As I type this my arms (top of each arm, wrist to elbow) are a throbbing, itchy, burning mess. Why?? I've been so good the last few days. Grabbed my shampoo bottle and looked for hidden gluten but couldn't find any. What could it be??
Then I realized I'm boarding a dog for 9 days. His mom sent him this past Friday with a big bag of Purina Dog Chow. I started to read the ingredients on the bag and realized this is the culprit. It should be renamed Purina Gluten Chow. Shortly after feeding the dog, and picking up the stray pieces of food (with my bare hands) that fell onto the floor, I made myself a gluten free sandwich (gluten free bread, turkey and mustard). I later had a gluten free coconut milk dessert.
So proud of myself for eating such good food, I didn't realize I was eating them with a gluten appetizer. UGH!!
As I think about it, I boarded the same dog two weeks ago. My arms were bad then too and seemed to improve last week when the dog wasn't with me. I thought the DH was over. The dog came back this past Friday and my arms are a mess again.
Could it be that I picked up gluten from the dog food and transferred it to the sandwich and into my mouth? If so, why is the only reaction that I'm aware of topical? In other words there is no bloating or any other symptom, except my burning, itchy arms.
Starting tomorrow I'll wear plastic gloves when I feed the dog. This will be an interesting experiment. In the meantime I'm really shocked. I have never had an allergy of any kind and this is all happening so quickly. But there's a part of me that enjoys the challenge and welcomes the fact that I now must take better care of myself than I ever have.
Then I realized I'm boarding a dog for 9 days. His mom sent him this past Friday with a big bag of Purina Dog Chow. I started to read the ingredients on the bag and realized this is the culprit. It should be renamed Purina Gluten Chow. Shortly after feeding the dog, and picking up the stray pieces of food (with my bare hands) that fell onto the floor, I made myself a gluten free sandwich (gluten free bread, turkey and mustard). I later had a gluten free coconut milk dessert.
So proud of myself for eating such good food, I didn't realize I was eating them with a gluten appetizer. UGH!!
As I think about it, I boarded the same dog two weeks ago. My arms were bad then too and seemed to improve last week when the dog wasn't with me. I thought the DH was over. The dog came back this past Friday and my arms are a mess again.
Could it be that I picked up gluten from the dog food and transferred it to the sandwich and into my mouth? If so, why is the only reaction that I'm aware of topical? In other words there is no bloating or any other symptom, except my burning, itchy arms.
Starting tomorrow I'll wear plastic gloves when I feed the dog. This will be an interesting experiment. In the meantime I'm really shocked. I have never had an allergy of any kind and this is all happening so quickly. But there's a part of me that enjoys the challenge and welcomes the fact that I now must take better care of myself than I ever have.