Results Of My Mini Gluten Challenge

[JerryK]

So I spent the bulk of last week gluten free. Diarrhea went away....pretty much. I seemed to feel better, aches and pains stopped etc..

On Friday afternoon, I decided it was time to start chow-ing down on gluten again, to see if I could reproduce the effects. Saturday evening I had a hamburger with a gigantic gluten loaded bun....and Sunday morning, I had some symptoms which could be attributed to gluten intolerance.

Sunday and Monday I seemed back to normal, still gulping down on bread and gluten containing materials as much as possible.

The nasty yellow color went away and my stools got dark and more normal....

So although I still am loose and bulky, and we’re not talking about my clothing here, at least the color is more normal and I don’t have the big D.

So I’d rate my gluten free period and gluten challenge inconclusive at best. I’m having a difficult time believing I could actually have Celiac Disease. I think it’s possible I’m gluten intolerant to some degree, but I’m not sure about that.

I guess the only thing to do is eat a normal diet for a while, with plenty of Glutenated stuff, and see if my symptoms get bad again. Otherwise I guess, thankfully, I’m not going to be a member of your club.

Thanks again for your advice, you all seem so nice and helpful. Jerry

[Mango04]

The thing is, you need to be gluten-free for much longer than a week before you can really know what's going on. Maybe you should try it for a month, and then eat lots of gluten again, and see what happens...

[penguin]

After being gluten-free for 4 months, it's taken a week to truly feel crappy again eating a gluteny diet.

[Ursa Major]

I agree, you didn't give it a fair chance. I found when I stopped gluten, my diarrhea stopped within a day, my excruciating backpain got a ton better the day after that, and the pain (in my muscles and joints) stopped within two weeks. Which was pretty dramatic if you consider how ill I was for six months.

You mentioned your aches and pains went away, and your diarrhea pretty much stopped. Why do you think that was?

With me, last summer everything went right through me right away. But now when I get glutened, it can take up to a week for the diarrhea to come back (and it isn't nearly as dramatic now as it was then). Does that mean that I don't have a problem any more? Not at all. It just means that my intestines have healed enough that it takes them a bit longer to react. The way it used to be, before I went into full-blown celiac disease last year in May.

I expect that within a month of eating gluten you'll be back to square one, with all your symptoms as they were. It's your choice if you want to live like that. But I hope, for your sake, that you will reconsider.

[JerryK]

I agree, you didn't give it a fair chance. I found when I stopped gluten, my diarrhea stopped within a day, my excruciating backpain got a ton better the day after that, and the pain (in my muscles and joints) stopped within two weeks. Which was pretty dramatic if you consider how ill I was for six months.

You mentioned your aches and pains went away, and your diarrhea pretty much stopped. Why do you think that was?

With me, last summer everything went right through me right away. But now when I get glutened, it can take up to a week for the diarrhea to come back (and it isn't nearly as dramatic now as it was then). Does that mean that I don't have a problem any more? Not at all. It just means that my intestines have healed enough that it takes them a bit longer to react. The way it used to be, before I went into full-blown celiac disease last year in May.

I expect that within a month of eating gluten you'll be back to square one, with all your symptoms as they were. It's your choice if you want to live like that. But I hope, for your sake, that you will reconsider.

I think what I will do is eat a normal diet right now, unless the symptoms get so bad I am once again ill and

convinced I have it. Wife and I are going on an Alaska Cruise in 3 weeks, so I don't know how I would do a Gluten Free diet and cruise at the same time, although I could try. When we get back I'll have a blood test, just to see and then I will try a month Gluten Free. I will look at the results of my blood test and how I feel Gluten Free, and go from there....

[penguin]

I think what I will do is eat a normal diet right now, unless the symptoms get so bad I am once again ill and

convinced I have it. Wife and I are going on an Alaska Cruise in 3 weeks, so I don't know how I would do a Gluten Free diet and cruise at the same time, although I could try. When we get back I'll have a blood test, just to see and then I will try a month Gluten Free. I will look at the results of my blood test and how I feel Gluten Free, and go from there....

Remember to eat at least the equivalent of 4 slices of bread a day! It takes that much for damage to show...

[jerseyangel]

I think what I will do is eat a normal diet right now, unless the symptoms get so bad I am once again ill and

convinced I have it. Wife and I are going on an Alaska Cruise in 3 weeks, so I don't know how I would do a Gluten Free diet and cruise at the same time, although I could try. When we get back I'll have a blood test, just to see and then I will try a month Gluten Free. I will look at the results of my blood test and how I feel Gluten Free, and go from there....

Hi Jerry--Good idea! Begin eating gluten now, go on the cruise for 3 weeks and have a ball. Then when you get back, schedule the blood test (make sure they do the complete Celiac blood panel) and continue eating gluten right up to the day of the test. Then, like you said, you can go from there. Have a great trip

[Ursa Major]

Jerry, I did a cruise in January, being on a diet free of gluten, lectins, starches and foods high in salicylates. Now, there's a challenge! Just gluten-free is a piece of cake in comparison. By being in contact with them beforehand, and working closely with the maitre'd and the chefs while there, it was possible. There was only one accident on the last day, when the cook put peppers into my breakfast stir fry, which I didn't detect right away (because the strips of peppers and the strips of beans and carrots looked so similar) and ate some. The result wasn't pretty.

[tarnalberry]

Please listen to the trained medical professional who urged you to get tested: your dentist. A blood test really isn't that hard, and a licensed, practicing, trained medical professional has made a serious suggestion based on his/her experience and your presentation.

[Eric K.]

I tried a similar test (I haven't been tested for celiac yet) just a few weeks ago. I stopped eating pretty much everything but fruit, vegetables, and meat. I felt the best I've been in a year, I had energy and wasn't sick once. Then a little while ago I started to eat normal again and wasn't getting to sick, some D and pains. But I've been eating normal for a little over a week and have been hitting the gluten heavy and right about now I feel so sickly I can hardly think while trying to write this paper I have due tomorrow. But I go for blood test tomorrow morning so I guess I will see whats ailing me.

After feeling so sick for the past 11 months I had gotten used to it to the point where I just thought it was normal, I didn't even plan on seeing a doctor about it at all. But after feeling so good for that short while and realizing how awful I've really been feeling, I just want to find out for sure so I can fix it. And sections of this post may not make sense, but I just feel so sick right now I dont want to think.

[brendygirl]

I agree, you didn't give it a fair chance. I found when I stopped gluten, my diarrhea stopped within a day, my excruciating backpain got a ton better the day after that, and the pain (in my muscles and joints) stopped within two weeks. Which was pretty dramatic if you consider how ill I was for six months.

You mentioned your aches and pains went away, and your diarrhea pretty much stopped. Why do you think that was?

With me, last summer everything went right through me right away. But now when I get glutened, it can take up to a week for the diarrhea to come back (and it isn't nearly as dramatic now as it was then). Does that mean that I don't have a problem any more? Not at all. It just means that my intestines have healed enough that it takes them a bit longer to react. The way it used to be, before I went into full-blown celiac disease last year in May.

I expect that within a month of eating gluten you'll be back to square one, with all your symptoms as they were. It's your choice if you want to live like that. But I hope, for your sake, that you will reconsider.

Ursula--I'm really glad you mentioned the SEVERE back pain!! THAT is why it took 20 years to diagnose my father. Because people and docs relate back pain to muscular/skeletal problems, not FOOD/gluten. My doc told me I didn't sit up straight. haha I'm sure if I'd been overweight he'd have told me to lose weight.

On a tangent--I thought I was lactose intolerant (my doc told me I was) and now I know lactose intolerance is a side effect of celiac! I took an herbal supplement for lactose intolerance and it didn't work and the company couldn't believe it didn't work and was reluctant to give me a refund.

I tried a similar test (I haven't been tested for celiac yet) just a few weeks ago. I stopped eating pretty much everything but fruit, vegetables, and meat. I felt the best I've been in a year, I had energy and wasn't sick once. Then a little while ago I started to eat normal again and wasn't getting to sick, some D and pains. But I've been eating normal for a little over a week and have been hitting the gluten heavy and right about now I feel so sickly I can hardly think while trying to write this paper I have due tomorrow. But I go for blood test tomorrow morning so I guess I will see whats ailing me.

After feeling so sick for the past 11 months I had gotten used to it to the point where I just thought it was normal, I didn't even plan on seeing a doctor about it at all. But after feeling so good for that short while and realizing how awful I've really been feeling, I just want to find out for sure so I can fix it. And sections of this post may not make sense, but I just feel so sick right now I dont want to think.

I can definitely relate to that bad feeling. I remember feeling so weak and telling my mom I thought I had mono.