Inhaling Versus Ingesting

NorthernElf · April 10, 2010

Ok - so I did something sorta stupid the other day - I made cinnamon buns with my son...with "real" flour. There was flour flying everywhere. We did it at the kitchen table to avoid my gluten-free areas but he needed help kneading the dough. Yeah...I inhaled stuff & it was all over my hands & everywhere. About 10 minutes later I was out of it - I thought I was going to pass out. I never expected this at all - I was light headed, mildly nauseated, got a huge headache and was totally tired. We had put the dough aside to rise and I sat on a kitchen chair with my head back, after popping a couple of tylenol and waited it out for about 10 minutes with my eyes closed. It started to pass...and a couple of hours later I was mostly better. The next morning my tummy was a bit off but not bad.

Wow...from inhaling...anyone experience this ??? The reason I bring it up is because it was a little different from ingesting gluten. It was very fast & intense - and I have never felt like passing out after eating gluten, just very fatigued and wanting to lie down. There was also less instestinal issues - no big D several times the next morning or that night.

As the only gluten-free person in a family of 5 I see I might be mildly getting myself on a continuous basis & just not realizing it - you know feeling a little off some days or tired...maybe I've been mildly glutened & not realized it. Ugh...next time I buy cinnamon buns !!!!! :blink:

Jestgar · April 10, 2010

Since gluten causes an inflammatory response, what you describe makes perfect sense in your lungs. It's the same thing that happens to me when I have a bad asthma episode.

You caused swelling in your lungs which led to a decreased supply of oxygen which caused a headache and nausea.

You might want to consider a mask next time you want to bake.

Ahorsesoul · April 10, 2010

A lot of Doctors would tell you this could not be true but the real people who have done something like this know it's true. AVOID GLUTEN in any form is my motto.

WheatChef · April 10, 2010

Whether or not the responsible compounds are capable of being absorbed through the lining of your lungs the flour must first travel down the mucosal lining of your nose/mouse and throat to get to your lungs. Since this lining and all of the little hairs along it are responsible for trapping pollutants they do just that and will either try and excrete them through phlegm or will end up getting inadvertently swallowed (same tubes).

There are a number of drug compounds that are not supposed to be nasally active yet definitely do exhibit a response when snorted, or so I've been told.

rdunbar · April 10, 2010

I've experienced this too many times. I was doing catering jobs a up to a few months ago, and if someone was even slicing some bread nearby me I would react; within 30 seconds i would feel like my nose was running really fast all the sudden, would get dizzy, sometimes to where i could barely stand up. get a screaming headache like someone put a vise on my head.and then all the other symptoms, D and DH flares up. i used to work as a baker @ 15 years ago so i've inhaled way more than my share. I was thinking i could get away with being around gluten if i did'nt eat it.wrong. of course most of the other food is cross contaminated, but the reaction from breathing in gluten is definately different and comes on faster. also i react to just touching it

AKcollegestudent · April 10, 2010

When I went back to the diet in June, I was working as a pizza cook. I've been working as a cook since I was 16, in various restaurants and settings. And it took a few weeks, but I realized that even though I felt much, much better, even working a couple hours a day was making me sick. I ended up quitting that particular job the day that I made 10 pizzas in an hour and wound up passed out in a curled up ball.

YoloGx · April 10, 2010

When I went back to the diet in June, I was working as a pizza cook. I've been working as a cook since I was 16, in various restaurants and settings. And it took a few weeks, but I realized that even though I felt much, much better, even working a couple hours a day was making me sick. I ended up quitting that particular job the day that I made 10 pizzas in an hour and wound up passed out in a curled up ball.

I have had severe glutenings from inhaling glutenous dust. The worst was from some pies my youngest brother made in my Mom's kitchen. I walked by, thinking he was making the pies with non gluten flour. How wrong I was! Second was going through a pizza parlor. Recently I got glutened several times staying at my brother's apartment. He had used pre-mixed plaster compound and then sanded it. He never bothered to clean it up. It was on everything. Second ingredient? Starch. You can guess which kind. My boyfriend was affected too... Never again!! As a result I got really upset at my brother as you might imagine...