Normal Blood Work, But....

[JustAGirl79]

I'm two years into my celiac diagnosis. I go for bloodwork every six months to ensure I'm following the gluten-free diet, and to check my vitamin levels, etc. In the past year, I've complained frequently about continued celiac symptoms. As a result, my GI doc has done a small bowel follow-through (normal), colonoscopy (normal). All of my blood work in the past couple of years has been normal - including the panel that was done last week. It certainly appears I'm following a gluten-free diet. Now, in the absence of other explanations for my continued stomach issues, she's doing another endoscopy to ensure this isn't refractory. Is there any chance it could be refractory with no evidence of malnutrition, no ridiculous amount of weight loss? (I've lost some weight, but I've been trying to.)

[txplowgirl]

You have possibly developed other food intolerances. Dairy and soy seem to be the top 2 that a lot of people have. Might be advisable to do an elemination diet and cut out the most common food allergens. Hope this tidbit helps.

[GlutenFreeManna]

How careful are you about cross-contamination? Many people get more sensitive to small amounts of cc after going gluten-free. It's possible that you are getting enough to keep you sick but not enough for the damage to show up on tests yet. It's easy for the biopsy to miss small amounts of damage if you are only getting a little bit of gluten. And the blood tests are such that they can be false negative if people have just been gluten light. It might be time to reevaluate how strict you are being and whether gltuen could be sneaking in anywhere. If you want to list foods you eat frequently we could also let you know if a lot of people have trouble with those foods--either due to them not really being 100% gluten-free or due to additional food intolerances that are common. Also, don't rule out contamination from not food products and other people in your life that are not gluten-free.

[verushka1974]

Do you eat gluten free processed products? That seems to be my case. When I eat whole foods ( meats, fruits, vegetables ) I feel much better but once I start eating gluten-free cereals, cookies, breads, etc I have my stomach issues so you could also be extremely senstive to those products if you are eating them and still getting symptoms.