Living On Wheat Field

[mommysarah713]

Our home is bordered on all sides by wheat fields. My two daughters and i have Celiac and my oldest especially became really sick a few months ago. The doctors dismiss us, because its a digestive disorder, but i don't think they understand what its like for a two-year-old and a five-year-old to be celiacs. They constantly put their hands in their mouth. My theory is that the powerful winds blow the wheat/gluten all over our things, such as toys, car door handle, etc. My girls touch it and then put their hands in their mouths and our contaminated. Our home is probably 20 yards from the fields. Does anyone living with Celiac have any thought on if this is a possible source of concern?

[zeta-lilly]

Our home is bordered on all sides by wheat fields. My two daughters and i have Celiac and my oldest especially became really sick a few months ago. The doctors dismiss us, because its a digestive disorder, but i don't think they understand what its like for a two-year-old and a five-year-old to be celiacs. They constantly put their hands in their mouth. My theory is that the powerful winds blow the wheat/gluten all over our things, such as toys, car door handle, etc. My girls touch it and then put their hands in their mouths and our contaminated. Our home is probably 20 yards from the fields. Does anyone living with Celiac have any thought on if this is a possible source of concern?

Eek! Absolutely. Don't let them dismiss you like that. I'm reminded of my poor dog growing up. His hair started falling out when he was 2 and we found out that he was allergic to corn. Which is a problem when you're surrounded on three sides by fields. So the years we had soybeans, he had hair. The years we had corn, he was half bald. Of course he was running through the fields and your children probably aren't. But plenty of the grain is carried by the wind into your yard.

Can you move? Is that a possibility? Maybe now that the winter months are here, you could test our your theory and see if she's still getting sick. If you live in an area that has a rest from the wheat crops and playing outside that is.

[Lisa]

Time to clarify...

There is a tremendous difference between a wheat allergy, a gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease.

Please do a food diary to document all all possible issues.

It might be possible that your family might have a wheat allergy as well as Celiac.

[ravenwoodglass]

Anything that can be inhaled, like flour for example, can enter our systems and cause a reaction. I personally would not live near a wheat field. If moving is not an option you might want to seal up the house during harvest time. Use AC with a filter instead of opening windows. Wipe down the stuff they play with outside or have them play inside. Another possibility is that around harvest time is when kids are starting up at school. Is your 5 year old in school? If so are precautions being taken with the stuff they commonly use with little ones. Stuff like playdoh, some paints and glues, crumbs from snack time etc. can be an issue.

[WheatChef]

It's a mucus membrane reaction specifically. Your entire digestive system is lined with a mucus membrane, however so is your respiratory track. There have been plenty of people coming to these forums complaining of problems due to working in bakeries, etc. where they are exposed to gluten in the air, even other cases of people having problems in the exact same situation as you. Unfortunately the only real "fix" for these issues are to either hermetically seal up your house and not leave it for the whole period of harvest time or to move.

[mommysarah713]

Thank you everyone for you posts. You've just confirmed what my husband and i believed to be true. Guess i just needed some validation, since being dismissed by the MD. Merry Christmas and God's Blessings.

[txplowgirl]

Oh Hon, I would move ASAP! Like your tail was on fire if at all possible.

[bridgeofsighs]

Since being diagnosed, i too have been wondering about how airborne wheat particles from crop harvesting would affect someone with Celiac disease. What a shame it is to be diagnosed with this disease only three years after buying my first home... a home that is completely surrounded by farm fields. I've lived in the rural countryside my whole life and the thought of selling my home and moving to the city makes me feel a little uneasy. This kinda sucks.

[RhubarbGranny]

Thank you for asking this question, it's something I have been wondering about since we moved to this area 3 yrs ago. My gluten intolerance has gotten much worse in this time, and I found out not long ago that some of the local farmers are raising wheat.

Dang, now it's decision time. To move or to stay. Not an easy choice either way.

[plantime]

I just recently moved from rural Kansas to Port Arthur, Texas. I will let you know this fall if I notice any difference between harvest time and city air.