Is Everyone Sensitive, Or Can Some People Handle Contact?

[foodiegurl]

Once you have Celiac, is everyone super sensitive, or can some people handle it if bread touches their food, but they don't eat it? Or does everyone have to be super careful about keeping everything completely separate?

One thing that worries me is that if i am so strict about it, then when I go get it in my system, my body will go crazy. Like is it not beneficial to not be too careful, because then the effects it will have when you do get some will be that much worse. Or does it not work that way?

Thanks!

[chasbari]

As a relative newcomer here and newly diagnosed I know I have been going through all the spasms of emotion when it comes to food prep... feels like I am going through a food divorce with my wife and children sometimes. Reading some things here almost made me paranoid about CC. I have had more trouble with soy and corn than with CC issues. I have my own little space and my own pan to prepare my food. I try not to twitch when someone walks in to the kitchen and pulls out the bread or pizza or whatever and am calming down. My wife made some chicken... just plain, nothing but olive oil the other day. I had some and it was nice to eat something someone else prepared. Then, when she was in a rush to clean up the kitchen she put the leftover pieces on a plate with a leftover french bread pizza one of the kids didn't eat. I almost cried. We talked, she felt honestly bad that she didn't even think of what she had just done. I closely examined the plate and saw there was ample separation and no apparent crumbs. I separated the offending pizza. I ate the chicken cold for lunch the next day to no ill effect. A few weeks ago I could have had myself talked into an absolute meltdown. I have had issues when I have gotten legitimate CC but.... due diligence seems to be a reasonable way without going the paranoia route. We are slowly adjusting as we learn.

Good luck.

Chuck

[MaryJones2]

Here are my thoughts on the topic. Perhaps it will help you out. As we all know, we are required to maintain a certain attention to detail to properly follow the diet but the level exposure each celiac can tolerate varies greatly and can only be determined by you. Your body will let you know what is OK and what isn't. The other important thing to note is that the body of a celiac can not distinguish between a crumb and an entire loaf of bread. The autoimmune reaction is triggered in both instances and chronic exposure to trace amounts of gluten via cross contamination can imact your health and recovery.

[violet2004]

SUPER-SENSITIVE!!! The smallest amount can make me sick.

(See my post on Educating The Family (aka the woes of explaining cross-contamination...))

When in doubt, don't eat it.

I have noticed, though, that the severity and duration of "glutening" symptoms relate to the amount of exposure. A mild CC can mean less than a week of being exhausted and having severe tummy trouble.

I greater amount (as in like, gee, doesn't this "red wine" sauce at this restaurant REALLY taste like it's made from soy/teriyaki sauce even though the waiter swears there is none in here and that it's gluten free?) has left me sick for up to 3 weeks - and violently so. (lying on bathroom floor at 3am with severe cramping, all food goes straight through me, and even some mild bleeding)

The bright side, to borrow from The Devil Wears Prada, is that I'm only 2 glutenings away from my ideal weight!

[TES]

As a relative newcomer here and newly diagnosed I know I have been going through all the spasms of emotion when it comes to food prep... feels like I am going through a food divorce with my wife and children sometimes. Reading some things here almost made me paranoid about CC. I have had more trouble with soy and corn than with CC issues. I have my own little space and my own pan to prepare my food. I try not to twitch when someone walks in to the kitchen and pulls out the bread or pizza or whatever and am calming down. My wife made some chicken... just plain, nothing but olive oil the other day. I had some and it was nice to eat something someone else prepared. Then, when she was in a rush to clean up the kitchen she put the leftover pieces on a plate with a leftover french bread pizza one of the kids didn't eat. I almost cried. We talked, she felt honestly bad that she didn't even think of what she had just done. I closely examined the plate and saw there was ample separation and no apparent crumbs. I separated the offending pizza. I ate the chicken cold for lunch the next day to no ill effect. A few weeks ago I could have had myself talked into an absolute meltdown. I have had issues when I have gotten legitimate CC but.... due diligence seems to be a reasonable way without going the paranoia route. We are slowly adjusting as we learn.

Good luck.

Chuck

Paranoia! Yep, I feel that way! I have been really careful and even eliminate food that shouldn't have any gluten, but after eating, maybe I have a reaction, then I think, was it the food, was it was the can opener, or a breeze that flew over the dogfood bowl or who knows? My husband is supportive and yet will reach for a handful of nuts after eating a gluten food (cracker) and then I think "the nuts are contaminated!" But as I heal, I think my reaction time to gluten is less and that makes me happy, but if I have no reactions eventually, how do I know if I am being glutened or doing damage? And, am I being glutened now or is it part of the healing process when I have "faint" symptoms? Then I read where salt can be a hindrance and wonder if the salt on the Lay's chips is the culprit or are they cc? I keep reading and learning so much from this site, and I am healing, I just hope I don't drive everybody else crazy in the process! I can't figure out if people are more sensitive or have had more damage done, if we all react differently or react the same at different stages of the disease. Or what came first, (chicken or the egg) gluten, then all the auto immune or auto immune with additional problems of gluten. In other words, is gluten the underlying cause of auto immune disorders? It seems that so many people that have wriiten, have other auto immune problems that dissappear after going gluten free.

[rinne]

....

The bright side, to borrow from The Devil Wears Prada, is that I'm only 2 glutenings away from my ideal weight!

Thanks, I laughed out loud when I read that.

When I was first ill and melting, losing a half pound or pound a day, and needing to lose some weight I admit to a simultaneous knowledge that something was very wrong and that wow (happy, happy) I was getting to wear jeans again.

I think in the beginning it is very important to be very careful, this will give you a truer sense if something bothers you. As to how much, we are wonderfully unique and for each of us it is different.

[jerseyangel]

When I was first ill and melting, losing a half pound or pound a day, and needing to lose some weight I admit to a simultaneous knowledge that something was very wrong and that wow (happy, happy) I was getting to wear jeans again.

Now this gave me a chuckle!

In the year preceding my diagnosis, I was losing a lot of weight. This was something that had never happened to me before without a great deal of effort.

As I was a bit over my ideal weight when this began, I was, on the one hand, thrilled that I was going down in pant sizes and was looking mighty good in my clothes! On the other hand, as Rinne said, I was also aware that something was amiss.

Fast forward 3 and 1/2 years, and I'm back to wanting to lose 20 pounds.

In answer to your question, foodiegurl, as you spend time reading here you will see that the level of sensitivity varies greatly from person to person. Some of us need to use all gluten-free personal products and can't tolerate products made on shared lines.

Others are not so sensitive. Our own reactions can even change as time goes on. What's important is how you feel. It takes some trial and error to figure out what will work/not work for you.

[Tallforagirl]

I'm one of the non-sensitive. I think you'll know as you go along how sensitive you are. There are basic precautions we all need to take though, as severity of symptoms are not indicative of level of damage to villi.

[chasbari]

I'm one of the non-sensitive. I think you'll know as you go along how sensitive you are. There are basic precautions we all need to take though, as severity of symptoms are not indicative of level of damage to villi.

This is a very good point that I am mentally filing away for that day when I am all healed up. I used to be able to eat anything in spite of all my difficulties and once this is all better I have to remember what the suffering was like so I don't go back. I hope I am of the mindset that my new way of eating is bringing me such good health that I will chose not to return to old things once better.

CS