What on earth is going on?

[timeistight]

I’ve had problems for years, but my GP says there is not enough evidence for me to have a referral, so I soldier on.

I react to all sorts of chemicals with coughing (until I retch) and wheezing. This includes household cleaners, paint etc. I react to skin care products with rashes, redness and swelling. Being in a space that is air conditioned leads to constant sneezing, and being next to a vase of flowers can have the same effect. By a process of elimination I have found that I cannot eat oats, wheat, rye or barley because they all give me stomach pains and uncontrollable diarrhoea, but coeliac tests are negative. Commercial gluten free products have the same effect, so I have now removed Warburtons GF bread from my diet, and also, as an experiment, eggs. I’ll reintroduce them in a couple of weeks and see what happens. In the meantime, I mainly eat protein, veg, fruit and salad. The only grain I am now eating is rice, which still seems to be OK.

I did get a gastro referral, but in the seven minutes I was with him he was not interested in exploring any dietary issues and just kept demanding to know why I had excluded wheat etc when the tests say I am not coeliac. I’ve tried taking OTC anti-histamines, but they have no effect.

On Saturday I went out for lunch with friends. When I went to the loo I realised that I had (ahem) had an accident, without realising. I then had diarrhoea and then came out in burning eczema on both hands, so I’m guessing I reacted to something in our lunch of med veg. chicken, chorizo and prawns. 48 hours later my hands are still stiff and burning and the areas where I have the eczema are tender to the touch. I have only had eczema at all in the last five years.

After that, failing to make it to the bathroom at home a couple of weeks ago and only just making it home from an event where I had eaten GF cake a couple of weeks before that, I am becoming anxious about going out and especially about eating out.

Does anybody have any idea what might be going on and what I can do now?

It sounds like you have glutened yourself, something within the meal had hidden gluten probably the sausage

Are you also aware of lipstick? Some contain gluten and when you eat you micro ingest, I can’t wear Estée Lauder for that reason

Some gf foods also contain oat flour which 5% of us react to, it’s a case of trial and error finding out what you are affected by

Was the gastro not aware of the existence of non-coeliac gluten intolerance? As for your GP saying that you don't qualify for referral (presumably for allergy testing)...

Poor you!

Do antihistamines not help with the sneezing?

For your skin try just tepid water (if you can, and you don't live in or downwind from a large city, try collecting fresh rainwater) and use a tiny amount of pure virgin cold-pressed coconut oil as moisturiser.

I use Waitrose Pure fragrance-free shampoo, conditioner and handwash.

Try liquid Surcare products for your clothes and washing-up. And diluted Liquid Soap Flakes for all your household cleaning.

According to the blood test, I do not have coeliac, but according to my body wheat makes me ill. However, when I tried a coeliac diet I found that a lot of commercial coeliac products also disagree with me. I don't necessarily get the skin problems and depression that I get with wheat, but I do get the digestive problems. I'm fairly sure that soya is the main culprit.

Try clean eating: as little processed food as possible. If you're sensitive to nitrites, for example, the chorizo could be what set you off.

Gastro was not interested in anything other than referring for colonoscopy to prove I had IBS!

OTC anti-histamines don't seem to work any more. They used to, but not now.

I got bitten by something on Friday, came out in huge weals, really itchy, tried anti-histamine, nothing. Then at 3:00am I jerked awake with a heart rate of 130, which took about an hour to settle.

I will report this to my GP next time I go in, but every one I have approached over the years has said there is not enough evidence for a referral.

Perhaps a good nutritionist could help? High dose probiotics might be also perhaps worth considering

Also

Slippery elm

Cats Claw

Gelatin

Bone broth

All can be helpful for gut problems

Have you tried taking ranitidine at the same time as your regular antihistamine? It's another type of antihistamine, normally used for reflux to reduce stomach acidity. Alone, it doesn't have any effect on hives, but there is some evidence that it boosts the effectiveness of the anti-histamines that do have an affect on hives.

It's also called Zantac.