Ive been a member a while and read a lot of the questions/ answers posted on here. I myself am coeliac and know i have a reaction to certain artificial ingredients especially sweeteners. Ive also seen a lot of posts talk about the complexities of eating gluten free foods due to other food intolerances etc. After a couple of instances where I have been inadvertently been glutened I am finding the 'non stomach' reactions getting worse and the recovery period getting longer. After, I assume, being glutened in holiday, likely due to cross contamination (very unusual for me to be this sensitive) as I was extremely careful in what I ate, I am really struggling with fatigue, serious brain fog, neuro symptoms, headaches (all experienced previously during gluten exposure) so I'm wondering if I am becoming sensitive to other things so Id be interested to know what other foods etc. you are allergic to. TIA
Other than gluten, what else are you ... - Gluten Free Guerr...
Other than gluten, what else are you unable to eat
I have found that being on the gluten free diet helped me find an allergy from one of the ingredients that is being used these days and on Monday 17th June was officially diagnosed with a "Formaldehyde Allergy" only took seven years.
Hi thanks for reply, is this from ingesting it ?? Or is it more of a contact allergy/ skin problem - sorry to be ignorant but Ive only heard if it as a chemical they use on dead bodies???
Hi Henbur, My allergy is Oral, Topical & respiratory.
Oral because its ingested as an ingredient in GF foods also medicines.
Topical because I get covered in a red itchy rash (Urticaria) from my scalp to my knees.
Respiratory many products emit formaldehyde from shampoo's to exhaust fumes and cigarettes so all the smokers having a fag by doorways is not good for me.
Hi pretender
I too am allergic to formaldehyde, but I found this out prior to CD diagnosis as I had allergy tests for Chronic eczema. I am aware of its presence in fumes and cosmetics, but was shocked to see your comment that it can be ingested in Gf foods and medication. Could you let me know which foods and medication you have found it in as I still have skin problems in spite of seemingly avoiding it.
You are probably already aware that it is in certain innoculations as a preservative-I found that out when i went for a flu jab. They gave me the jab and then gave me the patient leaflet to read afterwards. I was sitting in the waiting room waiting for a lift and was horrified to read that I had just had it injected into me. I told the reception and they panicked and I had to wait there in case I had a severe reaction. Luckily I didn't but had worse skin than usual.They say I cant have future jabs. although I did find one without Formaldehyde they said it was too difficult to get hold of.
I have many other allergies including one to caine mix(used in skin numbing creams) also cant tolerate codex, malto dextrin and sunflower seeds.
Hi Whitechocolate, This is now my second round of CD contrary to the myths that go along with it.
This time round there is the much praise GF diet that I was advised to use. After an extensive elimination diet I came across "Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose" HPMC which is an alternative to gluten found mainly in bread type products, in medications HPMC is called "Hypromellose" which helps get the main drug passed the gut acids but they leach formaldehyde in the gut and not always on the labels. The same happens with Asparatame and other false sweetners.
Last year I was informed that Coeliacs no longer qualify for the flu jab so never had one, but then I go out very little and only one cold/man flu as some refer to it.
Hello Henbur,
I am coeliac but now also dairy free and corn/maize free too.
The dairy was giving me sinus pain, dizzyness, problems with hearing.
Cutting out corn has made me a lot less tired than I was, a huge improvement in my health from this 
I think you could set this up as a poll if you wanted too....
I am gluten senstiive and also sensitive to baker's yeast. No GF bread for me.
I was sensitive to yeast - I found I was suffering from Candida albicans I went into a a special diet to rid myself if the spores, very nasty die off symptoms, but well worth it and can now tolerate yeast in moderate quantities (touches head)
Henbur - I am gluten sensitive/intolerant and also to potasium nitrate, glucose syrup, hydroproxypropykmethylcellulose and sulphur dioxide. I can't eat eggs, bacon or some cheeses. Neither can I eat the gluten free products eg bread, pasta, cakes etc.
Can I ask how you discovered you were intolerant to these items? I was advised I could be sensitive to glucose syrup but offered no direction on how to assess it.
Loulou I discovered glucose syrup by accident. Basically if we went on a car journey sometimes we would eat wine gums and after about three of them I would feel ill. So I stopped eating them several years ago. However, I always got ill after eating bread, quiche and cakes so stopped eating those things too. Then last October I was so busy with lots of entertaining and celebrations and not eating properly - I ate sausages, ham and other stuff and was ill for about 4 weeks. The symptoms were the usual ones, stomach pains, trips to the loo ++ and indigestion but they had gradually been getting worse since last summer. So my GP did some tests and late November told me I was gluten intolerant but I had already worked that out. From then I monitored what I ate and roughly knew what would upset me. I had looked up the ingredients of wine gums and discovered they contain glucose syrup - so looked up glucose syrup and knew that I had to avoid products that contained it. However sometimes I have eaten stuff that contains it accidentally as I have not checked labeling or depended on someone else. Glucose syrup is in lots of confectionery.
I discovered intolerance to potassium nitrate as I felt ill after eating cheese and bacon separately but Pretender informed me why as they often contain potassium nitrate. In fact I have eaten bacon and cheese abroad and had no reaction. Discovering the culprits has been through a process of elimination. For example I ate some gluten free bread that contained hydroproxypropykmethylcellulose before eating anything else and was ill.
But I did the FODMAPs elimination diet earlier this year and that has been really helpful as I have discovered I cannot eat mangoes, lentils and some other things. So I now know what I can and can't eat and gradually introduce new foods. Hope this helps.
Hi urban girl what is the hydropoxy........ Thing? What is it in the gf foods you are sensitive too? It seems there are a lot of coeliacs sensitive to gf products - is that an oxymoron of sorts lol. Is any of them linked to the gluten sensitivity directly?
ARE - Apologies for the "Is any if them" I was typing something else and then changed my mind innit 
It is a chemical that it is added to lots of food - mostly processed. There is quite a lot of information on the internet about it. The good thing is that as it has such a long spelling I can recognise it straight away on packaging without even wearing my glasses ! It is in some GF foods.
Take a look, its a substitute for gluten in catering, it also has many other uses. In me it produces Formaldehyde Allergy symptoms.
Hi, I am allergic to aspartame. It's amazing what it gets hidden in!
Sweeteners make me itchy and my knee joints ache!!!! Thanks for your reply
Nightshade foods for me: potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, chilli, paprika, nicotine. Eating them causes me stomach pain, sharper and longer lasting than being glutened, then joint pain, brain fog, exhaustion and breathing issues for 3-4 days after.
Have started avoiding ham and bacon for the sulphites. Feel better for that. Eggs - fried no go but boiled/poached ok - figure that one!
Interesting I now have the same feeling towards bacon that i do towards normal bread as a coeliac. Just totally off the agenda.
I thought I might get a few people talking about other ingredients in GF products, I think it may be the xantham gum I've seen mentioned before??
Xanthan Gum can be grown on wheat and contamination cross over can happen. Check the origin Food Standards Agency
Yes, xanthan gum is a very efficient laxative! Don't know if that's because of gluten or because it can be derived from mould, I have problems with mouldy food like mushrooms and yeast. It can be labelled as E 415. It has been added to more and more products over the last few years.
I get gut ache from the cellulose thing mentioned by Urbangirl. It's another E400 number to look out for. It gets added to some slimming products, amongst other things.
I rarely buy any ready prepared gf products, apart from some flour.
Hi,
Besides CD, my other intolerance is dairy.
It gives me pretty much the same symptoms as being glutened with dizziness thrown in as well for good measure. It took me ages to work this separate intolerance out. At first I suspected rice and lactose at first but the symptoms didn't match properly.
I couldnt figure out why I felt glutened when I was certain that I had eaten no gluten because I had been in control of my own meals. After going back to the GP several times about the dizziness (no joy there), I started keeping a food diary of sorts.
At the time I was craving dairy products, especially cheeses and one day I pigged out on Camembert for lunch. That was when the penny dropped and I finally worked out that I am probably sensitive to casein in dairy because the gluten like symptoms hit within 10 minutes of eating it. Ironically, cravings for a particlular food can be linked an intolerance to that food.
Since coming off all dairy, the dizziness, spaced out/brain fog, the fatigue, bloating and stomach problems have all improved or disappeared.
Hope this helps you.
Coeliac since last year, but also intolerant to dairy, caffeine, animals, rape seed, citrus, and tomatoes.
Symptons vary from similar to cd, which in my case was toilet based, to wheezing, itching, rashes etc.
Apart from being a coeliac I am also lactose intolerant, can't eat anything in the berry family, onion family, tea, caffeine. Dark chocolate over 75% okay!
I have been reading lots of the posts and many people have been saying how tired they are and have found 'this or that' removed from their diet helps. In the morning after a good 7-8 hours sleep I wake and feel as if I haven't been to bed. I have found I have vitamin D deficiency, could this be the answer to my problem..just taking vit. D?
Hi Panther,
I think the answer to your question is yes. Vitamin D is something I am currently working to getting resolved with my GP. My blood test results showed is my vitamin level is truly awful. I still get tired.
The GP told me recently that the vitamin D in my prescription calcium supplements would be sufficient to boost my levels. However having read the NHS guidelines on vitamin D for my area, I strongly suspect he got it wrong and I am going back to challenge this decision.
It may be that I will need injections to boost my level up to somewhere near acceptable (I think I am currently only on a quarter of the Vit D dose that I should be). I am thinking of pushing for the injections rather than a higher oral supplement because of poor gut absorption issues (It's the CD again!!).
It doesn't exactly inspire confidence when your doctor admits to being more confused by the NHS guidelines than you are!! However one positive in this is at least he informed me that the guidelines existed so I could work it out for myself.
My suggestion would be to keep lobbying your GP if you are not already getting the correct help. I presume from what you said that you have already had the Vit D blood test. Do plenty of research on the Internet as well. I googled NHS Dudley (my hospital area) vitamin D guidelines and this elicited some interesting information. I suspect if you do the same for your area, there will be some guidelines somewhere. Go armed to the doctors with this and it will reduce your chances of being fobbed off.
I hope you can sort out your tiredness. Good luck!
Hi Can I ask how everyone established that they had issues with the different foods etc. Were you tested in a hospital or is the case you have worked these things out yourselves.
I have had the skin prick tests and it didn't show anything up, my immunologist has also tested me ( blood for other things, not sure what) and again nothing.
Does anyone have a guide to the best way to find out your intolerances please, I have been keeping a food diary and nothing has jumped out at me yet. I was interested to see that dairy intolerance can cause similar reactions to being glutened, I thought it was stomach issues only, I did ask my dietician what the symptoms were and was amazed she didn't know.
I am celiac and have IBS, I cannot ingest potatoes any more but sweet potatoes suit me well, yeast is also a problem and nuts ... legumes are also a problem.
I am beginning to wonder weather a glucose drip is my only solution...LOL
I am now coming off lactose also, I discovered Hemp milk which is great on GF cereal.
I have CD and allergic to cow dairy products. But sheeps and goats dairy are fine. I also avoid tea and coffee but that could be totally unrelated. I think that is the key question, what foods might typically be related to the gluten problem. I suspect not an easy question to answer. Reading the above, I feel so lucky to just have the intolerances I have.
Hi tmoxon,
The gluten was sorted out by the GP. The dairy intolerance was something I worked out by myself. I asked the dietician about getting tested after I came off the dairy, she seemed to think it wasn't worth it - trial and error on my part had been enough to sort the issue out.
Dairy causes me neurological problems as well as gut problems and it's horrible!
My understanding of the skin prick tests is that they can be unreliable, you would need to do some more research about this though.
My husband is the one that is celiac; however, I eat wheat/gluten free as well (no sense making 2 meals); also, I feel so much better eating gluten free. Once we did an "elimination diet" recommended by a naturopath, my husband discovered that dairy was a problem for him. I've heard it is the casein in it that causes issues. I've found with my husband we don't know if he's allergic to things unless we completely eliminate the item for a period of 3-4 weeks, then when you reintroduce it, you know it's the culprit. Food diaries are a fantastic tool for keeping track of what is causing issues.
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