Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Licking Envelopes

jknnej

Recommended Posts

jknnej Collaborator
jknnej
Posted

Stupid question, I know, but I just licked an envelope and am panicking. anyone know if envelpes are safe???

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


angel-jd1 Community Regular
angel-jd1
Posted

I have always heard that we are not supposed to lick them. I just buy the peel and stick ones.

However I have never seen any proof or research that goes either way on the issue.

I guess I just go twards the safe side of things with the peel and stick. When I have one that is lickable, i use a wet paper towel to seal it. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

-Jessica :rolleyes:

KaitiUSA Enthusiast
KaitiUSA
Posted

I have also always heard they are not safe but I do not know that for sure I just stay away from licking them. I also heard that most stickers contain gluten as well in their adhesive. I use the peel and stick and then wash my hands(because of the adhesive)-I like to be extra cautious.

jknnej Collaborator
jknnej
Posted
  • Author

Oh, this sucks! I just licked one a couple of minutes ago. I just got off a week of hell for ingesting gluten accidentally. I am really depressed now.....the thought of another week of hell is really awful.

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

I can't put my hands on the posts right now, but the companie(s) responsible for making all envelope glue in the U.S. are on record as saying it is corn based and completely gluten-free. Can't say about foreign companies. I think these posts were on the St. John's forum.

Does this mean you can now lick envelopes? That's your decision. I mostly still wet them with a cloth or get my son to do the licking.

richard

pamelaD Apprentice
pamelaD
Posted

I lick envelopes all the time... well 5 or 6 a month (bills), and have never had a reacation.

I remember reading somewhere that envelopes USED TO have gluten, but the newer ones do not. So if you have an older box of envelopes, perhaps buy some new ones.

I am only speaking from my experience....

Is anyone out there sure they have had a reaction from licking an envelope?

Pam

darlindeb25 Collaborator
darlindeb25
Posted

good job richard---getting your son to lick envelopes--my daughter ;) always told me to get a wet papertowel cause she isnt licking nothing for me---hehe---like i told someone in a post a few minutes ago--i use a glue stick to seal envelopes or i tape them--i do not lick-- :P deb

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Carriefaith Enthusiast
Carriefaith
Posted

Once when I was doing my banking, I licked an envelope by mistake... As soon as I licked it, I realized what I did and I went outside and spit a few times to "try" and get rid of it. I never got sick from it as far as I can remember.

KaitiUSA Enthusiast
KaitiUSA
Posted

I never got a reaction from it...since I have had celiac I just have never licked them. I know people that have had reactions from what they thought was that. Maybe that was with old envelopes I don't know. I just don't really trust it them but if you know they are gluten-free and you don't have a reaction....it's completely up to you.

DarlinDeb25-the glue stick is a good idea. I think I'll do that. :D

Boojca Apprentice
Boojca
Posted

The post saying if they are made in the USA they are gluten-free is correct. I can't put my hands on it, but there was a post about this in the Delphi Forums a while ago.

Bridget

stef-the-kicking-cuty Enthusiast
stef-the-kicking-cuty
Posted

If I have to lick an envelope I always give it to my hubby or also take a wet towel.

Hugs, Stef

jknnej Collaborator
jknnej
Posted
  • Author

Ok, I feel a little better now. Hopefully they are gluten-free...in the future I will stay away from them...

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Well here is one person who has had a definate reaction form licking an envelope. I also have DH though and because I was so sick for so long (15 yrs)- ('it was all in my head-have an antidepressant' was my ex-doctors mantra) I am very sensitive. For me 1 envelope caused DH sores and a flare up of the 1 day depression with 2 weeks of joint and muscle pain. I wouldn't lick an envelope any more than I would eat at Pizza Hut! No matter where it was made.

gf4life Enthusiast
gf4life
Posted

I certainly don't want to cause alarm here, but I just want to let you know of my personal experience. I do not lick envelopes. I know what they say about the glue being ade from corn, and it's gluten-free, etc, but why take chances if there are old envelopes out there that might not be gluten-free. How am I supposed to know if EVERY envelope is safe. I use a wet sponge to wet the glue.

Now, about the paper. I don't know if this applies to envelopes or all types of paper (I doubt that), but some craft paper has wheat starch as a binder in the paper. I have had definite skin reactions to some paper I was using at a stamping class I took a while back. I couldn't figure out what was happening with my hands for the longest time, but I went to the class once a week for a few months and would spend the next few days after each class dealing with a rash, pain and tingling in my hands. It ended up being the paper.

I do have DH and the funny thing is I get a similar reaction from dog saliva. When a dog licks my hands and I don't wash them IMMEDIATELY, within a few minutes I get that tingling feeling. When I put two and two together it ended up the dogs were eating food with gluten and it was in their saliva. Now I actively avoid letting dogs lick my hands and if they do, then I make sure to wash them right away.

So you might want to consider that if you get a reaction from a certain "licked" envelope it might have been the glue OR the paper!

God bless,

Mariann

jknnej Collaborator
jknnej
Posted
  • Author

For sure I won't be licking any envelopes anymore.

flagbabyds Collaborator
flagbabyds
Posted

I never do, I have that little thing that has a water bottle and then a sponge on top and it works really well, and Hey now, you don't have to taste that disquesting taste

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,964
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Cbear
    Newest Member
    Cbear
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      If black seed oil is working for his Afib, stick to it, but if not, I can say that ablation therapy is no big deal--my mother was out of the procedure in about 1 hour and went home that evening, and had zero negative effects from the treatment. PS - I would recommend that your husband get an Apple watch to monitor his Afib--there is an app and it will take readings 24/7 and give reports on how much of the time he's in it. Actual data like this should be what should guide his treatment.
    • Jacki Espo
      Covid caused reoccurrence of DH without eating gluten

      By Jacki Espo · Posted

      This happened to me as well. What’s weirder is that within a couple hours of taking paxlovid it subsided. I thought maybe I got glutened but after reading your post not so sure. 
    • Mari
      New Celiac Mama in My 30s

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Tiffany. Thank you for writing your dituation and  circumstancesin such detail and so well writte, too. I particularly noticed what you wrote about brain for and feeling like your brain is swelling and I know from my own experiences that's how it feel and your brain really does swell and you get migraines.    Way back when I was in my 20s I read a book by 2 MD allergist and they described their patient who came in complaining that her brain, inside her cranium, was swelling  and it happened when she smelled a certain chemical she used in her home. She kept coming back and insisting her brain actually swelled in her head. The Drs couldn't explain this problem so they, with her permission, performed an operation where they made a small opening through her cranium, exposed her to the chemical then watched as she brain did swell into the opening. The DRs were amazed but then were able to advise her to avoid chemicals that made her brain swell. I remember that because I occasionally had brain fog then but it was not a serious problem. I also realized that I was becoming more sensitive to chemicals I used in my work in medical laboratories. By my mid forties the brain fog and chemicals forced me to leave my  profession and move to a rural area with little pollution. I did not have migraines. I was told a little later that I had a more porous blood brain barrier than other people. Chemicals in the air would go up into my sinused and leak through the blood brain barrier into my brain. We have 2 arteries  in our neck that carry blood with the nutrients and oxygen into the brain. To remove the fluids and used blood from the brain there are only capillaries and no large veins to carry it away so all those fluids ooze out much more slowly than they came in and since the small capillaries can't take care of extra fluid it results in swelling in the face, especially around the eyes. My blood flow into my brain is different from most other people as I have an arterial ischema, adefectiveartery on one side.   I have to go forward about 20 or more years when I learned that I had glaucoma, an eye problem that causes blindness and more years until I learned I had celiac disease.  The eye Dr described my glaucoma as a very slow loss of vision that I wouldn't  notice until had noticeable loss of sight.  I could have my eye pressure checked regularly or it would be best to have the cataracts removed from both eyes. I kept putting off the surgery then just overnight lost most of the vision in my left eye. I thought at the I had been exposed to some chemical and found out a little later the person who livedbehind me was using some chemicals to build kayaks in a shed behind my house. I did not realize the signifance  of this until I started having appointments with a Dr. in a new building. New buildings give me brain fog, loss of balance and other problems I know about this time I experienced visual disturbances very similar to those experienced by people with migraines. I looked further online and read that people with glaucoma can suffer rapid loss of sight if they have silent migraines (no headache). The remedy for migraines is to identify and avoid the triggers. I already know most of my triggers - aromatic chemicals, some cleaning materials, gasoline and exhaust and mold toxins. I am very careful about using cleaning agents using mostly borax and baking powder. Anything that has any fragrance or smell I avoid. There is one brand of dishwashing detergent that I can use and several brands of  scouring powder. I hope you find some of this helpful and useful. I have not seen any evidence that Celiac Disease is involved with migraines or glaucoma. Please come back if you have questions or if what I wrote doesn't make senseto you. We sometimes haveto learn by experience and finding out why we have some problems. Take care.       The report did not mention migraines. 
    • Mari
      My only proof

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Jmartes71 That is so much like my story! You probably know where Laytonville is and that's where I was living just before my 60th birthday when the new Dr. suggested I could have Celiacs. I didn't go on a gluten challange diet before having the Celiac panel blood test drawn. The results came back as equivical as one antibody level was very high but another, tissue transaminasewas normal. Itdid show I was  allergic to cows milk and I think hot peppers. I immediately went gluten free but did not go in for an endoscopy. I found an online lab online that would do the test to show if I had a main celiac gene (enterolab.com). The report came back that I had inherited a main celiac gene, DQ8, from one parent and a D!6 from the other parent. That combination is knows to sym[tons of celiac worse than just inheriting one main celiac gene. With my version of celiac disease I was mostly constipated but after going gluten-free I would have diarrhea the few times I was glutened either by cross contamination or eating some food containing gluten. I have stayed gluten-free for almost 20 years now and knew within a few days that it was right for me although my recovery has been slow.   When I go to see a  medical provide and tell them I have celiacs they don't believe me. The same when I tell them that I carry a main celiac gene, the DQ8. It is only when I tell them that I get diarrhea after eating gluten that they realize that I might have celiac disease. Then they will order th Vitamin B12 and D3 that I need to monitor as my B12 levels can go down very fast if I'm not taking enough of it. Medical providers haven't been much help in my recovery. They are not well trained in this problem. I really hope this helps ypu. Take care.      
    • knitty kitty
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Fascinating.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.