Ingesting Gluten Didn't Affect Me

[Iman Aussie]

I've been keeping my eye on this website since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease last year, and have learned a lot - thank you all for your invaluable and friendly input!

I decided this week to join your message board, to see if anyone has shared my experience with the disease.

Unlike so many of you who have suffered badly, my main symptom before diagnosis last March was chronic anaemia. After about a month on a gluten-free diet, my iron levels were back to normal.

I've remained on a gluten-free diet, despite a couple of mistakes, not reading labels properly in the first couple of months, but I didn't feel any ill effects from those blunders. When I mentioned the mistakes to my doctor, he said once I'd been on a gluten-free diet for about six months, if I ate something containing gluten I could expect bad stomach pain. He mentioned, and I've since read, that some doubting Thomases (like I have become) give themselves a "gluten challenge", deliberately ingesting gluten to test the reaction.

So I did it. Eight months after being gluten-free, I deliberately ate chocolate containing gluten. No reaction at all. (And it was delicious.) Then recently I ate some chicken stuffing made with wheat-flour-bread crumbs to test my reaction. No reaction at all.

I'm wondering if the diagnosis could be wrong, or am I just a lucky celiac?

[nikki-uk]

My husband did a similar thing after he was diagnosed.

He also doubted the diagnosis because he didn't feel anybetter after months.(in denial)!

He ate a toasted cheese sandwich and had no reaction at all.

Not long after that he had another biopsy taken which showed that his villi had healed a little bit ,but not fully healed.

I convinced him that the dx was right.How else had his bowel healed a little .

Hubbie's been gluten-free 16 months now.

Now ,if he accidently ingests gluten he gets a headache,diarrhea and night sweats.

It would seem the longer you are without gluten the more likely you are to show a reaction to gluten.

Now that hubbie does get a reaction,I think it makes it easier for hubbie to accept the diagnosis of celiac disease.

If you wasn't feeling ill prior to diagnosis,it can be difficult to accept the dx.

However the tests for coeliac disease are pretty specific(you don't say whether you was dx by bloods biopsy or both)

Of course there are some coeliacs that have never reacted to gluten-and still don't.But it doesn't mean that damage isn't going on inside!

Keep at it!

[Iman Aussie]

My husband did a similar thing after he was diagnosed.

He also doubted the diagnosis because he didn't feel anybetter after months.(in denial)!

He ate a toasted cheese sandwich and had no reaction at all.

Not long after that he had another biopsy taken which showed that his villi had healed a little bit ,but not fully healed.

I convinced him that the dx was right.How else had his bowel healed a little .

Hubbie's been gluten-free 16 months now.

Now ,if he accidently ingests gluten he gets a headache,diarrhea and night sweats.

It would seem the longer you are without gluten the more likely you are to show a reaction to gluten.

Now that hubbie does get a reaction,I think it makes it easier for hubbie to accept the diagnosis of celiac disease.

If you wasn't feeling ill prior to diagnosis,it can be difficult to accept the dx.

However the tests for coeliac disease are pretty specific(you don't say whether you was dx by bloods biopsy or both)

Of course there are some coeliacs that have never reacted to gluten-and still don't.But it doesn't mean that damage isn't going on inside!

Keep at it!

My husband did a similar thing after he was diagnosed.

He also doubted the diagnosis because he didn't feel anybetter after months.(in denial)!

He ate a toasted cheese sandwich and had no reaction at all.

Not long after that he had another biopsy taken which showed that his villi had healed a little bit ,but not fully healed.

I convinced him that the dx was right.How else had his bowel healed a little .

Hubbie's been gluten-free 16 months now.

Now ,if he accidently ingests gluten he gets a headache,diarrhea and night sweats.

It would seem the longer you are without gluten the more likely you are to show a reaction to gluten.

Now that hubbie does get a reaction,I think it makes it easier for hubbie to accept the diagnosis of celiac disease.

If you wasn't feeling ill prior to diagnosis,it can be difficult to accept the dx.

However the tests for coeliac disease are pretty specific(you don't say whether you was dx by bloods biopsy or both)

Of course there are some coeliacs that have never reacted to gluten-and still don't.But it doesn't mean that damage isn't going on inside!

Keep at it!

[Iman Aussie]

My husband did a similar thing after he was diagnosed.

He also doubted the diagnosis because he didn't feel anybetter after months.(in denial)!

He ate a toasted cheese sandwich and had no reaction at all.

Not long after that he had another biopsy taken which showed that his villi had healed a little bit ,but not fully healed.

I convinced him that the dx was right.How else had his bowel healed a little .

Hubbie's been gluten-free 16 months now.

Now ,if he accidently ingests gluten he gets a headache,diarrhea and night sweats.

It would seem the longer you are without gluten the more likely you are to show a reaction to gluten.

Now that hubbie does get a reaction,I think it makes it easier for hubbie to accept the diagnosis of celiac disease.

If you wasn't feeling ill prior to diagnosis,it can be difficult to accept the dx.

However the tests for coeliac disease are pretty specific(you don't say whether you was dx by bloods biopsy or both)

Of course there are some coeliacs that have never reacted to gluten-and still don't.But it doesn't mean that damage isn't going on inside!

Keep at it!

Thank so much! As you can see, I've had real trouble working out how to reply to you. (I' m a technophobe as well as an Aussie!)

My diagnosis was reached after one blood test, followed by a small bowl biopsy.

Your advice is good. I will keep at it. I can see it's early days.

[ianm]

There have been a couple of times I ate a fairly substantial amount of gluten and nothing happened. There have also been times when I ingested a very small amount and felt like I got run over by a cement truck.

[maryn]

My son was Gluten free for a couple of years, then went into a 6 month remission. After an accidental exposure, he didn't get sick. So we introduced wheat again. After 6 moths he felt horrible, no major weight loss, but he had by choice, basically eliminated everything containing wheat. He is only 6 years old, but wants nothing to do with wheat. Which makes it nice, So he is not ever sad about his food options

[Iman Aussie]

My son was Gluten free for a couple of years, then went into a 6 month remission. After an accidental exposure, he didn't get sick. So we introduced wheat again. After 6 moths he felt horrible, no major weight loss, but he had by choice, basically eliminated everything containing wheat. He is only 6 years old, but wants nothing to do with wheat. Which makes it nice, So he is not ever sad about his food options

Many thanks for sharing this with me. I expect in that six months some damage was being done internally, although your son couldn't feel it until later. What a mature child he is. I'm convinced now that it's safer and healthier to stay gluten-free ALL the time, regardless of how you feel.

[zip2play]

Is there such a thing as a 6 month remission?

Monica

[tiffjake]

There have been a couple of times I ate a fairly substantial amount of gluten and nothing happened. There have also been times when I ingested a very small amount and felt like I got run over by a cement truck.

My situation is like this. I hate to admit this, but I had pizza a couple of weeks ago, and it did nothing. But I had a broc and cheese soup and I was sick for DAYS straight (and I mean, food poison-kinda sick, constant bathroom trips.......)

Needless to say, I have learned my lesson. What I think it "little" ends up being big, so no point in taking the risk with anything.