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Thanks to the many wonderful people who responded to my question about
symptoms of a "mistake" in eating. WOW. The symptoms ranged from minor
rumblings to excessive pain and dermaititis. Some people recover in a day.
Others take weeks!. It is obvious that we have a whole range of reactions
to diet on this board. My heart goes out to those who suffer so terribly
from even a minor contamination like a trace of flour on the hands of the
cook.. And I was amazed at how many reported severe reactions to even the
tiniest exposure. I don't have that, but it must be hell to live with.
One thing which did come through was that most sufferers notice the
symptoms a few hours after the mishap. That's fortunate because it gives
us a chance to identify the culprit. One respondent suggested that some
people have a "reaction" to glutens (not necessarily CD) which shows up
very quickly, and others have an "intolerance" which takes longer to
develop. That idea seems worth developing.
Those who have delayed reactions seem to notice it is heralded by bad
mental states like a sense of malaise, fuzziness, dizziness, depression,
lack of concentration, etc.
A majority of respondents suggested that anyone with a gluten problem very
probably has other sensititivities as well -- lactose, spicy foods,
potatoes, tomatoes, etc. That complicates the problem and turns us all
into detectives. I guess no two of us are alike, and each of us has to
solve the problem in his/her own way. That makes it awfully tough. And
there is always the question of psychomatic reactions. Has anyone tried
hypnosis?
There is also the matter of the nature of abnormal stool. Only two people
had the courage to write about it, and I realize it is an indelicate
subject, but lets face it, we all probably look there for clues and again
there was a variety of reactions (loose, gritty, flaky, like clay, etc) I
post this because maybe it would be helpful to us all if the subject were
not vertboten.
In any case, the many responses I received show how useful, well-read, and
genuinely sympathetic the people on this board are. My thanks to them
all.
Joe
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