Allergies and Gluten

I woke up this morning with a terrible headache.  This is not uncommon for me.  I have had seasonal allergies for most of my adult life.  I didn't know that if you have headaches more than 3 times per month, you should see a doctor (at least that's the recommendation from many professionals).  At the high point of my celiac symptoms last year, I was experiencing 4-6 headaches a week.  I was taking ibuprofen like candy.  However, I had no reason to think my headaches were caused by anything other than my allergies and chronic sinusitis.

According to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness:  A 2012 survey found that 35% of people at risk for celiac disease had no reason to suspect that the symptoms they were experiencing were due to undiagnosed celiac disease.

In my case, this was very true.  Tiredness can be blamed on poor sleep and respiratory allergies.  The poor sleep can be blamed on lack of exercise and work stress.  Tingling in my fingers can be blamed on previous nerve damage and scoliosis.  Joint pain can be blamed on lack of exercise.  Bloating can be blamed on too much salt, not enough water, etc.  The skin rash can be blamed on dermatitis from soaps.  It goes on and on.  I even have another autoimmune disorder, and an aunt with multiple sclerosis.  Until I experienced considerably inconvenient IBS symptoms, I was not able to piece it together.

This first spring of being gluten free, my allergies symptoms have improved.  Even my husband noticed a difference in my symptoms.  I don't know if my headache was legitimately due to high pollen counts, or was caused by something I ate.  Last night I made a bean soup, which came with a seasoning packet.  I opened the innocuous looking spice packet and dumped it into the pot.  After I took a bite to test the level of seasoning, a wild thought appeared:  "I should read the label because I have no idea what was in the packet."  

Now here's where it gets tricky.  The spice packet contained both maltodextrin and modified food starch, neither of which specified wheat.  If the item was FDA regulated (a bag of beans should be), companies are supposed to identify if these two came from wheat sources and place an allergen warning at the bottom.   

If the item is a meat, poultry, or egg product, it falls under USDA regulations, which does not require labeling to specify the source and just saying modified food starch or maltodextrin is allowed.  These should be avoided like the plague.  There are sources that will tell you maltodextrin is safe, even if it is from wheat, but I don't buy that (I'm no scientist or doctor, just a cautious celiac).  Just like companies can label their reduced gluten beer as "gluten free", 5 ppm might be teeny tiny, but it isn't gluten free.

Well, I might have a few bites to see if I can handle it.  I have heard stories of other celiac people who have bad reactions to maltodextrin and modified food starch, even when it specifies the source.  I am becoming increasingly convinced that I need to cut out all processed foods, even the ones geared toward a gluten free diet...

If my gluten free buddies out there have any additional comments or stories, please chime in.  I'd love to hear other experiences!