I Want Them To Be Wrong!

[MartialArtist]

I received a diagnosis of celiac disease a week ago yesterday. I'm diligently following a strict gluten-free diet and aggressively exploring options to continue a diet that resembled my "regular" diet with replacement gluten-free items. So I'm not *acting* illogically but I'm still dealing with some pretty strong feelings of denial. The bottom line I want to know is whether there is ANY other problem I could be having that might cause the results (detailed below) that led them to label my problem as celiac. Based on what I've read, all signs point to celiac, but I don't want it to be that!! (And I'd suspect that most of you won't have expertise to declare it possibly something else, but any direction to search would be appreciated.

So here are the results that indicate celiac:

(1) Unexplained anemia that didn't improve on a year's worth of iron pills

(2) Endoscopy performed with two biopsies of duodenum ("first part" and "third part" are the labels used on the path report). Both described as "severe villous atrophy and increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes (consistent with celiac disease)". Further comments say "Sections show absence of villous architecture. The surface is flat." and "Sections again show duodenal mucosa with absence of villous architecture."

(3) Blood test (Celiac panel) run: Gliadin IgG, Gliadin IgA, TTG IgG and TTG IgA all positive (and not by small margins)

Info that is contra-indicative (IMHO):

(1) B-12 and Vitamin D both in normal ranges (indicating appropriate absorption there, I'd believe)

(2) I don't feel sick like people say they do. I get reflux from time to time (including in the last few days with no gluten going in!!), but I never have double-over cramps or problems with the big D.

It's hard to get behind this lifestyle change when everyone keeps saying "you'll feel so much better" when I don't feel BAD to begin with!!

So tell me what else it could be so I can bother the docs to run THAT down and get back to having Bisquick pancakes for breakfast!

[mushroom]

Well, yes, I'd say there is some pretty strong denial going on there. Every test for celiac was strongly positive. There was not even a slightly doubtful result.

Now, as to your symptoms. You are not alone in not having noticeable symptoms. For many people the diagnosis comes out of the blue when they are actually looking for something else. Not everyone has digestive symptoms. Not everyone has nutritional deficiencies - that is why it is recommended that you be tested for them first before supplementation.

I know it is probably harder for you to accept the diagnosis because you had not been suffering like most of us for long periods and searching for what was wrong with us. But I don't know how to countermand your results. And I don't believe that makes you at lower risk of other diseases as a result of a continuing consumption of gluten.

I'm afraid I've nothing to offer you.

[celiac-mommy]

Sorry, but the only help I can give you with your Celiac Disease (yes, your Celiac Disease) is to run out and get yourself some Pamela's pancake and baking mix. My hypercritical family likes it MUCH better than Bisquick, and they all consume massive amount of gluten. Also, the bast waffles you'll ever eat

Good luck

[TrillumHunter]

Nope, looks like you've got it. There is such a thing as silent celiac.

It's okay. Work through how you feel and you'll be okay. It isn't that bad.

About the b12-your body normally has a good store of it. You can be drawing from this if you aren't absorbing it from your diet. Until this store is used, you won't be deficient. There isn't an exact timetable fot this; it's different for everybody.

Pancakes are one of the easiest things to make gluten-free!

[MartialArtist]

Pancakes are one of the easiest things to make gluten-free!

If you have a recipe you really like, I'd love to have it!

I spent the entire morning today just doing pancake recipes (since I can't eat any of the cereals, frozen waffles, etc. that I used to eat) and found 2 (a rice-based and a corn-based) that worked pretty well, but I was hoping to magically find one that was indistinguishable from my previous ones (like the Tinkyada lasagna I made this week was). Maybe I need to try Pamela's again b/c while I thought they were edible, I didn't really love them when I tried them this weekend (and Bob's Red Mill didn't float my boat either).

As you can see, I am diligently exploring my options. I'm just hating have to relearn how to cook b/c I had pretty well mastered it when it included wheat options! I feel like a food-obsessed manic-depressive b/c one minute I'm elated about having found something gluten-free and yummy, and the next I'm exhausted and deflated over having to read every label and figure out what staples in my food repertoire are now things of the past.

I get that this will all pass, but not fast enough, I fear!

[mushroom]

and the next I'm exhausted and deflated over having .... to figure out what staples in my food repertoire are now things of the past.

I hear you. As a nightshade intolerant person, all my old staples were based around potatoes and tomatoes, with my favorite dish being ratatouille And no matter how you slice the apple, there's no substituting for those things - well, at least not yumilly.

[lovegrov]

YOU HAVE CELIAC!!!! No question.

richard

[psawyer]

YOU HAVE CELIAC!!!! No question.

richard

I agree.

Anger and denial are part of the grieving process, and we all go through grieving at the loss. But the gain is control of our health and it is definitely worth it.

[Roda]

I have to say call a spade a spade..you have celiac. It does suck at first, but you will find your way. What I do have to offer you is a very easy pancake recipe. My entire family, husband, two boys, mom and dad all gluten eaters love these. I use baking powder instead of baking soda, do not add the vanilla and we mix in little cinnamon chips into the batter and eat them with maple syrup. I experimented alot with pancakes and we have settled on this recipe. Simple but satisfying. I made them a couple of days ago for supper and used almond milk instead of regular milk. I got some looks from the family, but they eagerly ate them up and liked them just as much.

Open Original Shared Link

[Jestgar]

Info that is contra-indicative (IMHO):

(1) B-12 and Vitamin D both in normal ranges (indicating appropriate absorption there, I'd believe)

(2) I don't feel sick like people say they do. I get reflux from time to time (including in the last few days with no gluten going in!!), but I never have double-over cramps or problems with the big D.

B12 can take years to deplete.

Vitamin is created in the skin through sunlight

Not everyone feels sick immediately. For some people it's not until they can no longer walk that they finally "feel" something.

[AlysounRI]

Martial Artist:

Seven years ago, when I finally went, sick as a dog, to a naturapath with debilitating IBS, and she first suggested that I give up wheat, I was utterly shocked!!

What do yo mean, give up wheat?????

I grew up Italian American. I had spent my entire life eating pasta and bread.

I knew no other way of cooking.

I had to make a giant change!! I had always loved Indian and Thai and Japanese cooking but I had never done it.

I decided to try it and now that's the way I tend to cook.

The American diet is so incredibly wheat based. We have bagels for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner.

Wheat everywhere. Wheat cannot be digested by human beings, now if we were cows with a for chambered stomach we'd all be okay!!

Besides wheat is a natural inflammatory - and, as a result, it's a generally harmful food stuff to humans. Read Stephen Wangen's

Healther without wheat and it will blow your mind.

It takes a change in thinking but it can be done.

If you get some Asian cookbooks (Indian is easier to do than you think!!), and you have a market nearby where you can get the groceries, I say try it.

Fast forward 7 years. After going off wheat and feeling just okay, it all became too much and I fell off the non-wheat wagon. Seven years later it all became

debilitating again. Then I did an experiment and went off gluten entirely. Best I have ever felt in my life. Went back on for testing. Miserable. Blood test

and endo negative for celiac but IgA levels very high which indicates a pronounced intolerance of the stuff.

Without wheat and gluten in your diet, you will eat so much better. You won't ever lack your five servings of fruit and veg a day. Your family will eat better.

You will discover new, beneficial grains and your body will heal.

I had massive problems with my stomach, intestinal tract, headaches, body aches, low energy and I turned out not to be a celiac!! You never felt it and you are!!

It's an odd thing, isn't it. Three weeks into what I am making a permanent dietary change for non-celiac reasons, I am starting to feel human again. My energy has come back,

and I seriously don't know how I functioned for the rest of my life, as I was just obviously going on auto pilot.

I'm happier now and I have real food going in me.

And, though you never felt the damage happening to your body, you will too.

If you want to explore Asian cooking, with some exceptions, it tends to be naturally gluten free.

And you can avoid MSG, though you can't guarantee that if you eat out.

There's a whole big world of cuisines out there and hopefully you will discover so much!!

And you will heal in the process and down the line, your body will thank you!!

~Allison

[Darn210]

The bottom line I want to know is whether there is ANY other problem I could be having that might cause the results (detailed below) that led them to label my problem as celiac.

OMG . . . I believe those were my exact words about three years ago when my daughter was diagnosed. You couldn't ask for a more positive blood test. Although she had no villious atrophy, she had a generalized disaccharidase deficiency. Her only symptom (acid reflux with regurgitation) was not a classic Celiac symptom of the abdominal cramping and diarrhea (just have to throw in here that I have since learned that the symptoms are much more wide and varied than you read in most literature or on-line).

I have to tell you that what you are going through is very normal . . . and it will pass. You gotta do what you gotta do to convince yourself that this is real so that you will believe your results and adhere to your diet. If you need to get a second opinion, do so. I asked to see one of the older more experienced pedGI's (who was suppose to be very Celiac savvy). I figured that he would know what else should be ruled out before she was diagnosed with Celiac. While I got a lecture on how he would have done all the testing and how his protocol was better than the doctor that originally diagnosed her, he agreed it was Celiac. All along, I was still going through the motions by completely doing what I was suppose to do diet-wise. I was going to show them that the gluten-free diet didn't solve her problems, so it must not be Celiac (yep, still in denial). I was convinced it was Celiac the day she came home from school where she had gotten something with wheat (the brands had been switched and while the old brand was OK, the new brand was definitely not). She looked like something the cat dragged in.

Also want to add, that the whole family loves the Pamela's pancakes. I've had no problem serving them to guests . . . and they've had no problems gobbling them up!!!

Welcome to the board!! You've found a great source for advice and information and a place to come where people understand your frustrations.

[bunche73]

Hi from New Zealand, I to had no symptoms like bloating, stomach pains. My blood test was neg and this was done because my iron was very low even after the cancer was removed and they thought it would rise but it didn't. I would not have known that as I felt good and healthy BUT my biopsy in 2004 was positive. I went straigh gluten free and stayed gluten-free for three years.I did a gluten challenge while on holiday in Italy in 2007, only have a bit of past came home and had a biopsy again and it was positive again. I did this gluten challenge because I felt so well compared to some people I have read about. Since then I have stayed totally gluten free. You know you do not need any out ward symptoms to have Celiac Disease but it can be a silent killer. I had bowel / rectal cancer with radio therapy ever day for seven weeks and chemo therapy 24/7 for the same time to shrink the cancer which it did then for my 50th birthday, in April 2002, and four weeks after my last radiotherapy had an operation, re arranging my body, and am now an Ostomate, I have a colostomy bag FOR EVER not reversible. So please take being a Celiac very serious. Meat and vegetables and fruit and everything in as close to natural state as possible, it is so much easier to eat at home. Yes I know eating out is a big pain. I went back to Italy and Switzerland in 2008 and as a Celiac it was not easy. After ordering gluten-free in restaurants and ending up eating salad till it came out my ears I started to eat salads at MacDonalds, were they are so nice there in Italy, and did not have to go through all the special ordering hassles. I am heading back to Paris in two weeks and over to Switzerland, with my husband and youngest son,so I am not looking forward to eating out all the time. One time when I was wondering if it was worth all the hassle a good friend, a Prof in Immunology, asked me 'Do you want to relive the last five years of your life' WELL I DID NOT. so there was my answer.I got diagnosed at 52 years old. Yes there were heaps of symptoms for me if I really think about it, infertility the big one, seven year gaps between children, one child, our daughter, died at birth and our last child was born when I was 43 and half years old. How pleased we were to have him our third child. Most desert and cake recipes can easily be adapted. Sadly the body seems to add other things to the list of things you can not eat, like spicy foods, ice cream etc but they are not life threatening I don't think. All the best to you and you choices.

[tarnalberry]

I received a diagnosis of celiac disease a week ago yesterday. I'm diligently following a strict gluten-free diet and aggressively exploring options to continue a diet that resembled my "regular" diet with replacement gluten-free items. So I'm not *acting* illogically but I'm still dealing with some pretty strong feelings of denial. The bottom line I want to know is whether there is ANY other problem I could be having that might cause the results (detailed below) that led them to label my problem as celiac. Based on what I've read, all signs point to celiac, but I don't want it to be that!! (And I'd suspect that most of you won't have expertise to declare it possibly something else, but any direction to search would be appreciated.

So here are the results that indicate celiac:

(1) Unexplained anemia that didn't improve on a year's worth of iron pills

(2) Endoscopy performed with two biopsies of duodenum ("first part" and "third part" are the labels used on the path report). Both described as "severe villous atrophy and increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes (consistent with celiac disease)". Further comments say "Sections show absence of villous architecture. The surface is flat." and "Sections again show duodenal mucosa with absence of villous architecture."

(3) Blood test (Celiac panel) run: Gliadin IgG, Gliadin IgA, TTG IgG and TTG IgA all positive (and not by small margins)

Info that is contra-indicative (IMHO):

(1) B-12 and Vitamin D both in normal ranges (indicating appropriate absorption there, I'd believe)

(2) I don't feel sick like people say they do. I get reflux from time to time (including in the last few days with no gluten going in!!), but I never have double-over cramps or problems with the big D.

It's hard to get behind this lifestyle change when everyone keeps saying "you'll feel so much better" when I don't feel BAD to begin with!!

So tell me what else it could be so I can bother the docs to run THAT down and get back to having Bisquick pancakes for breakfast!

To quote my husband, after I read him your post, "You're screwed." Doesn't really matter what you want it to be, you know what it is.

Your tests are all positive and your "contra-indications" are not really contraindications. You can have allergies without sneezing. You can have a cold without coughing. You can have the flu without miserable body aches. Just like you can have celiac without having each and every possible symptom.

Many celiacs are "silent celiacs" - they do not experience many of the symptoms that others do. They may experience virtually NO symptoms, or only a few, very minor annoyances. Unfortunately, regardless of symptoms, silent celiacs are at the same risk for complications down the road - including intestinal cancer, other autoimmune diseases, and a shorted life span - if they don't follow a gluten free diet.

Those blood tests specifically looked to see if your immune system was responding to the protein in wheat - and it is. There's no question here; you have celiac disease.

Not many things cause complete villous atrophy, though a few things can. They are all fairly rare, include tropical sprue (but you would have many other symptoms that you don't describe), HIV (which, at that point, would also give you many other symptoms), a couple other food intolerances (milk and soy, but this is quite rare and generally only manifests in very young children), and different types of gastroenteritis (which, again, would have you present with more symptoms and is also generally only manifest in this fashion in very young children). But you aren't going to get the positive blood results in these cases.

Sorry about it, but you've got celiac.

[Pac]

...if we were cows with a for chambered stomach we'd all be okay!!

Not even this statement is 100% true. If you put too much gluten-containing grains to cattle feed, they have stomach problems - it changes the acidity of their stomach, (which leads to changes in the stomach flora and indigestion). Moose can't be fed wheat at all, they get sick even with their four stomachs. Wheat shouldn't be fed to easily iritated and nervous horses. I've read one article from 1950's about wheat inducing behavioral changes and "craziness" in dogs. The autors suspected wheat to be neurotoxic to canids. (and now wheat is the staple of their diet, if you feed them pellets.) Even my mice - grain-eaters by nature - don't eat wheat if they have gluten-free grains available. Seems like we are not alone with our gluten intolerance.

[AlysounRI]

Not even this statement is 100% true. If you put too much gluten-containing grains to cattle feed, they have stomach problems - it changes the acidity of their stomach, (which leads to changes in the stomach flora and indigestion). Moose can't be fed wheat at all, they get sick even with their four stomachs. Wheat shouldn't be fed to easily iritated and nervous horses. I've read one article from 1950's about wheat inducing behavioral changes and "craziness" in dogs. The autors suspected wheat to be neurotoxic to canids. (and now wheat is the staple of their diet, if you feed them pellets.) Even my mice - grain-eaters by nature - don't eat wheat if they have gluten-free grains available. Seems like we are not alone with our gluten intolerance.

I think I read that too.

Cows and other ruminants should graze on grass.

I stand corrected.

So wheat and grain is pretty toxic to ruminants too and to most other creatures.

I can't imagine moose being fed grain but then I don't imagine moose being captive creatures, you know.

I wonder what the Sami people feed their reindeer?

Thanks for mentioning those to me.

~Allison

[Coleslawcat]

I received a diagnosis of celiac disease a week ago yesterday. I'm diligently following a strict gluten-free diet and aggressively exploring options to continue a diet that resembled my "regular" diet with replacement gluten-free items. So I'm not *acting* illogically but I'm still dealing with some pretty strong feelings of denial. The bottom line I want to know is whether there is ANY other problem I could be having that might cause the results (detailed below) that led them to label my problem as celiac. Based on what I've read, all signs point to celiac, but I don't want it to be that!! (And I'd suspect that most of you won't have expertise to declare it possibly something else, but any direction to search would be appreciated.

So here are the results that indicate celiac:

(1) Unexplained anemia that didn't improve on a year's worth of iron pills

(2) Endoscopy performed with two biopsies of duodenum ("first part" and "third part" are the labels used on the path report). Both described as "severe villous atrophy and increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes (consistent with celiac disease)". Further comments say "Sections show absence of villous architecture. The surface is flat." and "Sections again show duodenal mucosa with absence of villous architecture."

(3) Blood test (Celiac panel) run: Gliadin IgG, Gliadin IgA, TTG IgG and TTG IgA all positive (and not by small margins)

Info that is contra-indicative (IMHO):

(1) B-12 and Vitamin D both in normal ranges (indicating appropriate absorption there, I'd believe)

(2) I don't feel sick like people say they do. I get reflux from time to time (including in the last few days with no gluten going in!!), but I never have double-over cramps or problems with the big D.

It's hard to get behind this lifestyle change when everyone keeps saying "you'll feel so much better" when I don't feel BAD to begin with!!

So tell me what else it could be so I can bother the docs to run THAT down and get back to having Bisquick pancakes for breakfast!

I had very similar feelings upon my diagnosis. My symptoms were very mild and not the traditional GI symptoms (diarrhea etc). My bloodwork and biopsy were both positive, but I desperately didn't want to believe it. I also was diligent about following the diet, but kept hoping the doctor was wrong. As I kept on the gluten-free diet it became obvious whenever I would accidently get gluten that I did indeed have celiac disease. Overtime my glutening symptoms got a lot more severe as my body got used to not having it.

It's normal to grieve your old lifestyle. I still get pissed off every now and then about food I can't eat. Go out and buy some Pamela's Baking Mix and have your pancakes though! That Pamela's mix is pretty darn yummy.

[kareng]

I haven't tried the Pamelas because I am not a big pancake eater. However, my husband adds cinnamon, cloves, ginger, vanilla & a little brown sugar to regular pancake mix & it makes them soooo much better. You could try that with the Pamelas. Also, I found that when I tried gluten-free stuff right after going gluten-free I found myself comparing it to the "real" thing. Hated the rice pasta. 4 weeks without glutinous pasta & rice pasta tastes great. Give yourself a few weeks without the "real" thing on any food or beer & the gluten-free ones can be evaluated on thier own merit.

[AKcollegestudent]

I'm with everyone else: you've got it. I'm sorry, but there's probably nothing else that's causing it.

That said, I'm sorry--if you're anything like me, you're going to hate half of the gluten-free foods you're eating right now. They taste okay, but not great, right?

Go down to meat, vegetables, all simple foods for a month or two. Slowly work up to being gluten free. It sounds like a pain, I know. But a) it'll help heal any damage that's going on, and when you start adding in the gluten free foods, they're going to taste a lot better.

Some of my favorite foods now, like gluten free crepes, are things that I thought were "meh" 9 months ago. (And I can't help with pancakes; I didn't like them when I still ate gluten and I see no reason to try 'em now.)

[Korwyn]

Sorry MA, I hate to tell you that you are living the river "De Nile". I don't see any other possibility.

Bob's Red Mill pancake/waffle mix is a good one. 1 cup mix, 1 cup milk (or milk substitute), 3 Tbps coconut oil - tho I suppose you could use Canola or some other vegetable oil if you like poisoning yourself - , 3 eggs, and I like to add a splash of vanilla.

[proud-armywife]

I am there with you MA Hope you have a better day. I wish I could take my magic wand and wave it away- I have not committed myself to no gluten forever. Sad I know. But I just can't believe all this either. It will be ok. You will find a way, it will take time, you may slip up but in the end, at least we know right? It's your choice what you do with your life.

[Carmella]

Martial Artist:

Seven years ago, when I finally went, sick as a dog, to a naturapath with debilitating IBS, and she first suggested that I give up wheat, I was utterly shocked!!

What do yo mean, give up wheat?????

I grew up Italian American. I had spent my entire life eating pasta and bread.

I knew no other way of cooking.

I had to make a giant change!! I had always loved Indian and Thai and Japanese cooking but I had never done it.

I decided to try it and now that's the way I tend to cook.

The American diet is so incredibly wheat based. We have bagels for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner.

Wheat everywhere. Wheat cannot be digested by human beings, now if we were cows with a for chambered stomach we'd all be okay!!

Besides wheat is a natural inflammatory - and, as a result, it's a generally harmful food stuff to humans. Read Stephen Wangen's

Healther without wheat and it will blow your mind.

It takes a change in thinking but it can be done.

If you get some Asian cookbooks (Indian is easier to do than you think!!), and you have a market nearby where you can get the groceries, I say try it.

Fast forward 7 years. After going off wheat and feeling just okay, it all became too much and I fell off the non-wheat wagon. Seven years later it all became

debilitating again. Then I did an experiment and went off gluten entirely. Best I have ever felt in my life. Went back on for testing. Miserable. Blood test

and endo negative for celiac but IgA levels very high which indicates a pronounced intolerance of the stuff.

Without wheat and gluten in your diet, you will eat so much better. You won't ever lack your five servings of fruit and veg a day. Your family will eat better.

You will discover new, beneficial grains and your body will heal.

I had massive problems with my stomach, intestinal tract, headaches, body aches, low energy and I turned out not to be a celiac!! You never felt it and you are!!

It's an odd thing, isn't it. Three weeks into what I am making a permanent dietary change for non-celiac reasons, I am starting to feel human again. My energy has come back,

and I seriously don't know how I functioned for the rest of my life, as I was just obviously going on auto pilot.

I'm happier now and I have real food going in me.

And, though you never felt the damage happening to your body, you will too.

If you want to explore Asian cooking, with some exceptions, it tends to be naturally gluten free.

And you can avoid MSG, though you can't guarantee that if you eat out.

There's a whole big world of cuisines out there and hopefully you will discover so much!!

And you will heal in the process and down the line, your body will thank you!!

~Allison

Allison, I'm no expert but you sound like you possibly have a wheat intolerance, some kind of allergy rather than an autoimmune disease like coeliac disease. I'm glad gluten free is working for you though.

[AlysounRI]

Allison, I'm no expert but you sound like you possibly have a wheat intolerance, some kind of allergy rather than an autoimmune disease like coeliac disease. I'm glad gluten free is working for you though.

It seems that way due to the tests

Going off gluten is the only thing that has really ever helped!!

But the way I see it, is gluten really is 95 percent wheat.

It's the staff of life, but not for a lot of people.

It's more like the staff of pain ...

I'm much happier now, much happier. It's cleared up so many of my problems.

I've read that 15-20 percent of the population has a wheat intolerance, and it's on the rise, too.

~Allison

[Takala]

Not even this statement is 100% true. If you put too much gluten-containing grains to cattle feed, they have stomach problems - it changes the acidity of their stomach, (which leads to changes in the stomach flora and indigestion). Moose can't be fed wheat at all, they get sick even with their four stomachs. Wheat shouldn't be fed to easily iritated and nervous horses. I've read one article from 1950's about wheat inducing behavioral changes and "craziness" in dogs. The autors suspected wheat to be neurotoxic to canids. (and now wheat is the staple of their diet, if you feed them pellets.) Even my mice - grain-eaters by nature - don't eat wheat if they have gluten-free grains available. Seems like we are not alone with our gluten intolerance.

___________________________

There are so many "calming" supplements on the market for "nervous" horses, when the real problem is that they shouldn't eat that wheat garbage in the first place, it's ridiculous. Many vitamin and mineral supplements for horses, as well as the new pelletized foods, contain wheat also, now- you really have to read the labels carefully. And soy - that junk is in everything.

We have one horse who is severely allergic (the vet tested him via blood antibodies) to all barley and rye and soy products, so we purged all of that stuff off of our place. I suspect his cousin the mare is, as well, and took her off of all barley grains. The result of getting rid of it, was that my other horse, who had always been prone to panicking, calmed down tremendously. COB - corn oats barley - is a common grain mix out here in the west, and it got us into a lot of trouble.

We also have 2 non related dogs that we adopted from the shelters who are allergic to wheat, both are half breds of the same breed, so I don't think this is a coincidence. One scratches himself raw and pukes and the other gets unhousebroken and ocd hyper if they accidentally get wheat.

I am pretty sure we have all been exposed to some sort of toxin or infection in our lives, which triggered this. The one severely allergic horse was vaccinated with a new vaccine for West Nile, right before he became very, very ill with a soil born bacterial disease called pigeon fever- which in turn seems to act in concert with infestations from a certain type of parasite- threadworms- which work with flybites - while he didn't get West Nile when it first was going around, the one- two whammy seems to have hypersensitized him to react to lots of common barn allergens. He now is nearly normal looking 95% of the time as long as we keep him away from what he shouldn't have.

His sister died from complications from foundering, a year after getting it. She did not get much colostrum at birth, so her immune system was not as strong against it. Yet her last foal, which received her antibodies in her colostrum, survived a mild case of it easily as a 3 year old, and never even acted ill.

Vaccination is a double edged sword sometimes, it protects most, but it can have unintended consequences for a few.

___________

This really is one of the easiest auto immune diseases to have, all you have to do is change your diet, instead of taking these horrible immune suppressing system drugs or anti inflammatories, and you can control it. If you've been sick from something else, or many things, it is so worth it to stick to a gluten free diet.

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

I was not in denial at all, because I had very severe symptoms and was glad, that I was like 'healed' in the end, just by going on the glutenfree diet. The reason I'm answering to this post, is that I'm a Martial Artist myself and I was wondering how active you are. I'm traveling all over the world with the WKA and next year I am doing the American NASKA curcuit again. I'm feeling very lonely with my celiac problem among all the other competitors and was just wondering, if you are a competitor in the same Associations, too? I've been praying for companionship for so long and just came back to this board after years of not being on here. Could this be it?