Diarrhea after unknowingly consuming gluten

Hello all,

Long time lurker. First time poster. I’ll jump right into it.

I have a variety of health issues (headaches, stomach issues, etc) that I believe are likely TMS. One of my symptoms is gluten sensitivity. I tend to get stomach pain and sometimes diarrhea when I eat too much gluten. I know many here would say that it is possibly a placebo effect. That I possibly get stomach pain/diarrhea from gluten because I expect it to happen, or I worry about it happening.

However, a while back I consumed a brand of vodka that I thought was gluten free. The next day I had horrible diarrhea and stomach pain. I wondered why this was happening. I checked the ingredients for the vodka and sure enough, it was distilled from wheat. And before anyone tries to say it was the vodka alone, I consume gluten free vodka brands regularly with no issues.

So if my gluten sensitivity is TMS, how could I possibly have gotten diarrhea and stomach pain from consuming gluten, when I wasn’t even aware that I had consumed gluten? Is it possible that I legitimately do have a gluten sensitivity, and that particular symptom of mine is not TMS?

 

The way to find out if you are celiac is to be tested.

 

I’ve tested negative for celiac

 

Then you can choose how you are going to deal with the symptoms.
I too don't have all celiac markers. I thought when I began to have symptoms 40 years ago it was psychosomatic because I grew up with a celiac friend.
I had symptoms on and off.
Then a few medical tests showed something was going on with the way I was deal with proteins (milk and meat were not treating me well) so my Dr. thought it may include proteins in wheat (I'm vegan so no big deal with meat or dairy)
I have since avoided gluten. It's actually no big deal for me, however at some point it will be fun to experiment with gluten again and just see what happens. I have no conscious fear about it or the associated symptoms so I keep an open mind towards it.
There are varying opinions about the ability for gluten to be able to maintain it's structure in strongly brewed (hard liquor) alcohol.
Why not consider your symptoms a co-incidence.
What was happening within you when you found yourself having symptoms again? What importance did you place on the symptoms vs. putting on your emotions?
Dr. Sarno suggests to Think Psychological

 

Thank you for your response. I will consider some of the questions you proposed.

One possibility that I’ve considered is that maybe my gut is damaged from years of emotional stress. And that’s why my gut can’t handle gluten. So in a way, it is a physical problem, but the root cause is psychological. Same thing with the muscle knots I have in my back. I can clearly feel they are there. They are a physical problem. But perhaps those knots were caused by emotional stress.

 

If you have not yet read a book by Dr. Sarno, I suggest reading the Divided Mind.
Know that others have no symptoms and no residual ill effects after years of horrible diagnoses including stomach and other symptoms.
Dr. David Clarke is a retired gastro Dr. who wrote a book “They Can’t Find Anything Wrong” about his experiences with many patients who he describes as having “stress illness” (TMS) - it was very prevalent in his field. His website has an excellent “stress test” and information about the commonalities between his patients: eg anxiety, adverse childhood effects and more. It may be helpful too.