Can You Outgrow Gluten Intolerance?

[NancyJ]

My 15 year old son was diagnosed with gluten intolerance 8 years ago. Last spring he started eating wheat again and seems to be doing fine. Everyone tells me you will never outgrow it, but then why is he having no trouble. His original symptoms were severe abdominal cramps. After we started him on the diet, they went away. We also had to put him on a milk free diet at the same time. He eventually started having milk again after his system got better. I also have heard of teenagers from the age of 13 to about 16 or 17 going into remission, but then it comes back. Has anyone else experienced this? Can one ever outgrow it?

NancyJ

[Tim-n-VA]

I think that depends what you mean by "gluten intolerance". That term isn't used consistently. If you mean the same thing as celiac, you can't outgrow it although some people to go thru an asymptomatic stage (not to saw that there isn't silent damage still occuring).

If you are using gluten intolerance as an umbrella term for "I don't feel well when I consume gluten" than there are things you can outgrow.

[vanillazeis]

My 15 year old son was diagnosed with gluten intolerance 8 years ago. Last spring he started eating wheat again and seems to be doing fine. Everyone tells me you will never outgrow it, but then why is he having no trouble. His original symptoms were severe abdominal cramps. After we started him on the diet, they went away. We also had to put him on a milk free diet at the same time. He eventually started having milk again after his system got better. I also have heard of teenagers from the age of 13 to about 16 or 17 going into remission, but then it comes back. Has anyone else experienced this? Can one ever outgrow it?

NancyJ

I would be VERY careful! Like you said, sometimes with puberty... so around 13 or so, symptoms will subside, but there can still be intestinal damage. If you arent sure he doesnt have Celiac Disease I wouldn't be doing any experiments on him. I know you can have milk and gluten intolerance, but milk intolerance is very common in newly diagnosed people with celiac. It sounds like celiac. If you want him to eat gluten i would test him after 6 months and see what you're dealing with.

[Ursa Major]

It depends. If the gluten intolerance was a symptom secondary to another disease like Lyme Disease, then it is caused by a leaky gut, which will heal with Lyme Disease treatment.

If the celiac disease/gluten intolerance is the cause of the symptoms without anything else causing them, then no, you can't outgrow it.

He couldn't tolerate dairy for a while because the tips of the villi produce the enzyme lactase, without which you can't digest milk. Once the villi heal, many people can tolerate dairy again.

If your son was officially diagnosed with celiac disease then he will never outgrow it. But even if it is 'just' a gluten intolerance he won't.

Sometimes after everything heals (and that happens very fast with children), after several years, there seem to be no symptoms when consuming gluten. But often there will be different symptoms, instead of the gut symptoms. Like moodiness, depression, ADHD, spaciness, low energy, joint and muscle pain, headaches, weight gain (rather than weight loss), schizophrenia (yes, gluten intolerance can cause that), and a host of other problems you usually won't connect with celiac disease.

Or there may be no symptoms at all. Somehow the hormonal changes a teenager goes through puts them into true remission. For a while, anyway. Until, at about the age of 18 to 20 the symptoms come back with a vengeance, or even suddenly another autoimmune condition develops, like hypothyroidism.

Letting him eat gluten now is like playing Russian roulette with his life and his future, risking his health and happiness. It is a terrible idea. Period.

[Guest j_mommy]

I agree with Ursa. I wasn't DX'd until April 07 but I can remember a time when I was 14-16 when I didn't have the stomach issues. But they did come back and then I was diagnosed with Celiac. Which you never outgrow.