Does Gluten Intolerance Mean Celiac's Disease?

[kristn]

This past June I had food allergy testing done through a stool analysis. The results stated that I had an allergy/intolerance to gluten. Does this automatically mean that I have Celiac Disease? I have been on a strict gluten-free diet for 2 weeks, and am feeling much better, though not 100%. I am wondering if knowing I have a gluten intolerance is enough to justify a life-long gluten-free diet, or if I should still consider getting tested for Celiac Disease. My main problem right now is that I do not have health insurance and cannot afford testing. It will be 1-2 years before I expect to have health insurance again, and am not sure if I should stick to a gluten-free diet until I can get tested? Also, I am wondering if anyone knows of a (relatively) inexpensive way to test for Celiac Disease? Thank you for any help you can offer me!

[Mom23boys]

An allergy to gluten is not the same as Celiac.

Our nutritionist did tell us that milk and wheat issues of any kind are not to be toyed with because they do things in the body unlike other allergens.

Two weeks is a short time. I believe it can take about 6 months (or longer) to completely get gluten out of the system. The fact that you are feeling much better says a lot. I wouldn't throw away 2 years of health waiting to be tested.

[kbtoyssni]

I'm not quite sure why the results said allergy/intolerance. I thought an allergy is an immediate reaction while intolerance is more long-term (and autoimmune in the case of celiac).

I've always felt that gluten intolerance is the first step on your way to celiac. Celiac is diagnosed only after you have a lot of damage to th intestines; with gluten intolerance you are only just starting to get damage. Either way you should be on a gluten-free diet.

If you go gluten-free now and test in 1-2 years via traditional medical testing (blood test or scope) you will probably get a negative result. For these tests to work you have to be eating gluten - 4 servings a day for 3-6 months (probably 6 months in your case if you've had 1-2 years to heal). If you feel better it's probably not worth eating gluten again just to have a doctor say you have it. If you feel better, dietary response is a legitimate diagnosis.

If you want a more formal diagnosis, some here have gone through enterolab. I think it's around $200-300. BUT, I'm wondering what kind of testing you had done in June? Why not go with those results? Give it time to see results. It can take months to heal 100%.

[aprilh]

Gluten Intolerance can come from many underlying issues. Since dairy and wheat (gluten) are hard to digest in the first place, its usually the first to develop intolerances when there are underlying issues.

For me, I had a candida overgrowth and this caused leaky gut. I could not tolerate gluten or dairy at all! Now i can tolerate in small doses.

You could do the genetic testing for celiac through enterolab.

Is this your only issue or do you have some other underlying issues? Also bioset testing can be helpful.