I was reading a post about people suddenly having an allergic reaction to their partner during sex. It dawned on me that we have to take extra precautions since I have been diagnosed with Celiac. I am not sure most people think about this but it is a real thing. My reaction is not anaphylactic and I am super thankful for that because folks with that kind of a reaction have to get really serious about this subject!
I have been married to the love of my life for 23 years and thankfully we keep it spicy, not to give you way too many details. That being said kissing and beyond being gluten-free has its hazards. My hubby plays oldish man beer league hockey twice a week. That is twice a week we know that after the first can cracks open there is no accidental kissing before certain protocols happen. We have gotten in the heat of the moment and forgotten about the protocols and we have been reminded that gluten in saliva is a real thing and ruins the mood rather quickly.
I was curious about research on this subject so I, of course, googled it. What did we do before google? I seriously love them.
Food allergies and kissing:
I mentioned above that we have experienced this. I say we because even though I am the one who doesn’t feel good after getting glutened, my hubby feels awful for it happening. Making out and getting glutened is a joint effort. Here is the protocol we take after he has eaten or drank something with gluten in it. He brushes his teeth, rinses with gluten-free mouthwash, and washes his face and hands. It’s an effort of love that he does for me. It’s not convenient and he has to make a conscious effort to remember to do it based on his eating and drinking occurrences that day. I really appreciate it and love that he is so on board with everything we do to keep gluten out of our home.
Here is what foodallergy.org says about the subject. They say to wait a few hours after eating an allergen before kissing. Smart idea!
Allergicliving.com says it is safest for the partner to avoid the allergen too! They are talking about peanuts allergies but I think it applies to all 🙂 Especially if you have anaphylactic reactions.
This may be weird but after getting my Nima Sensor, we tested his saliva after having some beer at hockey and then again after our protocol. The saliva after hockey, which was a bit after the beer, tested positive to gluten. Then he brushed, swished and washed and we retested. The after protocol saliva didn’t have any gluten found. You will have to make up your own protocol for what works in your family. If it is date night 99% of the time my hubby will order gluten-free and tells the servers it’s because he can then make out with me. LOL. I am so lucky.
Ok, the big one…SEX baby:
I am linking some Q & A that should be labeled PG – R. Just an FYI. If you don’t want to read that then don’t click on the link. Sex is a normal and healthy part of marriage. Since I believe that, we are going to chat about it and being gluten-free. I have never had any reaction to sex from gluten but that doesn’t mean others don’t. I am providing what information I found when I googled sex and gluten allergy. My hubby also eats 99% gluten free and all of his body care products are also gluten-free, because I buy them 🙂
The second question people ask me after they realize we have to be careful after he eats gluten is: Is semen gluten free? Lol. I am not sure why that is the next question but Gluten Dude has a tongue in cheek response for you to check out. HAHA.
Cureceliacdisease.org has a one-word response on their website. YES. Short and to the point.
I hope that has shed some light on the subject. I know my Dr did not mention that kissing could transfer gluten right away when I was diagnosed. In fact, we didn’t think of it until a few years later. I was still having gluten reaction symptoms that we couldn’t pinpoint. I am not saying the symptoms were all from this cross contamination but some of it more than likely was. It really wasn’t until I got my Nima Sensor and started testing all new products and restaurants that I stopped having symptoms.