I Glutened Him!

[lovesaceliac]

I'm about to loose it. We keep a gluten free home to protect my very sensitive celiac husband. We've had a house guest for the last week (who by cooincidence just found out he was celiac and is now learning the ropes - so far he is asymptomatic, so he hasn't dealt w/cc and some of the other issues we do on a regular basis.) The guest was one of several guests and instructors we were hosting this weekend for a cultural arts festival sponsored by our small business. Needless to say it was a crazy weekend that required some eating out, very little sleeping, and ended last night with our house guest winding up in the hospital for an emergency appendix removal and my driving other guests three hours round trip to the airport for return flights in the wee hours of the morning. My husband confessed to me on Friday night that he had been "glutened" and was doing a great job of putting on a good face all day Saturday. I'm crazy exhausted myself, but trying to keep my two small children quiet so my husband can sleep. As soon as I got back from the airport this morning the first thing I did was make my starving husband a sandwhich and chips (we were too busy all evening and night for him to ever eat!) He's gone to bed and I recently looked at the chip bag again to find that they were Frito Lay Mesquite BBQ chips - which I know are NOT gluten free! I don't know who bought the chips and brought them in to my house and when I put them on his plate I didn't even look at the bag in my dazed exhaustion. We buy gluten-free bbq chips all the time and I just assumed they were ours. So now in addition to getting glutened (probably cc at a restaurant) I totally glutened him myself! I could cry. Now I know he's in for hell the next two days and misery for two more. I hate this. Is there any hope that the FDA will eventually require all packages to be clearly labeled? I know what to look for, but so many of our friends and family don't. I also so despirately wish there was something to do to alleviate the symptoms or make them more bearable when this does happen.

Just needed to vent.

[lilu]

I am so sorry this happened, and please don't blame yourself. Part of the benefit of a gluten free home is "knowing" you can eat anything at home safely. This was just an unfortunate set of too many weird situations happening all at once.

As far as anything to help, the only thing we've found that provides a little relief is very light eating, lots of peppermint tea and water, and rest.

I hope his symptoms pass quickly. Try and get some rest yourself. Sometimes the best thing we can do for others is to take a little care of ourselves.

[Yup]

First of all I just want to thank-you on behalf of your hubby. I'm the celiac in my family and I am grateful for having a great partner who is totally supportive. Mistakes happen...forgive yourself. You make awesome decisions everyday on behalf of your husband.

[chasbari]

First of all I just want to thank-you on behalf of your hubby. I'm the celiac in my family and I am grateful for having a great partner who is totally supportive. Mistakes happen...forgive yourself. You make awesome decisions everyday on behalf of your husband.

Ooh, I agree with this wholeheartedly. Thank you for being such a concerned support to your husband. The craziest little things can sneak up on us and catch us unawares. Example. I just got had this past weekend. Totally innocent. My boys and I have been working on a toy prototype. We got distracted by one component and ended up making a blow gun/dart gun with which we were having riotous combat around the house. After several days of this I got hammered Saturday evening but what I thought was a CC episode. Only thing is, I fix my own food in my own prep area and my family is quite good about being careful, bless them! It was then I realized that we were sharing a blow gun that the kids had been putting up to their mouth, probably a cookie or sandwich between some episodes of our warfare.... BINGO. That explained all the neuro symptoms and shutdown I was experiencing. Now I know.. Now you know. I am amazed that you managed to keep it together with all the business you had to attend to. Give yourself a healthy dose of forgiveness and everything will be better.

[Juliebove]

Sorry about that! I have done similar things to my daughter. Have gone so far as to triple check the ingredients list and still miss the wheat on there. Hope he gets better soon!

[eatmeat4good]

I gave my son gummy vitamins that clearly list wheat as an ingredient. What an idiot. He told me he didn't like them...I still insisted he take them, since Celiacs are vitamin deficient. This went on for days. It wasn't until I ate them myself and had a serious reaction that I turned that damn bottle over and read the ingredients. I thought I had purged the house completely of gluten. Took me a long time to get over that one. Now I read everything, at the store, as I put it away, and when I take it out to use it. Seriously. I am in a habit now. And whenever I don't wanna read that label...I just remember that whole week I made my kid sick...and it suddenly seems reading that label 3 times is worth it and not so much trouble after all.. At least you figured it out quickly...but yeah, the guilt sucks when you make someone you love sick. Sorry that happened, it sounds like you have had a crazy few days. But don't blame yourself....we all have done it. Either to ourselves or to a loved one.

[lovesaceliac]

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words. I have really enjoyed joining the community here. We've been at this for over two years now and it was only about a month ago that I spent several hours overnight reading these forums (feeling discouraged about a recent CC episode.) It was like I was reading our own life story. It was so validating to discover that there were people all over experiencing the same things we were. You know, eating gluten free isn't hard (anymore) - it's trying to stay clean in a gluten free world that seems almost impossible! I learned once again that going into a weekend like the one recently past, that I MUST plan out all meals in advance. "Figuring something out" on the fly just won't work. Thank goodness he is doing much better than I would have expected.

[Juliebove]

I used to buy Mentos for my daughter and had told the dance studio that they were safe for her to eat. They would normally give them out at Halloween. But then the labeling laws changed and they had to disclose the top 8 allergens. And there it was! Glucose syrup derived from wheat! Yes, I know in some cases (not sure about this one) they claim such glucose syrup is gluten-free. But in my daughter's case it is an allergy to wheat. So not good for her at all.

[Jenniferxgfx]

You are so incredibly sweet for being so conscientious of your husband's celiac! It just made me all warm and fuzzy to read your concern.

Glutenings happen! And accidents happen too. This is absolutely not your fault and you're so supportive and wonderful to be so concerned.

I wish you and your husband much love and a quick comeback for you both!