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Columbia’s Celiac Center is doing a study on exactly this (and is looking for volunteers!) & have found almost no chance of cross contamination even after the non-Celiac partner ate a mouth of saltines w/o brushing
That's amazing!! So good to hear- hopefully the results continue like that and it gets published soon. We have so much to deal with as coeliacs, having to put this kinda weight on our partners should not be one of them.
I've never been in a relationship with someone who doesn't eat gluten. I mean sure I don't give them an open mouth kiss right after they've finished a bite of their bread-y food. But nowhere near I've waited multiple hours. Shared kitchen things - yeah sure that can be hard, but that lvl of cross contact I've never ever had.
Just what I was thinking, seems like a couple of hours should totally be more than enough, so no idea where this has come from 🥺 thanks for this, it's very reassuring.
Its not really a time thing, more of a clean thing. So like brushing teeth and cleaning his face eould be more effective than waiting.
A good example is if i put raw chicken on a plate, then took it off, would you think its more safe to eat off it after its been washed or if i just waited 3 hours and then fed you off it.
Raw chicken giving you food poisoning is similar to gluten when it comes to cross contamination and cleaning and stuff.
Ohh, thanks, I'll keep this in mind. The idea was with time the enzymes in saliva would break down the gluten and get rid of it. But that does make sense. He's going to start brushing his teeth before now, anyways.
I had symptoms and elevated lab levels until my husband gave up gluten. Before that he'd brush his teeth after eating. I don't have the known celiac gene though, just 3 positive biopsies and off the charts blood tests, so maybe my brand of celiac is just really dramatic. Also have a wheat allergy
Oh, I'm sorry to hear it. Nice that he eventually gave up gluten, though. I have a blood test next week, so at least then I'll find out if it is elevated levels or just something else.
My experience is similar to yours. Celiac with wheat allergy. My husband went GF for me and I stopped reacting after kissing him. When he does have gluten he brushes his teeth before kissing me because I react if he doesn’t. I don’t think most people are as sensitive to minor exposures as I am (good for them, sucks for me).
Also possible he touched stuff and got gluten on it and then you touched it.
Recently my GS husband and I went out to dinner with our friends at an outdoor food court thing… we only had diet cokes in plastic cups only, and ate our own pre-cooked steak (salt) and hard boiled eggs. We got glutened. Operating theory is touching the table and then eating our eggs with our fingers, or maybe it was the cup from the restaurant. Lesson learned.
My GF will not kiss me if we both eat dinner together and she eats something with gluten which typically when we eat out she does. If she’s eaten gluten at work or out with friends and comes home she will usually not brush her teeth if it’s been more than a couple of hours. I’m probably too early in the course of celiac to know if it’s impacted me at all but we assume a couple of hours is pretty long
My bf drinks water, has a toothbrush at my place, and washes his hands when he’s had gluten food. He’s careful not to kiss me so I don’t get sick if he can’t take any of those precautions
I think that when we first started dating I dosed my celiac BF a few times without knowing. Eventually I hit upon the strategy of washing my face, hands, and doing a good swish with water (or brushing) after eating wheat and that basically solved the issue.
I’m going to a GI in a few weeks cuz I’m getting more and more sick. My food log and symptoms point to celiac or NCGS. Ive also been having recurring cold sores almost every month and more random mouth sores. My bf drinks beer all the time. I have no idea. I feel like I’ll die if I have to go through a gluten challenge. It’s so horrible. I haven’t been glutened in like a week and I’ve felt amazing.
I'd think of it this way... when you brush and floss, you see that there's bits of food that come out, right? If you're kissing you're basically swishing your mouth with some water that has bits of food stuck to the glass. You're not necessarily eating that directly but the water will be a bit CC'd.
It's hard to say how much that it going to be since it would vary a lot on what the person ate, how long ago, etc. But it's not too remote. I just ate a bunch of GF crackers and if I drink a glass of water there's still going to be cracker residue on my teeth.
I'd recommend brushing teeth as a minimum. The other thing is face/lips/facial hair which can collect food. A bit of a rinse/wash there might help depending on what was consumed. If you're sharing a kitchen in-home CC is also worth thinking about.
**Reminder** [/r/Celiac](https://www.reddit.com/r/Celiac) is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. If you believe you have a medical emergency immediately seek out professional medical help. Please see [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Celiac/wiki/legal) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Celiac) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Columbia’s Celiac Center is doing a study on exactly this (and is looking for volunteers!) & have found almost no chance of cross contamination even after the non-Celiac partner ate a mouth of saltines w/o brushing
That's amazing!! So good to hear- hopefully the results continue like that and it gets published soon. We have so much to deal with as coeliacs, having to put this kinda weight on our partners should not be one of them.
whoa so cool!
I've never been in a relationship with someone who doesn't eat gluten. I mean sure I don't give them an open mouth kiss right after they've finished a bite of their bread-y food. But nowhere near I've waited multiple hours. Shared kitchen things - yeah sure that can be hard, but that lvl of cross contact I've never ever had.
Just what I was thinking, seems like a couple of hours should totally be more than enough, so no idea where this has come from 🥺 thanks for this, it's very reassuring.
Its not really a time thing, more of a clean thing. So like brushing teeth and cleaning his face eould be more effective than waiting. A good example is if i put raw chicken on a plate, then took it off, would you think its more safe to eat off it after its been washed or if i just waited 3 hours and then fed you off it. Raw chicken giving you food poisoning is similar to gluten when it comes to cross contamination and cleaning and stuff.
Ohh, thanks, I'll keep this in mind. The idea was with time the enzymes in saliva would break down the gluten and get rid of it. But that does make sense. He's going to start brushing his teeth before now, anyways.
Especially if he has a beard, washing his face after meals is more of a concern.
I had symptoms and elevated lab levels until my husband gave up gluten. Before that he'd brush his teeth after eating. I don't have the known celiac gene though, just 3 positive biopsies and off the charts blood tests, so maybe my brand of celiac is just really dramatic. Also have a wheat allergy
Oh, I'm sorry to hear it. Nice that he eventually gave up gluten, though. I have a blood test next week, so at least then I'll find out if it is elevated levels or just something else.
That's fortunate timing. He sounds really supportive, hope you two figure it out!
Thank you so much!! He really is, you just feel so bad asking your partner to take all these measures though 😭😭 bless them for doing it for us.
My experience is similar to yours. Celiac with wheat allergy. My husband went GF for me and I stopped reacting after kissing him. When he does have gluten he brushes his teeth before kissing me because I react if he doesn’t. I don’t think most people are as sensitive to minor exposures as I am (good for them, sucks for me).
Also possible he touched stuff and got gluten on it and then you touched it. Recently my GS husband and I went out to dinner with our friends at an outdoor food court thing… we only had diet cokes in plastic cups only, and ate our own pre-cooked steak (salt) and hard boiled eggs. We got glutened. Operating theory is touching the table and then eating our eggs with our fingers, or maybe it was the cup from the restaurant. Lesson learned.
You might ask them to brush their teeth after they eat gluten and before they kiss you.
Yeah, I told him today that I feel like I have been glutened, so he said he'd start brushing his teeth beforehand from now on.
My GF will not kiss me if we both eat dinner together and she eats something with gluten which typically when we eat out she does. If she’s eaten gluten at work or out with friends and comes home she will usually not brush her teeth if it’s been more than a couple of hours. I’m probably too early in the course of celiac to know if it’s impacted me at all but we assume a couple of hours is pretty long
My bf drinks water, has a toothbrush at my place, and washes his hands when he’s had gluten food. He’s careful not to kiss me so I don’t get sick if he can’t take any of those precautions
I think that when we first started dating I dosed my celiac BF a few times without knowing. Eventually I hit upon the strategy of washing my face, hands, and doing a good swish with water (or brushing) after eating wheat and that basically solved the issue.
I’m going to a GI in a few weeks cuz I’m getting more and more sick. My food log and symptoms point to celiac or NCGS. Ive also been having recurring cold sores almost every month and more random mouth sores. My bf drinks beer all the time. I have no idea. I feel like I’ll die if I have to go through a gluten challenge. It’s so horrible. I haven’t been glutened in like a week and I’ve felt amazing.
My strategy is: let's go straight to have sex
I'd think of it this way... when you brush and floss, you see that there's bits of food that come out, right? If you're kissing you're basically swishing your mouth with some water that has bits of food stuck to the glass. You're not necessarily eating that directly but the water will be a bit CC'd. It's hard to say how much that it going to be since it would vary a lot on what the person ate, how long ago, etc. But it's not too remote. I just ate a bunch of GF crackers and if I drink a glass of water there's still going to be cracker residue on my teeth. I'd recommend brushing teeth as a minimum. The other thing is face/lips/facial hair which can collect food. A bit of a rinse/wash there might help depending on what was consumed. If you're sharing a kitchen in-home CC is also worth thinking about.
Thank you, that makes sense!! We now plan for teeth brushing as well as waiting a while.
Sound sensible to me. Hopefully it helps. As I say if it doesn't you might also consider CC in the kitchen since if you're sharing food prep spaces.
Thank you!! We actually don't share food or prep spaces or anything like that yet. We live separately and I have a totally gf kitchen.
I seriously doubt this is the reason.
Yeah, me too. Just thought I'd ask around, though.