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[Gluten for Punishment]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently experiencing several symptoms associated with celiac disease. It's been about 2 months of consistent gas, loose stool, bloating, and abdominal pain. I've also had a rash on my neck which started the same time as the other issues.

My doctor has not tested me for celiac yet but will be in 2 weeks. They've tested blood, stool, ultrasound...no answers. Quite frustrating!

Anyhow, the last few days I've changed my diet to gluten free and feel an immediate difference! I'm sure I'll have lots of questions moving forward, mainly with the diet. Seems like a limited menu!

I'm glad to have found this place and look forward to future conversation

[mushroom]

Welcome to the board, and I'm glad you posted when you did.

DO NOT stop eating gluten before your testing! You need to be eating a full gluten diet until all testing is finished or you will affect the results and possibly end up with a false negative test. The blood test is looking for antibodies in the blood to gluten, and if there is no gluten around the antibodies start to go away because they are no longer needed. And if your doctor orders a biopsy, it is looking for damage done to your small intestine by gluten. When gluten disappears your intestine starts to heal and the remaining damage may be insufficient tor accurate diagnosis.

A few days will not make any difference if you get back on gluten right away, but if you eat gluten free your tests will probably be negative even though you may well have celiac. (Well, they could be negative anyway, because of the error rate in testing and because of the prevalence of non-celiac gluten intolerance) but if you want a chance of a celiac diagnosis you must eat gluten.)

[Gluten for Punishment]

Thanks for the post mushroom! Glad you gave that advice and I'll certainly carry on with my "normal" diet for the next few weeks.

I had blood work done last month when I initially complained to my doctor. I wonder if celiac is something they would have tested for?

Thanks again for the heads up!