Living the gluten free life

There are so many details involved in the gluten free life.  I keep on learning & learning more stuff & yet there's still more.  Sometimes I become weary & a tad lazy, to be honest, to continue researching & learning & making changes to my life.  But when the focus is on my son & his well-being (we BOTH have celiac disease) it does help to get me going again.  I do only want what is best for my son.  I don't want him to live like me & cause damage to his body for 40 years before realizing what is going on.

And so the latest big change (an on-going process really) is focusing on topical products.  Some people argue as to whether this is really necessary.  But my son & I have a lot of skin issues that I do believe are connected to gluten, so for us I do believe it's necessary.  The other thing is that with celiac disease, gluten isn't just an annoying thing.  It causes serious damage to your body, internally.  So it's not really something I want to take a chance on.....I already have a lot of damage done in 40 years of consuming gluten & I don't want anymore damage done to my son.  So I'd rather be safe than sorry for sure. 

Some of the products I have been using were already gluten free (like make up, when I do wear it, don't wear it much anymore).  And some I knew weren't.  And most I really wasn't sure. 

I recently learned that Costco's Kirkland brand of shampoo, conditioner, & body wash are gluten free.  If you know me at all, you know how much I love Costco.  And this gives me yet another reason to love them.  Oh Costco, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.......  But I disgress, so I started with that, because those three items that I was using were not gluten free.  Now when I went to Costco I noticed that the shampoo & conditioner are clearly labeled "gluten free", but the body wash is not.  I did email the company just to verify that it was actually gluten free.  And they responded to my email less than 24 hours later, ON A SATURDAY, & said that yes, indeed, it is gluten free.  Did I mention that Costco is amazing??  I have to say that I have been emailing a lot of companies about the gluten status of their products lately & no one has responded that quickly & no one responds on weekends. 

I also needed a gluten free body lotion.  Searching online I found that Everyday Shea's unscented & lavender lotion are gluten free.  The very next day I made a quick stop at Sprouts for baking supplies & they had a huge display of that brand of lotion, so I grabbed a bottle.  I have to say I LOOOOOVE this lotion.  Once you massage it in you don't feel greasy or 'lotiony' at all, just super soft.  Love, love, love this product.

Most of my other products (lip balm, face wash, moisturizer, etc) are already gluten free & I don't need to make any changes.  I am still waiting to hear back from one company & I'm still trying to think of what other products I haven't thought to check on yet.  Mouthwashes come to mind.......I use 3 mouthwashes & don't know the gluten status of any of them!  Like I said, it's a process.  And hopefully someday I'll be much further along in this process.