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Mold In My Parents House Glutening Me?!

Sin3str0

By Sin3str0
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Sin3str0 Rookie
Sin3str0
Posted

2 months ago my Doc told me that chances were I had Celiac disease. I listened to him because I've suspected the same for a while now. I dropped ALL gluten, moved out of home, and started to feel great! Sure, some days I would feel crummy, but for the most part I was on top of the world again, minus delicious gluten.

So this is the part that gets very, very weird...

Recently I decided to move out of my own place and go back with my parents in order to save some money up and travel around a bit. Guess what? I'm being glutened every day! I mean, at least all of my symptoms have come back. D, Abdominal pain, trouble breathing, congested, tingling in the hands and arms/body. Just very heavy and sluggish feeling.

It is especially worse if I take a shower. Oh boy, watch out if I take a shower. I'll come out of there with nose burning and the craziest need to sneeze.

Using my detective skills ;) I gathered that the house is infested with mold and that I am being glutened by said mold.

Am I crazy or is this possible? I'm already making plans to move out again, but damn if this doesn't frustrate the hell out of me.

The worst symptom is trouble breathing. I feel really hot as well. Just all yucky in their house.

Help my Obi-Wan Celiac forum, you're my only hope. :lol:

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

I am sorry that you are feeling bad.

You might have allergies to something in the house. Mold certainly could be making you ill. Don't think you can get glutened by mold. Gluten is the protien found in wheat, barley, malt and rye.

irish daveyboy Community Regular
irish daveyboy
Posted
.

So this is the part that gets very, very weird...

Recently I decided to move out of my own place and go back with my parents in order to save some money up and travel around a bit. Guess what? I'm being glutened every day! I mean, at least all of my symptoms have come back. D, Abdominal pain, trouble breathing, congested, tingling in the hands and arms/body. Just very heavy and sluggish feeling.

It is especially worse if I take a shower. Oh boy, watch out if I take a shower. I'll come out of there with nose burning and the craziest need to sneeze.

Using my detective skills ;) I gathered that the house is infested with mold and that I am being glutened by said mold.

Am I crazy or is this possible? I'm already making plans to move out again, but damn if this doesn't frustrate the hell out of me.

The worst symptom is trouble breathing. I feel really hot as well. Just all yucky in their house.

Help my Obi-Wan Celiac forum, you're my only hope. :lol:

.

It certainly is not gluten from Mold!!

.

Mold can release toxic spores that are responsible for the following symptoms.

.

Sore/hoarse throat

Cold and flu symptoms (headaches, slight fever, and muscle aches)

Nose bleeds

Tingling or burning of nose, mouth, and perspiration areas (under the arms or

between the legs)

Chronic fatigue

Dizziness

Nausea/vomiting

Memory loss

Attention deficit/concentration problems

Personality changes such as irritability or depression

Neurological disorders such as tremors

Hair loss

Coughing with blood

Bleeding in the lungs (hemosiderosis)

Damage to internal organs including blood, liver, kidneys, and lungs

.

Read the article:

.

Open Original Shared Link

.

I hope this may help explain what's happening!

.

Best Regards,

David

Jestgar Rising Star
Jestgar
Posted

You may just be more sensitive to things now that you're gluten-free. Could be mold, could be chlorine in their water, could be their shampoos/soaps, laundry detergent, fabric softener...

Mike M Rookie
Mike M
Posted
It is especially worse if I take a shower. Oh boy, watch out if I take a shower. I'll come out of there with nose burning and the craziest need to sneeze.

Help my Obi-Wan Celiac forum, you're my only hope. :lol:

I'm in the same camp.......Sounds like a chlorine issue.

All the best, Mike

Sin3str0 Rookie
Sin3str0
Posted
  • Author

I want to thank all of you for the help so far. Any more advice would be good. :) I'm having the AC vents cleaned at my rents and having their place tested for mold. I may not want to live there any more, but I don't want them to feel crummy.

Mike M, hate to say it, but it's good to not be flying solo on this one.

Keep me posted if you figure things out.

Mike M Rookie
Mike M
Posted

This is what the CSA has to say about mold.........

Open Original Shared Link

Molds

"Also common for newly diagnosed celiac disease patients is sensitivity to food and air-borne molds. This is likely to include such common foods as mold-based cheeses, mushrooms, yeast and yeast products and xanthan, which may be used as a binder in some gluten-free breads."

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psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

It is common for people with celiac disease to have other sensitivities. This is especially true in the early stages of recovery.

An adverse reaction to mold is common, whether you have celiac disease or not.

It is not valid to assume that just because a person with celiac disease has a reaction to something that the substance in question contains gluten. I am allergic to crustacean seafood. If I eat shrimp I quickly get very sick. This does not mean that shrimp contain gluten.

Gentleheart Enthusiast
Gentleheart
Posted

If it's common mold, a thorough cleaning of absolutely every crook and cranny with appropriate cleaners, plus the purchase of a high end portable air purifier like Austin for $400-$550, might prevent you from having to move again. It also would be a lot healthier for your parents as well! If it's chlorine, you can get very effective shower filters for about $100 or else a whole house water purifier for about $700 (Lifetime Water Filter). It's an investment, but might mean you don't have to move out. :)

P.S. This wouldn't explain the shower problem, but are you absolutely certain that you are just not getting simple cross contamination glutening on a daily basis from a household that isn't all gluten free? You didn't say if your parents' kitchen is a gluten free one. And since you are a newly diagnosed celiac, you may not know just how sensitive you are yet. It might not take much gluten to cause a reaction in you.

YoloGx Rookie
YoloGx
Posted

Ditto with all the rest, especially the mold and the possible cross contamination of gluten from the kitchen. However there is another possible source--those mist "germ killing" fragrances and mist mold killing cleaners that have (grain) alcohol in them.

Bea

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
P.S. This wouldn't explain the shower problem, but are you absolutely certain that you are just not getting simple cross contamination glutening on a daily basis from a household that isn't all gluten free? You didn't say if your parents' kitchen is a gluten free one. And since you are a newly diagnosed celiac, you may not know just how sensitive you are yet. It might not take much gluten to cause a reaction in you.

This was my first thought. Is your parents home gluten-free?

GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Since it is happening in the shower, could it be related to the shampoo or soaps you are using? Maybe you are using different shampoos / soaps since moving back there vs when you were in your other place? Try reaching deep and feeling the source of the problem grasshopper! :-)

Sin3str0 Rookie
Sin3str0
Posted
  • Author

My parents home is not gluten free, but I do not use anything they use that has not been cleaned in the dishwasher. Heck, all I share with them are glasses, plates, and silverware. All fresh from the dishwasher.

In the shower I've not been using anything out of the norm before I moved back. They use shampoo's that contain gluten like wheat protein isolate, but I don't touch the stuff.

The only thing I use is the big oven, and not in convectional mode, so I'm sure thats safe. Hell, I can't remember the last time they used the oven.

When I shower, that's when my nose gets very burny-tingly and I start to sneeze.

Last night I slept in the car and I do not plan on showering here today. Hopefully someone can hook it up.

Haaaaaaating life. :)

Sin3str0 Rookie
Sin3str0
Posted
  • Author

I just had a thought. Is it possible that say if my mom eats bread with her hands, then empties the dishwasher, could that give me a reaction? By eating with the utensils and plates she touches her bready hands on? They both eat a lot of bread

Gentleheart Enthusiast
Gentleheart
Posted

Track it down one step at a time.

Have you scrubbed the shower and water nozzle down with gluten safe rubbing alcohol to remove the possible accumulation of the NOT so water soluble wheat gluten residue from your parents' repeated showerings with gluten containing toiletries? If you do it personally, you might want to even wear a mask. It's a long shot, but needs to be done to figure this out. Then from now on, your parents will unfortunately need to change over to a gluten free shampoo. Hopefully they won't mind for your sake.

Do your parents live in the same community that you did with the same municipal water supply?

Does your parents' water supply go through a water softener and you might be reacting to salty softened water in some strange way?

Some people have questioned the use of no gluten dishes washed in a dishwasher with glutened dishes. Wheat gluten is sticky, tenacious and not especially water soluble. So a dishwasher would be depending upon high water pressure and heat to remove it. If the dishwasher isn't really efficient and if the rinse cycle isn't really good, there could possibly be baked on gluten residue on every dish, pan, glass, fork or spoon, which might bother a super sensitive celiac, which you might be. Think about all the bread crumbs, noodles, gravy and other gluten things sloshing around your dishes for an hour or so. It's something to consider. You might need to get your own new little set of dishes and wash them by hand yourself. Sorry. I know it's inconvenient.

Get even a cheap water filter for your shower which at least removes chlorine. That is one way to easily troubleshoot that theory anyway.

Does your mother bake? Wheat dust can hang in the air for hours after being dispersed during preparation of baked goods in a gluten kitchen, not to mention the flour dust on all surfaces as well.

I unfortunately still live in a gluten house. Several gluten authorities have told me that it is THE reason I haven't had the success I should have, in their opinion. If you are going to share a house, it requires you to be extra, extra careful. As a newly informed gluten person, you will have to come to grips with that and accept the inconvenience of it. Eventually it will become second nature and much easier. All of us do it everyday. But for now it will seem very hard and very unfair. But your health is definitely worth the bother. :)

JNBunnie1 Community Regular
JNBunnie1
Posted

Yes, your mother putting away 'clean' dishes with her gluteny hands will hurt you. I don't let anyone touch anything in my house til they've washed their hands with MY gluten-free soap.

And I used to do the same thing in the shower! I used to shower in the mornings, and it would ALWAYs make me sneeze. I have to think it's either your nose getting cleaned out by the steam and so it sneezes away allergens, or your nose doesn't like a higher concentration of some chemical, likely chlorine, in your parents home. Doesn't happend really at all since i went gluten-free, I must be less sensitive.

Sin3str0 Rookie
Sin3str0
Posted
  • Author

Gentleheart, JNbunnie, thank you!

I spoke to my chiropractor about my current situation and he seems to believe that I may just have a chlorine/chemical hypersensitivity. Also, sharing plates and silverware and getting contaminated makes a lot of sense now. I will try my best to do what needs to be done to solve this problem. I am even moving out again, because I honestly think that I have to live alone with this celiac thing. It's funny, I thought coming home would help my parents, but im just getting in the way. I'm gonna move out a.s.a.p.

I'll keep you guys posted. Thank you so much for being here for me, cause I was in bad shape emotionally today and this place gives me a bit of hope.

Sin3str0 Rookie
Sin3str0
Posted
  • Author

Although I posted this at another section I did mention I'd keep you guys updated, so:

So I get home yesterday to eat this gluten free bread I've been eating ever since moving back in with parents and I decided to read the labeling. I did this because the day before I had eaten 6 slices of bread and the next day I felt worse than the usual crap feeling. I noticed the gluten-free bread had yeast in it, so I decided to avoid it and anything else containing yeast.

Today, I feel human again. No D, less congestion, spitting all the backtrack out, etc. I've noticed the same thing happens if I drink gluten-free beer or gluten-free sake. Same goes for frozen food that is gluten-free and contains yeast.

I'm beginning to think and even question my doctor, since he mentioned I probably had celiacs the first time I saw him, went on the diet, and started feeling better immediately. Here's the thing, gluten-free diet removes a large amount of yeast consumption from our diet. When I moved out of home, I was restricted on what I could eat since I did not have a proper kitchen. I noticed at home that I've been eating a lot of frozen food that contains yeast, although the food is gluten-free I was still getting sick.

Here's what else. There was a point in time within this last year that I could eat anything and everything I wanted for a period of 2 months without feeling ill at all. I mean, I had my health back at 100%. 2 months later all of my symptoms came back and I started to feel like crap again.

What are the chances of me having candida and leaky gut issues and not celiacs?

Also, what doctor do I need to go to figure this out? My current doctor just wants to run allergy panels all the time.

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