One week on gluten free diet - will test be valid?

[Monggee]

I've seen many posts stating that patients must eat gluten for two months after going gluten free in order to test positive for celiac disease-- but how long does it take to leave your system? I've been gluten free for a week and have seen serious improvements in fatigue, brain fog. I also have chronic joint pain and muscle weakness but it's hard to say if they have gotten much better. Never had terrible GI stuff but it's there. 

Anyone know if I have to go back to gluten before I am tested for celiac? If so, for how long?

Thanks!

[cyclinglady]

 

I've seen many posts stating that patients must eat gluten for two months after going gluten free in order to test positive for celiac disease-- but how long does it take to leave your system? I've been gluten free for a week and have seen serious improvements in fatigue, brain fog. I also have chronic joint pain and muscle weakness but it's hard to say if they have gotten much better. Never had terrible GI stuff but it's there. 

Anyone know if I have to go back to gluten before I am tested for celiac? If so, for how long?

Thanks!

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune response triggered by Gluten.  That means while gluten might be in your intestine and past in a few hours or days, the autoimmune response can last for weeks, months or longer!  Most folks here see some good improvement within six months of being gluten free.  It can take a year or longer to completely heal from all the damage created by celiac disease.  

To test for antibodies, you have to be eating gluten daily for 8 to 12 weeks prior to the blood draw.  Only four to six weeks prior to endoscopy/biopsy.  Going off gluten for as little as two weeks can ruin the test results.  

Research more at the University of Chicago's celiac website or within this forum.