When Do You Know

[kcseb]

Hi

I'm a 28-year old male in London. Suspect I have issues with gluten. I first noticed 18 months ago that I'd feel very bloated/undigested after eating large pasta meals. So I cut out pasta.

This year I've started to have extreme drowsiness during the day, plus an unsettled stomach. I also get this ache in my joints, it's as though my actual bones hurt. I cut out wheat (apart from maybe trace elements) last week and felt better: I had that sort of cleansed feeling you get after recovering from a virus...plus the drowsiness, stomach issues and bone pains went away.

This weekend I tried going back to wheat via bread and beer...so yesterday my stomach started to feel very unsettled, today (Monday) I've felt extremely drowsy during the day plus some mild joint aches.

I did the Biocard home self-test for Celiac and it came up negative...and if I were to have say a one-off sandwich, there's no extreme reaction.

Overall does this sound like a gluten intolerance?

Many thanks

Kevin

[torimuse]

It does sound like a gluten intolerance. The test probably showed up negative because you'd cut gluten out for so long before testing. I don't know much about any home tests, but I know the hospital tests that draw your blood require you to be on a high-gluten diet for at least 4-6 weeks before the results are anywhere near accurate.

That being said, I think you've already found your answer. You cut out wheat, you felt better. You added wheat back, you felt crappy. Try cutting out rye and/or barley and seeing if that helps, too. Then try adding them back in after a week or two and seeing if you feel crappy again.

Welcome to the self-diagnosed club.

[kcseb]

Thanks for that Tori. The one thing I don't want to give up is Guinness! Anyway am staying clear of all wheat for the next 7 days...last time round my wheat-free trial coincided with the weekend but this time it won't...the trouble is the weekend usually involves a very different sleep/alchool/diet plan and so can be misleading!

Best

[ynot]

I had very similar symptoms. In particular, the drowsiness always followed lunch. I ended up falling asleep at the desk quite often. I believe this was a blood sugar issue, but I don't really know. However, this symptom disappeared after going gluten-free.

For me, I think it's really hard to tell what's going on exactly when I cut things out for short periods of time ( like a week ). Like you, I don't seem to react immediately to foods, and when I do, the symptoms are often vague and hard to quantify. Only after a few weeks of gluten free was I able to really convince myself there was an improvement. The improvements are obvious now, but it has been 4 months.

A long time ago, I went into the doctors for back pain. He asked if I had been drinking over the weekend. I said yes. He then decided to blame my back pain on getting drunk and hurting myself without knowing it. It sounds stupid, but he made me second guess myself. The back pain continued for a long time and I eventually found another cause.

My point is sometimes you have to see the longer term trends to make any conclusions. Not reacting to a one-off sandwich doesn't exclude intolerance. And maybe you caught a little bug this weekend that upset your stomach.

All that said, it does sound like you are intolerant to me. I would suggest going on the diet longer. A month or more. This will give you more confidence in your self diagnosis. If you want to challenge gluten at that point, then you can.

cheers

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks for that Tori. The one thing I don't want to give up is Guinness! Anyway am staying clear of all wheat for the next 7 days...last time round my wheat-free trial coincided with the weekend but this time it won't...the trouble is the weekend usually involves a very different sleep/alchool/diet plan and so can be misleading!

Best

While you do a gluten free trial do give up barley and rye also. If you have Green's beer there try that as it is gluten-free or find something else to drink as an alternative to the Guinness. If you are gluten free all week then go with a gluten beer on the weekends you are not going to heal.

[Skylark]

It sounds like gluten intolerance to me too. Around here, we say "if it makes you feel sick, don't eat it!" I would suggest you try going gluten-free for real for a couple months. You might be surprised at how much better you feel. Your immune system hasn't had a chance to recover from the assault of those occasional sandwiches yet.

Giving up Guinness is rough, especially since you get the good stuff on your side of the pond. On the bright side, you live where all the good cider is made. I do love a good pint of draft Strongbow but I usually have to settle for Magners in a bottle over here. Whiskey is also fair game, as it's been distilled away from the barley mash and thus contains no gluten.