Feeling ill

[Whyz]

I’m only half way to being diagnosed I’ve started eating gluten free food because normal food makes me feel ill.

is this ok

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @Whyz!

By "half way to being diagnosed" I assume you mean you have had the blood antibody testing done but not the gastroscopy with biopsy. Is this correct?

Were the results of your blood work positive for celiac disease?

[Scott Adams]

Here is more info about how to do a gluten challenge for a celiac disease blood panel, or for an endoscopy:

Quote

"...in order to properly diagnose celiac disease based on serology and duodenal histology, doctors need patients to be on gluten-containing diets, even if they are causing symptoms, and this is called a "gluten challenge."

• Eat gluten prior to celiac disease blood tests: The amount and length of time can vary, but is somewhere between 2 slices of wheat bread daily for 6-8 weeks and 1/2 slice of wheat bread or 1 wheat cracker for 12 weeks 12 weeks;
• Eat gluten prior to the endoscopic biopsy procedure: 2 slices of wheat bread daily for at least 2 weeks;

and this recent study recommends 4-6 slices of wheat bread per day:

 

 

[knitty kitty]

Welcome to the forum!

Keep in mind that if you quit eating gluten before all testing is done, you may have inaccurate, possibly false negative, test results.  When you stop eating gluten, your body stops making the antibodies which are measured in the blood tests.  Stopping gluten before an endoscopy may make the intestinal damage harder to detect, and a false negative biopsy may result.  As uncomfortable as it is, finish all testing before going gluten free.  

[Whyz]

Not knowing how long I have to wait for a hospital appointment for the intestine and biopsy seems to make things worse.

The thing is if you have headaches you take pain killers, isn’t there anything that I can do?.

 

[Scott Adams]

You could go gluten-free now, and then start eating lots of gluten for at least 2 weeks before your endoscopy--just be sure to tell your doctor about this beforehand. If your symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet, it is further evidence of celiac disease and/or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. 

Approximately 10x more people have non-celiac gluten sensitivity than have celiac disease, but there isn’t yet a test for NCGS. If your symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet it would likely signal NCGS.

 

[knitty kitty]

@Whyz,

I take a combination of Thiamin (Benfotiamin), B12 Cobalamine and Pyridoxine B6 for my pain and headaches.  Really works well without hurting the digestive tract.  Riboflavin B2 also helps with migraines.  Most newly diagnosed people have vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Check with your doctor and nutritionist.  

If you follow the updated gluten challenge guidelines, you can wait until two weeks (minimum) before your appointment, then eat lots of gluten, like six slices of gluten containing bread or "name your poison".  

Here's the Updated Gluten Challenge Guidelines:

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!