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Glutened From Miniscule Amount?

geelet

By geelet
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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geelet Newbie
geelet
Posted

Hi - I have celiac and have been on the gluten-free diet for 9 months. I'm not exactly sure what getting "glutened" feels like. Yesterday, because of a misunderstanding at a friend's house I put a chip in my mouth and started chewing. Right then my friend realized the mistake and told me not to eat it. I spit it out before swallowing and rinsed my mouth several times.

Today, I have a sore throat, diarrhea and am very tired. I have had these "episodes" on other occasions and have never been able to pinpoint the exact cause as I do try to be very careful. Is it possible that I could have been glutened from the miniscule amount of chip that I might not have managed to wash out from my mouth? Is there anyone else who gets "episodes" like this and if so, do you think it is from being glutened by a tiny amount of wheat or just a general weak stomach that may have nothing to do with gluten?

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pnltbox27 Contributor
pnltbox27
Posted

i guess it really depends on how sensitive you are to gluten . in my short time on the gluten free diet ive only felt really "glutened" mabey once or twice, the first time was a rookie mistake , we went out for dinner and i ordered a cheeseburger with the bun and just took it off,i really didnt think it was going to be a big deal. bad mistake.other than that i am constantly in contact with gluten i just dont eat it, making kids lunches ,dinner etc...and i really dont have reactions , ive never felt better.im crossing my fingers as i write this that i never become as sensitive as some on this board. my heart goes out to you guys.good luck. hope you feel better

Guest j_mommy
Guest j_mommy
Posted

Could be from that!!! Like the previous poster said it is about how sensitive you are!

Hope you feel better soon!

oceangirl Collaborator
oceangirl
Posted
Could be from that!!! Like the previous poster said it is about how sensitive you are!

Hope you feel better soon!

Hi.

Well, if you are one of the "lucky" celiacs (I'm being a bit sardonic...) who respond beautifully to only eliminating gluten maybe that would be far-fetched. There are many of us, however, who not only are intolerant to gluten but find we are also intolerant to many, many other foods and must discern which by the painful, slow process of elimination and reintroduction. We also are HYPER-sensitive to even the smallest amounts of gluten. If, (sadly) you are one of us, I find what happened to you not hard to believe as it's happened MANY, MANY times to me and many others on this board. I am a year into gluten, soy, corn, legume, nightshade and mostly dairy-free. (Yes, I eat only rocks...... kidding) My gluten-intolerance genes are two Double DQ 1s (an apparently, anecdotally at least, pair of nasty ones), and am doing MUCH better, but it IS a vigil. I hope you will not turn out to be that sensitive in the long run, but, if you are, you will need to be incredibly cautious. Hope this is useful and very good luck to you!

lisa

Karen B. Explorer
Karen B.
Posted

I didn't believe the reaction could be so sensitive that a peck from my hubby after he ate gluten could make me sick. We've been married 20+ years and I'm talking a goodbye peck in the morning, not a major lip lock.

I kept getting mild gluten hits and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. The sneaky man keep track for 2 weeks and didn't tell me until he had two weeks of data -- it was really clear. He ate raisin bran, I got sick. He ate grits, I didn't get sick. Now, he brushes his teeth before we say goodbye in the morning.

Yes, you really can get sick from very small exposures to gluten.

casnco Enthusiast
casnco
Posted
I didn't believe the reaction could be so sensitive that a peck from my hubby after he ate gluten could make me sick. We've been married 20+ years and I'm talking a goodbye peck in the morning, not a major lip lock.

I kept getting mild gluten hits and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. The sneaky man keep track for 2 weeks and didn't tell me until he had two weeks of data -- it was really clear. He ate raisin bran, I got sick. He ate grits, I didn't get sick. Now, he brushes his teeth before we say goodbye in the morning.

Yes, you really can get sick from very small exposures to gluten.

Unfortunatly I have the same responce to kissing someone who has consumed gluten. What a bummer!!!! Fortunately my hubby has decided to be gluten free with me. Now there is a nice guy!! And he can now have kisses anytime he wants one.

I wash my hands before I eat everytime. If I am at work I know I can count on people not being carefull with the microwave. So I place a papertowl down before my container. Then when I put my empty container back in my lunch box there is no chance of cross contamination. There are alot of things to be carefull of when you are as sensitive as some of us. Sorry you seem like you could be one of the sensitive ones. Good luck.

cruelshoes Enthusiast
cruelshoes
Posted

It has been my experience that the longer I am gluten-free, the less gluten it takes for me to get a reaction. I know that many others have experienced the same. How's that for a rude joke - the more careful I am, the less it takes to make me sick. No fair! ;)

Early on after my diagnosis, I used the communal toaster at work to toast my gluten-free bread. Surely a few crumbs could not get me to react. Ooooh - was I wrong. It took 3+ days for the symptoms to go away. So I would say yes, the amount in that chip could be enough for you to react.

Hope you feel better!

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GeoffCJ Enthusiast
GeoffCJ
Posted

I got glutened during finals last month. A friend handed me a red vine while studying, I bit off a piece, hcewed once or twice, thought about it, spit it out. I was still sick.

My wife is not gluten-free, but our house is mostly gluten-free now. She's very careful not to kiss me after eating something with gluten.

Geoff

Karen B. Explorer
Karen B.
Posted
Unfortunatly I have the same responce to kissing someone who has consumed gluten. What a bummer!!!! Fortunately my hubby has decided to be gluten free with me. Now there is a nice guy!! And he can now have kisses anytime he wants one.

I wash my hands before I eat everytime. If I am at work I know I can count on people not being carefull with the microwave. So I place a papertowl down before my container. Then when I put my empty container back in my lunch box there is no chance of cross contamination. There are alot of things to be carefull of when you are as sensitive as some of us. Sorry you seem like you could be one of the sensitive ones. Good luck.

Hubby decided to go with a completely gluten-free house after all that. We went through the pantry and gave away everything that had gluten in it (he eats buckwheats for breakfast now). Funny thing is we gave most stuff to my Mom and she was diagnosed with Celiac a year later.

geelet Newbie
geelet
Posted
  • Author

Yes, unfortunately, I think I may be one of the "unlucky" celiacs. I already couldn't eat dairy, and seem to have developed a legume intolerance since going gluten free. I'm still having episodes with the big D every couple of weeks. I actually thought I was doing a lot better since it's not every day anymore! However, my doctor doesn't think that's good enough after 10 months on the diet and I will be getting a repeat endoscopy/colonoscopy soon. I really appreciate all the responses on here. I have not yet looked into things like shampoo/face lotion (although i have checked my hand lotion and lipstick, figuring those can end up in the mouth pretty easily). But I think i may need to just be extra, extra vigilant (like it wasn't already hard enough. grr.) since i am so sensitive. Maybe I'll try some other food eliminations too. that should be fun.

Hi.

Well, if you are one of the "lucky" celiacs (I'm being a bit sardonic...) who respond beautifully to only eliminating gluten maybe that would be far-fetched. There are many of us, however, who not only are intolerant to gluten but find we are also intolerant to many, many other foods and must discern which by the painful, slow process of elimination and reintroduction. We also are HYPER-sensitive to even the smallest amounts of gluten. If, (sadly) you are one of us, I find what happened to you not hard to believe as it's happened MANY, MANY times to me and many others on this board. I am a year into gluten, soy, corn, legume, nightshade and mostly dairy-free. (Yes, I eat only rocks...... kidding) My gluten-intolerance genes are two Double DQ 1s (an apparently, anecdotally at least, pair of nasty ones), and am doing MUCH better, but it IS a vigil. I hope you will not turn out to be that sensitive in the long run, but, if you are, you will need to be incredibly cautious. Hope this is useful and very good luck to you!

lisa

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