Glutening Myself Again For Biopsy

[Guest BERNESES]

Hi Everyone- This board is wonderful, first of all and has been so much help. I hope that when things settle down for me, I can add more.

I had the blood test for Celiac's 9 weeks ago (and went gluten-free immediately) and showed a weak positive in my Anti Gliadin (22.7. Above 20 is considered weak positive acc. to my lab). Had multiple tests (won't even go there!) and my first GI discovered gall stones. Before going gluten-free ( about 9 weeks now) I had the smelly gas, the soft stools, nausea, cold intolerance and basically felt like I had stomach flu all the time. After going gluten-free all that disappeared.

Got a second opinion, GI. thinks it may definitely be Celiac's so he is going to do biopsy next Fri. the 15th. He told me to start eating gluten again (not happy about it but had an accident and figured I'd just go with it). Some of my symptoms have returned (that stomach flu feeling) but it's up and down. For example, last night I had three big pieces of pizza (I was terrified) and this morning, I expected to wake up sick as a dog. So far, it's 10:30 am and all I am having is the soft stools, cramps and gas. Should I expect to get sicker? How long does it take for being "glutened" to show up? I've heard the range is anywhere from immediately to 2-3 days. I'm just surprised I don't feel sicker. Thanks for all your help, Beverly

[KaitiUSA]

The fact that you are experiencing anything at all should be a sign that your body is not handling gluten. You may or may not get worse. Some people don't even get symptoms when eating gluten but it still does the damage. How long have you been gluten free. They usually recommend being on gluten for 3 months before testing because if you were gluten free healing would take place and could cause a false reading.

[Guest BERNESES]

Hi Kaiti- I've been gluten-free so for 2 months so I'm not expecting it to show up in the biopsy- if it does it's a bonus. I took moderately positive bloodwork to be like moderately pregnant- you either are or your not! He's going to do the upper endoscopy anyway because he thinks my acid reflux (which decreased significantly on gluten-free diet) has been severely undertreated. I am content, regardless of what the test results say, to consider myself a Celiac and be gluten-free forever! If it shows up in the test, that's great, if not I will still return to gluten-free after biopsy. Dr. warned me if I had been doing a good job of being gluten-free, it might not show up. That's fine. Thanks for your answer- it was very helpful because this whole process has been so confusing and frustarting and scary! I really appreciate you post. have a great day, Beverly