Do Glutening Symptoms Get Worse Depending On How Much You Consume?

[Emarreff]

I'm trying to determine if I have celiac disease. After the first few days on the diet I felt pretty good for a week. But 3 days ago I started feeling worse again. I was wondering if I accidentally ingested some gluten. If I did, it must have been a small amount because I have been pretty careful. The past few days were like before I went gluten free, when I was eating a lot of wheat.

I was wondering if eating a small amount of gluten makes you as sick, or nearly as sick as eating a large amount?

[Fairy Dancer]

I am not sure as I am trying a gluten/wheat free diet myself at the moment and have moved over to whole foods only (except for a few treats that I am partial to and which I checked for wheat and gluten content). I did go gluten and wheat free a week ago for about 5 days but tried to put wheat back in as I am due to have a blood test for celiac disease next week. However on day one I started with weetabix and that made me vomit, wheeze and gave me acid gut and stomach pain. Day two I tried bread instead and whilst I kept that down the stomach pain was awful along with the acid reflux and feeling generally unwell (dizzy). On day three I had weetabix and bread and kept both down but again the gut pain was horrendous and the diarrhoea came back as well so I have taken it back out again.

I know I am supposed to keep eating it for the test but I was feeling so unwell and my stomach was hurting so much that I just can't lol.

I am hoping being off gluten etc for the next few days won't really affect my results! I am back on the whole foods only diet again. On saying that I am not sure if my issue is a gluten one or a wheat allergy. I am beginning to suspect the latter. I know from when I had an allergy to duck feathers without realising it that not all allergic reactions result in hives and anaphylaxis as at the time I tested positive (with a skin prick test done by a nurse at a drs office) I had been sleeping under a duck feather duvet with a duck feather pillow every night. The only thing I really noticed is that I woke up feeling dizzy and like I had been hit by a ten ton truck in my sleep. I also had a stuffy nose a lot, felt like I had a never ending bout of the flu and sore red itcy eyes (Blepharitis which can be caused by an allergy if I remember correctly). Very similar to some of the symptoms I am getting now except there are digestive tract ones as well.

So I am thinking allergy...

I also have problems with aspirin and non steroidal anti inflammataries (makes me vomit and wheeze), other medications (certain antibiotics etc) and various house hold cleaners (I get red itchy bumps on my hands when I use them) so it wouldn't surprise me if I now had a problem with something else lol

I suspect though, with gluten intolerance, that even small amounts can upset you for a few days if you are very sensitive to it but I also suspect that eating large amounts will cause a build up in the body and elicit a stronger response.

[mamaw]

Greetings

I'm sorry to say that yes not having enough wheat & gluten in your body WILL NOT give an accurate test result....so it would be a waste of your money or insurance to get tested...

Celiac is an autoimmune disease ,, the itchy red bumps you get from household cleaners & such would be allergeries..Two different demons......

Also many times when people start the gluten-free diet they or some get instant relief only a week or more later feel like they get worse off, this is the body de-toxifing...It takes time for the body to heal & recover from years of food abuse......

I react to almost everything on this planet.... My sensitivitesare so bad that I have had angio edema for 7 months now... not pleasant ..

Whether you have celiac or gluten sensitive the only way to end the cycle is the gluten-free diet 100% forever...You will have to decide if you just want to go gluten-free for life or do testing to help you make the choice.. personally for adults if the gluten-free makes them feel better then stick to it. For children I feel every effort should be made to find out since they are in school & need documention for school...just my opinion....

I can tell you for positive no human ever died from lack of wheat!

[T.H.]

I was wondering if eating a small amount of gluten makes you as sick, or nearly as sick as eating a large amount?

In my experience, no. Larger amounts make me much, much sicker.

There is an explanation for your experience, however. It's likely that you're experiencing what many of us do: once you've gone gluten free, when you get gluten, it's a LOT worse than it was before. A lot of people have had Fairy Dancer's experience. They went gluten-free, found out they need to eat gluten for the test, and then their reactions are so much worse that they just can't do it.

I have heard it explained before that some of this is because for the first time, your body is healthy, so you notice the bad feelings more. Kind of like how you'd notice a stuffy nose when you're healthy, but it won't make much impression if you're in the middle of a cold already.

However, I don't think I buy that so much anymore, that most of the issue is perception rather than actual damage. I'm sure perception accounts for a little of the issue, but for some celiacs, the reactions to a gluten challenge are so much worse than before that they land in the hospital. Considering that these people WEREN'T in the hospital when undiagnosed and eating gluten, but after a gluten-free diet can consume gluten for a few days to a few weeks and suddenly their bodies are so destroyed that they end up hospitalized? I'm thinking that there is some change when we go gluten free.

It keeps us healthier, certainly, but I personally believe that many of us do react more to the gluten once we've eliminated it from the diet. In my family, this doesn't seem to stop immediately for everyone. I was really sensitive to gluten within days and seem to have stayed there. My daughter seemed to hit some threshold when she was 6 months gluten-free and suddenly, many gluten-free products (which have low levels of gluten rather than none) were suddenly making her sick so she had to go even MORE gluten-free.

Considering how bad you feel with just gluten cc right now, I'd just suggest being really careful. Probably don't want to experience what it might be like if you actually got more gluten.

[Fairy Dancer]

I just wanted to add that I have found the best way around it is to eat a whole foods diet. As I grew up with a brother who had celiac disease and my mother was older generation I grew up on a predominantly whole foods diet anyway (my mother cooked recipes with fresh ingredients as opposed to shop bought processed items) and only started eating processed foods and more wheat based stuff after I left home, so it's a bit like a blast form the past for me lol.

I've just gone back to the types of food my mum would have cooked.

I knew I'd turn into my mother one day!

[Emarreff]

Thanks everyone for your information.

[kellynolan82]

I was wondering if eating a small amount of gluten makes you as sick, or nearly as sick as eating a large amount?

In my experience, no. Larger amounts make me much, much sicker.

From my experience: whilst some I know say that "if you eat a crumb, you might as well eat a whole slice of bread", I personally would have to agree with the above commenter T.H..

My friend believed that the above (underlined) statement was true until she gave in last month and decided to have a piece of cake at the wedding. Here's the post I made in case you're interested. It explains what she experienced after she decided to fall for the temptation she was speculating about:

[Austin Guy]

Gluten seems to be treated by the body as a toxin. Think about drinking alcohol. The more you drink, the worse the effect and the hangover. Responding to various levels of gluten is probably similar.