Help! Don't know Where To Begin

[AllergyFreeDiva]

Hello! I am a 59-year-old, newly diagnosed with allergies (I also suspect that i have some form of celiac or gluten intolerance).

I haven't done the food allergy tests or challenges yet - but from what i've read, i may have OAS when it comes to certain foods, but i'm not sure.

I'm not sure I would do a celiac test at this point, because that would require me eating mostly gluten - i've been eating mostly gluten-free - i don't know what else to do and i need some tips - HELP!

[GFinDC]

Hi,

Celiac testing requires you to be on a gluten diet for 8 weeks prior to the blood tests and 2 weeks prior to the endoscopy.

[Jonny B. Good]

If you do have Celiac or a gluten intolerance then eating mostly gluten free isn't enough. You need to get your diet on point completely. Your body will continue to respond as long as you keep introducing the things it deems as offenders.

The allergy test would be very useful. It was the first thing in my process that confirmed somethings. If the Celiac test isn't helpful, a food journal certainly would be in the long run. You will begin to see patterns. 

 

 

 

[RogerHagerty]

I remember getting the results to my test and when I was told I had celiac. It seemed like a death sentence, it's not! I saw my positive test results coming though. My twin sister had been diagnosed two years earlier (she always has been ahead of me), and my mother had had horrible gut pain for the later part of her adult life before contracting, and passing away from lymphoma. It took awhile, but I learned to adjust to my new normal, i.e. eating gluten free, and have even benefited from it, in that my diet overall is just a better one. I gained weight at first, due to the new gluten free processed foods, and my healing gut, but since then have lost weight on purpose and am in the best shape of my life. I miss some of my old favorite foods, but I don't miss the gut pain, and all the other byproducts of eating gluten. Plus, I'm lucky (luckier than my sister), in that my sensitivity to gluten, compared to some, is not as bad as it could be. 

[kabons]

Hi there,

Have you noticed severe reactions to gluten after eating it? If not, I would encourage you to do a gluten-challenge and get tested. If you are symptomatic, the reactions will often get worse the longer you avoid gluten, and it will become more difficult to ever do the tests. The benefit of finding out for sure if it's celiac is you will know whether to just avoid, or make major changes for your long-term health.