How Long To Eat Gluten Before Blood Test?

[DSOrnstein]

Hi all,

 

I've been bloated for about six months, which roughly equates to the time I stopped eating white bread/pasta and started eating brown. I've always had trouble putting on weight/muscle, and this has been (I think) more severe in the last few months. So, I thought I might have coeliac, and I've not been eating wheat or gluten products for the last month. I *think* it has improved the bloat, though it's hard to say. However, since I haven't seen a lot of difference, I've booked in a blood test for a week today, and I'm going to resume eating gluten products. As I say, I've been gluten-free for a month. Will a week of eating lots of gluten products be sufficient for the blood test to be accurate, or should I push it back a little?

 

Thanks in advance!

[kareng]

Hi all,

 

I've been bloated for about six months, which roughly equates to the time I stopped eating white bread/pasta and started eating brown. I've always had trouble putting on weight/muscle, and this has been (I think) more severe in the last few months. So, I thought I might have coeliac, and I've not been eating wheat or gluten products for the last month. I *think* it has improved the bloat, though it's hard to say. However, since I haven't seen a lot of difference, I've booked in a blood test for a week today, and I'm going to resume eating gluten products. As I say, I've been gluten-free for a month. Will a week of eating lots of gluten products be sufficient for the blood test to be accurate, or should I push it back a little?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

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[nvsmom]

I would push it back by a month if you can handle it. The longer you consme gluten, the more certain you can be of your test results.  I've read that a gluten challenge should be anywhere between 4 to 12 weeks and consist of eating half a serving to 4 servings of bread (gluten based food) per day. The average seems to be 2 slices of bread per day for 6 weeks.

[DSOrnstein]

Interesting, thanks both. I'll try and push it back. Will a month of gluten-free have been enough to set me back to "zero" in terms of the blood test, then?

[nvsmom]

In some it could, but in others it could take a year. There is no way of knowing.  I would guess that you are not back to zero but that your results would be lower - but that is just my personal guess. If you are newer to celiac disease, recovery is often faster; the younger you are the faster you generally heal too.

 

I would push it back just to have your bases covered... if it's not too uncomfortable or negatively affecting your life too much.  Good luck with it. Eat a cinnamon bun and a drink a pint of beer for me.  

[kareng]

For me, my numbers were more than the tests "count".  So 4 months gluten-free, they were still a bit elevated. 

 

This assumes you have enough antibodies to register in a test:

 

 

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"What is the half-life of antibodies in the blood serum?

tTG and DGP typically decline to half their initial value in 3-4 months once on a gluten-free diet, but there are variations between patients."

[DSOrnstein]

Haha, many thanks both. @NVS, I've actually grabbed some beer for the first time in a while today for precisely this reason! I'll push it back a week, I think. @ Kareng, thanks for the antibodies info, that's good to know. One month gluten-free (well, 25 days or something) should still lots of them floating around them, but I'm stuffing myself full of whole wheat food at the moment to try and get them up. Thanks all for the advice