Celiacs: What To Do If You Accidentally Eat Food Containing Gluten.

Going Gluten Free is never an easy transition, as I have stated many times on this blog, but, the transition is worth it. However, accidents DO happen and you may accidentally ingest Gluten. Depending on your level of the disease, you could start feeling the effects within hours, and the symptoms could last for days. I have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease for two years now, and I have had my run ins with being “glutened.” It is not pretty, you are going to feel like crap for a little while. When I am "glutened," I get painful stomach cramping, rashes, bloating, minor stomach upset, fatigue, and chronic diarrhea. The diarrhea can be a problem for me, because my potassium levels drop very low.
I’m going to share with you ways to help you feel comfortable, as you ride it out.

1. Drink Tea- Drinking tea, mainly peppermint tea, can help you with the stomach upset, plus it will help you stay hydrated. Tea will help relax you as you ride this Glutened period out. Make sure the tea is Gluten Free.
2. Eat light- If you have upset stomach, eat light. Eat what ever you would eat if you had a stomach bug. Avoid dairy, especially if you have the diarrhea symptoms.
3. Heating Pad- Heating pads can help alleviate the discomfort of stomach cramps.
4. Laxatives- People in the Celiac community have taken laxatives to help get the gluten poison out of the body faster. Do not go overboard with the laxatives. Some Celiacs have become dependent on them. If you do end up with diarrhea, make sure you keep up with the fluids, and make sure you are eating enough Potassium in your diet.
5. Just ride it out- There is no magic pill to get rid of these symptoms. The best thing that you can do is just allow your body to do its thing and get better. With all these symptoms, you will feel quite fatigued. Allowing yourself to rest a bit will help your body work faster to get better.
6. Imodium- People have said that Imodium will help with discomfort.

Being "Glutened" will happen, we just need to be more careful next time. We have this disease for the rest of our lives, and we will encounter this situation every once in a while. The only thing you can do is ride it out. Stay hydrated, avoid dairy, eat light, drink tea, and use the heating pad.

(photo courtesy of: http://ts4.explicit.bing.net/th?id=H.4928613449664795&pid=15.1)