Wheat Allergy Testing

[Lane R]

Considering that everyone here has provided more information for me than anything or anyone else, I thought I'd come to you for questions.

First - a little background:

--I've hurt somewhat most of my life - joint and muscle aches. Push on my muscle and it hurts. Didn't realize this wasn't NORMAL till a few years ago. However, I tend to have above average muscle mass for a woman. (we call this Wisconsin Hearty Peasant Stock symdrome.)

--Popping joints, cracking joints.

--I also have a gas issue, as I'm seemingly very gassy.

--I have a long history of occasional stomach upsetness. As child, really bad - only laying on the cold bathroom floor and drinking milk would help. Now it ranges, from mild upsetness to laying on the floor. I'd say it happens at an above average rate.

--Some bowel irregularity in consistency, frequency, etc. I don't recall this ever being any different. Some foods - usually eating out (like any meal at Denny's or McDonalds) cause a reaction within an hour or so.

--I've been overweight (30-50 pounds on average) most of my life and little seems to help me change this. Even steady exercise and limited caloric intake cause little effect.

--I feel tired a lot of the time, and my mother kept saying she thought we had ADD because things would get foggy a lot of the time.

--I LOVE bread and ate it all the time.

I received interdermal testing for allergies and came up wheat-allergic. I did some research and learned that interdermals can have false positives.

Still, I read Wheat Free-Worry Free, and decided to start a gluten-free diet. That was a week and a day ago, which I'm reading on here is not long enough to have a substantial change in symptoms. Still, I felt better during the first week and lost two pounds (which could be due to a severe change in eating habits, and psychosomatic response.)

My allergist, after some "Why would you want that?" questions, has said he'd order me a RAST if I wanted to ensure I'm allergic to Wheat, and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning where I will have to request a test for celiac.

The questions I have are:

--Is a RAST expensive?

--How reliable is a RAST?

--If I've gone wheat-free, is a RAST going to fail?

--Should I get tested for celiac?

All of your help is appreciated in advance.

[Ursa Major]

Hi Lane, and welcome to this board. Yes, you sound very much like you may have celiac disease. But it is unwise to go gluten free before testing for celiac disease. It won't matter for a wheat allergy test. Now, you may get a negative on the allergy test, because celiac disease is not an allergy and the gluten containing grains will usually not show up on allergy tests for people with celiac disease. They certainly didn't for me.

And your weight loss of two pounds would be pretty typical for somebody who GAINS weight on gluten (I am one of those). And of course your changed eating habits would have a lot to do with it.........after all, you've cut out gluten!

[tiffjake]

Hi Lane, and welcome to this board. Yes, you sound very much like you may have celiac disease. But it is unwise to go gluten free before testing for celiac disease. It won't matter for a wheat allergy test. Now, you may get a negative on the allergy test, because celiac disease is not an allergy and the gluten containing grains will usually not show up on allergy tests for people with celiac disease. They certainly didn't for me.

And your weight loss of two pounds would be pretty typical for somebody who GAINS weight on gluten (I am one of those). And of course your changed eating habits would have a lot to do with it.........after all, you've cut out gluten!

Double Ditto. If you think you might have Celiac, then you want to test for a gluten antibody in your system. And that is different than a wheat allergy. You will have to be eating gluten for it to show up though (you body won't produce the anitbody if you aren't subjecting it to the antigen-which is gluten, if you have a problem with gluten). So you will want to ask your doctor for the celian panel of anitbody tests, after you have been eating gluten again. OR, like so many people on here have done, stick with the gluten-free diet if it works for you, and you aren't needing a doc to give you a diagnosis for any reason. I am glad to hear that it is working for you!!!!!!!!! And that you are feeling better! (And I also gain weight when I eat gluten, a good eight pounds over night!)

[Lane R]

Thank you for your responses!

So, even a week off of gluten will make a difference in the testing?

Do you know if being off wheat will affect the results of a test for the allergy to wheat?

[VydorScope]

So, even a week off of gluten will make a difference in the testing?

Alot of debate about that realy, but I would say if you got back on it and stayed on it till the test prbly not... if you stayted off it... possibly.

Do you know if being off wheat will affect the results of a test for the allergy to wheat?

No, but any allergy meds your taking WILL, stop them at least several days, if not a week, befor.

[Lane R]

Yipes! I saw my doctor today and she suggested that I be tested for celiac - WOW. I've only heard bad things - I'm so glad to know that she thinks it is a good idea. I thought I was going to have to bring it up and fight to have it done!

The bloodwork is tomorrow...although I can put it off for a couple of days as well. I've only been off gluten for a week and a couple days, so if I started eating gluten again today - do you think that would show up tomorrow morning?

[wonkabar]

The bloodwork is tomorrow...although I can put it off for a couple of days as well. I've only been off gluten for a week and a couple days, so if I started eating gluten again today - do you think that would show up tomorrow morning?

How wonderful that you're doc suggested testing for Celiac. Just make sure he orders the full panel which consists of 5 different labs. Also, confirm that all of the labs for the Celiac panel were infact drawn before you leave the lab. The lab screwed up my son's bloodwork and "forgot" to draw blood for two of the tests. We unfortunatley didn't find this out until he was on a gluten-free diet for a full month!

If you could put off the labs for awhile, I would. Even though you've only been on a gluten-free diet for less than two weeks, it will effect your results. You need to be eating gluten in order for your body to react to it. If there's nothing for the antibodies to react to, you'll get inaccurate results. You really shouldn't change your diet at all until you've completed any testing for Celiac.

If you're taking any typeof medication with an antihistamine, you need to be off of it for 3 days prior to any allergy testing. An antihistamine will definately effect your results. Lots of luck!

--Kristy

[tiffjake]

How wonderful that you're doc suggested testing for Celiac. Just make sure he orders the full panel which consists of 5 different labs. Also, confirm that all of the labs for the Celiac panel were infact drawn before you leave the lab. The lab screwed up my son's bloodwork and "forgot" to draw blood for two of the tests. We unfortunatley didn't find this out until he was on a gluten-free diet for a full month!

If you could put off the labs for awhile, I would. Even though you've only been on a gluten-free diet for less than two weeks, it will effect your results. You need to be eating gluten in order for your body to react to it. If there's nothing for the antibodies to react to, you'll get inaccurate results. You really shouldn't change your diet at all until you've completed any testing for Celiac.

If you're taking any typeof medication with an antihistamine, you need to be off of it for 3 days prior to any allergy testing. An antihistamine will definately effect your results. Lots of luck!

--Kristy

That happened to me too, botching the bloodwork. The first time I my doc drew it the lab ordered the wrong tests. When I went back, 3 weeks later, for the results, the doc told me what happened, and order a new panel. When he got THOSE results, they were boarderline. He was suprised because he didn't think my levels would have gone down in just 3 weeks. But I informed him that I had already done the Lame Advertisement and Enterolab tests (and I showed him those results) and that I was VERY gluten-free after that first blood draw.

I would eat gluten between now and your test so the anitbody levels will show up. And Kristy is right about not taking anithistamines!!! Be careful with your meds, and only take what you must, like Birth Control, or Heart meds. I am glad that your doc was so great about everything! That is rare! I hope you get a good draw and good results that you and your doc can work with!