Understanding Celiac Disease...

[KC13]

I'm new to this, so I apologize if I've asked questions that are asked 54378957349 times daily.

I was diagnosed with Celiac about 7 years ago. I went on the diet, but not very strictly. Didnt really worry about CC, just read labels, learned what you're not supposed to eat, etc. One meal a week I would cheat.

I followed the diet for about four years this way. Went to my GI doctor regularly, had endoscopies/bloodwork every six months, doctor said I was doing great and to keep doing what I was doing. Became completely asymptomatic, so I stopped following it and became a stupid college kid drinking beer and eating pizza.

Fast forward three years. I am now starting to follow the diet again. However, on lurking this board for a couple of days, it seems like things are a lot more strict than it used to be and people are about a million times more educated than me. I've learned so much though, and have been more conscious of cooking my husband and my own pasta in separate pans, getting a different toaster, etc.

Here are my questions. I eat one meal a day at work-we have an employee caf. It's salad and I bring my own dressings, but I won't know if there's any CC. Does everyone have celiac the same way? Does every person need to follow the diet to the same extreme as everyone else? Or if when I go for my semi annual checkups and everything looks good, can I stop worrying that my salad at work or cheating every couple of weeks?

Any links to useful information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[kbtoyssni]

Yes, everyone has celiac the same way. If you've been diagnosed, you've got it. We all have different symptoms, but we all have to be 100% gluten-free. Sounds like your immediate symptoms aren't that bad, but you're still doing a lot of damage and this will eventually lead to other autoimmune diseases, cancer, neurological symptoms, etc. You don't want that to happen.

Not sure what tests your doctor does, but many of us have negative blood work. It's not a very good indicator of whether you have issues with gluten. And you have no idea if your numbers are higher than they should be due to CC if you just go on "positive" or "negative" blood work.

You need to talk to the cafeteria staff about whether your salad might have CC. If there's even a chance, don't eat it! Bring your own lunch, eat something else. It's not worth it!

[ptkds]

If you cheat every week or two, you may as well forget about being gluten-free. Gluten in any amount does damage to your intestines whether you get sick or not. When you consume gluten, you are putting yourself at increased risk of cancer, other autoimmune disorders, and other stuff.

I don't know about the salads at work. Unless you are picking croutons off of it or something, it might be ok.

Welcome to the boards! This place is great to answer your questions. Don't worry about asking anything!

[Salem]

I used to cheat. I first got sick in 2001, went wheat free, and constantly cheated. I wasn't diagnosed Celiac, but allergic to wheat. I didn't feel sick unless I cheated too often (or wheat-binged). Fast forward 7 years, I was cheating several times a week. Gluten sickness used to last 1 day, now it lasts 3 days, with stomach pain so bad I thought I was going to die (and kind of wanted to die). I think that my sickness became more severe because I cheated. Do yourself a favour and take care of yourself now. I didn't realize that I was hurting myself. There were symptoms beyond the stomach problems, I didn't realize that I had other symptoms until I went gluten-free.