Can One Really Be Healthy In A House With Gluten?

[jackay]

How do those of you that live in shared houses stay healthy? Some of you say it is impossible but some of you seem to manage.

I cook separate meals with separate cookware, cutting boards, etc. When I do dishes, cook or eat, I always wash my hands and dry them with paper towels. Yet I am staying sick. I don't use any condiments so am not getting cc there.

I know many of you will say that my house needs to be gluten free. How do I know if my sickness is caused from gluten contamination or if it is something else. I did have a few months where I was doing so much better and then bam, life became a struggle. I understand that is the time when a person becomes more sensitive to cc or when other food intolerances show up.

Can one really wash gluten off their hands? My thought is that it gets under the fingernails and then spreads to the hands.

I went on a strict elimation diet again and didn't get any better. The only foods that really seemed to make me worse were tomatoes, walnuts and lentils. Was it the foods or was it cross contamination? I was eating so few foods and most that I added to my diet didn't make my symptoms any worse.

I'm usually don't eat any processed foods. I do eat a lot of brown rice but right now that is my staple. When I gave that up, I didn't get any better. I eat almonds but again when I gave them up, I didn't get any better. If I didn't eat almonds and brown rice, I wouldn't get many calories. How long does one have to be off an offending food before feeling better. I don't consume any sweeteners and gave up fruit for a long time. The only fruit that I added back that really seems to bother me is banana.

Any suggestions would be helpful. I do see a new doctor this week and am hoping he'll order quite a few tests.

[Kelly777]

First of all how long have you been gluten free? I started on September 25, 2010 and I am just now noticing another big improvement. It is baby steps. I still have problems and I still have the cursed AM mucus.

Second, check your cosmetics. I figured out a product I have used for quite a long time had wheat in it and I noticed a difference when I stopped using it.

Do you have any pets? You need to wash after feeding them.

Last but not least, be easy on yourself. This just takes time. It didn't happen overnight and the cure isn't going to be overnight. Try and remember how really bad it was when it was bad and you realize how far you have come. The setback's do get to be less and less.

Also, don't have to high of expectations in the doctor. I have been very disappointed time and again expecting answers and not getting any. If you have a support group in your area, sign up. We are just getting one in my area but the people I have met along the way have been my "gluten free friends" and are always available to answer questions. For instance, today, I asked one of them if she had that sensation of something being in her throat when she has GERD and she said, "Oh, yeah!" I cannot tell you how good that made me feel. It was such a relief because I thought I had a tumor or something there even though I read that is one of the symptoms of GERD.

[mushroom]

I am not a super sensitive, but I would think that if one were it would be extremely difficult to live in a mixed household. From all the problems you have had I would say you are either super sensitive or there is something else going on.

[jackay]

First of all how long have you been gluten free?

I have been gluten free and careful about cross contamination for about 15 months.

Second, check your cosmetics. I figured out a product I have used for quite a long time had wheat in it and I noticed a difference when I stopped using it.

I don't wear makeup and have been careful about checking labels and using only companies that fully disclose there ingredients. I don't think I'm getting cc from cosmetics.

Do you have any pets? You need to wash after feeding them.

No pets.

Last but not least, be easy on yourself. This just takes time. It didn't happen overnight and the cure isn't going to be overnight.

It is so hard to be easy on myself when I feel so lousy, am run down by daily diarrhea and nightly insomnia, am depressed and anxious. I have always been so hard on myself and just wish I could break myself of that.

Try and remember how really bad it was when it was bad and you realize how far you have come. The setback's do get to be less and less.

Don't feel I've made any progress as I am pretty much back to all the health issues where I started from. It has now been five long months with no improvement.

Also, don't have to high of expectations in the doctor.

I am pretty sure I will be disappointed in this new doctor. I just want to rule out other things.

If you have a support group in your area, sign up.

There isn't a support group in my area. I did sign up for a gluten free cooking class in hopes of finding local people that had gluten intolerance. Only two others showed up for the class. Neither had gluten intolerance. One had a grandchild and the other had an adopted son. Both of the kids don't seem to be that sensitive because they just need to eat gluten free. They do not need to be careful with their cookware or anything like that. The mom said as long as her son washed his hands before meals he was fine. He did react to using paper mache in school but otherwise he has been fine. As for the instructor, she really didn't know much about gluten free cooking. She just got recipes online, bought the ingredients and brought them to class. She hadn't even tried the recipes ahead of time.

[jackay]

I am not a super sensitive, but I would think that if one were it would be extremely difficult to live in a mixed household. From all the problems you have had I would say you are either super sensitive or there is something else going on.

That is the puzzle. Is it something else or an I just super sensitive?????

I have had food intolerance testing done in the past. By avoiding the foods that I tested intolerant to, I didn't show improvement. Now I want to rule out Crohn's and colitis. I question bacterial overgrowth, also. That showed up in the past and I'm guessing I never got rid of it.

[jenngolightly]

How do those of you that live in shared houses stay healthy? Some of you say it is impossible but some of you seem to manage.

I cook separate meals with separate cookware, cutting boards, etc. When I do dishes, cook or eat, I always wash my hands and dry them with paper towels. Yet I am staying sick. I don't use any condiments so am not getting cc there.

I know many of you will say that my house needs to be gluten free. How do I know if my sickness is caused from gluten contamination or if it is something else. I did have a few months where I was doing so much better and then bam, life became a struggle. I understand that is the time when a person becomes more sensitive to cc or when other food intolerances show up.

Can one really wash gluten off their hands? My thought is that it gets under the fingernails and then spreads to the hands.

I went on a strict elimation diet again and didn't get any better. The only foods that really seemed to make me worse were tomatoes, walnuts and lentils. Was it the foods or was it cross contamination? I was eating so few foods and most that I added to my diet didn't make my symptoms any worse.

I'm usually don't eat any processed foods. I do eat a lot of brown rice but right now that is my staple. When I gave that up, I didn't get any better. I eat almonds but again when I gave them up, I didn't get any better. If I didn't eat almonds and brown rice, I wouldn't get many calories. How long does one have to be off an offending food before feeling better. I don't consume any sweeteners and gave up fruit for a long time. The only fruit that I added back that really seems to bother me is banana.

Any suggestions would be helpful. I do see a new doctor this week and am hoping he'll order quite a few tests.

What kind of elimination diet did you go on? What foods did you start with? Did you stay on those basic foods until you felt better, and then add new foods? If you didn't feel better after you started your "strict" elimination diet, then food might not be your problem. I'm on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and I feel worlds better than when I was gluten-free only. I am obviously intolerant to a lot of foods and I don't eat sugar, corn, soy, gluten, grains, dairy, starchy veggies, and tree nuts because I'm allergic (I figured out from this diet). It's tough to narrow down foods that you have problems with. I've been on this diet for 10 months and am still finding foods that I can/can't eat.

[jackay]

What kind of elimination diet did you go on? What foods did you start with? Did you stay on those basic foods until you felt better, and then add new foods? If you didn't feel better after you started your "strict" elimination diet, then food might not be your problem. I'm on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and I feel worlds better than when I was gluten-free only. I am obviously intolerant to a lot of foods and I don't eat sugar, corn, soy, gluten, grains, dairy, starchy veggies, and tree nuts because I'm allergic (I figured out from this diet). It's tough to narrow down foods that you have problems with. I've been on this diet for 10 months and am still finding foods that I can/can't eat.

Jenn,

I started out with chicken, olive oil, sea salt and turnips. I started getting more sleep and feeling somewhat better. I know I added brown rice before too long because of hunger issues.

The one food that I felt I reacted to early in the elimination diet was cucumber. That could have been from pesticides or preservatives on it. I didn't sleep the night after eating it so kept those out of my diet until we had fresh ones in our garden months later. I seemed to do fine with those.

My D issues cut way down but I would still have problems about once a week. Sleep was better but I would never knew when I'd be hit with a night of total insomnia. With keeping a food diary, I couldn't figure out what foods were causing D or insomnia. Even my doctor was stumped that I wasn't always hit with both at the same time. Depression and anxiety vanished.

By the end of summer I was getting quite a few headaches. I thought it was candida but it could have been fructose intolerance so I cut all fruit and starchy vegetables. That didn't make a difference.

Come September 17th, I was blasted with daily D, nightly insomnia, anxiety and depression. I became OCD about gluten contamination since I figured that had to be the cause.

I don't know if my food intolerance tests were accurate but because of them, I did cut out corn, eggs, soy, dairy, beef. By the end of summer I was eating most of these foods in moderation. Once I got sick again, I eliminated all of them.

I have absolutely no sleep pattern. I get from 0-7 hours of sleep a night. A few times I slept four nights in a row and figured I was on the right path. Then my sleep would become irregular again. Sometimes it's an every other night thing. Some nights I fall awake easily and then wake up after a few hours and can't get back to sleep. Some nights I am awake most of the night and do manage to get an hour or so of sleep before I wake up in the morning. No matter when I wake up, I seldom fall back asleep. I am not able to relax enough to nap during the day.

I am now considering other possibilities than food such as bacteria, parasites, colitis, crohn's or diverticulitis.