Worth It?

[bikingaway]

Ok, so I have been going back and forth on the gluten thing for awhile. I had started gluten-free for like three days about two months but had a bad reaction with broccoli and then realized the whole testing thing might be altered. Well, since then I have been struggling to get appointments set up and correlated with my schedule. I'm incredibly busy- in med school of all things, so time is essential. Based on that, I can't see the GI guy that my PCP is referring me to until the second to last week in August. I have no idea what his ideas will be or if he'll even start on the gluten-free route.

My question is, is it worth trying to go gluten-free in this time period, or should I just wait this out? I basically worry about the adjustment period and altering my diet to fit with being on my rotations (I start the hardest one at the end of august, which is least time forgiving). What do you guys think, will I mess myself up for any tests by going gluten-free?

[Lisa]

will I mess myself up for any tests by going gluten-free?

Yes is the answer to that question. Keep on a full gluten diet until you have exhausted all testing for the optimum accuracy.

[no-more-muffins]

You MAY mess yourself up for the testing if you go gluten free but if you feel better eating no gluten then what is the point of testing anyway? To me, feeling better on the diet is as good or better (and cheaper) than any testing. Also, there are a lot of people who have used enterolab.com to help them diagnose gluten sensitivity. It won't tell you if you have celiac per se, but it can tell you if you are intolerant to gluten. It is something worth reading about. I wouldn't wait 6 weeks to get into the dr. I"d just either try the diet or do the enterolab testing. Probably both. That is JMO though. Some people disagree with me. I think that continuing to eat gluten when you think it is making you sick soley for the purpose of testing to find out whether you should eat gluten just doesn't make sense.

Personally? I think that testing for celiac is overrated. The tests can come back negative even if you have a gluten sensitivity and they are invasive and expensive. If you do get tested and you do have the actual diagnosis, you can say you are celiac and you will know for sure, but many people know for sure that they are intolerant to gluten without being tested, or despite negative test results.