Can You Grow Out Of A Gluten Intolerance?

[munchkinette]

Wow, so I was telling my mom just now that I tried the gluten-free diet for a few weeks and felt great! She knew I was having trouble with anemia and the diet was a total experiment. I just happened to come across a few things about celiac disease (which I'd never really heard of) when reading about my test results.

Then she said my grandmother developed a grain intolerance when she was around my age (27). She was pretty sure it was wheat, and maybe a few other things. I knew my gran ate bread all the time though. She always had toast for breakfast. My mother said that my gran grew out of her wheat problems. Is this even possible?

I'd never heard anything about a wheat problem in our family, but my gran was diabetic since she was pregnant with my uncle (age 34 or 35). I'm kinda confused though- isn't that Type 2 Diabetes? I read that Type 1 was related to wheat problems. My gran's mother also died of colon cancer, so I've suspected recently that there was something in our family, but I hadn't really even heard of celiac disease or gluten intolerance before last month.

[chrissy]

you can't outgrow celiac disease. you can outgrow a wheat allergy. i don't know if you can outgrow non-celiac gluten intolerance, though. my guess is that you probably cannot.

christine

[Guest nini]

there is no such thing as growing out of a gluten intolerance. If she had true undiagnosed celiac and stayed gluten free for a while, she may have healed significantly that she didn't NOTICE any symptoms.

it's hard to say any more than that since you don't know for sure if she did, but to answer the question "can someone grow out of a gluten intolerance?" the answer is no.

[munchkinette]

I'm still really new to all this. I know there is a difference between celiac disease and a gluten intolerance. I guess I thought that a wheat allergy was the same as a gluten intolerance (but not celiac disease). Could somebody tell me where to find some of the newbie stuff? I'm still sort of piecing this all together.

It seems like every time I think I have a health problem and I mention it to my mother she tells me that she or my grandmother had the same problem. I wish I'd found this out last year before my gran died so I could have gotten more details.

[Rachel--24]

  munchkinette said:

I'm still really new to all this. I know there is a difference between celiac disease and a gluten intolerance. I guess I thought that a wheat allergy was the same as a gluten intolerance (but not celiac disease). Could somebody tell me where to find some of the newbie stuff? I'm still sort of piecing this all together.

An allergy and an intolerance are two different things. You can learn alot from just reviewing some of the older threads on this forum. Just do a search and you should find plenty on the subject of gluten intolerance vs. allergy. Also I would highly recommend getting the book "Dangerous Grains" Its very informative.

[munchkinette]

So what test would I get for a wheat allergy? I'm already scheduled to get a "celiac panel" blood test next week. This is what tests for the antibodies, right? I'd like to schedule other tests at the same time if I can figure out what they would be.

[Rachel--24]

You would need to see an allergist to get tested for a wheat allergy. They can test for it with a blood sample or a skin-prick test. An allergy would give you immediate symptoms...you would get a noticeable reaction everytime you ate wheat. An intolerance is different because the reaction is not always noticeable right after you eat something....the reaction can be delayed up to 3 days later. Also you may not notice a reaction at all. Intolerances are much harder to figure out.

[munchkinette]

OK, I was planning to see an allergist anyway. My brother got some of that stuff done. How related are wheat allergies and gluten intolerances though? In terms of running in the family are they totally different, or somewhat related?

[TCA]

  munchkinette said:

OK, I was planning to see an allergist anyway. My brother got some of that stuff done. How related are wheat allergies and gluten intolerances though? In terms of running in the family are they totally different, or somewhat related?

We have both in our family, but I don't know the stats.

[elisabet]

I talked to one of my son`s teacher ,and told her that he can not have casein or gluten,she said that she had the same problem when she was 18 years old,she had eliminated all wheat,casein and meat from her diet for 4 years and then she reintoduced them and did not have any problem .

now that you mentioned it I have heared it too.

but there is a theory which says that immune system can forget .

elisabet

[codetalker]

  munchkinette said:

Then she said my grandmother developed a grain intolerance when she was around my age (27). She was pretty sure it was wheat, and maybe a few other things. I knew my gran ate bread all the time though. She always had toast for breakfast. My mother said that my gran grew out of her wheat problems. Is this even possible?

It is notable that it was your grandmother that supposedly "grew out" of her grain intolerance. If she had celiac disease, this might provide an interesting historical perspective on our shared affliction.

I was born in 1951 and was DX'd with celiac disease in 1952 at Johns-Hopkins. At that time, doctors believed that a person could indeed "grow out" of the condition. We all know today that is incorrect. Nonetheless decades ago, doctors believed it.

In my case, I was put on a gluten-free diet in 1952 when I was about 1 YO and stayed on the diet until about age 4. The doctors believed then that I had "outgrown" the condition and could eat normally. I still had problems (gas, bloating, underweight, etc.). However, doctors considered me "cured".

I would strongly advise you not to go down this same road. Suffice it to say that, although I was DX'd as a baby, I still spent nearly 40 years eating gluten until I finally figured out what was going on myself. My insides are a wreck now. That's not something I would wish on anyone. My grandfather died of colon cancer. Given my history, I'm probably a good candidate for that as well, even though I've been gluten-free now for several years. You can turn back the hands of time only so much.

[munchkinette]

  codetalker said:

I would strongly advise you not to go down this same road. Suffice it to say that, although I was DX'd as a baby, I still spent nearly 40 years eating gluten until I finally figured out what was going on myself. My insides are a wreck now. That's not something I would wish on anyone. My grandfather died of colon cancer. Given my history, I'm probably a good candidate for that as well, even though I've been gluten-free now for several years. You can turn back the hands of time only so much.

This is interesting. My gran's mother died of colon cancer. My gran actually died of liver failure even though a bad fall triggered the end. I'm wondering if she still had problems with wheat. She didn't drink a whole lot, so alcohol definitely wasn't the reason.

The thing is, she was diabetic so she might have been focusing her diet around that. She had to watch her carbs/sugars for that reason, so maybe she didn't eat that much wheat because of that. She ate a lot of red meat but I remember her carrying orange juice all the time. Other than the toast I don't remember her eating much bread... maybe the occasional sandwich. I'll have to talk to my mom about this.

This whole wheat thing is like a puzzle. It's kind of exciting to figure stuff out but I hate feeling really tired when I do something wrong. I'm eating wheat all this week for some blood tests. I had a bagel for breakfast yesterday and I fell asleep for an hour in the early afternoon... that's not right.