I'm back and need advice

[Sharaine]

Hello again,

Here it is the first week of February and 2013 is already 1/12th gone. Time is going too quickly.

I was doing very well until recently. My husband and I went to an NBA (Denver Nuggets) game on Friday night. I had popcorn. When we got home, I immediately had an episode of XD.

Over the weekend I noticed the amount of gas I'm experiencing has increased. I've never been able to get rid of gas, but it's worse. I did have Tostitos and guacamole. I researched avacados on this site and see they are high in histamine. I also noticed blueberries on the list. They haven't been an issue to me, that I know of, but maybe I'm missing something.

In addition to gas, all of my joints hurt again and my stomach is aching like crazy. I just took Acetaminophen to try and reduce the swelling and pain in my joints and stomach muscles.

My breakfast typically consists of Bakery on Main's Apple, Raisin, Walnut granola topped with cashews and bananas,blackberries or blueberries, along with rice milk.

Lunch is either slices of deli meat such as turkey, ham or chicken on Udi's GF bread.

Dinner is usually some portion of meat I cook from scratch, along with white or sweet potatoes, or well-cooked broccoli or spinach.

I'm not sure what I did to push myself over the edge, but this discomfort has me exhausted and uncomfortable. I've got a pot of homemade chicken soup with one sweet potato, spinach, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, sea salt, pepper and Imagine's GF Organic Chicken Stock. Am I crazy to eat this?

Sharaine

[Leah]

Hi Sharaine. Sorry to hear that you are in a flare. So, everything was going well until that basketball night? Although I can eat popcorn when I make it myself with coconut oil, you may have been eating too much of an oil ( if you add the tostitos in the mix) that you react to. Personally, I react to canola oil... which is used a lot these days.

If you have been eating that breakfast for a long time, I can't say it's good or bad, but for me, oats of any kind don't work ( they have a similar protein to gluten. I think Tex has a story about how long it took him to realize he was reacting to oats) .... and neither does a lot of fruit.

The thing is we are all different, so only you can figure out what is getting you. The soup sounds ok to me though :)

I would also suspect the GF bread because of the xantham gum.

Because there are a few suspects, the best thing to do is really scale back on what you eat for a while. When your symptoms subside, add one of these "culprits" back in every three days to see what you are reacting to.

I know it's a pain, but it's the only way I know of to know for sure.

Good luck
Leah

[Sharaine]

Hi Leah,

The great thing about this cereal is it is oat-free. I've tried very hard to avoid oats as they seem to bother me, even if GF.

I think your advice is good as far as cutting back what I eat for a while. I did eat a bowl of the soup, but with mostly broth and little of the vegetables. I hurt like crazy so am going to try peppermint tea to see if that calms my stomach.

I'll also consider your point about oils. I hadn't thought of that. Popcorn is out the window. I bet that there is gluten on the popcorn at the Pepsi Center. I should call to see if I can find out.

Many thanks,
Sharaine

[Sheila]

Sorry for what you're going through. I'm finally feeling pretty well but can't help feeling D could be right around the next corner if I eat something I shouldn't. Popcorn could do it for me.

I finally got control by going on a modified paleo diet (no nightshade etc) and keeping a meticulous record of everything I put into my mouth. Over Christmas I got glutened and was sick, feeling really lousy, for a while. Lots of stress, too. However, sticking to this limited diet got me back under control quickly. I try to rotate what I eat but I'm not doing very well in that area. When your diet is very limited it is hard to do the recommended rotation diet.

Leah is right on. Good luck getting back to "normal".

Sheila W

[tex]

Hi Sharaine,

It's good to see a post from you, but I'm sorry to see that a flare prompted it. As dramatic as your reaction was after the game, my first thought was exactly what you mentioned in your second post — there had to be gluten in that popcorn, whether it was added intentionally, or accidentally. I doubt that anything other than gluten would have caused such a dramatic and persistent reaction. (But of course, anything is possible, I suppose).

I never cease to be amazed at the things that so many companies choose to do to ruin perfectly good food these days, by attempting to "improve" the flavor. I'll bet that the popcorn had some sort of "flavor enhancer".

I hope your symptoms fade away soon.

Tex

[mzh]

The granola sounds like it has a lot of fiber. Maybe it was too much fiber for you when you added the popcorn....