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Okay, I had a "duh" moment. I forgot that gluten has to be ingested to 
cause a reaction. Nevertheless, here are some of the responses I received:

"You probably checked this twenty times already, but are you sure about 
the candy (if that's what was in the eggs)?  Barley malt is in a lot of 
them, and there could be contamination from where they were made.  It 
seems so much more likely than a tattoo, but really who knows.
I'm really interested to see your summary."

Good point, but it wasn't the candy, as the reaction has been atypically 
long and severe. Also, they really don't eat the candy.


"My children also have food coloring sensitivities.  The tatoos and 
markers and anything else that gets on their skin goes through the skin 
and they react to it just like a gluten reaction.  Hope this helps some."

Very interesting! I think this probably makes more sense. I know that 
skin absorbs toxins, but the gluten, as someone pointed out, is not 
likely to be absorbed through the skin.


"I wouldn't be to quick to blame gluten.

I react to certain Band-Aids, antibacterial creams and certain skin 
tapes, I'm not the only one so just look at it as whatever the gel that 
is made into the tattoo is the culprit.

It's not a latex allergy but some type of reaction to the silicone or 
petroleum base or even a mixture of these substances that cause the 
reaction. "

Again, very interesting. I think this is a valid point.


"Are those the kind you "lick and stick"  ???
If so, maybe the backing contains gluten and it went directly in their 
mouths?"

We used water on a rag, so it wasn't that.


"Unless your kids have dermatitis herpetiformis, the tattoos could not 
have made your children sick. Unless they were licking them, etc. Gluten 
has to enter the intestinal tract to initiate a gluten reaction. Celiacs 
do not need to be concerned about pharmaceutical patches, IV meds, 
tattoos, etc because the medication gets into the bloodstream and does 
not enter the gut. I learned this from Dr. Peter Green and Dr. FAssano, 
very well known celiac experts while I attended medical conferences on 
Celiac disease. My guess is that they must have gotten into gluten 
somewhere else or just caught a bug of sorts.
Good luck"

It's definitely some sort of reaction, but like you say, not likely to 
gluten on the skin.


" Over the past couple of days there have been posts to the lists about 
topical products.  I have hesitated to weigh in because it appeared that 
some ugly comments were being traded. In spite of what has been posted 
to the list, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that topical 
products (including fake tatoos) containing gluten are a problem for 
celiacs.  My 10 year old was diagnosed celiac over 7 years ago.  We have 
done our fair share of those fake tatoos and she has never had any problem.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind about topical products.  
First, gluten has to pass through the gut in order for it to be a 
problem for celiacs.  So, even if there was gluten in the tatoo and even 
if it did penetrate the skin, it would not have any contact with the gut 
so it should not cause celiac symptoms.  Second, gluten cannot pass 
through the skin.  Gluten is a fairly large molecule.  It is too big to 
pass into the human body through the skin.

So in spite of the hoopla on the list of late, celiacs really do not 
need to be concerned about gluten from topical products.

All that said, common sense does need to prevail.  While I know no one 
who eats her mascara, I am convinced that we consume lipstick. So, you 
would want to make sure that is GF.  Hand lotions are not consumed but 
if you put a gluten containing lotion on and then eat with your hands or 
prepare food without washing the lotion off, you could contaminate the 
food with gluten.  Also, when my daughter was 3 and first diagnosed she 
was a thumb sucker.  So, I did not let her use play dooh.  I knew that 
it would be up under her fingernails and into her mouth.  Again, what 
you need to use is common sense.  Ask yourself "is this likely to 
wind-up in the mouth?"  If the answer is yes, then it need to be GF.  If 
the answer is no then it is your choice it worry about the gluten 
content or not.

Finally, I am a firm believer that if something causes you a problem you 
should avoid.  If some celiacs react to certain topical products, they 
should not use them.  However, that does not mean that the problem is 
related to gluten or that individual's celiac disease.

I hope this helps"

Good points!

Thanks everyone, for helping me with this! Whatever "it" was, I really 
believe it was in that tatoo and I will just avoid them from now on. It 
can't be good to have something like that on the skin for so long anyway.


Danielle Papageorgiou

Visit the Celiac Web Page at Http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html
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