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Are These Gluten/wheat Intolerance Symptoms

Will29

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Will29 Rookie
Will29
Posted

Hi all, looking for those who may have had similar experiences/symptoms. I am questioning whether I may be gluten and/or wheat intolerant (not sure about the distinction between the two).

My symptoms have been around for years, since a teenager really. Always had abdominal cramps infact quite used to them really now, dry skin issues, constipation, also mucus stools, have also had problems with depression and anxiety. In recent years I have been under the assumption that this was ibs, my dr felt the symptoms matched that and gave me pills for abdo cramping (which I stopped taking as I don't want to be on long term meds in 20's!). Occasionally I will have extreme pains in abdo, feel sick and think I may vomit however I have never noticed what I ate that may trigger this. On Wednesday I had wheat based cereal then went to pizza hut, ate loads of pizza and was in agony the rest of the day. The one thing I know if I eat I suffer is pastry (although I still eat this sometimes).

Has anyone else had those symptoms, is this likely to be an intolorence? I think I may have some tolerance to wheat as the cramps normally are not too bad. Also if I have this and keep eating wheat anyway can it do long term damage? (I'm a nurse but can't find any conclusive evidence one way or another whether intolerance can damage if ignored).

Thanks for any advice or experience offered.

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GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Hi,

The research on non-celiac wheat intolerance is pretty sketchy at present. They are starting to learn about it but there is a long way to go. So we don't really know what kind of affects it can have on the body. Inflammation is not a good thing for the body though and usually accompanies food reactions.

Getting tested for celiac would be a smart thing to do. The antibody tests are a simple blood draw and wait a while for a lab to study them. But you can have celiac disease and fail the antibody tests. So it is good to do the gluten-free diet for 3 to 6 months to see if your symptoms improve.

Yes, if you gave celiac and keep eating gluten you can damage your body in many ways. It can kill you slowly and painfully. Not fun stuff to ignore. or you can go gluten-free and live a fairly happy healthy life too. You will probably eat healthier foods than many of your friends in fact. Mortality rates for celiacs on the gluten-free diet drop to normal after a while. Cancer rates drop also.

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Will29 Rookie
Will29
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the info, I am not sure what is going on, my wife has been at me since last year to consider that I could be gluten intolerant due to symptoms, however i resisted that until recently. I am attempting to go gluten free, one question I have is how long would it take symptoms to typically disappear if gluten is removed? In the last 48 hours I have only had one packet of chrisps and nothing else wheat/gluten related, but still feel some cramping and other symptoms, should it have stopped by now if it was gluten?

Carrie9364 Newbie
Carrie9364
Posted

My research so far has told me that it can take up to a few weeks with some noticeable differences right away. I have suffered intermittently with symptoms of IBS and have been using an elimination system and removing gluten has been a miracle. I have been away from gluten for only a week and each day can see some difference. I feel more energetic, I spend less time near a bathroom and just feel more alert. Good luck with your journey.

Thanks for the info, I am not sure what is going on, my wife has been at me since last year to consider that I could be gluten intolerant due to symptoms, however i resisted that until recently. I am attempting to go gluten free, one question I have is how long would it take symptoms to typically disappear if gluten is removed? In the last 48 hours I have only had one packet of chrisps and nothing else wheat/gluten related, but still feel some cramping and other symptoms, should it have stopped by now if it was gluten?

ciamarie Rookie
ciamarie
Posted

If you have a gluten intolerance or celiac disease, then 'gluten lite' may not be enough to help with symptoms. I did want to jump in and let you know that if you want to be tested then you'll need to be consuming gluten in order for any chance for the tests to pick up any antibodies, so you may want to get tested before you do a gluten-free trial. After you do a trial and if you're feeling a lot better, you may not want to go back to eating gluten for a couple of months in order to be tested.

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Welcome Will!

I agree with everything GFinDC wrote. You should consider getting the blood tests done before going gluten-free. The reason for this is if it is positive, you will have your answer that you must be gluten-free for the rest of your life. You do need to continue eating gluten until the blood has been taken.

The danger in a gluten-free trial can be that you don't remove all the gluten. Gluten is not just wheat - it is wheat, barley and rye. Removing ALL gluten is tough, it is found in almost every type of processed food. If you don't remove all gluten, you are unlikely to have enough improvement to determine whether gluten is the problem.

Also, it can take quite awhile to notice an improvement in symptoms. Depending on the damage to your intestines (if it is Celiac Disease) it can take from months to years to heal.

I highly suggest getting the testing done.

Good Luck to you!

Will29 Rookie
Will29
Posted
  • Author

Hi all thank you for the advice. I have some experience of gluten intolerance, my step daughter was diagnosed with it last year, we are familiar with the free from stuff in supermarkets and I have been trying that as well. In regards to a diagnosis, I'm not sure what I am going to do, I think I am going to try two weeks free, and if I notice significant difference accept that and keep it that way. Im unsure of whether my symptoms would mean intolerance or celiac however from what I have read ruling out gluten is effective to solve both. I guess the next two weeks will reveal all, I would say I feel less cramps today and less bloated, it's weird as I have had these things daily for as long as I remember so being without the sensation most of the day is odd.

My diet has always been crisps, pasta, pizza etc so it's a big change. Really gutted I can't have my Chinese currys anymore! Heard Indian takeaway is ok through?

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GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Hi Will,

You will need to change your diet for sure if you are going to be gluten-free. Eating anything from a restaraunt is always risky and is not something a new celiac should do for a while. It is much better to stick with whole foods that you cook yourself at home. Why take a chance when you are just getting started? Your body needs to be completely free of gluten for the immune system reaction to cool off. also, people often have a bit of digestive turbulence when starting the gluten-free diet. It might be good for awhile and then bad for awhile for no apparent reason. Your gut has lots of bacteria that need to adjust to their new diet too. It can help to take probiotics and digestive enzymes until things settle down. And avoid sugar and starchy carbs which feed bacteria when they aren't properly digested. A simple diet is best for healing your gut.

Will29 Rookie
Will29
Posted
  • Author

Hi all, thanks for the advice and support. So far I have been gluten free since Saturday and noting some differences in energy levels bloating and pain after eating (as in there is none which is unusual). I still get some cramp sensations tho is that normal after 5 days, as far as I'm aware I have had no gluten. Continuing to do research on ibs as well through there appears to be links between ibs and celiac/intolerance.

I think my plan will be to do the two week trial no gluten then go back onto it, if symptoms return or worsen then I'll go to the docs, does anyone know how long I will have to be back on gluten before I can get an accurate blood test?

Thanks :)

GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Hi Will,

If you noticed an improvement in symptoms from removing gluten then you already have the most important info. Your body doesn't like gluten. If you want testing though get back on the gluten right now and stay on it until testing is complete. The minimum time to eat gluten is debatable but 3 months is often suggested.

Healing is long process and while you may notice improvements quickly some research has shown up to 18 months for some celiacs bo get back to as normal a gut as they can expect. In other words they don' t get back to a totally "normal" gut but something fairly stable and "normal" for celiacs.

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