What Products Do You Have To Check Ingredients Of?

[HelpinOhio]

Im new to Celiac Disease, and have yet to be diagnosed, but at this point Im 99% sure that I have it. Im a guy 18 years old, have had horrible symptoms for 3 years, bad symptoms for 7 years, and possibly symptoms throughout my whole life. Ive been researching whats wrong with me for the past 1 1/2 years, and long story short, everything leads right to Celiac Disease. My mom has it also.

Questions:

1. Do you have to check the ingredients of everything? I thought it was just things you had to eat or put in your mouth.

2. Which of these do you have to check (if any, or all)? Toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, soap, sunscreen, deodorant spray/cologne, hair dye, bottled water, shaving cream. Any other common products?

[babysteps]

welcome!

two things

1-if you want an actual diagnosis, get tested *before* going gluten free. Check out the pre-diagnosis/testing threads for lots more info, but basically if you don't have gluten in your system some/most of the tests are quite likely to give you a false negative for celiac

2-for what to check ingredients on, it depends on the person. My understanding is that medically/physically topical gluten can't get to your gut. But it all depends - if you use your hands to put on lotion with gluten and then wipe your mouth, you might get some internally. Also some people do have a topical reaction to wheat - a separate thing from celiac.

Personally I cut out all gluten from my diet, and then about 2 months later started cutting it out from my toiletries. For me that second step made a positive difference, but mostly to how my skin felt (that is I think I am topically sensitive).

Good luck

[Mike M]

Im new to Celiac Disease, and have yet to be diagnosed, but at this point Im 99% sure that I have it. Im a guy 18 years old, have had horrible symptoms for 3 years, bad symptoms for 7 years, and possibly symptoms throughout my whole life. Ive been researching whats wrong with me for the past 1 1/2 years, and long story short, everything leads right to Celiac Disease. My mom has it also.

Questions:

1. Do you have to check the ingredients of everything? I thought it was just things you had to eat or put in your mouth.

2. Which of these do you have to check (if any, or all)? Toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, soap, sunscreen, deodorant spray/cologne, hair dye, bottled water, shaving cream. Any other common products?

Hello Ohio, Some will say you don't need to check topical items (things you put on your body). Others (me included) will say it does matter. But first, let me suggest you get tested for Celiac. It is really important to know if you have Celiac. If you should have a negative test result, don't give up and think you are in the clear, you can still have gluten intolerance. This is also a very serious issue.

If you have Celiac/Gluten intolerance, yes, you gotta check everything out. With your Mom having "it" You really need to get tested before going gluten free for an accurate test to be done in my opinion. When you find something out, post it. There are some really helpful folks on here that will steer you in the right direction! All the best, Mike

[psawyer]

Toothpaste needs to be gluten-free, but that is easy. Crest and Colgate are gluten-free in all their versions, as far as I know.

Shampoo and conditioner have been issues for many people. You don't intentionally put it in your mouth, but inevitably with so much in close proximity, some is going to get in. I would put shaving cream in the same category. I use an electric, so that is a non-issue for me.

Products which get on your hands get into your food when you touch your food. Soap and lotions are things to consider.

Deodorant is probably not a concern, but if you use an aerosol there will be some over spray in the air.

If you want proper test results, continue to eat gluten until all testing is complete. Switching the sort of things I have talked about here won't make a difference, since they are not large gluten sources.

[Takala]

Pet foods. If Puddy or Petunia is drooling all over you, the couch, and the kitchen floor, you may find yourself a lot less reactive to the pets if they're not eating it, either.

I also have some pets that have food intolerance issues, so I figure we were meant to be together in the great cosmic universe. One horse has mega issues which completely resolved after the veterinarian did allergy testing and we changed his "lifestyle", and on the list is barley and rye.... what are the odds. We also have adopted 2 dogs from the pound in the last year- what are the odds that both have some pretty wacky, but different symptoms that responded to diet change taking out the wheat family. What amused me about the second dog was that he knew what cooking rice was and got really excited and attentive, when we put the first big pot of it to boil on the stove for the test diet.

Oh for the days that you just bought a big bag of regular dog food at the grocery once a week.

As an example of how you can get glutened accidently from lotion, my spouse was taking a shower, and then globbing this moisturizer all over his hands. He'd then immediately proceed to the kitchen, to scoop the ice out of the ice bin in the freezer with his bare hands and into the glasses to make iced soda waters to drink with dinner. People don't realize what they are doing a lot of the time. I replaced the moisturizer, and also my shampoo is now his shampoo. Or he'd handle the (regular) pet food, and then not wash his hands immediately afterwards, and touch some of the stuff in the kitchen.

There is an awful lot of wheat family stuff used in after shampoo hair conditioners also, besides the shampoos, after decades of wondering just what the ingredient was that was setting me off with rashes and itching, seemingly at random, it was a huge relief to finally know what to try to avoid. And avoiding it has worked. I don't think that other people should be so dismissive of whether or not it was a technical "glutening" with ingestion and digestive symptoms- it's a quite real phenomena for some of us to react to cosmetic products containing the wheat family.

[Puddy]

Pet foods. If Puddy or Petunia is drooling all over you, the couch, and the kitchen floor, you may find yourself a lot less reactive to the pets if they're not eating it, either.

I haven't drooled on the couch in years!!! Sorry, I couldn't resist....I looked at this really quickly, saw my 'name' and for a second thought it was a message about me.

[cat3883]

Anything that could possibly touch your lips. Shampoo, for example, can touch your lips while rinsing your hair in the shower. Lotions can get on your hands. Then if you touch your lips you could be glutened. My GI said use ALL gluten free products. Good Luck

[HelpinOhio]

Thanks for the replys.

Im sorry that I didnt specify a few things.

I have been eating gluten for the past 8 months, and have added +4 pieces of bread daily to my diet nearly a month ago. I have an appointment with a GI in a few days. I was aware you had to eat gluten, so thats why I started doing it. I will most likely get the endoscopy done, and blood tests redone within 2 weeks. I have had blood tests for Celiac Disease done twice over a year ago, while 95% gluten free, and they came back negative. The fact that I hardly ate any gluten has me skeptical though. Since adding more gluten, I have felt even worse.

I also have used the "Pre-Diagnosis" topic a few times and made threads in there. If you want to know the whole story you can check my threads in there, I made about 4 so far. I didnt mean that I was going to take these products out right now, Im just trying to learn more now instead of later. Im 18 years old, have had a bad mystery illness for nearly 7 years, if not my whole life. It has ruined my life and the majority of my childhood. I was tested extensively for many different things in 02-03 (when I became very sick), and then again in 07-08 (even sicker). My mom never mentioned she had Celiac Disease until the end of all that, she hasnt been on the diet in over 10 years for some reason. Needless to say, I am extremely annoyed and frustrated at the whole situation. Im just hoping to get better finally and get on with my life.

[caek-is-a-lie]

What do I check? Everything. Everything I put in my mouth or put on my hands that might go in my mouth.. Everything.. Food, lotion...Every ingredient of every product I buy in the store. Even what my son might touch that might end up on my face or on something I might put in my mouth. And when he sleeps in our bed and starts flailing his arms I think "what if his hand lands in my mouth? did he wash his hands??" Everything from the sink to what I feed the cat or wash my silverware with. The cookie sheets at my sister's house. I have to check everything. The crumb-covered place mats at work that I might put my plastic ware on, or what might have fallen on my Dr. Pepper can in the fridge...I try to think of everything. Lipstick. lotion, lip balm...anything and everything. When someone at a work party puts the salad on the same plate touching the breaded chicken strips, I won't touch it with a 10-foot pole. Eating off a plate that was used for a sandwich will give me D for a week. I have to cover all my bases. Not everyone is that sensitive but boy I sure am. You'll just have to know your limits.

[Bucsfan11]

I basically check everything I use! From soaps to food. Like it has been stated above it really depends on the person but I would take an extra minute to check everything you put in or around your mouth or on your hands and cook with. Goodluck!

Sean.