Could Intolerance/sensitivity Cause Me To Feel Lousy Only A Few Times A Month?

[birdie22]

For the past year I've had almost daily minor heartburn, frequent headaches, exhaustion, and upper abdominal bloating that occurs a few times a month...sometimes 1-2d per week sometimes once every other week. At first I thought it was a side effect of the Mirena IUD. Had that removed and issues continued. Then the pattern seemed to correspond to my monthly cycle with most bloating occurring a week before ovulation and a week before my period. But in the past month it was becoming more frequent. CBC, liver profile, CA-125, upper GI, abdominal CT and pelvic u/s have ruled out other causes. ttg iga was neg. CBC and chem 7 didn't show anemia or other nutrient defficiencies (though these were run almost a year ago, at the onset of symptoms). I'm now doing elim diet to identify intolerance as cause.

Up till now my diet has been pretty consistent. I'm a creature of habit. Breakfast almost always coffee, bagel, toast or cereal. Lunch almost always some type of sandwich on whole wheat or dinner leftovers. Dinner usually a meat, starch, and veggie. Grains, dairy, soy, egg, etc have always been frequent, if not daily, parts of my diet.

So, given the consistency of my diet, is it possible to be gluten intolerant (and/or lactose, soy, etc intolerant) and have sporadic symptoms? Could I feel miserable just 1 or 2 days a week but fine the rest?

[GlutenFreeManna]

  On 10/16/2011 at 12:50 AM, birdie22 said:

For the past year I've had almost daily minor heartburn, frequent headaches, exhaustion, and upper abdominal bloating that occurs a few times a month...sometimes 1-2d per week sometimes once every other week. At first I thought it was a side effect of the Mirena IUD. Had that removed and issues continued. Then the pattern seemed to correspond to my monthly cycle with most bloating occurring a week before ovulation and a week before my period. But in the past month it was becoming more frequent. CBC, liver profile, CA-125, upper GI, abdominal CT and pelvic u/s have ruled out other causes. ttg iga was neg. CBC and chem 7 didn't show anemia or other nutrient defficiencies (though these were run almost a year ago, at the onset of symptoms). I'm now doing elim diet to identify intolerance as cause.

Up till now my diet has been pretty consistent. I'm a creature of habit. Breakfast almost always coffee, bagel, toast or cereal. Lunch almost always some type of sandwich on whole wheat or dinner leftovers. Dinner usually a meat, starch, and veggie. Grains, dairy, soy, egg, etc have always been frequent, if not daily, parts of my diet.

So, given the consistency of my diet, is it possible to be gluten intolerant (and/or lactose, soy, etc intolerant) and have sporadic symptoms? Could I feel miserable just 1 or 2 days a week but fine the rest?

some gluten intolerant/celiac individuals do have sporadic/inconsistent symptoms when on a full gluten diet. I don't know if there's research that explains this but I have read the analogy of it being like an army who's reserves are taxed--your body is not able to fully fight the onslaught of all that gluten you are consuming, so the symptoms are less obvious/less consistent. Some people notice that after they go gluten free their body responds much more severely to an accidental glutening or a gluten challenge than before when they were eating gluten everyday. Going with the army analogy it's like your body is better able to fight after you are gluten-free and so it sends out the entire batallion when you get a little bit of gluten.

You said you had ttg and Iga that were negative. Was the Iga test a total Iga test? If you are Iga deficient then you need a different test than the Ttg. You can read more about the tests here: toOpen Original Shared Link

If you have not gone gluten-free yet, it's a good idea to get the rest of the celiac panel done BEFORE going gluten-free.

[birdie22]

  On 10/16/2011 at 1:53 AM, GlutenFreeManna said:

some gluten intolerant/celiac individuals do have sporadic/inconsistent symptoms when on a full gluten diet. I don't know if there's research that explains this but I have read the analogy of it being like an army who's reserves are taxed--your body is not able to fully fight the onslaught of all that gluten you are consuming, so the symptoms are less obvious/less consistent. Some people notice that after they go gluten free their body responds much more severely to an accidental glutening or a gluten challenge than before when they were eating gluten everyday. Going with the army analogy it's like your body is better able to fight after you are gluten-free and so it sends out the entire batallion when you get a little bit of gluten.

You said you had ttg and Iga that were negative. Was the Iga test a total Iga test? If you are Iga deficient then you need a different test than the Ttg. You can read more about the tests here: toOpen Original Shared Link

If you have not gone gluten-free yet, it's a good idea to get the rest of the celiac panel done BEFORE going gluten-free.

The total IGA was in the normal range. I am already doing a trial of gluten free. Starting to believe there is a lactose intolerance so I suspect that I'll be doing DF and then reintro gluten soon and I'll probably do the rest of the panel then.

[GlutenFreeManna]

  On 10/16/2011 at 4:42 PM, birdie22 said:

The total IGA was in the normal range. I am already doing a trial of gluten free. Starting to believe there is a lactose intolerance so I suspect that I'll be doing DF and then reintro gluten soon and I'll probably do the rest of the panel then.

Just make sure that when you reintroduce gluten you are eating it for 2-3 months before testing.