Ugh! This Gluten Challenge

[jbeilfuss]

Just posting for moral support mostly, I suppose.

 

I'm three weeks into this gluten challenge with six more to go until the endoscopy.  I'm stubborn and will do the six weeks because I want the "gold standard" diagnosis.  I mentioned that a couple of my blood test several weeks ago came back positive (in spite of going gluten free for two weeks before they did the draw).  I will be going off of gluten when the endoscopy is done, regardless of what it shows because I feel better without it.  

 

The hard thing is how I feel with eating the gluten foods preparing for the biopsy.  It takes several hours for the symptoms to kick in, but when they do, I have the body aches of what you would feel with the flu (no fever, of course).  Then I do have abdominal cramps and all that for the day.  So, the question is, what do you do to try alleviating these feelings?  I have cut down the amount of gluten foods I am eating, but I still want to go into the endoscopy knowing that the result will be accurate.  Six weeks of feeling like this seems like an awful long time right now. 

[nvsmom]

Six weeks is a long gluten challenge for a endoscopy.  Most doctors just require 2-4 weeks.  Because yours is so long, you probably do not need to go overboard on the amount of gluten - one slice of bread per day is probably enough.  I am sure you could go as low as half a slic or up to two slices, but don't do more than that.  Many people with a longer than normal  challenge will do the whole time with just 1/2 a slice of bread per day.  Don't make yourself too sick... just sick enough.  

 

Try eating your gluten in the evening so your day is not ruined. You do not need to eat gluten at every meal.  The evening should be enough.

 

False negative endoscopies, which happen up to 20% of the time, are often caused by not taking enough samples (6 or more is best) or not taking samples from the most likely (celiac) locations, rather than not eating enough gluten before testing.  As long as the doctor knows what he is doing, you should be fine.

 

Good luck!

[jbeilfuss]

Thanks for the advice - I'll double check with the doc on the number of samples he is planning on taking.  I'll also try this "just enough" approach on the bread.

[cyclinglady]

I am sorry that you are not doing well. Hang in there!

((hugs))