I Am Totally Freaking Out.....

[bfarnsworth0709]

I am totally freaking out. I realized the seriousness of this disease and cross contamination this weekend when I found out I was still being "glutened" by my shampoo/conditioner and I needed to check the labels on EVERYTHING, not just what I eat. So does that mean if I come across crumbs on my desk at work dropped from someone walking by, I can get sick, or by touching the shopping cart at the grocery store. How do you know what's in the soap in public restrooms? If I am married, and my husband is not gluten free does that mean he can't kiss me or I could be glutened? I am feeling COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED and feel like I need to crawl in a bubble and never come out!!

Please Help! Am I taking this way overboard and being paranoid? How do I "live" gluten free and actually have a life!?!

[L.A.]

I am totally freaking out. I realized the seriousness of this disease and cross contamination this weekend when I found out I was still being "glutened" by my shampoo/conditioner and I needed to check the labels on EVERYTHING, not just what I eat. So does that mean if I come across crumbs on my desk at work dropped from someone walking by, I can get sick, or by touching the shopping cart at the grocery store. How do you know what's in the soap in public restrooms? If I am married, and my husband is not gluten free does that mean he can't kiss me or I could be glutened? I am feeling COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED and feel like I need to crawl in a bubble and never come out!!

Please Help! Am I taking this way overboard and being paranoid? How do I "live" gluten free and actually have a life!?!

Some days I feel like living in a bubble because you're right, this is very overwhelming. My kids make sandwiches and othe gluteney things and are not 10% about being careful so I wipe my counters down before I do anything in my kitchen--you may want to do that at work. When I get home from grocery shoppping I just wash my hands and am very careful about not sticking my fingers in my mouth My hubby always brushes his teeth and rinses after eating gluten so he's good to go in the kissing department. It all takes time, deep breaths and many hugs...you're ok!

[Mango04]

You can't avoid every crumb of gluten. Just do the best you can. Take reasonable precautions to the best of your ability. You will be okay

[goldyjlox]

I still use my same shampoo and conditioner that I always used...as long as you are careful not getting any into your mouth. My specialist wasnt to concerned about those as it is not ingested. I live with gluten eaters and I just make sure that I clean the space where I am going to prepare foods before I do. I wouldnt worry so much about the grocery carts or even soaps...you will make yourself go crazy. I am only two weeks into this diet and yes it sucks but I am just careful and it seems to work for me. I actually dont know if I am getting glutened as I never got sick to often so I am assuming b/c I feel more energetic and my belly is bloated any more that I am doing alright.

[bfarnsworth0709]

for me....I definitely can't have shampoo/conditioner's with wheat in them. My hair sheds really bad if they have gluten and my scalp itches really really bad.

Be careful of consuming gluten b/c you don't get sick. Even if you don't feel like your having a reaction it can still be doing damage to your body. There are a lot of long term effects of eating gluten if you have celiac disease. But of course each person is different and has to do what is best for them, I just wanted to give you food for thought since you said you started 2 weeks ago. Since I was diagnosed 5 years ago, 4 1/2 of those years I still ate gluten not realizing it was like poison to my body b/c my doctor incorrectly told me it didn't matter if I ate gluten and it made me sick.

[goldyjlox]

Actually I have noticed that my scalp itches, I thought maybe it was dry skin, I am almost done these bottles and I have bought Dove as I read it was gluten free. I do think that I tend to not worry all the time about things, but they could be harmful to me and I dont even know it...just like makeup...I dont know what to use so I dont wear any, I need to find some.

Thanks. Sorry we dipped into your post.

[sickchick]

Take a deep breath and be happy you found this place! It's all about healing and we all learn something new every single day Sweetie. Nice thing is here everybody is just as messed up as everyone else HAHAHAHA

Good luck on your journey!

[Ursa Major]

You might want to let your coworkers know that they can absolutely NOT eat anything containing gluten near your desk. If you see crumbs, it would be best if you would wash your desk before you work at it.

I am afraid I have given up on constantly telling my husband and daughter not to touch the keyboard and mouse right after eating a sandwich (or even eating at the computer, dropping crumbs everywhere), without washing their hands first. It is useless, they don't care. And I really can't clean the keyboard and mouse every single time before I use the computer.

I am now going to save for my own laptop computer, which nobody else will be allowed to use.

But I won't have gluten containing soap, shampoo and conditioner or other personal care products in the house (including lotion). Because you can't help touching your hair, or of course eat with your fingers after washing your hands. That is really the way you get glutened from those products. Why take unnecessary risks?

It is inevitable that we get small amounts of gluten unless we really live in a bubble. So, we should try our best to not expose ourselves to gluten on purpose. I know I get glutened at home, and I am afraid not much can be done about it. But it sounds to me like you can control your home environment completely. So, do it, but be careful not to get too paranoid, because that wouldn't be good for your mental health, which is important, too.

As you can see, others have 'trained' their husbands to brush their teeth and rinse their mouths before kissing their wives, it can be done. Unfortunately, it takes away spontaneity, but that can't be helped.

Once you really get the hang of being gluten-free, you will start to relax a little. It will all become second nature after a while and won't be so overwhelming any more.

[Guest thatchickali]

I feel ya. I was getting glutened by my dog. She licks my mouth and everytime I wash my lips with softsoap(which is gluten free) and mouthwash.

It really hurt to know I was getting glutened by puppy kisses.

Every news hurts to hear. It's a learning process.