How Long To Get Rid Of Gluten From My System?

[KnightRobby]

In a nutshell, my journey with chronic head pain began at age 13 in 1999. I strongly believe I have been dealing with Gluten Intolerance ever since and only recently discovered that I have Celiac Disease.

I have been told by my Allergist that it can take up to 6-8 weeks to be completely Gluten free. Is this correct? I am thinking it will take much loner than this. And how do I go about knowing that I am 100% Gluten Free?

Thanks.

[sa1937]

I have been told by my Allergist that it can take up to 6-8 weeks to be completely Gluten free. Is this correct? I am thinking it will take much loner than this. And how do I go about knowing that I am 100% Gluten Free?

Thanks.

I have no idea unless your allergist thinks it's going to take 6 to 8 weeks for you to learn the ins and outs of eating gluten-free ??? I started reading labels as soon as I had a positive celiac panel so as to not buy things I knew I would not be able to eat. I cleaned out my pantry the first week after my endoscopy and got rid or or donated foods I could no longer eat. And then I tackled personal care products. While there's definitely a learning curve, I didn't find this to be overwhelming.

You might want to check this list of safe and unsafe foods so you become familiar with what you can eat and ingredients you have to watch for. And if you stick with naturally gluten-free foods, you'll have a whole lot less labels to read.

Living Gluten-Free for Dummies by Danna Korn is a book you might find helpful.

While it may be confusing at first, just hang in there and it'll definitely get a lot easier.

[KnightRobby]

Thank you for the reply. Personal care products, really? Do you mean toothpaste, etc? Do I have to worry about that too? I haven't ever seen Gluten on toothpaste and would the ingredients also be listed on ingredients/foods to avoid list?

[kareng]

I have never seen gluten in toothpaste. Most of us prefer to use gluten-free shampoo, lotion ,etc because it can get in your mouth or stick to your hands and then get on food. Check any meds, vitamins, Tylenol, etc for gluten. On meds, the only way to know if it has gluten is if the manufacturer decides to label it gluten-free or you call the company and ask.

Don't kiss people who eat gluten until they have thoroughly brushed thier teeth. Be aware of lipsticks/gloss, too.

[Newbee]

What do they 6 - 8 weeks to be completely gluten free? If you've had the disease a long time it can potentially take a long time for all this stuff to really get out of your system even if you are not consuming it. I may be an extreme example as I think I've had this disease since I was a small child and I'm 38 now. I've been gluten free for almost 15 months now and just went to get my latest celiac blood test and it STILL is showing positive. It has been decreasing since I went gluten free and I'm just 1 point away from testing negative, but still. I'm very cautious about what I eat, etc. so I don't think this is due to me consuming gluten (my GI doc said the same thing).

[GottaSki]

And how do I go about knowing that I am 100% Gluten Free?

I like to say I'm 99.99% gluten-free - no matter how careful you are, accidental glutenings are very difficult to completely avoid. You can only do your best to learn all the hidden sources of gluten and how avoid them.

One way to determine you know you are successful in removing gluten is symptom improvement. Another is follow up testing. My celiac doc recommended full celiac panel and nutritional deficiencies at 3 and 6 months gluten-free, then annually thereafter.

[KikiB]

Don't kiss people who eat gluten until they have thoroughly brushed thier teeth.

Really? I would never have thought of that on my own.