Back to Glutened

Well, it's been awhile since I felt this way, but I guess I got sick again. Like, gluten sick, as opposed to dairy sick, and contagious sick. It started Wednesday night, right after my fifteen minute break at work. All of the sudden, I felt like I hit a brick wall. I was sapped, and had zero energy, and then my stomach started cramping. My coworker said I looked like I was going to throw up, and I should just go home, but I really wanted to stick it out and make it through the night. There was less than an hour left at that point. So I sat down a bit longer, toughed it out, and went home, feeling like total crap.

All day Thursday, I just got worse. I wanted to curl up under my desk and die/nap. A couple of my coworkers could tell, and one of them told me to go home, but I had to work after work, and I didn't want to miss both. In fact, I didn't want to miss either.


My stomach hurt like crazy, I had serious brain fog, and I was really tired. I couldn't think straight at all. I managed to keep answering phones, and smiling, but I didn't get any of my other little jobs done.

When I finally finished the first job, I was totally wiped and felt like I'd been run over by something. I had an hour before work, so I basically vegged out on the couch, ate a little, and dragged my butt to work. When I got there, I realized there was no way I was going to get through my three hour shift. I walked out of the back room, and the whole store spun on its side.

I asked the girl I was supposed to work with if she'd be okay closing alone, and she was. She could see how sick I was, and pretty much insisted I don't work. I called the manager, talked to her for a few minutes, and then went home. Without even clocking in.

I spent the rest of the night, on the couch, drinking some water, some juice, and eating a little bit. My stomach was stabbing, cramping and rumbling, and my head was spinning, throbbing, and just out of it.

The moment I know it was gluten is the moment someone says something, I'm looking at them, and I realize I didn't hear what they said. It's like there's this giant cloud around my head and I can't get out of it.

So I did end up missing some work, but I felt a lot better this morning. I think its done now, and I'll be okay from here out. Hopefully.

The thing is, I don't know what it was. I was really busy on Wednesday, and didn't have much time to eat, and I only ate things I've eaten before. I did eat a couple of risky things recently, but not since Monday, and that usually kicks in a lot faster.

The only thing I can think of, is that there was a box of doughnuts on my desk Wednesday afternoon. I didn't eat any, I didn't even think about it, but somebody did drop one, and I did wipe up the caramel glaze, and then wiped the box. I knew that I had touched gluten, so I used some hand sanitizer, and called it good. I worried now that it wasn't. Or, if it was, that someone else ate a doughnut, and then touched my phone, desk, mouse, etc. I have a habit of chewing my nails, so if some happened to get on my hand, it probably got in my mouth.

Nevertheless, I'm afraid that doughnuts at work are a risk of contamination. Next time some appear, I'll have to try moving them to someone else's desk.