Should I Do A Gluten Challenge?

[Nic]

My father was diagnosed with Celiac 7 years ago. My aunt and several cousins as well. My son was diagnosed 2 years ago at the age of 4. He carries the HLA DQ2 gene which leaves me to assume I am carrying it too (I have never been genetically tested, I only assume because if my father has it and my son, I must have the gene as well). Anyway, I was getting frequent stomach aches a while back but tested negative for the antibodies through blood. I am gluten light. I cook gluten free for the family for dinner but I do eat gluten for lunch, usually a sandwich or a bagel. Well I have been noticing a lot lately that I get horrible gas pain and bloating everyday after lunch. Yesterday I ate a wheat bagel and within an hour I felt as though my pants were too tight and my stomach was terribly gasy. If I am gluten light already is there any reason to even get tested? I am assuming it might not show up since I am not on a gluten heavy diet. I am wondering if I should just challenge it and see what happens. I hate to over react to gas but it seems odd.

Nicole

[CarlaB]

If it were me, I would go gluten-free and if I felt better assume I had it since my father and son both have it.

[CMCM]

The writing sure seems to be on the wall for you. What do you mean do a gluten challenge? Eating a small amount of gluten has already served as your challenge....look at the reaction you get from it! You don't need a doctor to "officially verify" that gluten is bad for you! Most people, by the time they are interested enough and savvy enough to end up here on this site, already have a pretty good suspicion that gluten is a problem!

More and more doctors (that is, among the doctors who actually know about and understand what there is to know about celiac disease/gluten sensitivityt) dispute the need for a gluten challenge and many even want to do away with the old "gold standard endoscopy." Also...more and more doctors are suggesting that the distinct term "celiac disease" be eliminated, and they think a more accurate term would be to refer to it ALL as gluten sensitivity.....which would cover gluten sensitivity, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and celiac disease, which is the worst-case subset of gluten sensitivity which only occurs if you have the celiac gene, and the gene is triggered thru some event (physical or emotional). Celiac disease is not the only thing to make you sick sick sick....gluten sensitivity without the celiac gene can do most of the same damage internally as does celiac disease. Dr. Fine at Enterolab says that IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS which are relieved by a gluten free diet, then you should completely avoid gluten. Period. End of discussion.

Unless your doctor can thoroughly discuss in great detail about gluten sensitivity and celiac disease and demonstrates solid knowledge of the subject, you are casting about in the wind if you are doing gluten challenges, making yourself sick, and spending lots of $$$ so that doctor can use his limited and somewhat outdated knowledge of how to properly diagnose celiac disease....he is unable to diagnose any other way except the "old, classic way" because he isn't up to date and simply doesn't know enough. What some (many) doctors know about celiac disease would fit on the head of a pin.

If you know eating gluten made you sick, and if you know avoiding gluten makes you well, why on earth would you want to get an official "celiac disease" diagnosis from a doctor who barely knows more than you about the problem? These days is that doctors tend to only look for celiac disease and ignore the presence/problems/damage/illness associated with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, which is what most suffering people have. (actual celiac disease is only 1 to 3% of those with gluten sensiivity). You don't need a celiac diagnosis to be "OK" with going gluten free. Gluten sensitivity is epidemic in the U.S. (and the world) and the solution is a gluten free diet.

As for genetics, you obviously have the gene since your dad AND your son have it. What else is there to know, since you have symptoms? If you actually do have active celiac disease, going gluten free will make it go away. Either way, celiac or not, being gluten free makes the symptoms stay away, and one only has active celiac disease if eating gluten.