Sick During Remodel

[cacampora]

I am in the middle of a pretty big remodel in my house (kitchen and bathroom). My current kitchen is my garage where the workers are constantly dragging in dust and dirt. I have heard of drywall and other construction materials containing wheat. Has any one experienced feeling glutened during a remodel?

For the last few weeks I've been suffering from fatigue, sporadic joint pain, blood sugar issues, blistery rash on right hand, and just a general feeling of malaise. I am seeing my PCP in a couple days to discuss these symptoms. I would say I'm feeling the way I was before my celiac diagnosis. I have been cooking at home throughout the construction and have tried my best to wipe off/rinse off dishes before use. The dust is everywhere in the house though. I'd love to hear if any one has experienced these issues during construction. My family thinks it's an absolute stretch to think that I could be getting sick from the dust from drywall, plaster, and any other materials that have been in the air since demo/remodel. We eat gluten-free and haven't eaten out so it's the only explanation I can think of.

Thanks!

[ravenwoodglass]

Have the workers use plastic sheeting to block off any areas they are working on. I wouldn't let them come through your cooking area unless that section of your garage can be also sheeted off. While most new materials that are used are going to be safe the stuff they are tearing out may not be. One example ( that may not apply to your home) is non-toxic wallpaper paste. If they are drywalling when they are sanding the joints if they lightly spray the joints with water before sanding that will also help keep dust down. When we put in my studio we used tongue and groove boards on walls to avoid any issues.  Hope they finish soon and you enjoy your new spaces.

[cacampora]

10 minutes ago, ravenwoodglass said:

Have the workers use plastic sheeting to block off any areas they are working on. I wouldn't let them come through your cooking area unless that section of your garage can be also sheeted off. While most new materials that are used are going to be safe the stuff they are tearing out may not be. One example ( that may not apply to your home) is non-toxic wallpaper paste. If they are drywalling when they are sanding the joints if they lightly spray the joints with water before sanding that will also help keep dust down. When we put in my studio we used tongue and groove boards on walls to avoid any issues.  Hope they finish soon and you enjoy your new spaces.

Thanks for your response! The area that they're working on is basically one large open living space of our kitchen, dining, and living/family room. They did put up a plastic wall between our kitchen and living room, but since we're still living in our house and walking constantly through the plastic wall, I am not sure how efficient it's been. There has been white dust on our furniture that we were hoping would have been protected by the plastic. The workers are are walking through our garage kitchen without any plastic walls and i've seen the white dust collect on some of our appliances, spices, ect. so it's definitely in the air. Our house was built in the 80s so it could be the materials that they removed from our house too. 

I think we're about two/three weeks out from completion so i'm really hoping that after construction is done and everything is cleaned thoroughly, that I start feeling better. Of course all these symptoms are causing me to spiral that I'm dealing with something other than celiac.