How Much Gluten And How Long?

[sashabetty]

Hi,

My 2yr old DD will be getting blood tested soon, and she has been gluten-free for about 9 months. Does anyone know how long she will have to consume gluten, and how much gluten to get an accurate test result? I am also trying to think of what I will give her that she will not notice as something new and exciting and continue to ask for after the testing is done, and I want it to be something that will not contaminate my house and kitchen implements with gluten, anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

S. Johnson

[celiac3270]

Oooh...I've been gluten-free for five months....and I can't imagine going back to gluten and facing more symptoms......I've been sick for two days with Celiac symptoms (not from food, just in the healing process)......a lot of vomiting, nausea, abdominal pains, no sleep, and this morning I got really dehydrated from the vomiting, which really scared me....I've been drinking non-stop, today, and I think I'm doing better.

Anyway, 9 months.....wow. I wouldn't want to go back on gluten at all after 9 months of progress.....I think that those Enterolab tests would still work....I've never tried them but many on this site have. It might be a good alternative to messing up your daughter's intestines.

Doctors have different ideas of the length of time and amount of gluten, but I think most would say 2-3 months on gluten. I think you should get about two gluten meals a day, but since the idea is to mess up the intestines and show results, it might not be a bad idea to go completely off the diet.

I'm slightly confused by your last question.....do you want something new that's gluten-free or gluten-containing? You probably wouldn't want to get her asking for something that contains gluten.....after all, that would just make the diet harder for her to follow....but you did say that you want it to be something that wouldn't contaminate the kitchen.....I guess you're trying to make the symptoms more bearable by adding good-tasting gluten foods to her diet? If it is something gluten-containing, find something that you wouldn't need to cook or bake....for example, if she likes candy, you could buy her something like "Fruit By The Foot" or "Gushers" or "Kit-Kat"s......etc. It appears that you meant something with gluten, but if you meant otherwise, please let me know....

-celiac3270