Gluten Reactions Suck :(

(I originally posted this in July but I think it got out of order when I made a minor edit in August)

Last week (beginning of July) my husband ended up in the ER :( Turns out it was "just" a kidney stone, but it was pretty scary! When we stopped at the pharmacy, I picked up a bag of a new Ghirardelli Intense Dark flavor. I paid for it and opened it while we were waiting to fill his prescriptions. Ate one.

Tuesday when I woke up, my stomach felt a bit weird. I took some Pepto and didn't think anything more about it. By that afternoon, my emotions were out of control :( Every little thing was making me upset to the point of tears. I had to make the 5ish hour round trip drive to bring the boys to their dad's. It was a tough trip!

By the time I got home that night, I started thinking there was something really wrong. My anxiety hadn't been that bad since..... my last gluten exposure 2 years ago. I tried to think of everything I had eaten in the last couple days. The only thing I could remember having different was the chocolate. I eat Ghirardelli Intense Dark on a regular basis. But this was a different flavor. I pulled up the ingredients online (the bag was downstairs and I was upstairs).

Ingredients: Sugar, Unsweetened Chocolate, Glucose Syrup (Wheat), Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Cream (Milk), Butter (Cream, Salt), Nonfat Dry Milk, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Vanilla Extract.

*facepalm* 

There it is, right in the ingredient list that I did not check :(  I'm so anal about checking labels! I guess after being in the ER with hubby, with the boys, having to get his car from his work, etc, I just wasn't thinking. Plus I know I can eat GID normally, so I think that played into it too.

My stomach never acted up too much, but my anxiety was through the roof! I got upset easily. I was sad. I had no motivation to do anything. I was absolutely exhausted. My heart rate would jump whenever I did the least little thing.  

I found something that helped a little. I take Quercetin as needed for allergies. It took the edge off the anxiety. 

Sunday evening I finally started feeling somewhat human... Today is Thursday. I'm still fighting the anxiety but it's better. 

If the little bit of gluten in one square of chocolate that had a wheat-derived ingredient affected me that much, I'd hate to see what more would do!