Inhaling Gluten

[ronahc]

My husband has been gluten free for a year. I am careful not to leave any gluten crumbs lying around or anything else that might hurt him. I have been on NutriSystem to lose weight (they supply my food), so I do eat gluten and have been since he started being gluten-free.

Recently, if I heat up a dinner in the microwave or cook oatmeal or boil noodles he says he feels like he has been glutened. I am not doubting him, I am just trying to find out how common this is and if it will go away. This has come on gradually and now I cannot heat something in the microwave for even 1 minute while he is anywhere near it.

If I have to go off my diet (I have lost 60 pounds) I will. In the meantime, I would like some feedback about this if anyone else has experienced it.

Thanks for your help.

[Lisa]

My husband has been gluten free for a year. I am careful not to leave any gluten crumbs lying around or anything else that might hurt him. I have been on NutriSystem to lose weight (they supply my food), so I do eat gluten and have been since he started being gluten-free.

Recently, if I heat up a dinner in the microwave or cook oatmeal or boil noodles he says he feels like he has been glutened. I am not doubting him, I am just trying to find out how common this is and if it will go away. This has come on gradually and now I cannot heat something in the microwave for even 1 minute while he is anywhere near it.

If I have to go off my diet (I have lost 60 pounds) I will. In the meantime, I would like some feedback about this if anyone else has experienced it.

Thanks for your help.

I feel that he is being obsessively cautious. You need to reclaim YOUR life. Gluten free is not that big a deal. I am questioning how he "feels like he has been glutened" by smelling oatmeal or pasta cooking. STAY on your diet. It is adaptable. for both your needs.

I would recommend that you read as much as you are able on this site. It is a wealth of information.

[chatycady]

The Dr. said you can't be glutened unless you eat it. Although I believe handling gluten may cause problems. I cut up a bunch of doughnuts for some friends. Washed my hands and I had an allergic reaction. Red flushed face, heart raced, and felt lousey. But maybe I didn't wash my hands good enough and I accidently ate some crumbs. I learned a lesson.

I have heard that inhaling flour dust can cause allergic reactions.

Congratulations on the weigh loss. This wouldn't be bothering him would it?

[zansu]

flour dust can gluten you because the sinuses filter the flour out of the air and drain into your stomach. Just smelling something wouldn't do that.

Now, if he's recently gluten-free and you're nuking something he used to REALLY like, you may be tempting him, getting those stomach juices going for <whatever he misses> which can cause rumblings or just simple jealousy. Thanksgiving time, my husband decided to buy himself a Mrs Smith's Pumpkin pie and bake it while I was in the house, and smelling it. I didn't get glutened, but I got annoyed (and hungry). So he may be telling you you are tempting him but (like so many men) is using an objective excuse to cover his subjective feelings.

[ronahc]

Thank you for your comments. No, I don't think this is in his head. And he is thrilled by my weight loss and hopes that it continues. He has no interest at all in eating my Nutrisystem food, which is what I am nuking. He was getting hot flashes before becoming gluten free and when he feels he has been glutened, these come back.

Perhaps I should mention that he is 62 ate lots of gluten for 61 years.

[gfp]

If I have to go off my diet (I have lost 60 pounds) I will.

Congrats on the weight loss but .... at some point you are goig to have to eat real food again??? or are you going to eat the stuff for life?

These things can be a great boost... no question but they are not a magic formula...

If you eat sensibly you should maintain your weight and even loose more....

If you lost 60lbs your over the hurdles and it might just be time to throw away the crutches .....

just something to think about

[Jestgar]

Recently, if I heat up a dinner in the microwave or cook oatmeal or boil noodles he says he feels like he has been glutened. I am not doubting him, I am just trying to find out how common this is and if it will go away. This has come on gradually and now I cannot heat something in the microwave for even 1 minute while he is anywhere near it.

Think about when you were 20 and you drank so much rum that you spent the next day sprawled on the bathroom floor cherishing the toilet. How long was it before you could even smell rum without feeling nauseous?

My guess is that it's probably something like this. His body has learned to associate the smell of wheat with becoming sick, and so it does.

[lovegrov]

Recently, if I heat up a dinner in the microwave or cook oatmeal or boil noodles he says he feels like he has been glutened. I am not doubting him, I am just trying to find out how common this is and if it will go away. This has come on gradually and now I cannot heat something in the microwave for even 1 minute while he is anywhere near it.

IMO, the things you name cannot cause a true celiac reaction. A bunch of loose flour in the air might, but not this. I suspect it's psychological.

richard

[ronahc]

I appreciate everyone's input. This morning, I made oatmeal while he was sleeping. When he woke up, he knew immediately that there was gluten in the air. If it is psychological, I just don't know what to do.

I might add that he has a problem in the supermarket bread aisle, also. His brother, who took his advice and went gluten free a few months ago, cannot even walk into the supermarket because he feels the gluten in the air.

[FeedIndy]

I feel nauseous in the bread aisle too, but I don't think it actually causes a gluten reaction for me. I think it is a psychosomatic issue where my body knows there is gluten and what it will do to me if I eat it. I literally gag when I walk by the bakery. I don't have any other gluten reactions and it doesn't last longer than it takes to get away from the smell, but it's a real reaction even if I do know it is essentially all in my head.