What To Eat For A Accurate Blood Test?

[dizzygrinch]

I am going to have a blood test for celiac, what should I be eating for a proper diagnosis? I think I have read somewhere, that you should be eating wheat bread, but is a bowl of mini wheats cereal a day ok? should I include more wheat?

[Fiddle-Faddle]

It depends how long you have been either gluten-free or gluten-light, and possibly on how severe your symptoms and for how long you have had them.

THe conservative estimate is that you should have the equivalent of 3-4 slices of bread per day for 3-4 months straight.

Supposedly, it took years of gluten-eating to damage your intestines enough to cause your body to make antibodies to gluten. It doesn't take years to mend the damage, but once healed, it isn't necessarily going to be damaged again overnight, though you might notice an immediate return of symptoms.

[nora-n]

On the celiac.com site there is an article that says 0,3 grams gluten per kg, that would be 21 g if you are 70 kg. You have to do some maths for that. They say that the protein in wheat is 90% gluten, figure it out from the protein content of your flakes or bread. Here in Europe we can buy pure gluten powder....we add it to homemade bread dough for the gluten challenge. I have never heard of anyone using it on this forum.

I read in a pubmed abstract that in children that are on gluten challenge, they started to develop symptoms after 6 weeks - 6 years, and it was very variable. One really cannot say that 6 weeks are enough since it varied so much. But 6 weeks was the minimum.

nora

[bsiyatadshmayah]

  Fiddle-Faddle said:

It depends how long you have been either gluten-free or gluten-light, and possibly on how severe your symptoms and for how long you have had them.

THe conservative estimate is that you should have the equivalent of 3-4 slices of bread per day for 3-4 months straight.

Supposedly, it took years of gluten-eating to damage your intestines enough to cause your body to make antibodies to gluten. It doesn't take years to mend the damage, but once healed, it isn't necessarily going to be damaged again overnight, though you might notice an immediate return of symptoms.

I'm going to be sick Now I'm reading that I should be on this gunk for THREE or FOUR months??

I've only been on a gluten challenge for 10 weeks now, after being very gluten light for over 5 years. I don't know how much longer I can pull this off....I'm popping out of my clothes for one thing.

I have an appointment with a GI in a couple of days. I am bringing with me some ambiguous blood work. I hope he is enlightened. I'll find out. I have a book here that has some "test questions" I can ask him, acting as if I don't know the answer. If he doesn't know the correct answer, he's not up-to-date, so I move on.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

  bsiyatadshmayah said:

. I don't know how much longer I can pull this off....I'm popping out of my clothes for one thing.

I am at the point where I question the validity of the testing/diagnosis procedure to begin with!

If somebody has a mild reaction to eating peanuts, the doctors do NOT say, "you must eat peanuts every day so that your reactions become more severe, and when they are severe enough (like anaphylactic shock), only THEN will we diagnose you with peanut allergy."

But that's precisely what they are doing with gluten--they won't diagnose celiac until you have gotten to the point where you've caused visible damage to the villi lining the lower intestines.

It seems to me that gluten causes more widespread problems than peanuts do. Those problems are certainly less severe in the beginning, but eventually they DO become severe, so why the heck do we here (and we're here because we already HAVE problems, right?) all feel we need an official MD-sanctioned seal of approval before we eliminate it from out diets?

And why do doctors not see any problem with asking us to DAMAGE ourselves so they can see on a test (which translates to lots of $$) what we already know--that gluten causes us problems?

Now, if you go on a gluten-free diet, and see no change or very little change, or have other ongoing symptoms, then I can see a point to continued testing, but if everything is fixed by a simple diet change, why jump through expensive and time-consuming hoops only to come to the same conclusion???

Gaah!.

[dizzygrinch]

Hi Fiddle-Faddle, and BINGO! you are exactly right!!! I am so sick of seeing doctors, same ol story, and always being sick. And I really dont think, that since there are so many falst neg. anyways, that I am just going to go gluten free, and if I feel better, GREAT!! how can that hurt?? if problems persist, then I look for more answers. Its just sooo annoying to not be certain, and I know people feel better with a sure diagnosis, but as you said, unless there is a lot of damage to the intestine, I dont think we will ever get a positive 100% test result, without the possibility of false neg. I think just trying to eat without gluten, will be the best way to see if I feel better. Just like running a fancy sports car on low grade fuel/oil. Sure, it will be fine, then eventually, there will be a lot of internal damage, then, one could say, shouldnt have been putting that in your car!! now, lets fix it, and you better start using this stuff, without the bad ingredients...well, I hope that made sense!! lol... anyway, I know we arent cars, but, this is just so exhausting....Im on a personal quest for feel better!