Possible Affects

[shoehorn]

I was diagonosed with celiac disease since I was a child. For about a year I had eaten a bit of gluten to see the after affects of it for myself and to really understand my symptoms. Im wondering how much damage I could have possibly done for myself. Im starting to feel chest pains below my heart and im wondering if I have developed osteioporosis. Is that possible? Is my recovery time counted as a child and within months or an adult within years?

[rosetapper23]

Some of us get a pain just under our left ribcage, which I assume is the beginning of the small intestine where the lining can be damaged. I've always considered it to be an inflammatory response to eating gluten, since I get it within a short time after accidentally ingesting it. It usually goes away in a few weeks' time. As for recovery time, that varies with each person, but I would hope that you intend to return to a 100% gluten-free diet.

[eatmeat4good]

It depends on how old you are and how much your body has reacted.

My son SHOULD have been diagnosed as a child but he was 16 before we figured it out.

He recovered in 6 months.

But we don't know about his insides...just that he felt way way better and could function normally again.

You wanted to do the test and you did it.

So there's no sense in worrying yourself to death about it now.

You could go to the Dr. and check your vitamin levels to see if you are deficient in anything.

You could request a bone scan to be sure your bones are in good shape.

They can do an EKG on your heart in 2 minutes to tell you if there is anything wrong with your heart.

Instead of worrying - just get a few tests done to see where you stand healthwise.

Could do a Celiac Panel again to see if you are making antibodies...and what the numbers are.

But if it is negative, don't assume you can eat gluten because you were diagnosed with it before.

The good news is that since you WERE diagnosed as a child, you have lived most of your life gluten free.

The very serious secondary diseases I think happen to those of us who went undiagnosed for all of our lives.

You could also get an endoscopy done and see what kind of damage you have.

If everything else is good, I would assume you would heal in a few months but it could take up to 2 years to fully recover depending on what damage you have.

You really should ask about vitamin levels though so you can start supplementing if you need to.

[sering23]

I was diagnosed when I was 8 but only ever had mild reactions to wheat. By the time I was 12 I was completely off my previously strict diet. I am now 20 and have in recent months have had severe reactions like I'd never had previously. I'm yet to actually go get tests done to check the damage done to my body but trust me it is definitely better to stick to your diet. I'm feeling much better since I'm back on a very strict gluten-free diet again.