Not Sure If This Is A Gluten Reaction

[hpymomof3]

My 15 year old daughter went on a gluten free diet about 5 months ago. She had never had any intestinal issues. Her ONLY symptom was insomnia. The insomnia hadn't improved at all after being gluten free for 5 months. This past week we went to two different doctors (sleep specialist and gastroenterologist) Both of them strongly feel that my daughter is not gluten intolerant. She tested negative on a saliva test but borderline positive on the Enterolab test. She scored an 11. They also feel that she should have had some improvement by now since we had been very strict with her gluten free diet.

So we decided to have her start eating gluten again. Friday afternoon I gave her a few goldfish crackers. She had no reaction. Friday afternoon she had a few more crackers. For dinner she had a gluten-free dinner but I also gave her one breaded cheese stick. She still had no reaction. Saturday morning she had a waffle with no reaction. For lunch she had a cheeseburger (with bun) and no reaction. Last night for dinner she had pizza filled poppers, which were breaded. She didn't have a reaction to any of these foods but around 2 am last night she had diarrhea. Now I am wondering if it is a reaction or it is just coincidence. I kind of feel that she would have had some kind of reaction on Friday if it was the gluten.

Is it possible that anyone would have a reaction (gluten intolerant or not) after being off of gluten and then going back on it? I'm also wondering if it is possible that she just had a bad reaction to that kind of food. I know once in a while a particular food just doesn't agree with you but that you are fine the next time you eat it.

Other than the diarrhea she seems fine and doesn't really have cramps, no brain fog, etc. Any suggestions?

[nasalady]

It can take me anywhere from 8 to 72 hours to react to gluten. Everyone is different. Some people react VERY quickly (minutes), others don't.

If it were my daughter, I would assume that the diarrhea was a reaction to the gluten; that IS the classic reaction, after all. And I would believe her physical reactions to a food over anything told to me by a medical professional .... you have to go with reality, with what you see with your own eyes, not what the AMA wants you to believe is reality.

I'm not anti-doctor, but many of them have been brain-washed into believing that it's extremely rare to have a problem with gluten, and it's just NOT. Your daughter needs you to be her advocate here, and to go with what's best for her. If she has a gluten problem, this is serious; allowing her to continue to eat gluten can lead to enormous health problems in the future, including other autoimmune diseases like lupus and autoimmune hepatitis, or even cancer!

Take it from me.....I've probably had celiac disease since I was much younger than your daughter, but was just diagnosed at the age of 52. Just look at the list of illnesses I have in my signature. I know what I'm talking about.

Good luck!

JoAnn