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Reintroduced wheat - migraine-like symptoms??


eens

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I completed a Whole30 a few weeks ago and until Sunday I had not reintroduced any forbidden foods, except for occasional small amounts of cane sugar, and at least one serving of non-compliant oil.

 

On Sunday I purposely consumed wheat as my first official reintro.  I didn't start the reintroduction until around dinner time, so I ate several servings of wheat at once, in the form of two pieces of bread, a small serving of pasta, and a serving of pot roast cooked in a beer-based sauce.  Since that meal, I have returned to Whole30 eating.

 

Sunday evening I noticed a headache but this did not surprise me since I often have tension headaches.  However, not only has the headache continued on and off since then, but it has been accompanied by intermittent nausea ranging from mild to quite bad this morning.  Interestingly, eating (Whole30 meals) seems to help with the symptoms.

 

I have no history of migraines.  Is it possible that there is a connection between the wheat and my intermittent headaches and nausea?  If so, is it unsurprising that I would still be experiencing these effects almost three days out?

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It's definitely possible that there is a connection between wheat and the symptoms that you're having and not at all surprising that it would continue for a reasonable amount of time. Lots of people here can attest to having experiences where one time of consuming dairy or grains gives them weeks of excema, bloating, headaches, allergies etc...

 

The best thing to do would be to try it again but I would suggest if you're wanting to ever consume wheat that you do a reintro of a SMALL amount and see how that sits... then go back to Whole30 eating and try again with a larger serving... by repeating this, you should be able to get a baseline on how much (if any) you can consume before you end up with the unfriendly symptoms you have now.  Make sense?

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eens -I can attest to what sugarcubeOD said.  Other than severe fatigue and muscle/joint pain, having headaches and nausea were two other big symptoms for me before going completely gluten free.  When I would do a gluten challenge, headache and nausea would usually be the first symptoms to hit me. It will take several days for the symptoms to complete resolve.

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Dr. Perlmutter explains so much about this issue in his book, Grain Brain.

 

I have a good friend whose daughter had been through so much misery.......  headaches, vomiting, digestive complaints, all tied in together -- pretty much ALL of her first 13 years.  Doctors could figure out NOTHING.

 

One day she asked me if I thought maybe it could be gluten.  (Some conversations we'd had had sparked a light bulb moment for her.)  I told her there was absolutely NO downside to cutting it completely out for a few weeks and seeing what happens.

 

Happy to say that this girl is now 100% symptom free as long as she stays gluten-free.

 

Dr. Perlmutter explains at length why we are all sensitive to gluten.  How it is good for no one.  Some of us are more sensitive than others, and you do not need a laboratory test of any kind to confirm this.  If you feel better without it -- you are better off without it.

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Hi everyone,

 

Thanks so much for your thoughtful replies! 

 

I have never had problems with nausea in the past, but it sounds like my current symptoms could potentially be a response to the massive hit of wheat I took on Sunday evening.  I initially reintroduced wheat in the hopes of eating some Thanksgiving rolls tomorrow, but I will continue to avoid it for now. 

 

Hopefully the symptoms will clear up soon!  If they do, I know I will want to test again to find out for sure – but this time I will take SugarcubeOD's advice and do it on a much smaller scale.

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I have a coworker who gets migraines when she consumes gluten. For me, gluten makes me ANGRY and sugar brings on headaches. So yeah, the gluten could be the issue for you. This is what I love about whole 30- everyone is different, you figure out what works for you.

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