Outrageous Things I Have Said And Done!

[1desperateladysaved]

Just for a moment imagine you were the healthy one and you heard or saw these things:

I accidentally licked an envelope, charged to the bathroom with my tongue out. Rinsed my tongue. Then I spent two days with fatigue.

Would you believe that?

I was in the same room where someone was using barley flour. I irritably complained that it made me dizzy and swollen.

Would you believe that?

I caught a wiff of vinegar and got dizzy, nauseated, and felt weak.

Yeah, right. Would you believe that? Doesn't it sound strange?

I planted the barley, which I could no longer mill and eat, in the garden for cover crop. Now each time I weed the garden my arms come in full of allergic rash.

Be honest would you believe this stuff?

[kareng]

Envelope glue does not contain gluten. It is one of those myths spread on the internet.

[Bubba's Mom]

My family has seen my many reactions. It's hard to understand, but reactions are real.

Things we used to do and not suffer from are suddenly making us very ill. I can't believe it myself sometimes!

It seems like some bad dream that we can't wake up from.

How about the avoiding kisses? Constant counter/stove wiping, hand washing, label reading(of eveythng!), wanting your own tv remote because the other one has orange Cheetos dust on it?

[kareng]

My family has seen my many reactions. It's hard to understand, but reactions are real.

Things we used to do and not suffer from are suddenly making us very ill. I can't believe it myself sometimes!

It seems like some bad dream that we can't wake up from.

How about the avoiding kisses? Constant counter/stove wiping, hand washing, label reading(of eveythng!), wanting your own tv remote because the other one has orange Cheetos dust on it?

Cheezit dust at my house! The ceiling fan remote has a strangely familiar orange stain on it.

[GlutenFreeAustinite]

I know the envelopes don't have gluten, but they always make me feel a bit queasy if I lick too many. That and they just taste nasty.

[GF Lover]

I have my husband lick the envelopes just because I can. Hehe.

[LauraB0927]

My favorite that I've had to say is.....

(To weight trainer)

"I'm sorry, by mistake I ate oats today and now my knees are swollen and can't move...so I'm going to have to take it easy today..."

(Blank stare and crickets chirping)

[GFinDC]

The envelopes may not have gluten in the glue, but we all know from watching Seinfeld they aren't safe to lick. A sponge is safer and and easier too.

gluten-free with celiac is very different from other people though. They don't have to read labels on everything they eat, or be careful of what restaurant they eat at, or avoid minute bits of gluten in their home etc. Shoot, they don't have to be careful of what kind of beer they drink for that matter.

I think at first it is easy to be maybe a little too concerned with possible gluten contamination, but that is a good thing when learning about avoiding it for the first time. It helps keep people alert to the possibiltiy of gluten being around. So they probalby do a better job of avoiding it. And when people are new to the gluten-free diet, they often have reactions to many foods because their GI system is in a state of change/healing. So it may seem like they are being glutened when it is perhaps a bit of adjustment turmoil. Not that hat is pleasant or easy to deal with or anything. It can be tough.

[codetalker]

The envelopes may not have gluten in the glue, but we all know from watching Seinfeld they aren't safe to lick. A sponge is safer and and easier too.

Sponges can be used...but only if you are worthy.

[ravenwoodglass]

Sponges can be used...but only if you are worthy.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

I have my husband lick the envelopes just because I can. Hehe.

Lol I lick my own envelopes, but I will slobber all over every finger on my hands just to spread it on the strip! EWww yucky! Maybe I should wear gloves when opening mail you know just in case other people think like me...And yet I am such a germaphobe I wash my hands every time I touch anything in the kitchen for example. Only makes cooking gluten free in a gluten filled house even slower.

Does anyone else wash their hands after each cracked egg? Just wondering

[ravenwoodglass]

Does anyone else wash their hands after each cracked egg? Just wondering

Yep and with any ingredient change in the recipe and when I first get home and before I start cooking and when I am done. For me it doesn't have anything to do with gluten though as that was how my Mom taught me to cook.

[Adalaide]

I know that it's outrageous and crazy, but I won't shake hands with anyone or touch anything at church before the sacrament. If I'm going to touch something that is going in my mouth, I wash my hands then touch NOTHING. Everyone at church probably things I'm just a little bit nuts.

[GFinDC]

Sponges can be used...but only if you are worthy.

Dang it, I knew there was a catch! Maybe next year then..

[love2travel]

Sponges can be used...but only if you are worthy.

Speaking of the source of that, I had a real-life "can you spare a square?" thing happen to me while in an airport bathroom. The woman in the next stall asked, "Do you have a square to spare?" I said, "No. I have no square to spare." But I really did. We went on and on. We had no idea who each other was but it was amusing to us as well as others who were sniggering in the bathroom.

Sorry - nothing to do with the topic at hand.

[squirmingitch]

I buy the envelopes that self seal. You know, they have that peel off strip. They really don't cost much more & I don't get glue all over a sponge nor have that awful taste on my tongue.

I have been enjoying the repartee but back to the OP's questions as I know it is truly a concern for her.

1D, I will admit that the things you proposed would sound weird to me if I didn't have celiac disease myself. I'll go one further & say that they would sound more than weird to me. I would call them over the top. All except for the last one --- the barley which gets your arms when you weed. That one would not sound odd to me at all.

However, if you were a family member or a dear friend & you explained things to me about the disease then they would not seem so weird. In fact I could understand them all except maybe the whiff of vinegar.

I think you have to have this disease or an anaphylactic reaction to some food or substance in order to truly understand how severely it can affect us. I think that's something we are just going to have to learn to live with.

[1desperateladysaved]

"Does anyone else wash their hands after each cracked egg? Just wondering"

WOw! If I did that I would wash my hands 24 times just to make breakfast! I wash mine before I start and when they get sloppy. My home-grown eggs are washed before they end up in the kitchen.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

Yep and with any ingredient change in the recipe and when I first get home and before I start cooking and when I am done. For me it doesn't have anything to do with gluten though as that was how my Mom taught me to cook.

I mean like press the bake button, wash my hands, open the oven, wash my hands touch raw meat, wash my hands, put food on foil wash my hands put in oven, wash my hands...open a cabinet, wash my hands! It is just that ppl put their gluten glutenous fingers all over everything!

I know that it's outrageous and crazy, but I won't shake hands with anyone or touch anything at church before the sacrament. If I'm going to touch something that is going in my mouth, I wash my hands then touch NOTHING. Everyone at church probably things I'm just a little bit nuts.

You keep sacrament! How do you do that? Isn't that like wine and crackers? Please forgive my ignorance and don't let the question offend you. I was thinking about Passover the other day. We usually do unleavened bread and all that but I will just be a sinner I guess b/c I am not so sure about suffering later. I don't think God would want that. I think it is mostly symbolic anyway. I guess I need guidance on that subject.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

"Does anyone else wash their hands after each cracked egg? Just wondering"

WOw! If I did that I would wash my hands 24 times just to make breakfast! I wash mine before I start and when they get sloppy. My home-grown eggs are washed before they end up in the kitchen.

I suppose it would be easier if i was the only one who cooked in the kitchen. It wouldn't be saturated in gluten.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

Just for a moment imagine you were the healthy one and you heard or saw these things:

I accidentally licked an envelope, charged to the bathroom with my tongue out. Rinsed my tongue. Then I spent two days with fatigue.

Would you believe that?

I was in the same room where someone was using barley flour. I irritably complained that it made me dizzy and swollen.

Would you believe that?

I caught a wiff of vinegar and got dizzy, nauseated, and felt weak.

Yeah, right. Would you believe that? Doesn't it sound strange?

I planted the barley, which I could no longer mill and eat, in the garden for cover crop. Now each time I weed the garden my arms come in full of allergic rash.

Be honest would you believe this stuff?

I walked past the flour aisle at the store the other day and started choking and dry coughing uncontrolleably in the middle of the store. I could hardly breathe and took off running (okay maybe just fast walking) away from that area. It happens! Certainly believable.

[Jestgar]

My home-grown eggs are washed before they end up in the kitchen.

Really? I don't wash mine unless they are really nasty.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

Really? I don't wash mine unless they are really nasty.

I never thought about that but it kinda makes sense if we wash our pans to protect from cross contamination why not an egg shell that may have been sitting on hay or something idk. I guess it shows I don't have a basic knowledge in farming even though I live in the country. tee hee

[Jestgar]

My eggs are sitting on pine shavings. I only wash them if it's been a while since I cleaned the coop, and the eggs are also siting on poop.

[cavernio]

Pretending I didn't know about celiac disease, or before I heard/knew about it really, I'll try to answer as best I can.

Just for a moment imagine you were the healthy one and you heard or saw these things:

I accidentally licked an envelope, charged to the bathroom with my tongue out. Rinsed my tongue. Then I spent two days with fatigue.

I'd believe you had fatigue all weekend, I'd be highly dubious as to the cause. I'd think that something else made you tired in conjuction with you thinking you'd be tired.

I was in the same room where someone was using barley flour. I irritably complained that it made me dizzy and swollen.

Would you believe that?

Swollen, I would've been dubious, dizzy, would believe. I have some very strong reactions to smells myself, dizziness has been one of those reactions, and inhaling particulates in the air seems to go hand in hand with smelling them.

I caught a wiff of vinegar and got dizzy, nauseated, and felt weak.

I'd believe it, again, due to my own seemingly lifelong sensitivities to smells, that I still think it separate from my celiac disease.

I planted the barley, which I could no longer mill and eat, in the garden for cover crop. Now each time I weed the garden my arms come in full of allergic rash.

Very believable, sounds like a 'regular' allergy, the type that I've known about all my life.

[Bubba's Mom]

I walked past the flour aisle at the store the other day and started choking and dry coughing uncontrolleably in the middle of the store. I could hardly breathe and took off running (okay maybe just fast walking) away from that area. It happens! Certainly believable.

I've had this happen too. I got choken up when I passed through the bakery dept. (they were making bread) on my way to the seafood dept.

Another thing that my family thinks is crazy is..I won't go barefoot in the house. The gluten eaters drop crumbs all over, but more importantly, my whole house may be contaminated from straw that my hubby spread out all over in the back yard when it got muddy early in the Spring? He said as he was pulling the bale apart he noticed a lot of seed heads. If there was gluten, it got all over the soil. The dogs tromping through it and back and forth into the house..well who knows? I wish it would glow under black light or something!

It laid there for about a week before he said something about the seed heads. I freaked out and he and my son raked it up and burned it. The dogs walked through it a lot, and continue to walk through the area several times every day.