If you’re allergic to gluten or have Celiac Disease, getting exposed to gluten can be devastating. The pain and symptoms can last for many days and it can be very disruptive to your life and work.
However; there are a few things you can do to combat the pain and ease the symptoms a bit.
In this post I’m going to share common remedies and other ways to feel better when suffering from accidental gluten exposure. I’ll share a combination of my own personal recommendations and tips from medical sources that I’ve tried too.
I hope this article can be a helpful guide to you if you had the unfortune of eating some gluten, so you can feel better soon and get back to life! Find out what to do if you’ve been glutened.
How to Relieve Pain from Gluten Exposure
This is the GlutenBee guide to healing from accidental gluten exposure. Get useful tips to feel better faster. Also read – Eating Out: 5 Tips to Stay Safe
Quick steps:
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Drink an insane amount of water.
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Drink hot tea with lemon or other soothing beverages.
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Take some Tums if you’re feeling a lot of heartburn.
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Get a lot of rest and relax in bed or a bath.
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Repair your gut with whole foods, probiotics, vitamins, and vegetables
Drink Water & Other Recommended Drinks
Drink tons of fluids. Mainly water, hot water with lemon, tea, ginger ale or ginger tea, and coconut water. Gluten Free Living also recommends peppermint tea or ginger tea to help soothe your stomach. You will flush out the gluten quicker and can help your body feel better faster through hydration.
Take Tums or other Antacids
This might not be important for everyone, depending on your symptoms, but for me Tums are a major help. I always notice heartburn and some acid reflux after accidental gluten exposure. Over night it can be really bad and wake me up with a lot of chest pain. Tums and/or other antacids helps relieve this and keeps me from having too much pain. I recommend Tums specifically because it is gluten free and doesn’t cause any more problems! 🙂
Get Rest!
Rest is critical when healing from gluten exposure. Be sure to sleep more, take naps, and take your time. Brain fog and confusion is extremely common after gluten ingestion for people with Celiac Disease and gluten allergies, so it’s ok to take it easy for a few days. You need to rest and recover to fully heal your body.
Repair Your Gut
Repairing your gut can take time, but by adding more vegetables and fruits to your diet right away you can increase the vitamins and minerals in your system. Many other gluten free bloggers recommend taking probiotics and activated charcoal as ways to repair your gut immediately after accidental gluten exposure.
What Happens When You Accidentally Eat Gluten?
For someone with Celiac Disease or a gluten allergy/intolerance, accidentally eating gluten can range from mild discomfort to extreme pain.
Some common symptoms include:
- Bloating and Stomach Pains
- Lots of Gas
- Diarrhea
- Headaches and Confusion/Brain Fog
- Warmth in Face/Cheeks
- Itchiness and Rashes
- Severe Digestive Issues
- Long Term Digestive Issues
- Cancer/Death (in severe, untreated cases)
Is Celiac Disease Deadly?
The truth is, you can die from Celiac Disease. In a study referenced on WebMD, they found that ‘Among those with celiac disease, there were 3,049 deaths; among those with inflammation, 2,967 died and among the latent group, 183 died. Those with celiac disease had a 39% increased risk of death.’
The study was done by Jonas Ludvigsson and his colleagues as they looked at data reports on intestinal tissue studied at the microscopic level, collected from biopsies that had been taken from Swedish patients from the years 1969 to 2008.
Other Recommendations
For dealing with Celiac Disease or a gluten allergy long term, there are some other things that have helped me feel better and deal with less digestive irritation.
Frequent exercise and yoga/stretching can be extremely beneficial. By stretching your body and relaxing your systems, you can feel better and it can actually aid with digestion. Things like walking, stretching, meditation, and steam rooms/hot showers can all help in this realm of recommendations.
Also continuously working on your diet, eating healthy, and strengthening your system with nutritious foods is key.
Conclusion
We hope this guide to healing after accidental gluten exposure can help you! Have other tips for people? Leave a comment below and share your story, we’d love to hear from you.
