Celiac Diet Trial Question

[Tarantula44]

I am new here and have had the typical initial blood tests for celiac (Gliadin IGA & IGG, transglutaminase IGA, total IGA) which came back negative for celiac. I still think I may have either celiac or gluten intolerance, it runs in my family too. Symptoms are: fatigue, muscle weakness, digestion issues that fluctuate, migraines, GERD, inflammation of all mucous membranes: throat, stomach, intestines, sinuses, bladder, etc; adrenal issues, malabsorption issues (low iron, folate, zinc, calcium, fit D).

I am going to try a strict gluten-free diet for the next six months to see if my symptoms improve. I do not want to go through the invasiveness of the biopsy.

My question is, should I be avoiding diary on this trial as well? I have heard that celiacs often have issues with both. I don't notice any immediate, acute issues with dairy. I do eat it often. I don't mind giving it up though, I'm pretty desperate to feel better, but I wonder how will I know if it's dairy or gluten that is my issue if I start to feel better?

Thanks for any insight. t

[domesticactivist]

I might cut gluten out, give it a few weeks, then cut dairy out as well. Then in a couple months do a challenge of each, separately. That way, if they are both culprits you'll get to feel better sooner, but you'll also be able to test them separately. You might consider soy as a potential suspect as well.

[Skylark]

Joy beat me to it. If you don't feel better off only gluten in a couple months, remove dairy as well. Mucous membrane inflammation is often dairy. She is also absolutely right that many of us have issues with soy too.

If you eliminate a lot of foods at once, the way you sort it out is to challenge one at a time for a few days. If you react, you wait until you're back to normal to try the next.

[Tarantula44]

Joy beat me to it. If you don't feel better off only gluten in a couple months, remove dairy as well. Mucous membrane inflammation is often dairy. She is also absolutely right that many of us have issues with soy too.

If you eliminate a lot of foods at once, the way you sort it out is to challenge one at a time for a few days. If you react, you wait until you're back to normal to try the next.

Thanks so much to both of you. I was told I had a soy allergy about 3 years ago and don't ever eat it. The main reason I feel gluten is my issue is because I eliminated it for two months (not strictly) and my inflammation issues started going away, i added it back in and two weeks after eating lots of it, my inflammation started coming back with a vengeance. I have done the elimination diet with everything else for about 2 weeks off each food and have not noticed ANYTHING, even soy, but I continue to eliminate that because of how suspect it is. I can't tell much of a difference off of dairy for a short period, but didn't know if it could be adding to the gluten issues and maybe I'd notice after a couple months. This is all overwhelming right now...as you can tell! Thanks again, this forum is making things a bit easier. Answers are very helpful right now!

[BeFree]

"I can't tell much of a difference off of dairy for a short period"

My symptoms from dairy seem to be much more subtle than the ones from gluten. I stopped eating it for a few months, then started in again and thought I was fine, but after a week or so I noticed a slow buildup of restless sleep, anxiety and mild indigestion, just enough to make me uncomfortable so I decided to go off it again. I figure right now, I want to focus on the gluten and not have to wonder where my symptoms are coming from, so I'm trying to make my diet as simple as possible to get stabilized.