Dry Eyes, Too?

[MEH]

For the first time ever today, I was able to wear contacts without wanting to rip them off of my eyeballs! So, a gluten free diet, (I understand by doing a little research), helps dry eyes, too?!

Am I going to turn into Julia Roberts tomorrow? Do the benefits ever stop?! There are things happening to my body that I didn't even think would happen. The dry eyes thing is a bonus! I hate wearing my glasses all of the time.

Question about testing:

Is there anyway for me to tell if I am a celiac vs. a sensitive? Are there certain clues--certain symptoms that seem to lean towards one vs. the other?

Should I get testing done? Are there benefits to knowing for sure, or is just feeling like a human being for two days in a row enough?

Also, does one just keep feeling better and better the longer they remain gluten free? Will I feel even better two or three months for now?

And how bad are my "ooops, I ate gluten" moments? Getting the hang of this is hard.

Thanks for your patience!

[eatmeat4good]

You are going to be feeling better and better for months.

It is just that good.

Can't help you with the decision about testing.

I wouldn't dream of it. For me feeling good is knowledge enough.

As for your glutening's...they are minor setbacks.

It doesn't undo everything even if it feels really bad until the episode is over.

You are still further along than you were before you knew about gluten.

Just do your best and keep enjoying the nice surprises!

[Mari]

I did have a Celiac Panel of blood tests when the Dr suspected Celiac Disease. The results were confusing, the alpha gliadin antibodies were elevated but the tissue transglutaminase antibodies were not elevated. I knew that if I tried to eat gluten again I would be very ill so instead had the genetic marker test done. These tests showed that I had a high risk of developing celiac disease because I have a main Celiac gene and the other gene put me at risk for developing another gluten problem, Non-Celiac Sprue (Leaky Gut Syndrome). Now I have test results I can show a Dr and avoid having to eat gluten again for the tests. There are several online labs to order the genetic marker tests from, The 2 marker test is less expensive than the 4 marker test. Some Drs prefer to order a molecular serology test as it can give a little more information (Prometheus Lab). I had the genetic marker test done at enterolab.com, their website has lots of information.

[LivesIntheSun]

That's great news about your eyes- something similar happened to my sister. She had terrible problems with dry eyes for years and visited a host of doctors, none of whom could help. She just had to suffer with it and use eye drops and wear dark glasses. When she saw the difference going gluten-free made to she she decided to try it for herself and her eyes quickly recovered, and now (several years later) she never even mentions her eyes, and the eye drops and the shades are a thing of the past. She wrote to the eye specialist to tell him what happened but didn't receive a reply.

[Gemini]

For the first time ever today, I was able to wear contacts without wanting to rip them off of my eyeballs! So, a gluten free diet, (I understand by doing a little research), helps dry eyes, too?!

Am I going to turn into Julia Roberts tomorrow? Do the benefits ever stop?! There are things happening to my body that I didn't even think would happen. The dry eyes thing is a bonus! I hate wearing my glasses all of the time.

Yes and no. If you have full blown Sjogren's Syndrome and went years without a diagnosis, then the dry eye problem most likely will not be affected by the gluten-free diet. Many people have dry eye but it's not autoimmune based, like Sjogren's. I have Sjogren's and went years before I knew why my eyes were so screwed up. Every other autoimmune problem I have, got a lot better with the gluten-free diet except the Sjogren's. There was too much damage done to my lachrymal and salivary glands for a miracle to happen.

I am happy yours has improved, though! Good for you!