I'm So Careful. But All This... Bah.

[Lycopene]

I'm sorry to make another thread. ): Just. I keep getting glutened. CC. Breathing in flour on accident. Finding out my cat's food has gluten in it (got her a handful of food and just wiped my hand off on my pants. Wiped my mouth because of a tickle a few minutes later). Ugh. I'm sick. Starting to get better and just be sapped of energy, but then I get glutened again and throw up more.

Friend is coming in less than two hours and who knows how much longer I'll be throwing up now... Ugh. No matter how much I clean my kitchen, with 5 other people cooking in it and all of them gluten eaters... it just can't get clean enough. Sigh. =.= This is too much. I can't handle being sick constantly like this... It just hurts so bad. =.=

[AKcollegestudent]

I'm sorry to make another thread. ): Just. I keep getting glutened. CC. Breathing in flour on accident. Finding out my cat's food has gluten in it (got her a handful of food and just wiped my hand off on my pants. Wiped my mouth because of a tickle a few minutes later). Ugh. I'm sick. Starting to get better and just be sapped of energy, but then I get glutened again and throw up more.

Friend is coming in less than two hours and who knows how much longer I'll be throwing up now... Ugh. No matter how much I clean my kitchen, with 5 other people cooking in it and all of them gluten eaters... it just can't get clean enough. Sigh. =.= This is too much. I can't handle being sick constantly like this... It just hurts so bad. =.=

First off, I'm certain others have noted this, but are you positive that you don't have other intolerances? Secondly, I share a kitchen with no fewer than 25 gluten eaters (and possibly more like 40 or 50). I haven't been glutened because of my kitchen in months. And the trick is really, really simple: find some place--some place that is not your kitchen, and where the gluten eaters probably haven't used--where you can prepare everything.

For me? I'm a college student. I could risk the living room or the dining area. But I won't. I prepare everything in one corner of my dorm room. If it's a multi-stepped meal, I bring each stage back to my room. It saves my health and keeps the pain to a minimum.

Good luck. And it does get better.

[Lycopene]

I really don't know if I have any other intolerances or not. I THINK soy might be one. I really can't afford to go to the doctor's either to be checked. But, I'm going to do what you do. Prepare my food elsewhere. That's a good idea. I can do it at my computer desk in my room. Thank you for that idea. That'll help, I'm sure.

Think I should just take out all 8 common allergens? Readd them one by one? I guess I'll have to try it that way. Going to take a longgg time, but better than nothing. I just seriously can't handle all this pain. It hurts so bad when I get sick, ugh. ~_~

[sa1937]

Lcopene, I'm so sorry to hear you are so sick. Can you cancel your friend coming over today and just crawl back in bed?

Are you newly gluten free? I've only been gluten free for two weeks and feel so much better, although I didn't feel great a week ago after cleaning out my gluteny pantry. It's such a huge learning curve and I'm still astonished that companies seem hell-bent to put gluten in so many products.

I hope you feel better soon!

[i-geek]

Think I should just take out all 8 common allergens? Readd them one by one? I guess I'll have to try it that way. Going to take a longgg time, but better than nothing. I just seriously can't handle all this pain. It hurts so bad when I get sick, ugh. ~_~

Probably. You might just need to give your gut time to heal. Sadly it doesn't happen overnight (I wish it had!); it took a while and a lot of damage to get to this point so it will take time to go back. I couldn't tolerate any dairy, even stuff that was essentially lactose-free (butter, hard cheese) for a couple of months after going gluten-free. Ditto for things like broccoli, bell peppers, and alcohol. I didn't have problems with soy but it's a really common trigger food. Ditto for eggs. Try it and see if you feel better after a couple of weeks, then add them in one at a time to see what happens. You might find that after giving your gut a break, you can handle more things. Or not, but at least you'll know what to avoid.

Sharing a kitchen with gluten-eaters is hard, too. My husband and I finally decided that our kitchen had to be gluten-free except for his homebrewing (and he has his own pans and supplies for that). But I like the suggestion for you to store and prepare everything in a separate place. If you can manage the cost, maybe pick up a cutting board, a pan or two, and a colander (if you make pasta) for your use only. Places like Target and Walmart usually offer some good deals on kitchen stuff.

[Lycopene]

I've been diagnosed for a year, but only been steadily on the diet for 6 weeks. (Been on it for longer periods of time before, but I always cheated... never again!... on purpose, ugh).

Can't cancel though. =/ So it's gonna be hellish. D: She'll be here in about 2 hours... bah. )=

[kareng]

Just a few thoughts for living with Gluten Eaters! I have these thin plastic "cutting boards". Got them at Bed bath & beyond but have seen at Walmart, etc. Usually a set of 4 is less then $10. I put one on the counter when preparing my food even if I have washed the counter or table. Could use for a place mat, too. Would give you a good surface if you want to prepare in another room. If you don't have your own plates, pans, knives, etc I would wash & dry with your own clean sponge & towel before use. I have to remind the kids that when pouring ketchup or BBQ on bread, don't touch the bread(good idea anyway). If you share these things, might want to get your own & some colored tape (Duct at Walmart in many colors) & cover it in tape to show them not to use it.

Also, I think you are new to this & my first 4 weeks or so, I felt better but had bad days or hours. I think that some foods are hard to digest & my intestines are not able to yet (popcorn bothered me but not now - maybe its scratchy).

Good Luck!

[kayo]

I hope this doesn't sound snarky but why would you scoop cat food bare handed?

We have a cat as well and keep her food in a tupperware container than we can shake out into her bowl. This way I never touch her food.

It's good practice for us gluten-free folks to be really wary of what we touch, wash our hands frequently and treat anything with gluten the same way we would handle raw chicken. If I'm suspicious of something I use my left hand. I'm right handed and typically would scratch my nose, for example, with my right. Same goes with door handles and accepting something handed to me. I always use the left. This way my right hand stays less contaminated.

Wow, that sounds so Howard Hughes (OCD) of me! I find it helps though.

[Lycopene]

@Kayo

I dunno. I guess it's just laziness. She eats *SO* much, so I have to keep filling up her bowl. Bah, it was stupid. I wasn't thinking. I worry about MY food all the time that I didn't think to worry about HER food too. And yeah, I know what you mean. I'm left-handed so I do the exact same stuff, just opposite. [:

@i-geek

This is just so weird. Really unlike anything I've ever experienced. I'm going to only eat whole foods now. Nothing processed or packaged. No soy, dairy, and obviously no gluten. I am in UNBELIEVABLE pain today. My gut just hurts like it's never hurt before... I'm going to go lay down after this. ]:

It's sort of overwhelming. x_x

@kareng

Yeah. I'll be going out later today to get some of those plastic cutting boards. That's a great idea.

@everyone

I'm going to try to get her eating gluten-free cat food as well. I'll look into purchasing that later. Heh.

[kareng]

Wow, that sounds so Howard Hughes (OCD) of me! I find it helps though.

[Reba32]

why not just get the cat some gluten free food? Cats are carnivorous anyway, why would she need wheat, barley or rye in her food?

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[K8ling]

I'm OCD about handwashing anyway, it probably helps the CC issues LOL

[Lycopene]

I usually am too! I've just been so out of it from my previous glutenings that I just let it happen again. Ugh.