I think I might have a wheat allergy. I was looking online this morning for wheat allergy symptoms because I ate pasta yesterday and woke up with severe stomach cramping and (sorry!) constipation. It continues today although just the cramping as the constipation has subsided in the "natural" way if you catch my drift. I found a list of supposed wheat allergy symptoms and was surprised at how many of these I experience on a daily level:
Symptoms of a wheat allergy or wheat intolerance (not exhaustive by any means):
* Arthritis (don't have.)
* Bloated stomach (I have this constantly)
* Chest pains (have occasionally, not like heart attack ones but different, more sharp)
* Depression or mood swings (I would say I have mood swings and not just centered around my cycle)
* Diarrhea (have a lot - sorry if TMI!)
* Eczema (don't have)
* Feeling dizzy or faint (don't have)
* Joint and muscle aches and pains (my knees have been bothering me a lot more than usual. When I was younger I thought it was cheerleading stress on my joints. Now my knees will hurt when sitting on the airplane, or like last night when I was leaving work, got up from my desk and my knees ached and then had to take the three flights of stairs slowly because my knees felt like they were going to "pop" if I went too fast)
* Nausea or vomiting (Nausea a lot - pretty much every other day)
* Palpitations (have these a lot as well - went to the electrocardiologist and they said it's nothing to be concerned about. But now I'm wondering if they're not heart related at all)
* Psoriasis (don't have)
* Skin rashes (I have a weird one on my shins right now but it came about with my sun exposure in Houston so I don't think it's related.)
* Sneezing (occasionally)
* Suspected irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)/similar effects (I occasionally feel like this is what I have but then I'll be fine)
* Swollen throat or tongue (not really, although the roof of my mouth or gums will randomly swell up)
* Tiredness and lethargy (tired a lot - and not just from all of the traveling I've been doing)
* Unexplained cough (nope)
* Unexplained runny nose (my nose runs when I eat - pretty much everything I eat. But not spicy foods (not that I eat a whole lot of spicy foods)
* Watery or itchy eyes (nope)
So I made an appt. with my doc for next Saturday (first available appt. with my doc since I don't want to see another practice doc because I always have to spend a good 15 - 20 minutes explaining my history to them and my heart condition). In the meantime, I've got a list of things you shouldn't eat with a wheat allergy and I'm going to try and keep away from those to see how they make me feel... even if I don't have a wheat allergy I think I'm going to try and give up wheat products to see how they make me feel. Hardest thing will be giving up beer!! But I'm so sick of feeling nauseous or not knowing if foods I eat will make me sick or not something has to give, you know?
5 comments:
I think food allergies have a lot to do with health issues, and not enough people look into them. Good for you for having this checked out. There are ton of gluten free things on the market.
In doing some research gluten free and wheat free are different. If I were to have a food allergy I would choose wheat over gluten any day because gluten is SUPER restrictive. Wheat is as well, but you have a lot more freedom and can eat things like sugar, etc. So I'm trying it...beer and bread are going to be the hardest for me..I love both! Guess I'll have to switch to wine full time or cocktails!
Good luck, Kate! You are being very pro-active trying to figure this all out.
holy crap! Sounds JUST like my bf. we've been thinking he needs to get a checkup. he's been so poorly, especially with nausea and tummy pains (and of course his other body aches and pains, which he's always had due to his athletic years and doing hard physical work). I wonder if it's a wheat allergy - kind of hope not, because what a pain that will be, but OTOH it will be much of a relief to know what's wrong. Keep us posted!
You should keep eating normally until you see your doctor because the allergy won't show up if you aren't eating wheat. This is especially important in tests for celiac disease (gluten).
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