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Airborne gluten and gluten on surfaces?


1398-Days

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1398-Days Contributor

I've heard that gluten can stay in the air for several hours after using flour or something, is this true? And if someone touches gluten and then touches other things without washing their hands first, will the gluten stay on the surface and for how long? A few days ago my dad made lemon bars with wheat flour and he touched the flour as he was measuring it, and then he was touching the bag of sugar and also poured the sugar directly over the bowl where he had poured the flour (without washing his hands before touching the sugar). I wondered if I could get sick from that, but figured it was fine and used the sugar to make cookies today. I ate my fair share of cookies.. :lol: But I've been feeling bloated all day since I ate them and then 1-2 hours ago started to feel very sick and bloated and had stomach cramps. With the bloating I thought it was just from eating too much junk today, but the stomach cramps made me think it's gluten. Right before I went gluten free (only about 5 months ago) I started getting cramps and diarrhea quite often.. It stopped when I stopped eating gluten, and even when I get gluten now I don't usually get cramps because pretty much every time (many, many times before I figured it out) was from CC. I think once I had stomach cramps, but they only lasted a few minutes and I never had diarrhea. However, this time the cramps were worse and I went to the restroom. The cramps have mostly subsided now, but I just went to the restroom and it was almost completely liquid. Sorry this is kind of gross.. It's also kind of orange.. Again, sorry for being TMI. It feels like before I went gluten free.. meaning, much more than just CC. It almost seems worse.. well, maybe not but it seems worse to me because I instead of stomach cramps I just feel kind of bloated and slightly nauseous. I also have the chills. No fever though.. I get the chills sometimes when I get glutened and I think it's more from anxiety than anything because I'm TERRIFIED of throwing up and I get very anxious when I feel even the slightest bit nauseous. But what I'm asking is, if my dad touched the bag with flour on his hands or airborne flour somehow got inside the bag of sugar (and this was around a week ago), could that make me this sick? It seems unlikely, and even if it could happen it seems like the amount would be so small that i wouldn't get this sick. Of course I'm very sensitive to CC and if there was flour on the bag that's more than just CC right? Sorry for making this so long.. I think focusing on writing helps get my mind off of how I'm feeling currently. Which seems odd since I'm writing about feeling sick.. Anyway, what do you think? I can't think of anything else that I ate today that could have made me sick, so if it's not that then I'm kind of at a loss. Also, any tips on how to feel better? I don't have any medicine to take except Gaviscon and it doesn't really help nausea.. Help! I'm kind of freaking out right now.. 

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Sensitiveceliac Newbie

Absolutely you have been glutuned. As my GI doctor told me, minuscule amount of glutun can cause our body damage. When I reacted violently sick and had to go to ER because my husband accidentally burned toast in his own glutun toaster, the doctor wrote a note home that the entire house had to be gluten free. I think from what has happened to you, if you want to live sick free, and the healthiest you can live you too, should have a 100 percent gluten free house. And by the way, after making that change, I have never been healthier! 

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Sensitiveceliac Newbie

To feel better, time mostly, but I also take benerdyl, lots of water, hot steamy Epsom salt baths, help to release the toxins, bland diet, nutri bullet shake that consists of spinach,vega protein powder and blueberries. I take arthritis Tylenol for the joint pain and fever. And lots of water to flush the system. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Lisa Mentor

Businesses such as bakeries or those who use  flour in a commercial manner can very well have air borne gluten that can be breathed in, can kick off a reaction.    Since your father was using flour a week ago, it's most likely something you came in contact with after that, unless he is a very, very messy baker with flour everywhere.

Smelling burned toast would not create a reaction for someone with Celiac, unless the toast was ingested.  Many of us have been so sick previously to a diagnosis, the thought of being around gluten in any form can give us the 'creap out response', smell included.  But only ingesting gluten into our system will trigger an autoimmune response.

1398, I would recommend a food diary.  That would help you identity a reaction.  Some will always be a mystery, unfortunately.  Also, after your intestines have been damaged due to  Celiac, most foods, gluten or not will be bothersome until healing can take place.

Hope this is helpful.

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