Whats the worst that can happen?

Celiacs runs in my family, Ive never been diagnosed but earlier this year I cut out gluten from my diet because it had been making me feel awful for so long and I was doing ALOT better.

I also dont consume much fat because I have post-surgery complications that make it almost impossible to digest it. My body either forces it back up or, ahem, runs it right through me -_-

Soooo I hadnt been eating anything I shouldnt have since May until a few days ago. Im visiting my family and went trick or treating with my youngest brother this weekend. The days before I came up I was writing down a list of things I used to eat here that I had missed so much, I figured one week eating what Im not supposed to have wouldnt be so bad.

Well yesterday was my first day of eating candy and gluten galore. I ended up with an insanely ballooned stomach, constant nausea and my temperature shot up to 100+.
Is that normal? Why did I get so sick all of the sudden?

Can I continue eating gluten, lactose and fat (Im aware Ill be sick and feel like crap while I do) or will it actually hurt me?

Two things are happening.  If you have a sensitivity to something like gluten then it makes sense not to eat it.  If you avoid a lot of foods for a long time and then eat it in large amounts, you're going to get belly-ache almost regardless.

I met a 60 year-old woman not so long ago that had just been diagnosed as coeliac.  Her whole life she'd been underweight and struggled with digestive troubles.  Since being diagnosed and adjusting her diet she'd gained 15lbs and felt better then ever.  She may not have been permanently damaged but she'd had a miserable life

I would suggest you keep a food diary for a while and take it along to your doctor and see what they suggest.  Although if eating gluten, lactose and fat makes you physically ill I'd fully expect them to say 'stop eating it then'.

jane - I realize a bit of a tummy-ache comes along with it naturally but I had never had such a severe reaction like that before. A few years ago when I had lactose after not eating it for 5 months I just felt awful for awhile until I took it back out of my diet, but never had the fever or the nausea.

I couldnt imagine feeling like this my whole life :( Im glad she found out what it was at least, and feels better now!

I've kept a food diary for most of my life, or, at least, half of my life really since I started at 9 and I am only 18 now.
I cant afford to go to a doctor and I know they would advise me to just go back to taking it out of my diet but I am wondering if it would actually harm my body in any way to continue? Or if its not doing any real harm and I will just feel like crap.
Thank you for taking time to respond :)

curves - I did not know that, Im going to go research that a little further. Thank you for the info.

'Feeling like crap' is harm enough to remove something from your diet.   At 18 you should be in peak physical condition and feeling energetic & upbeat.   Being sick is neither desirable or a normal state to be in.   If you have an allergy to something, the reaction can build from 'mild' to 'severe' over time.  So it's best to avoid it.

There are a lot of excellent gluten-free and lactose-free products on the market these days and there are a lot of other foods besides that naturally don't contain gluten or lactose.  So you should, with a little thought and preparation, be able to enjoy a varied diet and live a reasonably normal life.  You may not be able to stroll into a sandwich shop and order something the way other people do but that's a very minor inconvenience. Same goes for any other foods you have to exclude.

http://www.coeliac.org.uk/ is a good resource for gluten allergies.  If you're not UK-based I'm sure there are support groups and other services in your locality. 

Awh man, I was really looking forward to eating fresh bagels while I was here.
But I do see what you're saying, and I do feel awful and don't want to continue like this my whole stay here.
I will go back to removing them from my diet.

Thank you for the link.
I am not UK based (Im from the NYC area) but Im sure I can find alot of helpful resources on there.

I do have another question though. I read most of the threads on this website and you give out such wonderful advice and seem to be very knowledgeable so I had a question pertaining slightly to another matter.
I (like alot of girls on this website) have been dealing with an eating disorder since I was younger and before this week I was eating around 1000 a day and looking into increasing my calories to continue to lose weight normally but could never get the nerve.
BUT since I started consuming lactose and gluten again my intake naturally has been on the normal/high normal end.
Has that been sufficent enough to help me restore my metabolism? Should I just remove lactose and gluten and keep my intake high?
I just dont want to regain what I have lost so far and the idea of INcreasing calories is much scarier than if I were to DEcrease from what I have been eating the last few days.

I still have 30lbs to lose (I was 150.0 on Halloween morning but Im probably more since I am bloated and sick. Im also 5'4'', very very lightly active and as I stated before I am 18.) but I dont want to continue eating a high intake if I will keep gaining weight on it.

I hope all of that made sense.
And I hope Im not bothering you with all these questions!

My father was diagnosed with Celiac about 5 years ago. Never had symptoms, until 5 years ago when everything he ate started going right through him. It wasn't until he landed in the emergency room for severe dehydration and malnutrition that the doctors finally realized he had celiac. He's better now, but can't be exposed to gluten, ever.

I understand your love of bagels and breads, but you really need to cut them out of your diet. Your body can't digest them, so you're getting zero nutrients from these foods. Prolonged exposure to gluten can lead to stomach and colon cancer.

Increase your calories intake with gluten free treats. If you're in the NYC area, you should stop by Risotteria (http://www.risotteria.com/). They are a great gluten-free restaurant in the village. You can get pizza, panini's, pasta, bread sticks, beer, all gluten-free.  Any health food store you go into will have gluten free products. You can have your gluten free cake and eat it too!

jkc - Im sorry your father had to go through that, that's awful. I know someone who ended up in the ER because they had a GF piece of cake that had only been handled with gloves that had touched gluten containing cupcakes.
Thankfully I am not that sensitive.

I am in the NYC area quite often when I come up here from DC and I had never heard of that place, Im so glad you posted it!
Mannnn I wish I werent broke their pizza looks absolutely wonderful. Have you eaten there before? If so what would you recommend for when I can afford it :)

If you have a tendency to undereat badly and if your diet is restricted for medical reasons then you're going to have to get extremely well-informed about  food and nutrition and  plan your mealtimes carefully so that you're a) getting a well-balanced diet and b) getting enough to eat.  You'll have to work a little harder than some to get plenty of variety and nourishment from the foods available to you if you want to stay healthy.  You'll be doing more cooking than some, for example.

I don't know if eating gluten and lactose has increased your metabolism but it doesn't stay 'restored' if you go back to undereating.   So yes, you'll have to keep your intake higher than it was.   I am reasonably confident that if you plan your food days around 1900-2100 calories and if you try to be as active as possible then your weight will naturally stabilise.  I don't think you should be aiming for weight-loss until you've got into a good eating habit and balanced meals.... say about six or nine months down the track, no sooner.

I know it isnt fully restored yet, of course. I meant has it helped at all? Eating more than normal or did the fact that it was made up of foods that make me sick cancel out any of the progress it could have made?

I cook almost all of my meals already so that doesnt bother me much, I eat around 6 times a day. I prefer to cook for myself rather than buy things that are processed, it kindof weirds me out reading ingredient lists that have things posted that I cannot pronounce and then putting it into my body.

I have been reading for months about refeeding but its very hard to find any information that isnt hand in hand with refeeding to restore weight and not to lose weight. And nutrition in general Ive been looking up for around 5-6 years so far. While I certainaly do not know as much as I want to know and can know I do try to cover my bases.
Do you know of any websites that could help?

6-9 months seems like an awful long time /:
And 1900-2100 Im guessing is maintenance, right?

Original Post by curvesaregood:

Eating gluten when you're a celiac increases your risk of developing colon cancer.

It also raises the risk of other forms of cancer, infertility, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, and malnutrition. Oh and there are chances of your body actually eating holes in your small intestine once the villi are officially destroyed.

Celiac's Disease is an autoimmue disease. Why do you think it makes you feel so terrible to eat gluten? Plenty of candy and food does not contain gluten. Make your own bread or bagels if you want to eat them(and don't want to buy the packaged kind). Many candy companies have 'gluten free' printed on the packages.

You 'got sick all of a sudden' because your body is attacking itself.

ogi - Wow I didnt know any of that. I just said goodbye to it and didnt do much research on it besides looking into what actually happened in the digestive process when I eat it.

With the candy its not so much the gluten its the dairy/lactose and fat content that gets me.
I was not aware it was autoimmune, it makes much more sense now. Thank you :)

OH my dear Decempt!

I'm glad  i read this post because it seems like you and I have the same problems.  I haven't experimented with cutting gluten out of my diet (I am overweight, usually people with that sensitivity are underweight), but i know for sure i have a lactose and fat sensitivity.  I recently got my gallbladder checked and it was functioning at 11%! (anything under 39% is abnormal)

Anyway, i have already cut lactose and that has helped with gas, bloating and such and now I am working towards eliminating most fats (healthy and of course non).  I'm assuming the reason why i have not been horribly sick from fats is because i successfully keep the intake under 30%.  For someone with gallbladder issues it needs to be lower.

I can just tell you that it sucks and I know it.  You have been thru the adjustment and lifestyle change, you just need to continue.  I am starting that journey.  Good luck!

cmpass - Ive been both overweight and underweight but the gluten intolerance comes from the fact I am Native American and European (apparently its more common among us)

Sorry to hear about your gallbladder. Last summer I had a cholesysectomy because mine was diseased and had gravel-like stones that were floating into other parts of my body.
Do you have to get it removed?

Good luck on cutting down and elimating what you need to.
Thank you for the support :) I wish you the same.

I do have to get it removed.  My surgery is scheduled for 12/19.  I was trying to get out of it, but the Dr. said that even if i reduce my fat intake the weight loss that can occur will just make the bile thicker... blah, blah.  My situation is not as severe as yours though (no stones) , I am glad you got that taken care of.

I have become a health-food store junkie.  I read in your earlier posts about having to spend a fortune, well honestly you don't.  Make sure you take a look around, you will find a wealth of food that meets our needs at reasonable prices.

If you haven't already, visit www.godairyfree.com. I found this website when i first started cutting out dairy.  This website is also "vegan-like" and caters greatly to gluten allergy/intolerance.  Let me know if you find other resources you like to use.