Gluten free advice please

[bristolboy]

Hi everyone. I have Hashimoto's, so about 3 weeks ago I started on a gluten free diet (I've been tested and I'm not coeliac). All was going well until yesterday. Due to all the Christmas advertising, I had a yearning for some chocolate. On a couple of websites it was said that Cadbury's Giant Chocolate Buttons are gluten free, so I bought a bag of them and ate about 12 last night.

This morning I feel awful. Fuzzy head and wobbly (fuzzier and wobblier than usual hypo symptoms), and a strange sicky feeling in the tummy. And my morning "movement" was looser than it has been since going GF (sorry for the detail everyone!!!!!). Basically, I feel like I have a bad hangover.

Are these symptoms suggesting that the chocolate in fact might NOT have been gluten free? But it seems odd to have such a reaction after only being GF for such a short period of time.

Later today I'm off to buy some charcoal capsules, which I've heard are a good antidote to gluten "poisoning"

[Rmichelle]

Hi there i am celiac, your chances are that is was probalby cross contamination, the factory also handles gluten...biscuits other choccies etc, do they have a seperate machine that only gf foods are produced, twirls are also gf but when i 1st started my gluten free diet 19 months ago i was ill on a twirl bar, i am now soya free aswell so hace not touched chocolate in 15 months-i do not eat anything that is made alongside gluten foods too-its a chance you take but i am very ill when contaminated, cross contamination is rife as you have to make sure that everything is clean and seperate areas for gf foods and also people have no gluten on hands or utensils...not easy eh. Hope you feel better soon but i have never heard of the antedote for gf poisoning!! X good luck.🎄

[bristolboy in reply to Rmichelle]

As you say, it must be cross contamination. I’ve read recently that Twirls are also GF, so it sounds like both products are contaminated!! I might start looking at some of the specialist chocolate brands, like Green & Blacks - a brand that doesn’t make other stuff like biscuits or wafers. I’m fortunate not to be coeliac- it must be much worse for you if you get contaminated 🙁 . Have a safe Christmas 🎄🎄. At least it’s safe to drink wine 🍷🍷

[Rmichelle in reply to bristolboy]

Lol i cannot drink wine either😆 as if you are celiac there could be a problem with what the manufacturers coat the barrel with whilst fermenting , it can be wheat based? Its either plain gin or plain rum for me, at least its something. MERRY CHRISTMAS🎄🍰

[Cooper27 in reply to Rmichelle]

Wait, what? We didn't know there was a problem with wine! I don't know if this explains a lot....

[Rmichelle in reply to Cooper27]

Its debatable...personally i choose not to have wine any longer as its a pain trying to find out from manufactors how they ferment the wine, i will try and route out the link but i think its do i or dont i risk it, i believe you can buy special gluten free wine now?

[Rmichelle in reply to Cooper27]

Ive yried several times copying and pasting link from glutenfree survival process but it will not cut or paste onto here, it states whilst most wines are considered quite safe there are exceptions with some wines(does not state what ones) its the distilling process and thats what you have to find out if they still coat the barrels with any gluten containing pastes etc, ithink i would just rather go without and be safe. Plain rum, plain potato vodka are safe, ooh and tequila....yuk.🎄

[Cooper27 in reply to Rmichelle]

Thanks! I never knew, but I'll definitely read more into it! Maybe find a few safe brands

Always good to know tequila is safe

[Rmichelle in reply to Cooper27]

Merry Christmas🎄🍭⛄

[Fruitandnutcase]

Hi Bristolboy, if I were you I would sign up to join CoeliacUK. They do an amazing handbook which lists every single ingredient and GF food you can think of. They have a terrific website with all sorts of helpful information, recipes - everything you would want to know is on there and you get a regular magazine. Well worth the annual subscription.

I’ve read that Cadbury’s Buttons are OK - they say they do not deliberately contain gluten, think they used to describe them as ‘gluten absent’ - their own term!

I occasionally eat Cadbury’s Buttons when I am desperate for a chocolate fix, generally I feel fine but sometimes my gut feels bad, so maybe that is as a result of cross contamination.

[bristolboy in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thanks, that's a good idea about joining Coeliac UK - I'll get onto it at the weekend. And I'll try the buttons again tonight - just to rule them in or out.

[Cooper27]

Giant buttons are fine - my OH is quite a sensitive coeliac, but we've had a few bags recently with no problems at all... Could you have been contaminated anywhere else? Have you been avoiding anything else, like dairy or sugar, since cutting out gluten?

[bristolboy in reply to Cooper27]

Someone's put a cat amongst the pidgeons regarding wine - I hope it's not bad news for you.

No, I haven't been avoiding anything else, just gluten in all its forms. At least, I THINK I've avoided all sources of gluten - maybe I've missed something. I'll try the giant buttons again tonight, and cross my fingers - purely for research purposes of course .

[Cooper27 in reply to bristolboy]

Of course

I'm not wanting to be a killjoy, if you've reacted to a food, you're meant to avoid eating it for a couple of weeks before trying it again. I'm only saying that, because if you get a dodgy tummy again after eating more, it might be a residual reaction to whatever you had yesterday, and not necessarily to the buttons today. Personally I'd not want to let some perfectly good buttons go to waste, so once you've finished that bag, you'll need to try some more in January, just to be sure

[bristolboy in reply to Cooper27]

LOL!! Your first point makes total sense but, purely in the spirit of the season, I think I'll go with your Plan B and finish the bag. What can possibly go wrong?

[bristolboy in reply to Cooper27]

I'll start afresh in January - it can be my New Year resolution!

[Hidden]

milk protein mimics gluten protein so if you have hashimotos theres a chance that you are reacting to the milk in the buttons. Look up izabella Wentz and food intolerances. Happy Xmas 😊

[bristolboy in reply to Hidden]

Hello abigailfrances. That's very interesting, I didn't know about the mimicry. Although I've been eating cheese (low-ish fat, like Edam) and drinking milk (skimmed) as normal since going gluten free, the Cadburys chocolate that caused the problem was the first chocolate I've eaten for ages (weeks or months) so, as you say, I may have reacted to that. I tried some more buttons last night (fewer than the first time) and got a similar, but milder, reaction this morning. I'll read what Izabella Wentz has to say - and might try an experiment with high-cocoa dark chocolate. Happy Christmas

[MaisieGray in reply to bristolboy]

Making milk fat-free does not affect milk protein. Well, other than only negligibly and from the numbers I've seen, the % lactose is slightly higher in fat-free milk than whole milk.

Once gluten gets tagged as an antigen the adaptive immune system makes antibodies to seek it out; and as long as a molecule’s structure is similar enough, the immune system registers it as an invader and attacks. But those antibodies can wrongly tag other proteins as gluten, if they recognize specific short amino acid sequences also found in gluten; and this happens most commonly with dairy products, because casein, one of the 25+ milk proteins, is so similar to the gliadin protein found in gluten. It’s estimated that at least half of those who are gluten intolerant are also sensitive to dairy. This process of cross-reactivity is also the same concept as the molecular mimicry phenomenon. In both cases the immune system confuses innocent sources as invaders and begins to destroy them; however in the process of molecular mimicry, it’s a part of one's own body (such as thyroid tissue in those with Hashimoto’s) that is being misidentified as an invader and attacked. However, a food intolerance is not the same as a food allergy of course - the latter is a reaction from your immune system that treats food proteins found as a threat, whilst the former doesn't involve your immune system – there is no allergic reaction.

[bristolboy in reply to MaisieGray]

I'm confused now. Given that, apart from going gluten free a few weeks ago, my diet is exactly the same as it's always been, are you saying that my body has suddenly developed an intolerance or an allergy (caused by milk in the chocolate)? And were these reactions just 'tummy upsets' - or is my thyroid now being attacked more than it was previously? Sorry I'm sounding a bit thick, but my foggy head is as foggy as it's always been!

[DaveT81]

Hi bristolboy, it could well be the dairy in the Cadbury's buttons?

I've been gluten free myself for about 5-6 months and I seem to be becoming more and more sensitive to foods. And, obviously, the more I avoid them the more hassle they seem to give me if I try them again.

I may be wrong, but I seem to be having a lot of problems with foods I use to gorge on in huge quantities as recently as 6 months ago, so I feel your pain man.

[bristolboy in reply to DaveT81]

Hi Dave, I was having exactly the same thoughts myself - but I was hoping that I was wrong, and that no-one would confirm them !! Not only is life a beach, but now it turns out I'm allergic to sand. This thyroid journey just seems to go on and on. Just when you think there might be some light at the end of the tunnel, it takes another turn and the light goes out . Happy Christmas, go easy on the turkey salad and the satsuma (cue someone telling me that satsumas are bad for us as well), Nick

[rachelleigh73]

Hi Bristolboy - like others I found myself wondering if it was the lactose which had triggered the reaction. There is probably soya in the form of soy lecithin in the Buttons too which can sometimes be a problem. As part of my hypothyroid journey I was advised to eliminate all gluten, lactose and soy as a start. Not fair is it? I'm at the phasing out stage for the last two ... good luck to you on your journey x