So, Why Does Sensitivity Increase After gluten-free Diet?

[velveeta]

Hey there! I am interested in any articles or threads or so that you could suggest about why we are so much more sensitive after being gluten free for several months. I have read many books, the most recent of which is "Wheat Belly" where the author suggests possibly most inflammation has healed and then re-exposure triggers a stronger response.

I guess I'd like to understand this idea better. It is counter-intuitive to my mother, and many people I know who are like-- "wheat never used to make you and the kids so sick, why now?"

[shadowicewolf]

Alright i'll give you an example:

say you own a cat and never had cat allergies. For whatever reason you had to get rid of the cat and you move on with life. A year or so later you (can be shorter) you go to visit someone with a cat and realize you do have cat allergies but you have never noticed them before because your old cat help'd keep them at bay.

Gluten is like that. While you are on it you are sick, once you go off it for any amount of time you get sicker than you were before.

No articles or anything here, but from what i read and understood thats how it happens :/

[GlutenFreeManna]

I once read a very good anology to explain it. Think of your immune system as a huge army defending your body from foreign invaders (gluten). When you were eating gluten regularly your body was under constant attack so your immune system was spread out and always taxed from trying to fight of the gluten. When you stopped eating gluten suddenly the immune system doesn't have to produce as many antibodies, it withdraws it's forces and waits. When just a tiny amount of gluten finds it's way in, the entire army goes to battle to fight that gluten and brings your body down with it. The immune reaction can be stronger because your body is better able to fight. I don't have any scientific references to know if this is an accurate picture of what's going on. I read it somewhere here and it seems to make sense to me. There's a lot that they still don't know about celiac and how our immune systems work. So don't be too upset if no one can give you a link to a scientific study of this phenomonon. Just know that you are not alone. Many, many people here have experienced the same thing.

[T.H.]

I've really looked, but I've never found any research that seems to be able to figure out why. Hoping that someone else has!

The theory I heard that made sense to me was the immune system rallying one, as well. Although I have also heard the idea that if we're nutrient deficient, our immune system is not only 'occupied' attacking us, it is also steadily getting fewer resources to defend the body because it's not getting nutrients either.

Once we drop gluten and start absorbing food again, our immune system not only doesn't have to use resources to attack us all the time, it now has nutrients to build the system up to full strength, in a manner of speaking.

And then proceed to smack us upside the head if we get gluten, the grumpy little witch.

Again, I've only heard this as a theory, but it made sense to me more than anything else I've heard. I've met people who had mild reactions before diagnosis, and now their reactions are so extreme they can end up in the hospital. So something's going on to change things, obviously. Just...not sure what.

[Hungrylady]

I was wondering this same thing! I had a reaction to ham that shut my eyes! I woke in the morning to find my mouth and my eyes swollen to the point that my eyes couldn't open. I had never had my eyes effected like that. Now...I know why!

Thnxs

[GlutenFreeManna]

I was wondering this same thing! I had a reaction to ham that shut my eyes! I woke in the morning to find my mouth and my eyes swollen to the point that my eyes couldn't open. I had never had my eyes effected like that. Now...I know why!

Thnxs

That sounds more like an allergic reaction which still involves the immune system but it is not the same type of response as an autoimmune disease response. I am allergic to pork but it was a mild allergy the last time that I had a reaction--my throat felt a little puffy after eating pork products. My allergist said that if I have a mild allergy and keep eating the things I'm allergic to the allergy can get worse. I saw this happen with milk so I believe it. At first, I could take anti-histamines and eat dairy and be okay. Then one time my throat closed so fast I almost couldn't swallow the benedryl. I was very close to an ER trip. I tested it again with cheese and goats milk and had the same serious reaction. My allergist said to discontinue ALL dairy products immediately and he gave me an epi-pen because the next taste of dairy I get by accident could be life threatening. I reccommend you get some allergy testing--you may be allergic to pork or it may be the additives in pork that did that. Even if your tests show up negative however it's a good idea to avoid something that gives you such a bad reaction.

[Kquad]

I don't know why, but I know it is true. 7 weeks after being glutened, I am still having some effects. To top it off, it was only wheat starch! Unfortunately, I did eat a lot and even went back for seconds. I hear it only has about 200 ppm. Probably barely equaled a bite of bread. Darn gluten ataxia.

I also get sick from people handling my food and not washing their hands after touching regular bread. I now, no longer eat out!

[Reba32]

I think because after years of eating gluten and having it dull the villi in your intestine, the senses also become a bit dulled. Villi damage is a gradual thing over years. I know when I did my gluten challenge after being a year virtually gluten free, the first few days were incredibly painful, but then as the weeks wore on, the intense pain in my intestine was not there anymore, it was just an overall general malaise.

After you go gluten free and your intestine starts to heal itself, and the villi start to stand up and become active again, then if you get some gluten in you, there is more surface for it to affect, ergo, more pain or reaction to it.

[Kquad]

I think because after years of eating gluten and having it dull the villi in your intestine, the senses also become a bit dulled. Villi damage is a gradual thing over years. I know when I did my gluten challenge after being a year virtually gluten free, the first few days were incredibly painful, but then as the weeks wore on, the intense pain in my intestine was not there anymore, it was just an overall general malaise.

After you go gluten free and your intestine starts to heal itself, and the villi start to stand up and become active again, then if you get some gluten in you, there is more surface for it to affect, ergo, more pain or reaction to it.

That may be true for some people, but i had very little damage to my villi. Although I get all of the classic GI symptoms with gluten and had then before being diagnosed, my worst symptoms are neuro. I know biopsies are hit and miss, but i had many done. The blood test was positive. I believe there is something in the immune system that is coming back stronger when the gluten is reintroduced. I have no proof, just my opinion.