A sore recovery

I decided to document my glutening yesterday, because not only was it the first time since going gluten-free that I knew exactly what the offending gluten-filled item was, but I haven't eaten this much gluten since before I knew I had celiac, so I had no clue how my body would react.

Typically when I get glutened, I will feel it within 30 minutes of the offending crumb or cross-contamination, I get very bloated, and I get what feels like slowly creeping heartburn that turns into full stomach burn, cramps and discomfort. I always have Pepto on me in such emergencies, and I will take this and drink a couple of cups of hot chamomile tea.

So, what I have learned is in this type of situation where I ate like 1000+ times of the usual gluten if I get glutened, it was a game changer, and my body reacted completely different.

Actually it took over 2 hours before I felt anything at all. The heartburn, stomach cramps never happened....I kept waiting, and after 2 hours thought maybe my body was in such shock, nothing would happen. Maybe I didn't even have celiac??!! <-------Insert hysterical laughter here. If only I could be so lucky. After about 5 cups of hot chamomile tea trying to flush the poison out of my system, I started feeling nauseous. I figured this was because I was getting sick and tired injecting this dang tea down my throat.

I was getting bored, so I thought I would take a nap...as soon as my head hit the sheets I felt like I was on a slow moving, very wobbly boat. I could not lie horizontal. I got up, paced around, tried again, same deal. No dice, no sleep. And then the waves got worse, and then the toilet became my best friend. I had no clue I could throw up so much. Finally, when I had a few minutes of calm, I took some Pepto hoping that would do the trick...nope, instead, I received a lovely pink reminder. I felt utterly miserable, I just wanted to hide in a corner and for it to stop. I was literally poisoned. Finally when I did get relief the migraine came, and at that point, I was scared to take medicine worrying that, that would not stay down. When the pain got too bad, and I was blinded by the vision crappiness that comes with a migraine, I gave in, took the pills and got some sleep.

I struggled to get up in the afternoon to get to a meeting and then came home and crashed. I woke up today feeling very sore from all the upchuck, and still a bit fragile.

I hope this post doesn't make me out to be a whiner, but this was an entirely new experience for me, and definitely one I do not wish to repeat. I find it curious that in all of that, I never had the stomach ache, cramping, or bloating. Now, I just worry, the next time I do get accidentally glutened by a crumb, which way will my body react?

I am also very grateful that I feel so much better today. I imagine, my stupid mistake caused some damage to my interior. But I am very appreciate of not having to be in bed today, and being able to help out in my daughter's art class, pick her up from school, and run to Whole Foods to pick up some yogurt. I am very thankful for those things.

Let's just say, I won't be making that mistake again.