What Happens If....

[milelj]

you have celiac disease but continue to eat a normal diet with gluten. What are the complications of still eating gluten? We're pretty sure I have celiac disease. I just got tested today, but don't have the results back yet. I would never continue eating them, just curious....

[The One]

Hi milelj, the consequences of continuing a regular diet with gluten are huge and different for each individual. Let me name a few of the complications you could face in the future if you were to continue this diet:

-Other Autoimmune disorders like Thyroid disease, Diabetes, Rheumathoid Arthritis, I've heard people can develop Lupus as well, Fibromialgia, autoimmune nerve damage.

-Neurological conditions such as seizures, Neuropathies, loss of balance, dizziness, clumsiness, ataxia, even spine problems.

-Arthritis, asthma, muscle pain/spasms, vitamin deficiency, hair loss, sexual dysfunction in both male and females.

-Gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, yellow stool, vomiting, nausea.

Some people come to a state where they cannot tolerate any food, I've heard of someone having to take vitamins through IV because he could not eat anything at all.

-Anxiety, Depression and many other mental disorders. and the list goes on and on.

Hope that was helpful for you, good luck with your test and if you do test positive, good luck with your diet, you should keep us updated and you will see people here are very willing to help others who are just starting the diet to cope.

AJ

[ShayFL]

I think you forgot: Lymphoma, Melanoma and other cancers related to untreated Celiac.

[WendyG]

Ill chime in too since I did this for 5 years...

severe anemia, bone loss, hair falling out from malabsorption

weakness, exhaustion, no energy to keep up with my children

I am feeling much better and we found out this summer

my 8 year old also has Celiac so now we are both living better healthier lives!

w

[mhb]

I think you forgot: Lymphoma, Melanoma and other cancers related to untreated Celiac.

Hi ShayFL, I'm curious what you know of the melanoma link. I read an abstract at PubMed saying celiacs have 5x the risk for melanoma. At the end of the actual article it said they couldn't explain this but that it may just be attributable to rising rates of melanoma generally. Do you know of anything else related to this?

[fedora]

mhb,

I have looked and been unable to find information on why melanoma risks are higher in celiacs. I am very interested in knowing. My one theory is that the antibodies spread through the body and one place they collect is the skin. somehow the skin is very suspectible to the antibodies.

I have half of the celiac gene only, DQ0202, BUT

I have issues on both sides of my family: my one grandmother died of lymphoma that originated in the belly somewhere

my other grandmother has melanoma and has had it for 12 years(a medical mystery that she is still alive).

she had a rash on her hands up to her elbows when she was younger. I had the same rash on my hands.

so I take my half a gene very seriously and avoid gluten at all costs.

[lbd]

Vitamin D protects against melanoma and other cancers. I would guess that if you are not absorbing nutrients properly from food from the gluten intolerance and do not get enough sunlight, especially in these days of sunblocks, then chances are you are deficient in Vitamin D, thus the higher rate of cancer.

Laurie

[ShayFL]

Laurie you got to it before me. Yes, many Celiacs are def. in vitamin D. D protects us from skin cancer.

[spunky]

Somewhere along the way I've seen celiac disease/risk compared to smoking and risks.

For example, some people smoke and hack and cough, some smoke and don't, or some get emphasema, others never get it... some get lung cancer, others never do, some get heart disease, others don't, some die young because of smoking, some live long anyway, etc., etc., etc.

Maybe it's not 100% analogous, but I've seen celiac compared to that... some eat gluten and seem to go on okay, but there are definite risks that serious disease could happen and/or your general quality of life may be severely affected.

And the smoking analogy continued... as with smoking, once a person stops smoking their risks for associated diseases begin to fall, and after several years aren't really significantly different than nonsmokers'. Same with celiac... whether you can live with the symptoms or not (apparently some celiacs have no symptoms), you're doing yourself a big favor by staying away from the stuff and allowing your body to get back to normal risks.

Makes sense to me to look at it that way.

[milelj]

Thanks so much for all your replies! I didn't realize there were so many risks. This is very helpful and motivating to be strictly gluten free.