That One time I ate Gluten…The Horror that Followed

Every time I tell someone new about my Celiac Disease the question that always comes up is “what happens when you eat it?” Now, I have never intentionally ate gluten to find out what happens, but a few months ago I had a strong need for some cookies. So I picked up my favorite brand of “break and bake” variety known as Immaculate. Now, the regular variety and the gluten free variety have the same type of packaging in regards to color and size. The only thing that differentiates them is on the front of the gluten free variety pack it says “Gluten Free,” which is no duh right?!?

I picked up the package that said it had “24 Cookies.” I remember thinking it was odd because the gluten free variety pack always came in packages of 12, however thought well I can take the extras to work that Monday so I was excited about getting more bang for buck.

Well that day was a Friday and it had been a long week at work, so when I went to the store I was sleep deprived and ready for the weekend. Little did I know that weekend was going to be exhausting in a different way. 

When I got home I turned the oven on and got my cookie sheet ready. Now I love raw cookie dough, like everyone else in the world, so I opened up the package and broke me off a cookie and indulged in the goodness of chocolate chips. However, I realized it tasted different, and minutes after eating it I felt nauseous. I did not think much of it until I looked at the back of the package regarding time to bake the cookies. That is when my eyes FINALLY glazed the ingredients list where it said “Contains: WHEAT ingredients.” My heart sank into my stomach, I started breathing heavy, and my heart started to race. To some that may sound a little dramatic but knowing what my body does after cross contamination, I did not even want to imagine what it was going to do after eating the real poison which is gluten. 

I will save you most of the gory details, but needless to say that weekend was exhausting on so many levels for me. That friday night my belly felt like it was pregnant with the war between my small intestines and gluten. I was nauseated and eventually did get sick that evening, after about three hours of discomfort and nausea. Science fact for all of you, it usually takes food around three hours to exit your stomach and go to your small intestines, which is where Celiac Disease actually lives and occurs. After I got sick that is when all the pain set in regarding the abdominal pains. I explain the pain as  “knife stabs” around my entire torso. Very sharp and specific areas. Thankfully I have medicine for when a glutening occurs, which also makes me drowsy. I popped in my drugs and sipped on coconut water and went to bed around ten o’clock that night. The next morning I woke up and my pain was for the most part gone however I felt horribly groggy, and drunk to a degree. I literally laid on the couch all of Saturday and Sunday. When Monday rolled around I still was mentally not feeling my best, but me being who I am I went into work, which was dangerous. I say it was dangerous because I still was not feeling mentally clear and driving, thinking, and making conversation was an effort that day. I don’t think I felt fully clear until the next weekend but it took weeks for my gut to feel like it was back to normal. Even though the physical pain was hard and difficult to get through for me, the mental pain that occurs is even worse in my opinion. 

Whenever, I get sick from gluten, whether it is cross contamination or accidentally consuming, I always feel like a failure. 

I feel like a failure because I did not double check ingredients, I didn’t research a restaurant thoroughly, I did not watch how food was handled, or maybe I did not advocate for myself enough. I am slowly but surely learning how to not be so hard on myself with being glutened because it is not like I am not trying. However, I do feel like guilt is a part of managing this autoimmune disease where the medicine you take is literally monitoring your food choices. When you do not monitor to the best of your ability, you feel guilty for having to pay the price later.
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So that is the story about what happened when I accidentally ate gluten. It was nasty, gross, and I did  not feel well for days. I hope to never make that mistake again of buying and indulging on cookies without looking at the ingredient list. However, I am human and far from perfect, so if I have a gluten accident again I will stay in bed for days for sure.

Until next time,

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