Eating Wheat Before Testing

[JenK]

I'm new to this site. I stopped eating wheat 2 weeks ago at the suggestion of a doctor to see if it helped the 20+ years of unexplained symptoms. It worked wonderfully. I know that I have to be eating wheat in order to have the blood tests. Does anyone know how for how long I need to be eating wheat before I can get the bloodwork done? Is testing necessary since it's working for me? Thanks!

Jen

[Guest nini]

In my personal opinion, if YOU can live with knowing that the diet is helping you and you wouldn't be tempted to cheat, then testing isn't needed. If you can go completely gluten free for a while then do a " gluten challenge" you still don't need a medical Dr.

If, however, you are the type to start doubting yourself, you may want to do the testing just for the peace of mind... BUT, and especially if you have been wheat free/gluten free for a while, you may not re introduce enough gluten into your diet for testing to even be accurate.

Ultimately you will be the one to decide if Positive Dietary Response is enough for you or if you need to know if it's Celiac. You may not have Celiac and still be Gluten Intolerant though, which doesn't show up in testing... only with the dietary challenge.

[tweedledee]

How do you know if you've reintroduced enough gluten for the test to be effective? And how many days/weeks should you reintroduce the gluten before taking the blood test?

I want to re-take the blood test, because mine was taken while gluten free. My doctor told me today that antibody levels don't change even when on a gluten-free diet. Most everything I've read and heard is to the contrary.

Tweedledee