it out of my system, have a round of diarrhea, and can’t make conversation the rest of the evening. A lot of times when I have been cross contacted with gluten, it is from a restaurant or an event I attended and ate the food at.

So there you have it, what happens to me when I eat gluten. Last year alone I got sick twice from gluten, and it was two times too many in a two month time frame. My body and mind were not good feeling for months.

People often ask me if a little would hurt my body, or they say I should not be so paranoid about it as I am. I have even heard that it is all in my head and that I am just a picky eater. I often ask them if they have experienced food poisoning or a stomach bug before, and if they would choose to have and experience that again? People say “yes I have had that but of course I would not want to experience it again.”

“Gluten is my food poisoning and stomach bug, and I also would never want to experience it again by choice. Most of the time protecting my body is possible, but there are rare occasions when it is not fully possible.”

I hope that by sharing what happens to my body when I eat gluten that it makes anybody who reads it know that “gluten free” request are serious, and that it is not a choice for some individuals. We are not being stubborn for the sake of it, asking a million questions at a restaurant for nothing, or not eating the food by choice. We do these things to protect ourselves physically and mentally. Our bodies, and overall life, depend on us to protect and defend it on the daily.

Until next time,