I am not celiac, but I am definitely gluten sensitive. I went out for dinner with a friend last night. I had all intentions of ordering my favorite chicken alfredo pizza. But I was chatting with my friend and I was distracted. I just ordered the small chicken alfredo pizza, not the one with a gluten free crust.
I didn’t catch on right away. Once again, I hadn’t seen my friend for quite awhile, so there was more talking happening than paying attention to the food. But then suddenly, my eyes started to itch, my cheeks got warm and I realized what I had done and now was glutened. I didn’t bother to say anything to my friend or the server. It wasn’t a big deal as I am not celiac like my husband and daughter. Typically, a small little bit of gluten isn’t that bad.
Boy was I wrong. I ate the whole pizza. The food was wonderful, the service great, and the visit even better. I got home and went on with the rest of my evening. But then I woke up in the middle of the night just sweating and having a terrible nightmare. Weird, I wrote it off as just decompressing from the prior day. I went back to sleep promptly and then had 2 more extremely traumatic and vivid nightmares. I had to change the bed in the morning as I had been sweating so much. Yuck! I woke up feeling gross, exhausted, and stunned by the goriness of the dreams, yep, I had been glutened.
I took my daughter to school, when I got home, I was tired. I felt unmotivated and bloated. I sat in my office and just spun my wheels. My brain felt like it was trying to operate through a thick maze of cotton candy fibers. Everything was sticky and it was impossible to get anywhere. Once again, more proof of being glutened.
At 11am I was stressed out and feeling really anxious. I crawled into bed and crashed for 1.5 hours. I don’t really remember my head hitting the pillow, I slept hard. When I woke up, my hands and feet felt puffy and swollen.
I made lunch and went on with my day. I was still feeling overwhelmed and foggy, but at least the extreme anxiety had subsided. I know gluten affects me, but I have been so diligent about eating gluten free with my husband and daughter that any time I cheat it is usually something small like a cookie or square. This one was a doozie and definitely showed me that my body has some sort of threshold and reacted when I totally glutened it. I overdid it last night. I suspect it will take me 2-3 days to feel ‘normal’ again. I know the puffiness and bloating typically lasts 2-3 days, but I am curious how long the brainfog and anxiety will last?
It was about 2 years ago that I realized the connection with my anxiety and racing thoughts and gluten. It’s a weird connection, but I have definitely found research that seems to support this. Well, this adventure has taught me a lesson. I will be paying much more attention when I eat out. But my error truly shows the affect that gluten can have on the body of a gluten sensitive person.
What symptoms do you experience when you have been glutened?
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