Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Living On Wheat Field


mommysarah713

Recommended Posts

mommysarah713 Rookie

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?


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



zeta-lilly Apprentice

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 Mentor

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 Mentor

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 Apprentice

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 Rookie

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 Enthusiast

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


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



  • 5 weeks later...
bridgeofsighs Apprentice

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. :(

  • 3 weeks later...
RhubarbGranny Newbie

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 Contributor

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.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - Mari replied to Jmartes71's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      15

      My only proof

    2. - Rejoicephd commented on Jefferson Adams's article in Gluten-Free Cooking
      1

      Your Complete Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Plan: Recipes, Tips & Holiday Favorites

    3. - marion wheaton replied to marion wheaton's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

    4. - trents replied to marion wheaton's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,422
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    HAUS
    Newest Member
    HAUS
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Mari
      Years  ago a friend and I drove north into Canada hoping to find a ski resort open in late spring,We were in my VW and found a small ski area near a small town and started up this gravelled road up a mountain. We  got about halfway up and got stuck in the mud. We tried everything we could think of but an hour later we were still stuck. Finally a pickup came down the road, laughed at our situation, then pulled the VW free of the mud. We followed him back to the ski area where where he started up the rope ski lift and we had an enjoyable hour of skiing and gave us a shot of aquavit  before we left.It was a great rescue.  In some ways this reminds me of your situation. You are waiting for a rescue and you have chosen medical practitioners to do it now or as soon as possible. As you have found out the med. experts have not learned how to help you. You face years of continuing to feel horrible, frustrated searching for your rescuer to save you. You can break away from from this pattern of thinking and you have begun breaking  away by using some herbs and supplements from doTerra. Now you can start trying some of the suggestions thatother Celiacs have written to your original posts.  You live with other people who eat gluten foods. Cross contamination is very possible. Are you sure that their food is completely separate from their food. It  is not only the gluten grains you need to avoid (wheat, barley, rye) but possibly oats, cows milk also. Whenever you fall back into that angry and frustrated way of thinking get up and walk around for a whild. You will learn ways to break that way of thinking about your problems.  Best wishes for your future. May you enjpy a better life.  
    • marion wheaton
      Thanks for responding. I researched further and Lindt Lindor chocolate balls do contain barely malt powder which contains gluten. I was surprised at all of the conflicting information I found when I checked online.
    • trents
      @BlessedinBoston, it is possible that in Canada the product in question is formulated differently than in the USA or at least processed in in a facility that precludes cross contamination. I assume from your user name that you are in the USA. And it is also possible that the product meets the FDA requirement of not more than 20ppm of gluten but you are a super sensitive celiac for whom that standard is insufficient. 
    • BlessedinBoston
      No,Lindt is not gluten free no matter what they say on their website. I found out the hard way when I was newly diagnosed in 2000. At that time the Lindt truffles were just becoming popular and were only sold in small specialty shops at the mall. You couldn't buy them in any stores like today and I was obsessed with them 😁. Took me a while to get around to checking them and was heartbroken when I saw they were absolutely not gluten free 😔. Felt the same when I realized Twizzlers weren't either. Took me a while to get my diet on order after being diagnosed. I was diagnosed with small bowel non Hodgkins lymphoma at the same time. So it was a very stressful time to say the least. Hope this helps 😁.
    • knitty kitty
      @Jmartes71, I understand your frustration and anger.  I've been in a similar situation where no doctor took me seriously, accused me of making things up, and eventually sent me home to suffer alone.   My doctors did not recognize nutritional deficiencies.  Doctors are trained in medical learning institutions that are funded by pharmaceutical companies.  They are taught which medications cover up which symptoms.  Doctors are required to take twenty  hours of nutritional education in seven years of medical training.  (They can earn nine hours in Nutrition by taking a three day weekend seminar.)  They are taught nutritional deficiencies are passe' and don't happen in our well fed Western society any more.  In Celiac Disease, the autoimmune response and inflammation affects the absorption of ALL the essential vitamins and minerals.  Correcting nutritional deficiencies caused by malabsorption is essential!  I begged my doctor to check my Vitamin D level, which he did only after making sure my insurance would cover it.  When my Vitamin D came back extremely low, my doctor was very surprised, but refused to test for further nutritional deficiencies because he "couldn't make money prescribing vitamins.". I believe it was beyond his knowledge, so he blamed me for making stuff up, and stormed out of the exam room.  I had studied Nutrition before earning a degree in Microbiology.  I switched because I was curious what vitamins from our food were doing in our bodies.  Vitamins are substances that our bodies cannot manufacture, so we must ingest them every day.  Without them, our bodies cannot manufacture life sustaining enzymes and we sicken and die.   At home alone, I could feel myself dying.  It's an unnerving feeling, to say the least, and, so, with nothing left to lose, I relied in my education in nutrition.  My symptoms of Thiamine deficiency were the worst, so I began taking high dose Thiamine.  I had health improvement within an hour.  It was magical.  I continued taking high dose thiamine with a B Complex, magnesium. and other essential nutrients.  The health improvements continued for months.  High doses of thiamine are required to correct a thiamine deficiency because thiamine affects every cell and mitochondria in our bodies.    A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function.  The cerebellum of the brain is most affected.  The cerebellum controls things we don't have to consciously have to think about, like digestion, balance, breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, hormone regulation, and many more.  Thiamine is absorbed from the digestive tract and sent to the most important organs like the brain and the heart.  This leaves the digestive tract depleted of Thiamine and symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi, a thiamine deficiency localized in the digestive system, begin to appear.  Symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi include anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, headaches, Gerd, acid reflux, gas, slow stomach emptying, gastroparesis, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation, incontinence, abdominal pain, IBS,  SIBO, POTS, high blood pressure, heart rate changes like tachycardia, difficulty swallowing, Barrett's Esophagus, peripheral neuropathy, and more. Doctors are only taught about thiamine deficiency in alcoholism and look for the classic triad of symptoms (changes in gait, mental function, and nystagmus) but fail to realize that gastrointestinal symptoms can precede these symptoms by months.  All three classic triad of symptoms only appear in fifteen percent of patients, with most patients being diagnosed with thiamine deficiency post mortem.  I had all three but swore I didn't drink, so I was dismissed as "crazy" and sent home to die basically.   Yes, I understand how frustrating no answers from doctors can be.  I took OTC Thiamine Hydrochloride, and later thiamine in the forms TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) and Benfotiamine to correct my thiamine deficiency.  I also took magnesium, needed by thiamine to make those life sustaining enzymes.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins, so the other B vitamins must be supplemented as well.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   A doctor can administer high dose thiamine by IV along with the other B vitamins.  Again, Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine should be given if only to rule Gastrointestinal Beriberi out as a cause of your symptoms.  If no improvement, no harm is done. Share the following link with your doctors.  Section Three is especially informative.  They need to be expand their knowledge about Thiamine and nutrition in Celiac Disease.  Ask for an Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test for thiamine deficiency.  This test is more reliable than a blood test. Thiamine, gastrointestinal beriberi and acetylcholine signaling.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12014454/ Best wishes!
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.