Gluten Free And Having An Endoscopy

[Sootie Patches]

Hi. I just had an appt. with a GI dr. yesterday discussing my symptoms. I am now scheduled for an edoscopy on this Friday. I have been gluten free for a month now. At my appt. yesterday she told me that I need to have gluten in my stomach when the test is performed. I had a couple of crackers yesterday and within 45 minutes I was bloated and not hungry. Luckily the nausea didn't happen which has been constant until going gluten free, but I had a stomach ache and heart palpitations and dicomfort through the evening and now this morning. Does anyone have any advice on how to get through the next few days while I have to eat wheat? I was also wondering if any females out there have experienced being more sensitive to gluten on or around your menstral cycle? After being gluten free for a month I have felt so much better but was set back when my period started. I had a bad night in bed with the shakes ready to vomit. I realized that the bubble bath I used that evening had wheat in it. There have been many times through out the month that I had used that product and it just now seemed to bother me when I was on my period. Is that normal?

[kbtoyssni]

I'm afraid that just having gluten in your stomach isn't going to do a thing. The general guideline is around 4 servings of gluten a day for 3-6 months to even hope to have intestinal damage. If you've been gluten-free for a while, you've probably started healing, and I don't think you have any chance of creating enough damage in your intestines by the end of the week. It seems pretty obvious to me that you have problems when you consume gluten. Why not use the dietary response as your diagnosis and not bother with trying to make yourself sick for a positive biopsy? Do you really want to eat gluten for six months? Will you keep eating gluten if the biopsy comes back negative? If the answer to these are no, I'd skip the scope and just go gluten-free now. Scopes are also notorious for false negatives, even if you do have damage.

[Ursa Major]

I agree with the previous poster. After being gluten-free for a month you will likely end up with a false negative. It is pathetic how many GIs (who are supposed to be the specialists) haven't got a clue about celiac disease!

[Sootie Patches]

I agree with the previous poster. After being gluten-free for a month you will likely end up with a false negative. It is pathetic how many GIs (who are supposed to be the specialists) haven't got a clue about celiac disease!

Thank you both for your comments. Regardless of the results of the scope I am going to continue a gluten free diet because I am feeling drastically different. The reason why I am still doing the scope is to rule anything else out. I was really set back this month with the bout of nausea I had during my period. For the past year I have been down at least 5 times a month with extreme nausea during or around my menstral cycle. I have been in and out of the er 3 times this past year. I am just hoping for some answers. I am driving myself crazy not knowing for sure what is going on with my body. Not to mention the dr's wanting to just tell me I am going through a bout of anxiety and it will pass. Thanks again for your comments.

[njbeachbum]

i'm not sure how long you've had symptoms, but i was misdiagnosed with crohn's disesase about 14 years ago, and had a positive blood test for celiac in late november. i went gluten free at the beginning of december, and had my endoscopy on december 21st. my doctor said it was fine that i was off of gluten at the time of the endoscopy, since the damage takes 6 months to a year to heal. after the scoping, he said that everything he saw was consistent with celiac. so my point is, if you have damage that's been there for awhile, it probably won't completely heal before the endoscopy.

hope that helps. stay away from the dirty G word

[Sootie Patches]

Thank you so much for your response. For over a year now I have had symptoms that I can't ignore. My body has been in a constant state of not feeling well. No doctor has ever once suggested to me that I could have celiac. I have had to do all the research on my own to figure out that this may be what is going on and now they are listening. It has been a long miserable road wondering what is wrong with me. I am finally feeling now that there is some light at the end of this journey. This was my first month being gluten free to the best of my knowledge. Even though I had some setbacks this month, this is still by far the best feeling month I have had in a long time. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and responding. I appreciate it.