Gluten Challenge After Gluten-Free Only 45 Days

[Bluther]

Hello! I discovered symptoms of Celiac after doing a "Whole 30" elimination diet: 30 days without grains, sugar, dairy, legumes, alcohol. I felt rotten when I tested gluten by reintroducing it back into my diet, and my doctor suggested a "Gluten Challenge" of 30 days before getting a Celiac blood test.

Well I couldn't last longer than 2 weeks, I felt miserable, so I took the blood test early. My doc said its ok but warned I could see a false negative.

I have heard of gluten challenges that last in duration of 2 weeks to 6 months. What I'm curious about is people's experiences with the challenge and test after a gluten-free period of only 1-2 months. I had eaten gluten until I did this test elimination diet.

Anyone else have a similar situation?

[BlessedMommy]

I did a gluten challenge and wound up in the ER with neurological complications  (after experiencing severe daily headaches) 10 days into it. I do want to stress that my situation is relatively rare though. Most people will not experience those complications and doing a challenge can be beneficial for many people. I put my daughter on a gluten challenge and she did fine with it--but she ultimately tested negative for celiac though, so I suspect that we never should have had her try to go gluten free in the first place.

 

As soon as I quit the gluten, my headaches started to go away and I felt completely normal in a few days. I decided from that point on to be gluten free for life. 

[Bluther]

I did a gluten challenge and wound up in the ER with neurological complications  (after experiencing severe daily headaches) 10 days into it. I do want to stress that my situation is relatively rare though. Most people will not experience those complications and doing a challenge can be beneficial for many people. I put my daughter on a gluten challenge and she did fine with it--but she ultimately tested negative for celiac though, so I suspect that we never should have had her try to go gluten free in the first place.

 

As soon as I quit the gluten, my headaches started to go away and I felt completely normal in a few days. I decided from that point on to be gluten free for life. 

I'm curious how long you and your daughter were gluten-free before the challenge?  A year? A month? People who regularly eat gluten foods don't need to do the challenge. I had to because I had cut it out of my diet.

 

The thing I struggle with is that I had only been gluten-free for 45 days.  It's not like I had been gluten-free for years before taking the test...

[BlessedMommy]

I had been gluten free for several months prior to the gluten challenge and I was gluten light for at least a year prior to that.

 

My daughter had been mostly off gluten with some cross contamination and occasional non-compliance since she was 3 years old and she recently did her gluten challenge at 8 years old. I had her stay on gluten for a full 3 months, so that I could be confident her results would be accurate.

 

She did her gluten challenge from July 21 to October 21.