Can A Gluten-Free Diet Unmask Other Food Sensitivities In Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance?

[JJ9]

Hi everyone,

This seems like a great forum with many helpful and informative members. I look forward to chatting with you all.

Anyway, let's get started. I've had ibs-d for around a year now (probably due to the large amount of stress I've been under) and could use a bit of guidance. As most people with ibs have to do, I have given up gluten/wheat, along with many, many other foods.

I understand that with celiac disease, refraining from eating gluten can 'unmask' other food sensitivities. Interestingly, since giving up those products myself, I have noticed that I get a strange reaction to eating eggs. If it was purely digestive, then I would shrug it off as an ibs trigger food, but after eating eggs I become extremely spaced out (it really multiplies my depersonalization disorder tenfold), dizzy, nervous and brain foggy.

I have been given a skin prick test for food allergies, and they were all negative.

My first question then is this: Can the aforementioned "unmasking" occur simply with people who are gluten intolerant, rather than celiacs?

The reason I am keen to know is that adopting an ibs friendly diet, and particularly a gluten-free one, has been quite financially draining. I would really like to re-introduce quaker oats in place of my gluten-free variety, as that would save a fair bit of money and shouldn't be of any harm if I am only affected by simple gluten intolerance.

Secondly, I had to radically change my diet around a year ago not only due to ibs but because of hypoglycemia, which I also put down to stress. Gluten withdrawal was part of this process, and I did so without firstly being tested for celiac (well, actually I was, but only months after removing gluten as my doctor felt that the test would still be accurate).

If I were to re-introduce gluten, probably just in the form of quaker oats, how long would I have to eat them, and how regularly, in order to get an accurate celiac result? Taking into account that oats have a lower level of gluten than pretty much any other food containing gluten.

Wow, I've really used the word 'gluten' a lot.

Thank you very much for your help!

[kareng]

If you want to get tested for Celiac, eating Quaker Oats shouldn't be enough gluten. The reason we don't eat non gluten-free oats is because there might be some wheat cc. There may be none in the batch you get.

The Univ of Chicago Celiac Ct sent me a note about testing family members. It said they must be eating a "regular" gluten diet for 3 month.

[RonSchon]

I just went through allergy testing for a number of foods that started giving me gluten type reactions (such as peanuts/almonds/cashews/pistacio's).

Tested negative to all. If I have a handful of peanuts, I bloat with brain fog and joint pain very quickly.

[Emport]

As KarenG said, just eating Quaker Oats might/might not be enough to get an accurate idea of whether or not you have celiac disease (cross-contamination can vary box-to-box and bowl-to-bowl, and it's also true that while some strains of oat do contain gluten / are toxic to people with celiac disease, they have a lower toxicity than wheat).

The other thing to consider is that gluten sensitivity won't show up on a blood test but can still make you feel pretty awful if you're eating gluten.

In terms of reducing the financial burden of a gluten-free diet, perhaps there is an alternative to certified gluten-free oatmeal that might fit the bill? I'm afraid I can't recommend a brand (for taste or price point) because I'm not a big hot cereal fan, but I know that people often have quinoa, buckwheat, or millet cooked up as a hot cereal, and that there are also corn and rice options out there.

If you do want to go ahead and reintroduce gluten, here's a fairly recent update on gluten challenges from the NFCA:

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