Healing Time

[Sobiha]

I'm rather confused about the length of time it takes for the small bowel to heal. I've read that it takes up to six months and other sites say its a lot longer and in some people it never heals. Also when a Celiac is 'glutened' and has an attack does that reverse the healing process.

[knitty kitty]

Good question, @Sobiha!

It takes about eighteen months to two years for the autoimmune response to gluten to quiet down.  

Of course, healing depends on how much damage was present at diagnosis and with the start of a gluten free diet.  

It also depends on nutritional status.  Eating a nutritionally dense diet is important in order to get those vitamins, minerals and fats so our bodies can heal.  Supplementing with vitamins and minerals is important to correct deficiencies that might have developed prior to diagnosis. 

The immune cells that recognize gluten as an invader to be attacked live for about eighteen months to two years.  After this amount of time, the body's immune system will take longer to mount an autoimmune reaction.  

Some people who've been gluten free for over two years find they can "tolerate" gluten again.  This is not correct.  The immune system just needs time to generate that autoimmune response.  It's in our genes to react to gluten.  An autoimmune response will become more severe with each exposure and the damage to the body will start again.  

Yes, in some people there are still microscopic changes in the intestines even years after a strict gluten free diet.  They haven't figured out why yet.  

[Sobiha]

That's very informative..thank you so much. I'm so grateful for the support of this group

[Scott Adams]

Many factors go into how long it may take to heal, not the least of which is a person's age at diagnosis. The younger you are the faster you tend to heal. The ability to avoid all gluten in another factor, and this often takes many people a few months or even longer to figure out. I think most celiacs should fully heal within 1-2 years if they are 100% gluten-free.

[Sobiha]

Thank you Scott. I'm very grateful  for all the help and advice and support.  

[jeema]

Sobiha that makes 2 of us, and it seems like there's a lot of confusion in this regard even among GI doctors.  One doctor I went to wanted to do another upper endoscopy on me at < 6 months from diagnosis.  But then I went to another GI doctor who specializes in celiac and he said there's no point doing another upper endoscopy until at least 2 years.

I think part of the confusion is that children and young people diagnosed with celiac heal very quick, but adults do not from what I have read. 

Here's a study that shows that at 2 years, only 1/3rd of adults achieved mucosal recovery: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20145607/

 

[Sobiha]

10 hours ago, jeema said:

Sobiha that makes 2 of us, and it seems like there's a lot of confusion in this regard even among GI doctors.  One doctor I went to wanted to do another upper endoscopy on me at < 6 months from diagnosis.  But then I went to another GI doctor who specializes in celiac and he said there's no point doing another upper endoscopy until at least 2 years.

I think part of the confusion is that children and young people diagnosed with celiac heal very quick, but adults do not from what I have read. 

Here's a study that shows that at 2 years, only 1/3rd of adults achieved mucosal recovery: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20145607/

 

Thank you jemma. I found that article very interesting and I've read all the related articles.  I think I've had misdiagnosed celiac disease for many years. I'm 79 and because if my age I think I'm one of the adults who will probably never heal completely  However. I do feel so much better since going gluten free. I found the article by Hollon JR regarding the gluten contamination elimination diet particularly helpful and I think in future I'll give that a try. Although I'm very careful I do sometimes get an unexplained gluten attack.

Thanks again Sobiha

[Scott Adams]

18 hours ago, jeema said:

Sobiha that makes 2 of us, and it seems like there's a lot of confusion in this regard even among GI doctors.  One doctor I went to wanted to do another upper endoscopy on me at < 6 months from diagnosis.  But then I went to another GI doctor who specializes in celiac and he said there's no point doing another upper endoscopy until at least 2 years.

I think part of the confusion is that children and young people diagnosed with celiac heal very quick, but adults do not from what I have read. 

Here's a study that shows that at 2 years, only 1/3rd of adults achieved mucosal recovery: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20145607/

 

This is an interesting study, thank you for sharing it. What it may in fact show is the difficulty in maintaining a 100% gluten-free diet. I suspect that if you looked closely at the diets of those who did not recover within 2 years that their diets were not 100% gluten-free. Perhaps they ate out more often, or didn't understand all of the hidden ingredients where gluten can hide. Either way, it shows how difficult recovery from celiac disease can be for most people.

[Wheatwacked]

Increasing your iodine intake may improve your healing.  It has mine.

        The Silent Epidemic of Iodine Deficiency  In the developed world, iodine deficiency has increased more than fourfold over the past 40 years. Nearly 74% of normal, “healthy” adults may no longer consume enough iodine.  

[Sobiha]

8 hours ago, Wheatwacked said:

Increasing your iodine intake may improve your healing.  It has mine.

        The Silent Epidemic of Iodine Deficiency  In the developed world, iodine deficiency has increased more than fourfold over the past 40 years. Nearly 74% of normal, “healthy” adults may no longer consume enough iodine.  

Thank you for the info.

[Wheatwacked]

Dr Brownstein is one of the leaders in Iodine.  Here is a link to an interview with him. Why You NEED Iodine - Discussion with Dr. David Brownstein

How we got here.  The Wolff-Chaikoff Effect: &nbsp;Crying Wolf?