Gluten Allergy Blood Work Up Question

[Legmaker72]

Hey all,

I am planning on having some blood work up done to see if I truly do have a Gluten Allergy. The reason I say "truly" is that I started on my own going gluten free about 3 weeks ago and for the first two weeks, all of my symptoms had diminished almost immediatley....yet over the past week, I've had some GI issues again and now it makes me wonder if my solution was not valid.

My GI doc told me that I had to be back on a regular gluten containing diet prior to the tests, yet I don't know how long I need to return to my regular diet in order to take the tests. I'm a little apprehensive to do so anyhow, as I may experience increased symptoms during this prep time...

Does anyone know how long you should eat regular food for prior to the tests if I've only been gluten-free for about 3 weeks?

On one hand I would love to have a Pizza and Wheat beer party, but I don't know if I want the problems to get worse.

As a side note, a little background might help with responses as well. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis back in 1996 and have been treated for it since then...exaccerbations and remissions, fun, fun. Over the past few months, symptoms had become more frequent and my recent colonoscopy and blood work up indicated that my UC was in remission!

Then why am I so miserable? My Doc told me it might be IBS, but there is no magic pill for that and I would have to live with some amount of pathology! I could not accept her defeat, and decided to try the gluten-free diet and see how it worked...and it seemed to be at first, but now things are acting up again..

It's hard to know if my symptoms are coming from the UC, IBS or a Gluten Allergy.

So now I want to get officially tested, so I don't continue to eat rice crust pizzas if my symptoms are coming from something else.

Anyway....I hope somone can shed some light on this. As many of you here, I am tired, frustrated of being miserable and not having a true answer.

Thanks in advance!

Christopher

[Legmaker72]

Any advice would be helpful...

[aikiducky]

I think to be on the safe side go back on gluten for three weeks or so, considering that you haven't been gluten free for very long. But there's really no exact rule to this.

After you've had all the testing done, if you decide to try gluten free, don't be surprised if you get ups and downs again. It seems to be very typical in the beginning. One, it' takes time to heal and for your body to find a new balance, two, it's a major change in diet and your intestines need to have time to get used to it, three, it's very easy to make mistakes and accidentally ingest some gluten in the beginning, from cross contamination especially. So it's not so strange to first improve and to then have set backs.

Hope this helps!

Pauliina

[nora-n]

I have seen some abstracts about IBS etc. getting better going gluten-free.

Here is one: Open Original Shared Link

There are many people here without a definite diagnosis who very clearly have benefited from going gluten-free but they do not meet the strict criteriae for celiac.

Maybe they on