Allergy Test For Highly Allergic People Who've Long Been On A Gluten Free Diet?

[jdnielsen]

Hello everyone,

I would like to know if there are any gluten allergy tests for people who have been on a gluten diet all their life. I get an almost instant and severe case of hives if I eat sigificant amounts of gluten e.g. a piece of bread, but now I would like to know if a.) I have a allergy to gluten or b.) I am a celiac. I know it is necessary to eat gluten for the biopsy, is this also the case for blood tests? If so, how much gluten and for how long is needed? Are there any other tests that do not require one to eat gluten?

My gluten story is as follows:

I am a male of 33 years age and have been on a gluten free diet since I was

about 2 years old (I was very ill and my parents determined gluten to be the

culprit by elimination). If I eat small amounts of gluten I get headaches,

itchy/red patches on my body, itchy mouth/throat or feel light headed and

spaced out. If I eat large amounts (e.g. a slice of bread) I quickly get very bad

hives all over my body (this has only happened by mistake three times in my

life - once at 18, then at 31 and 32).

Up until now my approach to eating gluten has been to avoid eatings foods

with substantial amounts of gluten. There are some foods which I know have

very small amounts gluten and I can tolerate ok e.g. soy sauce, corn chips with

gluten in the flavoring etc. But if I eat significant amounts (e.g. slice of

bread, spring roll) I get a rapid and severe case of hives.

Recently I was told that for people with celiacs disease eating gluten will

do damage even if the person does not feel bad (whereas, people with a

gluten allergy will not damage their body if they feel ok after eating small

amounts of gluten). Learning this has motivated me to want to get tested.

Hence my question at the start of this post.

Any insights people can provide would be very helpful.

Regards,

Jason

[lizard00]

Hi there, welcome

You can be tested by an allergist for a gluten/wheat allergy, and this can be done without eating gluten.

If you want to be tested for celiac, what you have heard is true. You must be consuming gluten for both the bloodwork and the biopsy. From the info that I've read, and from what my doc told me, if you are gluten-free already, you need to eat the equivalent of 2-4 slices of bread a day for 1-3 months, with one month being the minimum.

[jdnielsen]

Hi there, welcome

You can be tested by an allergist for a gluten/wheat allergy, and this can be done without eating gluten.

If you want to be tested for celiac, what you have heard is true. You must be consuming gluten for both the bloodwork and the biopsy. From the info that I've read, and from what my doc told me, if you are gluten-free already, you need to eat the equivalent of 2-4 slices of bread a day for 1-3 months, with one month being the minimum.

Hi Lizard, thanks for the quick response. Do you know what type of gluten tests allergists perform? And do you know how reliable they are?

Ultimately I know I have an allergy to gluten because if the reaction I get when i eat it... what I really what to know is if there is any damage being done to my body by eating small amounts e.g. in soy sauce, flavorings etc. That is, am I a celiac or just have an allergy to gluten? Hmmm...

Regards,

Jason

[lizard00]

Do you know what type of gluten tests allergists perform? And do you know how reliable they are?

Ultimately I know I have an allergy to gluten because if the reaction I get when i eat it... what I really what to know is if there is any damage being done to my body by eating small amounts e.g. in soy sauce, flavorings etc. That is, am I a celiac or just have an allergy to gluten? Hmmm...

Specifically, no, I don't know the names of the tests. (Other than they're looking for an IgE reaction, which is a true allergy) I had an allergy test performed by my GP two or three years ago. I don't know what they did or didn't test for, I think they were looking for environmental allergies, but instead found an egg white allergy. That test was back in the days before I was even sick, so I didn't call them to find out any additional info. It was a blood test.

I would still recommend at least calling an allergist's office and finding out what sort of testing they do and how accurate it is.