I Am New At This

[KayJay]

Hello I am new at trying to be gluten-free. I had never heard about celiac disease before a few months ago. For years I have been sick and doctors never could figure out what was wrong with me. I had all the main celiac disease symptoms. The past two years I started gaining weight drastically. I had always been underweight and then all of a sudden I gained almost 30 pounds! To make a long story short I heard about celiac disease went gluten-free and felt a lot better. Then I ate Glutten and got the blood test and it came back Neg. But I know that does not mean much. So I went back to being gluten-free and I have lost almost all my weight in a few short weeks. I have been reading the messages and most people seem to gain weight when they eat gluten-free. I think all my weight was water weight I was swollen everywhere. You couldn't even see my ankels! Is this a symptom for celiac disease? I have been very careful at what I eat and notice that I get puffy if I make a mistake like eating out. I have given up eating out all together. I try salads and they still make me sick. Everything except eating what I make at home.

--My question is can celiac disease cause a person to gain water weight?

I am just curious, I know I have not been diagnoised by a doctor but I think they way I feel going gluten-free speaks for itself.

thanks for your advice

[EmilyP2004]

It is difficult to think about going back on to a normal (gluten-containing) diet if you feel better gluten-free.

However, the only real way to find out if you have celiac disease & not another condition is to eat a normal diet and be tested then for celiac disease.

As you had been gluten-free before you had a test before this may mean you had not had sufficient gluten to cause a reaction.

However, it may be that you do not have celiac disease & the test showed that.

For information about how much gluten is needed prior to a test for celiac disease please see:

Open Original Shared Link

It is a shame if you feel you cannot eat out because you are frightened of eating gluten but if you do not have celiac disease at all and your problems are due to something else which can be resolved you should be able to eat out OK.

If you do have celiac disease then a local celiac disease support group should help you find a safe place to eat gluten-free.

Some people who are overweight can be diagnosed with celiac disease.

I have not heard of a GFD causing weight loss through water loss.

For a proper diagnosis you may wish to talk to your doctor and go back on a normal diet for long enough to have a gluten reaction and be tested again for celiac disease.

If this is negative again you may want other tests to find out what is actually the cause of your problems.

[Guest jhmom]

Hi KayJay:

I do not know if water weight is a symptom of celiac disease or not but given the fact that you lost the weight that is a good sign and I wouldn't be worried abou it

I am sure you know that because you were gluten-free before the testing is maybe the reason the test came back negative. However I was eating gluten before/during my testing (except for some foods that made me very ill, I tended to stay away from those) and my test still came back negative. My GI doc now tells me that sometimes when a person recently develops a disease it sometimes does not register at first, basically it needs time to show up in blood-work or of course damaged villi in the small intestines.

Since you are currently gluten-free and it sounds like you did not get a proper diagnosis I would recommend Open Original Shared Link. They perform stool panel tests, which are more sensitive than blood and you DO NOT have to be on gluten for them to be accurate. But in my opinion an improvement on a gluten-free diet is a test in itself, if you did not have celiac disease/gluten sensitivity the diet would not make a difference in your health!

I do hope you are feeling well and continue to do so....