Can Wheat Allergy Tests Rule Out Celiac?

[gamma517]

I am 28 and appear to have developed many of the symptoms of Gluten Intolerance. The weird part for me, is that I didn't have noticable symptoms until about 2 years ago, and it's been slowly getting worse and worse. Although, from reading the personal experiences on this website, I still seem to be a mild case at the moment.

However, I had a food allergy test taken(IgG4 antibodies test). Wheat listed as only very mild allergy, where as milk was a severe allergy. This shocked me completely, because I've had bowls of cereal 5 days a week my entire life. So I then gave up milk for months, and it made zero difference in my symptoms....

I was in a tough situation before, and probably for the next year, so I don't have insurance. Knowing that, my doctor didn't really have any idea what my problem could be, and I couldn't afford alot of random tests, so I just took a wait and see approach.

I never went back to milk, and I never got better, but there was just too many possible things that could be causing my symptoms. Then I saw Celiac's could cause anemia, and it made me remember my doctor saying my bloodwork showed I was slightly anemic. I've never had that before, and it shouldn't ever happen to me since I eat Tons of iron and meat, etc.

So I looked around, and all the symptoms fit. Except that I've gained some weight instead of losing it, I think I have all the symptoms. They just aren't as severe as everyone here seems to have them, but I'm worried it will keep getting worse.(albeit slowly, apparently)

But I'm confused by my allergy test. Is it possible to have Gluten Intolerance when you only have a mild wheat allergy? Do you guys think it's possible I have this disease, or am I very confused about something?

[ravenwoodglass]

Wheat allergy and celiac/gluten intolerance are two different things. People can have one or the other or both. Allergies are histamine reactions and tend to hit quickly after an allergenic substance comes into contact with us. Gluten intolerance and celiac are autoimmune antibody reactions and don't show up in allergy tests. Also not all celiacs are skinny, some of us gain weight when the disease first surfaces. Celiac also needs a trigger. That is usually an illness or a physical or mental stressor. Some of us can pinpoint it some of us can't. You could demand a celiac panel from your regular doctor, you could go with Enterolab tests which look for antibodies in the stool, or you could give the diet a good strict try and see if it helps. HOWEVER IF you choose to go gluten free before blood work or endo is done and then decide you want a doctors diagnosis you will need to go back on gluten for about 3 months to reactivate the antibodies and even then the risk of a false negative on blood and biopsy is still higher than we would like.

[Molly-F]

I live in Canada, so the cost didn't matter to me much. However I would still recommend investing in taking tests; it would be worth it to know what's really going on. Just don't avoid gluten before your tests, as I believe was mentioned above. I have a test on Wednesday and I've been eating gluten...thus I've been confined to the bathroom . Anyway, I kind of hope you just have an intolerance, at least then there's less damage to your body.

I haven't experienced any weight loss either. In fact, with it being Easter and all, I've probably gained it if anything. My malnutrition seems to be non-existant as well, except for my anemia and low B12...this goes to show that you may not experience these symptoms at all...but they're different for everybody.

Anyway, best of luck. Please get better soon!

[ravenwoodglass]

I kind of hope you just have an intolerance, at least then there's less damage to your body.

IMHO it is a common misconception that GI is less serious and causes less damage than celiac. Some including myself consider them to be simply differnt presentations of the same disease. With intolerance it can be other organs than the gut that sustain the most damage. People with DH, for example, are considered celiac but the main symptom can be skin issues with no gut issues. The antibodies can also attack the brain and other body systems. Take a look at my sig, almost all the issues I had were present for years before the celiac gut issues took hold. Some doctors would still consider me to be 'only' gluten intolerant because I don't show up in blood work.