How Long Should I Wait Before The Test?

[Luke987]

Well basically I started a gluten-free diet for 5 days and have now decided, because I haven't prepared, that I'm going to test myself before starting the gluten-free diet. (most sensible thing to do)

Since I haven't been eating gluten for a few days how long should I eat gluten (ie bread etc) before having a blood test at the doctors?

Thanks

Luke,

[Guest j_mommy]

From what I understand you need to be eatin gluten for 1-2 weeks for the test to be accurate.....personally to rule out any false negatives I would do two weeks.

[Luke987]

From what I understand you need to be eatin gluten for 1-2 weeks for the test to be accurate.....personally to rule out any false negatives I would do two weeks.

Do you think that is neccessary since I have only been gluten-free for 5 days? Or is that long enough for all of the antibodies to be out of my blood?

[Guest j_mommy]

All of your antibodies wouldn't be gone but your body starts to heal itself right away and yes it'a slow process but personally I would not want to risk a false negative and I would want a true reading!

[Luke987]

All of your antibodies wouldn't be gone but your body starts to heal itself right away and yes it'a slow process but personally I would not want to risk a false negative and I would want a true reading!

Ok cheers, I'll wait the full 2 weeks but check back on this thread to see any other advice/recommendations.

Luke,

[kbtoyssni]

I've heard it's more like 5-6 weeks of eating around 4 servings of gluten a day to get a positive test. I did a two week elimination diet that included wheat (so I was certainly eating some gluten), then ate gluten for about a week to do a blood test and it came back negative.

[kbtoyssni]

In this thread, Emily Elizabeth says that the book "Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic" states you have to be eating 4 servings of gluten for 2 months which is probably a better reference than my memory

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[aikiducky]

You could look at it this way: If you would be prepared to eat gluten for two months for testing, why not eat gluten for two weeks, test, and then if it is negative, continue for two months and test again? Because the first test could always be a positive, and save you weeks of misery.

Pauliina

[ravenwoodglass]

Well basically I started a gluten-free diet for 5 days and have now decided, because I haven't prepared, that I'm going to test myself before starting the gluten-free diet. (most sensible thing to do)

Since I haven't been eating gluten for a few days how long should I eat gluten (ie bread etc) before having a blood test at the doctors?

Thanks

Luke,

You have gotten some good advice on time frames, for what blood tests are worth anyway, don't forget though a positive is a positive even if just a little bit and a negative is never conclusive. You may find blood testing a moot point anyway, see how you react to adding it back in. If you get very ill 1 to 4 days after you start eating gluten again that is diagnostic in itself. You could also if you don't want to go back to gluten consider the Enterolab stool tests. You would not have to be eating gluten again for them to give you a correct result.

[Luke987]

A month or 2?

Now I'm not sure what to do. I ate burgers last night with gluten in them but how much will that effect me considering my last 5 days of gluten-free? Considering how sure I am of being gluten-free could I just continue with the diet for a couple of weeks?

[ravenwoodglass]

A month or 2?

Now I'm not sure what to do. I ate burgers last night with gluten in them but how much will that effect me considering my last 5 days of gluten-free? Considering how sure I am of being gluten-free could I just continue with the diet for a couple of weeks?

Of course you can. I was finally diagnosed after years and years of misery and false negatives by doing a elimination diet, allergist assisted, and then challenging with gluten. It took 3 days after I added gluten back in to react, which is common so if you get 'sick' anywhere between today and a couple of days from now that might give you your answer. But after a month gluten-free, you need to be strict about it, a challenge should have an obvious result.

It is best when you challenge to use a 'pure' form, something like triscuits or cream of wheat and during the time you are eliminating gluten you should drop dairy also to prevent confusion. After you have added wheat back in for a week, and dropped it if you have reacted, then add back in dairy in a for sure gluten-free form to make sure that your villi can handle it. Most of us have problems with dairy until the intestines heal because the villi that are damaged also help produce the enzyme needed to digest dairy. For many this is temporary and dairy can be added back in after a couple months.

[Luke987]

Of course you can. I was finally diagnosed after years and years of misery and false negatives by doing a elimination diet, allergist assisted, and then challenging with gluten. It took 3 days after I added gluten back in to react, which is common so if you get 'sick' anywhere between today and a couple of days from now that might give you your answer. But after a month gluten-free, you need to be strict about it, a challenge should have an obvious result.

It is best when you challenge to use a 'pure' form, something like triscuits or cream of wheat and during the time you are eliminating gluten you should drop dairy also to prevent confusion. After you have added wheat back in for a week, and dropped it if you have reacted, then add back in dairy in a for sure gluten-free form to make sure that your villi can handle it. Most of us have problems with dairy until the intestines heal because the villi that are damaged also help produce the enzyme needed to digest dairy. For many this is temporary and dairy can be added back in after a couple months.

Thank you for the advice.

Is it possible for the villi to heal with dairy still in the diet? As you might understand taking milk out would be a huge step for me and one I most wish to avoid if at all possible.

Luke

[ravenwoodglass]

Thank you for the advice.

Is it possible for the villi to heal with dairy still in the diet? As you might understand taking milk out would be a huge step for me and one I most wish to avoid if at all possible.

Luke

It depends on the person. You can try for a bit with dairy in but I don't want you to think that gluten isn't a problem if you still have symptoms. Perhaps try to cut it down a bit, go with stuff like yogurt and hard cheeses which have some of the lactose 'predigested' and are easier to handle. This was what I did and had no problem with those. You should though go light with glasses of milk and stuff like ice cream that will be more of a problem. Then if you still see no improvement after a couple of weeks try to drop them altogether. The reason for suggesting dropping at first especially is that the symptoms of dairy intolerance (casien the protein and lactose the sugar) are quite similar to symptoms of gluten so it can lead to confusion. There are no firm rules and regs, that apply to everyone but the important thing when doing an exclusion of any kind is consistency, so be as gluten-free as you humanly can at first, then if you have incomplete relief go ahead and drop the dairy if needed.

[Luke987]

It depends on the person. You can try for a bit with dairy in but I don't want you to think that gluten isn't a problem if you still have symptoms. Perhaps try to cut it down a bit, go with stuff like yogurt and hard cheeses which have some of the lactose 'predigested' and are easier to handle. This was what I did and had no problem with those. You should though go light with glasses of milk and stuff like ice cream that will be more of a problem. Then if you still see no improvement after a couple of weeks try to drop them altogether. The reason for suggesting dropping at first especially is that the symptoms of dairy intolerance (casien the protein and lactose the sugar) are quite similar to symptoms of gluten so it can lead to confusion. There are no firm rules and regs, that apply to everyone but the important thing when doing an exclusion of any kind is consistency, so be as gluten-free as you humanly can at first, then if you have incomplete relief go ahead and drop the dairy if needed.

At the moment I'm just having milk with cereal in the morning - that's it. So if it is gluten-intolerance I hope to see an improvement in the next couple of weeks. As you recommend, I'll probably next test to see if I'm lactose intolerant instead if I am the same.

Luke

[darkangel]

Is it possible for the villi to heal with dairy still in the diet? As you might understand taking milk out would be a huge step for me and one I most wish to avoid if at all possible.

Anything you ingest that you're unable to properly digest and assimilate does harm. Undigested food particles feed the bad bacteria in your gut and can trigger food reactions and make leaky gut worse.

Have you tried dairy alternatives like rice or soy milk?