Gluten sensitivity to full blown celiac?

[BarryC]

Is it possible to go from a mild form of gluten sensitivity, to a more severe form, and finally full blown celiac?  If so, that is one of the confusing aspects of this. I have been gluten free for several weeks, and almost feeling 'normal'. I had to go and ruin it with two pieces of KFC! That stuff is  my cocaine! Sure enough,  next two days I was sleepy, depressed, and my belly stuck way out.  Before I could get away with a little cheating. Not anymore I guess!

[Ennis-TX]

First have you been tested for celiac? A blood test is needed to test for it. You can splurge on gluten or just have a half slice a bread a day but you have to keep eating it for the testing. 12 weeks for the blood test. 2 weeks for the endoscope where they will check your intestines for damage and take biopsies. Make sure you get the FULL celiac panel.

I suffered from what seemed like minor symptoms since child hood that I never even linked to it....constipation, randomly vomiting after some meals I thought was normal, slowly degrading mental capacity, all kinds of little mental issues. degrading health (very slow). Bunch of random flags now that I think back on it.  But it did not go full blown huge symptoms til my 20s, sorta did something stupid and gave a shock to my immune system and kicked in the full on gene I guess. But it quickly went to MAJOR mental and nerve damage effects, basically I lost feelings in my hands sorta would randomly go turn into Mr. Hyde and start yelling screaming and punching things, I was constipated for 10+ days at a time, always gassy and bloated and randomly bed ridden with gut wrenching pains. We are all different in symptoms as it is a AI disease.

But yes it can seem to ramp up from minor symptoms to much much worse and pronounced ones. If you do indeed have celiac then it is slowly damaging your insides every time your exposed, destroying the insides of your intestines. In my case it also causes my immune system to go after the nervous and brain, thus causing brain damage, confusion, and extreme irritability.

[BarryC]

Ennis_TX

Thanks so much for your reply.  I am just not prepared to go through the medical procedures required to confirm I have it. I will just have to be satisfied in knowing that I feel better avoiding gluten. My wife recently began working with a gal that does have full blown, and did have the biopsy and everything, and now she is passing lots of advice to me through my wife. Your experiances do seem to be similar to mine. I have the mental stuff and the tingly fingers too! AS you know, there are just SO many side effects, it easy to confuse it with any number of other diseases/food intolerances. Thanks again and keep up the good work! 

[Pocah]

It's certainly the way it worked for me. I first showed minor signs of sensitivity to gluten some 15 years or so before it really took off. In my case the very first sign was a mild Iron deficiency that just wouldn't go away. I would strongly advise you follow the advice of the last poster though because when it really took off with me I nearly died. I guess the problem with mine was that no one thought to link together the symptoms that slowly appeared one by one over the years, and by the time they did it was almost too late, so if you have an inkling, follow up on it.