Can't Find Source Of Cross Contamination!

[RacerRex9727]

Two weeks ago I was flying with my mom. She was eating cookies and she reached for a handful of pumpkin seeds. With the same hand she was eating cookies with she offered me some pumpkin seeds. I hesitated but took them and ate them. Afterwards, I was not feeling great at all that week. My OCD, GI problems, and brain fog returned with a vengeance. I also got glutened really bad on a Seattle trip 6 weeks earlier, so I think I did a double-whammy on myself.

A week later I was recovering from the slipup and got better. But after a few days I began to mildly suffer from OCD again. Then a mild brain fog. I looked in the mirror and my face was all poxy (a symptom that for sure tells me I'm glutened). It might have restarted I guess when I used a sponge to clean a dish instead of putting it in the dishwasher, and a month ago my little brother visited and contaminated my sink with cereal and stuff. Or I was still recovering from the last incident and it was taking weeks for recovery.

I don't know if I'm just still recovering after too many gluten slipups in the past few months or if I am continually poisoning myself in the kitchen with contaminated surfaces thanks to my brother. I normally am not this paranoid, I've been doing gluten-free for four years and am good at being in control. What should I do to purge everything in my kitchen? Bleach in dishwasher? Bleach all over sink and counters? What?

[kareng]

Bleach won't "kill" gluten. It will just be clean, germless gluten. Wash well with soap and water.

[Takala]

And rinse, rinse, rinse.

DON'T PUT BLEACH IN DISHWASHER. Do NOT mix bleach and other forms of soap or detergents, as the bleach and soap react with each other and form a poisonous gas. Bleach does not deactivate gluten.

You can take a spray bottle of water, add a bit of pure apple cider vinegar and some clear non gluten alcohol like vodka or gluten-free mouthwash, perhaps a drop or two of grapefruit oil, and make your own "kitchen cleaner." The alcohol is just to help cut grease residue from cooking. Always use paper towels, and if you're paranoid about surfaces, lay down a paper towel before you start working on anything.

Otherwise my guess is that you ate or used something that was cross contaminated with gluten, it happens, some brands are better than others. Otherwise ask yourself what new item you recently ate or took by mouth, such as a otc medication. And keep your relatives out of any stored items, such as sticks of butter or jars of jelly or mayonnaise, that they may redip into when using.

[shadowicewolf]

Its bleach and viniger that do that, not soap :/

At any rate, why didn't you just soap and clean that sink throughly after he left? If you did, i doubt that would have done it.

[bartfull]

Actually bleach WILL react with some soaps. It will also react with some toilet bowl cleaners. And when I was a kid, it reacted with the stretch jeans my Mom tried to tie-dye for my sister. We all had to run out of the house and stay out for hours and hours.

The gas is green, if anyone is wondering.

[Takala]

We all had to run out of the house and stay out for hours and hours.

Been there, done that, got the t- shirt..... ah, childhood.