Does anyone experience these symptoms?

[Staxey]

I’m currently waiting for an appointment to be tested for coeliac disease after spending 1 month gluten free and feeling fantastic, felt like a whole new person and over the last few weeks of eating gluten again I’m understanding a lot of symptoms are connected to this possibly being my diagnosis.

 

one thing is a blocked nose and cough when I eat gluten, does anyone else experience this?  It’s as if I overproduce mucus and I have to cough it up like you would with the flu or viral infection. I had this before going gluten free although not to this level I would just have the cough and blocked nose for a few minutes after eating but I associated it with spices in food.

 

another symptom I seem to have that you never see when you google symptoms is losing taste? I guess this goes along with sinus issues but sometimes my complete taste will go and when I don’t eat gluten it’s like my taste buds are on overload 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @Staxey!

The first thing and of great importance: you should not start a gluten free diet before you get tested for celiac disease. You will invalidate the testing. The testing seeks to detect antibodies in the blood produced by the immune system's reaction over time to the ingestion of gluten. For someone with celiac disease, the ingestion of gluten causes inflammation in the small bowel lining that produces antibodies in the blood. It takes weeks/months for the level of these antibodies to build up to levels able to be detectable by the testing. Go back on the daily consumption of gluten in the amount of or the equivalent amount of 3-6 slices of bread made from wheat flour for at least three weeks before the test date.

I will let others comment on your specific questions as I have not experienced those symptoms and I have not read of them during my involvement in this forum. However, what you describe sounds like an allergic reaction. Do you have other symptoms associated with celiac disease?

[Staxey]

Yes I’ve spoken to my doctor and been consuming gluten again for a number of weeks before I am referred for testing.  All I mean is I experienced a lot of symptoms my whole life (I’m now 28) and didn’t realise they were all connected until they stopped and started again.

 

I have many symptoms mostly bloating, stomach cramps/especially in the morning, loose bowel movements with strong smell, frequent headaches, trouble sleeping, fatigue, low mood, pelvic pain (been tested for pcos, endometriosis,ovarian cysts all negative), feeling sick, vomiting usually during the night so several hours after eating, weight gain, always hungry never feeling full but also feeling sick, as well as the symptoms I mentioned in the original post, I’ve experienced these symptoms majority of my life and never really pin pointed it and doctors had never mentioned this could be the cause until now. 
 

I was told to consume gluten again for 4-6 weeks again before having blood testing and then take it from there 

[trents]

Thanks for the additional information. Sounds like you are on top of it then. 

Concerning your cough and excessive mucous production, I would suspect you have a number of food and environmental  allergies. I, too, have a lot of mucous production during my sleeping ours that some nights causes me a lot of throat clearing and coughing. Sometimes it makes it difficult to get to sleep and at other times it wakes me up multiple times during the night. I take Allegra 24 hr. and it help a lot but doesn't completely conquer it. I spend the first few hours of the morning clearing the "pipes" of mucous accumulated during the night and my nose runs a lot until about noon. I know I have a lot of food/environmental allergies, none of them anaphylactic in nature but a nuisance nonetheless. I have been tested and have a list of them as long as your arm. You've got to eat something so you can't avoid them all.

I would encourage you to get ALCAT testing done to see what you may be allergic to that is causing the excessive mucous. 

 

[Staxey]

Thanks for your reply! I didn’t actually think of that as it’s a minefield to get one test here never mind a load of them but I’ll mention it to my doctor!  The coughing and blocked nose only ever happens when I’m eating gluten full food, tonight for example I had Mac and cheese so pasta and the cheese sauce made from flour so a very gluten rich dish. It passes eventually but sometimes is bad enough that I have to essentially vomit a lot of mucus to expel it. 

[trents]

You might try Allegra or Zyrtec or Claritin to see if it helps with the mucous. They are second generation antihistamines and don't produce the drowsiness associated with Benadryl and other first generation antihistamines. They are over the counter meds, at least they are here in the USA.

[Staxey]

I’m in the Uk our version is Allevia so I’ll give it a try!

[trents]

You can also look into third party pay out of pocket food allergy testing if your physician isn't inclined or isn't able to order it through your national healthcare system.

[Scott Adams]

For what it's worth, I had clogged sinuses for most of the first 25 years of my life, until I got diagnosed with celiac disease and went gluten-free. Most of my pollen allergy issues went away after going gluten-free. My theory is that my immune system was on ultra-high alert while eating gluten, and normalized after going gluten-free.

[ling27]

I would recommend not going back on the gluten foods just for a test.  It is important to stay off gluten due to the fact that it can spread throughout your body.  A test is only a test, and a doctor should be able to tell you either way.  Just concerned that's all.

[Staxey]

Hi, I unexpectedly managed to get a blood test on Monday so will know by the end of this week whether it’s coeliac or not! Roll on gluten free again!

[trents]

I hope your recent hiatus from gluten doesn't invalidate the testing. You've been back on gluten for a month now, correct? How much gluten have you been consuming. Newer "gluten challenge" guidelines are calling for 10g of gluten daily for at least 2 weeks. 10g is the equivalent of 4-6 slices of bread. So, there's a time element and an intensity of exposure element involved. It takes time for the antibodies produced in response to gluten ingestion to build up to detectable levels.

Edited June 26, 2024 by trents

[Staxey]

I’m not sure exactly how many grams I’ve had daily but estimating definitely more than 10 as I’ve had pastas and other types of gluten, I did mention the doctor had requested it for 4-6 weeks time and were now at 4 weeks and they seemed happy to carry it out.  So just a waiting game really, plus there was some times during my gluten free stage I accidentally glutened myself so I can’t confidently say I was 100% gluten free, my body certainly told me about it!

[Scott Adams]

Let us know how it goes.