Gluten Challenge

[wozzy]

Hi everyone,

I used to post on here more, so maybe some of you remember me.

Anyway, I've been gluten free for 3 years. My dad, my sister, and my mom's sister all have celiac disease. My mom is too stubborn to get tested.

I went to a GI doc 3 years ago, and he didn't want to do a biopsy, so he just put me on a gluten-free diet. In retrospect, this really bothers me (I wish he had tested me then). I had some GI issues while I was home from college during break, and I started wondering if celiac disease is really what I have. I want to get tested, but I don't know if it's worth going back on a gluten diet for up to 6 months.

I started eating 1-3 slices of bread everyday since Friday (Today is day 5). The first few days weren't too bad. I think they were more of a mental adjustment. The last few days, however, have been on a downward slope. I'm very bloated, my stool is getting looser, and it is also beginning to float. I also have gas that I know is from the bread. I've had some intestinal pain/throbbing also. I've also been feeling dizzier than usual, and on day 2, I felt like I was going to faint after I walked about a quarter of the distance I normally walk. The same was true today when I exercised.

Is it possible that this reaction is from not eating gluten for 3 years? I would think that it's indicative of a gluten sensitivity since I was ok for the first few days and have been steadily declining since. I really don't want to do this for another 6 months if this is how I will be feeling, but I could do it for a few more weeks if it's likely that the symptoms are due to sudden exposure to gluten. I race bikes and triathlons competitively, and I don't want to mess up my training because of this.

Thanks!

[GlutenWrangler]

I don't see any reason for you to be doing a gluten challenge. Your previous doctor must have had a good reason to put you on a gluten-free diet in the first place, and I'm assuming you felt better after following the diet. I don't think there's any question as to whether or not you have celiac disease or at least gluten sensitivity. Your reaction to the bread is definitely indicative of celiac disease. Please do yourself a favor and stop the gluten challenge. You could really screw yourself up doing that for 6 months. Is it worth it just to get a test that may or may not come back positive?

-Brian

[ravenwoodglass]

Gluten is an intolerance. It will take many of us a few days to react. When I did my gluten challenge after 2 months gluten-free for my allergist it took 3 days for the reaction to hit. He told me it could take up to 5 or 6 days for the reaction to appear. I was then gluten-free for another month before the GI I was referred to ordered me to challenge for 5 days before my endo. To make a long story short when the time came for the endo I was on the bathroom floor bleeding profusely and close to unconsious from the pain. I got my positive diagnosis without the endo then. Unfortunately it almost killed me.

Have you considered testing for anitbodies with enterolab? If you have still been having problems, which has lead to your thinking it was a misdiagnosis you should get yourself blood tested again to see if your antibody levels are going down (If your celiac panel was positive in the first place) and or consider that you may have a problem with casien or soy. The antibodies for both can be tested for through Enterolab.

[Judyin Philly]

i DO REMEMBER YOU WELCOME BACK

AFREE WITH RANGLER AND RAVEN.........

I DID THE STOOL TEST FROM ENDEROLABS AND FOUND THE CASEIN THERE.

SO AFTER 2 1/2 YEARS OF gluten-free, THEN SOY, TAPACIO, CASEIN, DAIRY, AND ALL MOST ALL PROCESSED FOODS AND EAT ONLY FRESH NOW..............I STILL WAS HAVING TROUBLE.

I RESEARCHED HABBA SYNDROME AFTER PATTI TOLD ME ABOUT MYSTERY DX ON TV AND TOOK PAPER TO MY DR AND STARTED THE POWDER FOR .........BILE SALT 'D' I HAVE MY GALLBLADDER BY THE WAY.

THEY ARE A FEW THREADS HERE ABOUT THE POWDER I CAN NEVER SPELL.

I CAN SEND YOU SOME LINKS IF YOU WANT .

I SURE HOPE YOU WILL NOT DO A CHALLANGE..........THE BLOOD WORK NOW WILL SHOW SOME GLUTEN........I DID MY TEST AGAIN AFTER 2 YEARS AND THE BLOOD WORK WAS GOOD AFTER GOING gluten-free.

HOPE THIS WAS OF HELP. WELCOME AGAIN.

JUDY

[Phyllis28]

Is it possible that you were sick while at home during the college break due to cross contamination? Another possibility is that you were infected by something like a stomach virus. For me the symptoms are similar to a glutening.

If you are still sick even when gluten free without getting better there maybe another illness or intolerance. In my opinion, it would be better to stay gluten free while trying to identify the cause of your problems. If you want to then you can do a gluten challege if you want.

Hope you feel better.

[wozzy]

Well, my reason for going on a gluten challenge was because I never really isolated gluten from dairy. I went gluten free and dairy free at the same time, and I never really determined if my issues were just from dairy.

During break, I ate a lot more dairy than normal but no gluten. I was pretty sick, and I began to wonder if I even have celiac disease or if my problems were caused by dairy all along. But now that I have spent a week eating gluten but absolutely no dairy, I know that gluten is a problem. I guess I don't really need the official diagnosis.