Possible Coeliac

[Stinky]

Hello,

I'm new to the site, but have been reading for a few weeks, very interesting stuff.

My father is a coeliac, very serious one, can't go near the stuff as he gets stomach pains fr a few days.

I'm 19 and my father thinks I may have a gluten intolerance like he has, as I get bad stomach pains followed by diarrhoea about 4-6 times a week. After this I am fine, it doesn't last any longer than 10 mins really. I eat a lot of bread and pasta in my diet.

For years i've always had problems with Pizza Hut pizza. This has been my first sign of any problem. Once eaten, within 20 minutes I NEED a toilet. Originally I thought it was a problem because the pizza is so greasy! I don't have a problem with any other pizza, I eat dominos at least 3 times a week as I work there part time.

I realise I need to start a food diary to monitor what causes the problem. I can't seem to pinpoint what causes it as problems seem to be after i've eaten, but sometimes after gluten, sometimes I can be ok after gluten. It's not dairy or lactose either, but there is a chance. Just as my father and nan had it i presume it may be gluten.

Reading this site, I have noticed that most people here who have celiac disease, have very severe reactions, normally lasting for 2 days on average. But is it possible for me to have a gluten intolerance even though my reaction would just be stomach pains and the diarrhoea?

Any help or advise would be much appreciated.

Tom

[lovegrov]

Obviously I can't say if you have celiac disease, but today's advice from experts is that ALL first-degree relatives of people with celiac disease should be tested.

Reactions can be all over the map -- from nothing at all to severe ones lasting for days or weeks. Yes, it could be "just" gluten intolerance, but given your family's history it will almost certainly become celiac disease.

richard

[Stinky]

Coeliac, gluten intolerance, its the same thing?

[fisharefriendsnotfood]

"Coeliac, gluten intolerance, its the same thing?"

No, they're not. Celiac does major internal damage, while gluten intolerance (I think) does not.

[cornbread]

Coeliac, gluten intolerance, its the same thing?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Effectively yes, in that both are treated with a strict gluten-free diet. Doctor's will usually only diagnose coeliac if intestinal damage is present, but because there are so many other ways this disease shows itself, I really feel this is out-dated. Classic intestinally diagnosed coeliac is just the tip of the gluten-intolerance iceberg. If you are reacting to gluten you should stop eating it. If you are reacting to it *and* you have a coeliac marker gene, you very probably have coeliac, or at least are on your way to intestinally visible coelic if you continue to eat gluten.

I went gluten free before I had a biopsy to see if there was intestinal damage (aka coeliac), so technically I'm just 'gluten intolerant', but I treat my severe gluten intolerance as coelic because I have the coelic marker gene. Whether or not I actually have celiac disease at this point is irrelevant as I've been gluten-free for so long that any intestinal damage should have healed by now. Plus I'm pretty sure (because of the gene) that if I *did* start consuming gluten again I would end up with 'official' celiac disease (ie: intestinal damage). I could be a coeliac who is in recovery or I might just be a coeliac-disposed person who is taking preventative measures. Either way the end result is the same - stay off gluten, stay healthy.

My mother however has less serious symptoms and does NOT have the coelic gene, which makes her incapable of ever having coeliac proper. However she treats her gluten intolerance very seriously as we feel that non-coeliac gluten intolerance can cause all sorts of other damage, even if not classic coeliac intestinal villi flattening.

I hope that didn't make things even more confusing!

[Stinky]

No that has helped thank you.

So I need to go to my GP and find out if I have this gene.

But i swear my doctor is oblivious to the intolerance, i think I went once to see if I could have a test to see if i'm intolerant, but he didn't know what I was on about! Might try again and ask if I can be tested to see if I have the gene present.