<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> 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