Breaking The Rules

[Jordanian Celiac]

Hi every one, I am a new member in this site. I have been diagnosed with Celiac since 1998, since then i am living on a gluten free diet, the problem is that sometimes i can't resist breaking the rules and eat gluten food once or twice ayear, i never have any symptoms and my health is good. my question is whether this is ok to do or not. does it really harm me or my body can recover from this, am i causing serious damages to my self. My doctor is not really helpfull when it comes to details

Thanks,

Ola

[darlindeb25]

I just heard the other day how much damage getting glutened does to us in a single time, yet for the life of me, I can't remember what I read or where. Gluten is poison to us, so yes, as far as I am concerned, yes, you are doing damage by cheating. In over 5 yrs, I have never cheated, never even really wanted too. Yes, I miss so many old favorites and yes, I have been accidentally glutened and for me, that is my own hell. I do have very severe symptoms if I get glutened. For your health, you really do need to never cheat.

[CarlaB]

I would imagine without the symptoms that it would be very difficult to stay on the diet ... but you must have had some kind of symptoms to even be tested for it. You do damage every time you eat gluten, so you shouldn't do it.

[sunshinen]

It is the secondary diseases and conditions you have to worry about and why celiacs are encouraged to never cheat. Because you don't have symptoms, you don't know how often or frequently you are getting accidental gluten, so to intentionally add to that can only make things worse by fueling the autoimmune response. Unfortunately, for celiacs it is the stuff you don't see that carries the heaviest consequences.

[sunshinen]

I would imagine without the symptoms that it would be very difficult to stay on the diet ... but you must have had some kind of symptoms to even be tested for it. You do damage every time you eat gluten, so you shouldn't do it.

Yeah, I agree that not having a punishing reminder not to eat gluten would make the diet harder. However, just to clarify, there are many celiacs who have never had any symptoms. These individuals are discovered through random screening and screening done because they have a family member with the disease. And of course, there are also celiacs who were very sick, but after healing, they too don't have any symptoms when they have gluten at a later time. And just to make the point again: unfortunately, a lack of symptoms doesn't mean there is no damage going on inside, and for the celac that damage can lead to everything from diabetes to cancer to nerve damage regardless of any awareness of that damage. Sticking to the diet is, therefore, essential to living a long and healthy life.

[Generic]

I was diagnosed back in 1988, I have never purposely cheated, but I have been glutened by accident more times than I care to remember. As a result of that alone, I have since developed hypoglycemia, fibromyalgia, nerve damage and some thing else that they aren't sure of it yet. (I'm in the process of getting tested for MS, Myosytis and rheumatoid arthritis). I was 13 when I went gluten free and I am now 32, I hope to god I don't develop any more problems.

PLEASE, don't do that to yourself on purpose.

-Laurie

[Rebecca47]

I was dx's in Aug on this year. I have never cheated on purpose, but I glutened my self friday ( I think it was the flour I picked up for my mom). I am still feeling it. I took her shopping. My stomach is like a loud volcano. It won't shut up.

I will be even more careful now that this has happened. I never want to feel this way again if possible.

[happygirl]

Just because you do not get horribly sick each time you eat gluten does not mean that you aren't doing damage to your body. Celiac is an autoimmune disorder, so each time you ingest gluten, you are turning the switch to "on" for your autoimmune system.

I recommend reading a recent book by a leading Celiac researcher and expert from Columbia University (it is listed in my signature). It will explain to you the seriousness of sticking to a gluten free diet, and the problems that it can cause. This is a great resource and will put it all into perspective for you. Plus, it will answer many of your questions that your doctor cannot. You can find it on amazon or other bookstores.

[daffadilly]

The director of our support group went to the international celiac meeting in NY & she said that it is recognized that ONE EIGHTH of a teaspoon of gluten stuff is enough to damage the villi. So you be the judge... You know if we could feel the damage being done to our organs we could all cure ourselves, but we cannot. Some of us are "lucky" enough to get warning signs in the form of pain and illnesses etc.

It is my personal opinion that if a person eats gluten a couple of times a year that they are 1. not educated 2. at high risk for cancer, & I do mean HIGH 3. at high risk for other problems 4. not that serious about their health 5. must not be strict at other times of the year because if they were why in the world would they waste all that good effort that they spent six months of compliance with the diet to eat gluten & undo all the good that had been taking place for six months.

Sorry, but anyone that does this, just starts all over from square one, it takes three to six months to get it all out of your system.

I recommend you read the book "Dangerous Grains"