Week 6 of eating gluten

[Daisy23]

I had a colonoscopy and upper scope after having reoccurring c diff for close to two years. Celiac was the last thing on my mind, but the biopsy came back as elevated for something that was suggestive of possible celiac. 
Upon learning this and researching I believe it’s correct based on my symptoms. 
( skin rash, hair loss, lost 25% of my weight rapidly, bloating, rotating different bowel movements) also learned that there’s some studies that point to c diff reoccurring with celiac disease. 

I am eating tons of pizza and bread, but it is white bread. Now this might sound dumb, but is white bread  okay for the gluten challenge?  I can’t eat a piece of full wheat without wanting to cry. All my life I’ve avoided bread and pasta due to constipation and pain right after. I ate pasta 3 years ago and it landed me in the ER thinking my appendix exploded. Turns out, just constipated. Cut pasta out forever after that. 

week 4 constant diarrhea- thought c diff was back. Testing said no.

I am on week 6, and I’ve been constipated  for  one week now. I’m using miralax at this point and hating my life bc it’s so painful. 
does anyone think that maybe I would have a positive blood test after seven weeks instead of the full 8 based on pizza and white bread almost every day?Or should I add in full wheat bread for the remaining 2 weeks and push through for 8 total? 

Any advice?! Please and thank you. 
sorry this was so long.

[knitty kitty]

@Daisy23, welcome to the forum!

Yes, white bread is fine for the gluten challenge.  A slice of bread can have between 2.5 to 5 grams of gluten.  

You may want to share the following information with your doctors and ask for testing sooner.  

 

According to recent research, updates to the gluten challenge are being implemented.

Recommended intake of gluten should be increased to 10 grams of gluten per day for at least two weeks. Or longer.

While three grams of gluten will begin the immune response, ten grams of gluten is needed to get antibody levels up to where they can be measured in antibody tests and changes can be seen in the small intestine.  

Keep in mind that there are different amounts of gluten in different kinds of bread and gluten containing foods.  Pizza crust and breads that are thick and chewy contain more gluten than things like cake and cookies.  

References:

https://www.beyondceliac.org/celiac-disease/the-gluten-challenge/

And...

Evaluating Responses to Gluten Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, 2-Dose Gluten Challenge Trial

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7878429/?report=reader

 "In our study, limited changes in Vh:celiac disease (villi height vs crypt depth - aka damage to the small intestine)  following 14-day challenge with 3 g of gluten were observed, in accordance with Sarna et al.  While the 3 g dose was sufficient to initiate an immune response, as detected by several biomarkers such as IL-2, the 10 g dose was required for enteropathy within the study time frame. Based on our data, we would suggest that gluten challenge should be conducted over longer durations and/or using doses of gluten of ≥ 3 g/day to ensure sufficient histological change can be induced."

Keep us posted on your progress!

[Daisy23]

7 minutes ago, knitty kitty said:

@Daisy23, welcome to the forum!

Yes, white bread is fine for the gluten challenge.  A slice of bread can have between 2.5 to 5 grams of gluten.  

You may want to share the following information with your doctors and ask for testing sooner.  

 

According to recent research, updates to the gluten challenge are being implemented.

Recommended intake of gluten should be increased to 10 grams of gluten per day for at least two weeks. Or longer.

While three grams of gluten will begin the immune response, ten grams of gluten is needed to get antibody levels up to where they can be measured in antibody tests and changes can be seen in the small intestine.  

Keep in mind that there are different amounts of gluten in different kinds of bread and gluten containing foods.  Pizza crust and breads that are thick and chewy contain more gluten than things like cake and cookies.  

References:

https://www.beyondceliac.org/celiac-disease/the-gluten-challenge/

And...

Evaluating Responses to Gluten Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, 2-Dose Gluten Challenge Trial

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7878429/?report=reader

 "In our study, limited changes in Vh:celiac disease (villi height vs crypt depth - aka damage to the small intestine)  following 14-day challenge with 3 g of gluten were observed, in accordance with Sarna et al.  While the 3 g dose was sufficient to initiate an immune response, as detected by several biomarkers such as IL-2, the 10 g dose was required for enteropathy within the study time frame. Based on our data, we would suggest that gluten challenge should be conducted over longer durations and/or using doses of gluten of ≥ 3 g/day to ensure sufficient histological change can be induced."

Keep us posted on your progress!

 

Thank you so much for all the info! 
I’ll be sure to pass this info to my GI.  This is all new territory for me. I went in for my procedure assuming damage was done from my past infections and was blindsided with results.
I will update my post when I know more. 
 

thank you again! So very helpful 

[trents]

1 hour ago, Daisy23 said:

I had a colonoscopy and upper scope after having reoccurring c diff for close to two years. Celiac was the last thing on my mind, but the biopsy came back as elevated for something that was suggestive of possible celiac. 
Upon learning this and researching I believe it’s correct based on my symptoms. 
( skin rash, hair loss, lost 25% of my weight rapidly, bloating, rotating different bowel movements) also learned that there’s some studies that point to c diff reoccurring with celiac disease. 

I am eating tons of pizza and bread, but it is white bread. Now this might sound dumb, but is white bread  okay for the gluten challenge?  I can’t eat a piece of full wheat without wanting to cry. All my life I’ve avoided bread and pasta due to constipation and pain right after. I ate pasta 3 years ago and it landed me in the ER thinking my appendix exploded. Turns out, just constipated. Cut pasta out forever after that. 

week 4 constant diarrhea- thought c diff was back. Testing said no.

I am on week 6, and I’ve been constipated  for  one week now. I’m using miralax at this point and hating my life bc it’s so painful. 
does anyone think that maybe I would have a positive blood test after seven weeks instead of the full 8 based on pizza and white bread almost every day?Or should I add in full wheat bread for the remaining 2 weeks and push through for 8 total? 

Any advice?! Please and thank you. 
sorry this was so long.

Yes, with the amount of gluten you are eating daily it would not surprise me that your will have positive test results after 7 weeks. The Mayo Clinic time line calls for the daily consumption of  gluten in the amount equivalent to two slices of wheat bread (either whole wheat or white) for 6-8 weeks), though that standard has recently been called into question as maybe not intense enough in the daily amount to give consistently reliable test results. The more gluten consumption daily the better.

Edited February 29, 2024 by trents

[Daisy23]

9 hours ago, trents said:

Yes, with the amount of gluten you are eating daily it would not surprise me that your will have positive test results after 7 weeks. The Mayo Clinic time line calls for the daily consumption of  gluten in the amount equivalent to two slices of wheat bread (either whole wheat or white) for 6-8 weeks), though that standard has recently been called into question as maybe not intense enough in the daily amount to give consistently reliable test results. The more gluten consumption daily the better.

Thank you!

Totally ready for the challenge to be over with. I think after learning how much is in just one slice I’m likely to test positive. I’m basically all gluten right now. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t causing any weak positives and went all out. I’m feeling the aftermath, though. 

[Ginger38]

12 hours ago, knitty kitty said:

@Daisy23, welcome to the forum!

Yes, white bread is fine for the gluten challenge.  A slice of bread can have between 2.5 to 5 grams of gluten.  

You may want to share the following information with your doctors and ask for testing sooner.  

 

According to recent research, updates to the gluten challenge are being implemented.

Recommended intake of gluten should be increased to 10 grams of gluten per day for at least two weeks. Or longer.

While three grams of gluten will begin the immune response, ten grams of gluten is needed to get antibody levels up to where they can be measured in antibody tests and changes can be seen in the small intestine.  

Keep in mind that there are different amounts of gluten in different kinds of bread and gluten containing foods.  Pizza crust and breads that are thick and chewy contain more gluten than things like cake and cookies.  

References:

https://www.beyondceliac.org/celiac-disease/the-gluten-challenge/

And...

Evaluating Responses to Gluten Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, 2-Dose Gluten Challenge Trial

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7878429/?report=reader

 "In our study, limited changes in Vh:celiac disease (villi height vs crypt depth - aka damage to the small intestine)  following 14-day challenge with 3 g of gluten were observed, in accordance with Sarna et al.  While the 3 g dose was sufficient to initiate an immune response, as detected by several biomarkers such as IL-2, the 10 g dose was required for enteropathy within the study time frame. Based on our data, we would suggest that gluten challenge should be conducted over longer durations and/or using doses of gluten of ≥ 3 g/day to ensure sufficient histological change can be induced."

Keep us posted on your progress!

That’s interesting to know only 3 grams of gluten will initiate an immune response . How do you know how many grams of gluten is in a food? 

[Daisy23]

I tested negative, extremely negative not  one antibody found and I’m not IGA deficient.
Giving up gluten has def regulated my bowel movements.

I might be back at square one with everything else tho.