Must I Get Tested?! Gluten Free & Feelin Good

[SarMar1026]

Hello, I am 19 years old and for the past 2 years I've been pretty ill, and was getting sick after every meal with diarrhea and had constant stomach aches and nausea. My doctor first said I had acid reflux and/or an ulcer and put me on prevacid, then I stoppd those pills and she said I had anxiety and I've been on three different pills and have stuck with effexor, however, it doesn't help a great deal. I was then told I have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) which would explain the nausea. But I was still getting sick, so then was told I have IBS. Well, within the past week I read an article on how to manage your blood sugar more closely through a gluten and wheat free diet, so my Mom said it was worth a shot since I was sick all the time. I have only been gluten and wheat free for 2 days, and today we were out and about and I had to eat lunch so I got stuck with Subway and had a chicken breast on wheat bread - apparently big mistake. Within an hour or so, I had really bad cramps and diarrhea... my mom and I are thinking I must have a wheat/gluten intolerance? But would it really show up only after two days?? i'm new to all this and was just hoping for some input, Thanks!!

[AndreaB]

I believe it is possible. Go ahead and go gluten free, you don't have to have testing done unless you want to. If you want something that you can use to test latter you can go through enterolab. You don't have to eat gluten for it. It is a stool test. Open Original Shared Link for more info.

[SarMar1026]

I believe it is possible. Go ahead and go gluten free, you don't have to have testing done unless you want to. If you want something that you can use to test latter you can go through enterolab. You don't have to eat gluten for it. It is a stool test. Open Original Shared Link for more info.

I read at the bottom of your statement that your son's eczema cleared up after gluten-free .... I also was just diagnosed with eczema. My shins (only my shins really) get SEVERELY itchy to the point where i scratch and bleed, could this be a problem with a gluten intolerance as well?!

[AndreaB]

It could be contributing. Soy and/or dairy can cause problems as well as a high histamine diet. The epic OMG thread has lots of valuable info the first 100 pages or so and some more good info in between the rest of the pages. Some there have found that a low histamine diet controls the itching. Go gluten free first and see if that makes a difference. Then cut out dairy, then soy, then try the low histamine diet if no relief has been found before that. Give yourself at least 2 weeks between elimination or addition of foods. If you can swing allergy testing (blood draw) that could give you an idea what to work with.

[morganb]

I don't know much on the subect, I haven't ever been sick bc of gluten and I haven't ever done any formal testing. I simply went gluten free bc my allergies went away. But if you were to do any testing I would recommend the enterolab that Andrea mentioned. My Mom, unlike me, did have some serious problems. She went through the biopsy first. Since she had to eat gluten for this biopsy, not only was she sick to begin with, but she became even worse bc they were making her eat what was making her sick in the first place. Then, her tests ended up coming out inconclusive. With the enerolab, she was able to eat, stay healthy (well....healthier....she's not completely better yet) and she was able to find her gluten intolerance.