Not sure if AIBU over DH’s illness or if wise MNetters may be able to pinpoint an issue that I’m not seeing.
I’ll be the first to admit that DH and I probably eat too much wheat. We eat a lot of pasta and also a lot of bread. Most meals seem to centre around wheat-based carbs if I’m honest, although over a year ago I cut out double-carbing much to DH’s disgust. He still moans about no longer having garlic bread with lasagne, pizza etc, for example. That aside, I think our diet is ok – we eat loads of veg, pulses etc, not many desserts and have a very active lifestyle. DH has a portion control issue and he snacks a lot more than me.
Anyway, the weekend before last, he suddenly announced that he believes he is coeliac. We had not long finished dinner of kebabs with pitta bread, salad and hummus. He also had two beers. He was showing no obvious ill effects but said his stomach felt uncomfortable. A few days before, he had caught up with an old friend who is coeliac and apparently his symptoms sounded similar. I didn’t completely dismiss him but pointed out all the gluten-based food he’s been eating all week without any problems and also googled symptoms, going them point by point noting that he didn’t really fit the classic pattern (no headaches, no rashes, no feelings of anxiety or depression, no vomiting or diaohrrea, no constipation and he was complaining of discomfort – not exactly doubled over in pain). He sulked all night that I wasn’t taking his illness seriously. The next night we had a roast chicken dinner. The gravy was made with flour and I bought a nice looking sourdough loaf – which I thought would do us all week but DH pretty much scoffed the whole thing, slice after slice. He then complained again of feeling bloated and uncomfortable, saying it was definitely coeliac-disease. Pointing out that he had perhaps just overeaten didn’t really go down well. We ate as normal during the week – we had pastas, ramen-style noodle dishes, quiche with salad which didn’t seem to cause any problems. Towards the end of the week I made halloumi burgers on ciabatta rolls with salad and about an hour after eating, DH starting claiming of discomfort again, saying it was because of the bread and he absolutely believed he must be coeliac. So, I decided that we would follow a gluten-free diet for two weeks and see if that made a difference.
I devised a meal plan, despite his moans about the content, but before we could start that we went to a party where DH ate loads of buffet items including pizza, breadsticks, bread with cheese, quiche, samosas, mini-pies, breaded chicken and at least two slices of birthday cake. He also drank beer all day and had had toast for breakfast beforehand. He said he felt absolutely fine afterwards. The following day, we had dinner with his parents. There was no obvious gluten-element on the main course but we had stuffed mushrooms, topped with breadcrumbs, for starter and again he drank a few bottles of beer. He had also had a sandwich for lunch beforehand. Again he felt fine. Our first gluten free meal at home (crispy chicken with potato wedges, green beans and asparagus) went down ok but he claimed he was still hungry afterwards so had some wheatabix. Still felt ok though. The next day I made a “pasta” bake with spiralised butternut squash “boodles” which he really liked and again felt fine but again needed wheatabix to fill him up. Last night I made a 5 bean chilli – one of his favourite meals but I usually serve it with flatbreads which I didn’t do this time, using rice instead. He hadn’t worked that day and had toast for breakfast and then taken his mum out for lunch for her birthday – moules frites with crusty bread and then birthday cake. Shortly after eating the chilli, he said he was feeling ill. This time he actually looked unwell – very pale and clearly in discomfort. He spent the rest of the night running to the loo but with nothing being, ahem, produced. He claimed that he had a croissant with a coffee in the late afternoon and had been feeling queasy since then with the chilli pushing him over the edge. Tonight, however, he’s going to a friend’s house for a pizza night and is adamant that he’ll be fine.
I should mention that when he is at work he eats a cereal bar and a banana for breakfast and then a bowl of alpen for lunch (this is partly due to his love of alpen but also because he believes this is a healthy lunch – which it could be if he didn’t fill a bowl with a mountain of the stuff. He goes through two boxes a week).
What am I missing? I can’t see this being coeliac disease when he’s been eating so many gluten-based products with no problem. But when he does feel ill, it tends to be after eating bread, or, in yesterday’s case, pastry. Can he be intolerant to some sources of gluten but not others? And does this actually sound like an intolerance/allergy or just a sensitivity? Perhaps his digestive issues have actually had nothing to do with his diet at all and it’s all just coincidence? In which case, what else could be causing this?