Cure For Celiac

[swittenauer]

Someone my husband works with has said that for many years he had celiac & now is cured. He says it is extremely rare but in certain instances you can be cured. Does anyone know if this is possible? I don't want to get my hopes up if it isn't.

[jenvan]

I first would be curious to ask this individual if they had a definite or confirmed celiac diagnosis and not a simple gluten intolerance or allergy. Then I would want to know how they were "cured." Most of the peeps around here would agree there is currently no 'cure' for Celiac. The supposed cures I have seen advertised are things like liver cleanses, which seem pretty far fetched to me. Although my husband's mother would like me to try it So, the short answer, IMO, is 'no, there is no cure currently.' Not that I'm not hopeful or don't believe that medicine and natural medicine can do amazing things, but I have never seen anything even remotely convincing yet...

PS--Please make sure Bill is careful when talking to others and not to try anything that might be dangerous to him...

[Jnkmnky]

I think the facts are that Celiac is a genetic, auto-immune disease. Currently, there is no cure for any auto-immune disease, and most auto-immune diseases such as Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Scleroderma, M.S. and on and on have NO KNOWN trigger. But those with Celiac Disease are so fortunate because Celiac Disease is the only auto-immune disease with a known trigger and a way to eliminate the symptoms 100%. Isn't that amazing?! I believe Celiac may be the catalyst for so many other auto-immune diseases. That's why you see so many older celiacs with the more aggressive, painful, unfixable auto-immune diseases. It's so important to remain 100% gluten free once you discover you have C.D. As my rheumatologist said to me, "Auto-immune diseases piggy-back one another. It's crucial not to aggravate C.D. or you could trigger another, more difficult one to emerge."

Your friend who "Had" celiac disease, then was cured...may have slipped into a state of remission, or been wrongly diagnosed to begin with. He was not cured. There is no cure. I believe having just been diagnosed, you're looking for a way out. I mean for your husband. That's normal. When you're diagnosed with a life-changing condition, you should explore all avenues, thoughts on the subject. Eventually, you'll realize that there is no secret cure out there. This is what is is, and really, it's not that bad when you think about it. C.D. just changes so much all at once that you're bound to feel overwhelmed. I know, because my third child was the one diagnosed with C.D. when he was four. He's seven now. I remember looking for an "out" on this one because the dx meant so many changes for my established routine as a mother, caregiver. PLUS, my son was NOT going to enjoy the same things in the same way as my older kids. It was difficult to accept. But it has been 4 years and I can assure you, it's not that bad. Really. I'm not bothered by it in the least anymore. I don't feel like we, as a family, are restricted. I don't feel like my son is restricted. Consider the gluten free food needs as a food preference. That eases the feeling that it's a mandatory rule. I would recommend the book Dangerous Grains to you because it describes the evolution of grains into the human diet and the negative effect gluten grains have had on our bodies as a whole. I think it puts the gluten grains in a perspective of being less necessary than we're raised to believe. It seems less nutty to get rid of them in that context, and more reasonable.

[Jnkmnky]

Sorry, my son was dx when he was THREE, not four. He's seven now, so that was FOUR years ago.

[Jnkmnky]

Open Original Shared Link

I finally found this. It was in my old computer "favorites". There's a lot here I like, but I also liked the "Etiology of Auto-immune Disease" section. I think to understand Celiac Disease, a good understanding of Auto-Immune diseases is a great foundation to begin with. I hope you find this helpful. It also shows how hard scientists, and doctors are working to understand A.I. There is so much they don't know yet. You can begin to see why "cures" for these things are so difficult.

[tarnalberry]

Celiac disease cannot be cured, and I've seen no research evidence that suggests that it's the sort of autoimmune condition that can go into remission. But it's possible that he didn't have celiac disease, but, rather, tropical sprue, which is not-autoimmune based and somewhat different. (I think it's parasitic? Can't quite remember.)

[watkinson]

It could also be that maybe your husbands friend wasn't having any digestive symptoms so he THOUGHT he was cured. I agree with Tarnalberry, he probably had tropical sprue. Tropical sprue is curable but is NOT the autoimmune disease, Celiacs. Celiacs is NOT curable!. Even if you have zero symptoms you still have the disease. Whether you feel any symptoms, pain, or not, the bodies antibodies still react when gluten is present and attack our healthy cells.

Wendy

[dogear]

One VERY REAL possibility, is that ancient gluten-free wheats and barley's seem to exist. If so they could be backbred, in such a manner that many wheat and barley crops will literally be gluten-free and those could be eaten without any gluten consequences.

Whether that will benefit only celiacs or those who don't have celiac sprue, but seem to feel so much better gluten-free remains to be seen.

One thing I hope, is that if this happens other grains, legumes, and tubers that are now mostly used to promote gluten free flours and baked goods, will still become mainstream.

For years, I couldn't figure out WHY millet and sorghum, bean flour and to a lesser extent amarant and quinoa (until recently) and to some extent teff or any other grains are promoted so predominantly to gluten free folks.

Obviously there's a greater need in the gluten-free community, but at the same time, I don't know why there isn't a bigger attempt to lure more mainstream consumers with biodiversity or nutrition, and gain a bigger market.

[KaitiUSA]

If he had celiac then he is not cured. Celiac is not curable at this point. Even if his symptoms went away that does not mean he was cured. I would be very skeptical of what people like that say.

[swittenauer]

Who really knows what that guy has or had? We were just curious. My husband is meeting with a nutritionist today so hopefully they will be able to point us in a good direction to help ease his aches, pains, stomach issues, etc. by eating better foods & being more knowledgeable.

[nettiebeads]

Who really knows what that guy has or had?  We were just curious.  My husband is meeting with a nutritionist today so hopefully they will be able to point us in a good direction to help ease his aches, pains, stomach issues, etc. by eating better foods & being more knowledgeable.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I personally disregard what cannot be empirically proved. The accountant or Missourian in me (Show Me) How long was your husband sick before dx? When I first got sick I could barely stomach milk products of any type. I've healed since then, but still don't do much dairy. His problems will subside after going gluten-free. It's just that the rate of recovery is dependant on many variables - degree of damage, personal body recovery, totally gluten-free, or occasional contamination of gluten. Just hang in there. It is a life change, but after awhile it'll be second nature. Keep us posted!

[Carriefaith]

Someone my husband works with has said that for many years he had celiac & now is cured. He says it is extremely rare but in certain instances you can be cured.

You never know... some doctor may have told him that. It really wouldn't surprise me.

[Rachel--24]

You never know... some doctor may have told him that. It really wouldn't surprise me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah...this I definately CAN believe. I hope for that guy's sake he never had celiac disease to begin with.

[Carriefaith]

I hope for that guy's sake he never had celiac disease to begin with.

same here

[swittenauer]

I would think that he had some type of allergy instead or maybe he just self diagnosed himself incorrectly. Either way, there isn't a cure. We know better now.

[Claire]

Someone my husband works with has said that for many years he had celiac & now is cured.  He says it is extremely rare but in certain instances you can be cured. Does anyone know if this is possible?  I don't want to get my hopes up if it isn't.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Long ago there was what was at least thought to be a cure. I do not have the literature right at hand but I do have it and will look for it after my weekend guests leave. Hopefully I can send you the info next week.

I wouldn't get my hopes up though. Hold tight. I will be back to you. Claire

[codetalker]

I have had celiac disease for 54 yrs now and can attest that in my case at least celiac disease never goes away.

I was DX'd as a baby shortly after going on solid food. At that time, doctors thought it was temporary and you would overgrow it. After a couple years when symptoms became less pronounced, the doctors labelled me cured and put me back on an unresticted diet.

Today, when I mention this, some people say that my celiac disease probably just went into remission. However, I look back and can remember lots of things that cast that into doubt. As a result, I do not support the idea of remission.

For example, I remember absolutely detesting barley as a kid. It always gave me sharp pains and cramps. To this day, I do not know why barley always affects me worse than wheat and rye. But, the point is, if my celiac disease was in remission why was this happening?

I remember loving chocolate malt balls as a kid. I also remember having cramps and gas every time I ate them. Why would that be if celiac disease was in remission?

For decades before finally figuring this out myself and going gluten-free, I ate like a horse and was nonetheless a stick figure very much underweight. I would go out for pizza with friends and we would always buy two large pizzas: one for me and one for everyone else (that's the literal truth). I look at that now and realize that all those years I was supposedly free of celiac disease I actually wasn't. celiac disease was silently doing damage to my insides. Due to internal damage, I had a overeat just to get a trickle of nutrients.

Having said that, I can say that "visible" symptoms can ebb and flow quite dramatically (at least in my case). One thing Í used to experience drove my doctors up a wall and caused them to write me off as a hypochrondriac or worse.

Serious symptoms for me started coming back in my twenties. In my thirties, things were getting really bad. At the same time, I took up SCUBA diving and traveled regularly with my friends. One thing I quickly noticed was that things always got better when I was on vacation. For example, even though I did not yet know about the gluten-free diet, I had figured out that it was better to avoid things like breads. Yet, while on vacation, these same foods appeared to have little, if any, "visible" effect (I stress visible so that anyone reading this will not misunderstand what I am saying. I am NOT suggesting it is OK to eat gluten while on vacation).

Mention this to the average doctor and they will assume it is stress or IBS...or that you are a hypochrondiac.

The bottom line is that my experience has been that celiac disease never goes away. Gluten is always bad and always hurts you...even if there are no visible symptoms. Once a celiac, always a celiac.

At least today, I would say (albeit reluctantly) that cures and remissions are myths.

Chuck

[Guest nini]

there is no cure, and even if there was I would not EVER want to willingly consume gluten ever again, after learning just how toxic the gluten grains are.

As a matter of fact, we were researching the Wheat industry and discovered that all wheat currently grown is Virused and has to be continually genetically modified or else it would die. Now that tells me something, if NATURE is trying to kill off this grain and humans are insistent on continuing to genetically modify it in order to continue producing this incredibly profitable crop, then there is something really wrong with this picture and we don't need to be consuming it at all. Google Wheat Yellow Mosaic for more info.

On a side note, as a teenager and young adult I discovered quite by accident that Rye made me extremely ill. So I always avoided it. Now I know it was the gluten and not just the Rye.

[Claire]

there is no cure, and even if there was I would not EVER want to willingly consume gluten ever again, after learning just how toxic the gluten grains are.

As a matter of fact, we were researching the Wheat industry and discovered that all wheat currently grown is Virused and has to be continually genetically modified or else it would die. Now that tells me something, if NATURE is trying to kill off this grain and humans are insistent on continuing to genetically modify it in order to continue producing this incredibly profitable crop, then there is something really wrong with this picture and we don't need to be consuming it at all. Google Wheat Yellow Mosaic for more info.

On a side note, as a teenager and young adult I discovered quite by accident that Rye made me extremely ill. So I always avoided it. Now I know it was the gluten and not just the Rye.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can you provide a source for the info you mention above re 'wheat currently grown is virused'?

Claire

[Carriefaith]

Can you provide a source for the info you mention above re 'wheat currently grown is virused'?

I would guess that this means that a fungal disease is infecting the wheat and that researchers have to continually "upgrade" the pesticides or in this case make another genetically modified strain to prevent fungal resistance. Fungal pathogens and insects can evolve to resist pesticides and I'm assuming they can do the same for genetically modified plants which were modified to stop pests and fungal infections.

[swittenauer]

No cure....that is true. But time will tell if they come up with one. Here's hoping.

[elisabet]

I might just wished to bleive in this theory:

which says the immune system may forget,and that is when they call it a period of remision.

so if you religiously avoid an allergen like gluten you may introduce it,and amazingly see that you immune system has forgotten the bad relationship with it.