The Villi

[mario]

I have been on the diet for about 10 days now. How long will it take for my villi to heal up and, once healed can it get flat again if an accident happens...?? My friend has been celiac for 10 years now and, he's gotten less sensitive...he really respects his diet..

mario

[Guest PastorDave]

Hi Mario;

I'm not an expert, but I've heard thta it takes a while for the villi to heal. It depends on the amount of damage. I think some people have noticed a difference in a few weeks, others in three or four months. If you hvae an accident and eat some gluten, there will be damage. It takes less than a milligram of gluten to do damage, so of course we have to be very careful.

I haven't been gluten free for long either, and I didn't have too much damage to my villi. I have been able to learn alot about celiac through my Mom (who has it) and my wife (who has a RN and her bachelor's degree in nursing). It is certainly difficult to understand, but it is possible to get it under control.

[mario]

it is possible to get it under control..but, my question was my gastroenterologist found my villi to be almost flat and, inflammed, he made a scetch of it and, told me that it was going to go back up in a couple months..he made a finger like scetch. Ok, what I'm trying to understand is, can just one small miligram of gluten flatten the villi all over again..???

[JsBaby-G]

Mario,

To begin with your villi most likely have not totally healed yet therefore are still somewhat flat. It does in fact take a couple of months for the villi to restore it's natural and healthy shape. I too, had massive damage to my villi and it took 3 months or more to get them back in shape. Yes the most minute amount of gluten can harm the villi. Gluten is poision to our systems. Think of it this way, if you give a plant a little bit of a chemical the leaves might wilt, but it won't die. The more chemical you give the plant the bigger impact it will have the plant physically but on a cellular level the damage is done. They won't totally flattened out again but there will be damage nonetheless. I've learned this the hard way. I've been on the diet for 8 years and I still make mistakes. It takes time, but you have to be very careful!! Hope that helps!

[mario]

thanks JsBaby G