Do I need to know if my gluten intolerance is celiac?

[Zohre]

I discovered I have gluten intolerance more than a year ago. I went to an alargy sepecialist when I realized something was not right with my body. I had problem digesting and my skin got flushed a lot. At the time, I thought my problem was with dairy. The specialist was dismissive of my symptoms and didn't take it seriously. He told me I was "probably" intolerant to lactose and needed to try different types of dairy and see which ones cause problem. I did as he said and cut off most dairy products. My symptoms got better but didn't go away completely. Then I heard that a lot of people with digestion issues have gluten intolerance. Since I didn't have a good experience with going to the doctor, I decided to test on my own. I cut off gluten and it was like I was an other person. I had symptoms I didn't even know were symptoms; horrible joint paint, muscle ache, headaches, fetigue. My digestion got a lot better and my skin improved a lot, not only the flushing got better but the acne on my back and shoulders started to heal. After a couple of weeks I had some oatmeal (I didn't know oats needed to be certified gluten free to be safe for consumption.) I had some for dinner and then breakfast the next morning and at about noon, all hell broke loose. I became foggy and tired all of a sudden and then my ancle started hurting so bad I could hardly walk and the pain started traveling through my body. That's how I knew for sure I had gluten intolerance.

The other change I noticed after going without gluten for a few months is that my period cycle changed back to how it used to be when I was a young girl.

I know I was rambling, but my question is this: Is it important for me to know if my gluten intolerance is celiac or non-celiac? Does it really make a difference?

For doing the test, they say you have to consum gluten for at least a month and I don't really want to do that. I don't think I can take the symptoms and I know that amount of gluten will have long term affects on my health.

Is DNA testing a solid option?

[kareng]

DNA testing only excludes Celiac because just having a gene for Celiac doesn’t mean you have Celiac.  It has to be “ turned on”.  So about 30% of people have a gene related to Celiac - but only about 1% actually have Celiac.  
 

If you don’t want to do a 12 week gluten challenge for a blood test- I would say “don’t”.  Just stay very gluten-free.  From things I have seen- there will be better  tests in the years to come,  that won’t need as much of a challenge.  

[GFinDC]

The gluten challenge done before celiac testing is 12 weeks for the blood antibody testing and 2 weeks for the endoscopy test.  The challenge requires eating a certain amount of gluten each day.  A single slice of wheat bread is generally considered enough.  But they do have a formula that goes by body weight to determine the gluten amount required.  Most doctors want people to have both positive blood antibodies and positive endoscopy results before they will diagnose celiac disease.

As Karen said, celiac testing may improve in the future.  Then it may be easier to find out if a person is celiac or NCGS (non-celiac gluten sensitive).  The treatment is the same though.  If your body can't tolerate eating gluten, then don't eat it!

Welcome to the forum!