Does Gluten Intolerant Mean Cd Will Kick In?

[Jeepster]

Here's the simple question and I'm sure the answer won't be as easy:

My anti-gliadin blood tests came back highly positive but my intestinal biopsy was negative. My GI doctor said they were false positives and not to worry about going gluten-free, just take Immodium as needed. (Unfortunately that would have been everyday!) He blamed it on stress. I researched the issue for myself through this board and other websites and believe I am gluten-intolerant.

What I need to know is for a gluten-intolerant person, if they cheat now and again will celiac disease kick in at some point? How much cheating is too much cheating?

On a positive note I have been able to stop my diarrhea altogether just by limiting my intake of gluten and other foods I am mildly allergic to. But is this enough?

[Lisa]

Sounds like this one is for your Kaitie.

[Lisa]

Sounds like this one is for your Kaitie.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Until others that know more about your testing will kick in, I will tell you that ANY Cheating is damaging.

If your truly have celiac disease, you must be totally gluten, wheat free...forever. I know that is probably not the answer that you want to here, but it is the "stripes on the tiger".

Try to go gluten-free totally for one month and see if you see any (even the slightest) change.

Immodium only soothes a problem. Find out what the problems is.

I wish you luck in your quest for answers. Lisa B.

[KaitiUSA]

My guess is you HAVE celiac now. Biopsies can rule celiac in but they can't rule celiac out. It's a hit or miss on whether it will come back positive. Your intestines are huge and the doctor can't sample it all so if there is sporadic damage they can easily miss it and if it is in beginning stages then there may be no damage yet.

Blood tests are usually the first clue. If you had the full panel done and had positive results I would go gluten free now because the damage will start to occur otherwise.

Any bit of gluten causes damage. I mean even little bits from shampoo that can get into your mouth while washing your hair...and washing your hands with gluten containing soap and then preparing your food...things like that can really cause damage.

For someone who is gluten intolerant...it can turn into celiac if the diet is not followed. If you have the gene especially...without the gene and gluten intolerant there has been debate on whether it can actually turn to celiac but my personal opinion is that it is very possible.

Your doctor sounds like the typical doctor promoting drugs. Drugs do not cure anything..they cover up the root of the problem and cause another problem in the process. I would not go popping pills.

I would for sure go gluten free 100%. It's an all or nothing thing though. They say even having gluten as frequent as once a month is just like not following the diet. Any bit causes damage and it takes some time for that damage to heal and to keep putting gluten in you just keeps creating damage and you will eventually have tons of other problems then.

Not following the diet leads to you 40-100 times more likely to develop cancer, diabetes, and other life threatening and disabling things. Not only that but untreated celiac knocks an average of 10 years off of someones life.

Hope this helps you out a bit

[happygirl]

Jeepster,

I was in a similar situation to yours. Had highly positive blood work, and was told to go on a gluten free diet immediately. Had the biopsy over a month later, (and there were issues with the biopsy not being done correctly, samples not being taken from more than one site, plus I had been sick for a relatively short time, etc,) and it came back negative. The nurse calling with the results said "You don't have Celiac" which of course confused me. But, the doctor said based on my bloodwork, my positive reaction to the diet, and the circumstances of the biopsy, that I did have Celiac. And trust me, I know if I have the tiniest bit of gluten in me! So I am a prime example of what Katie said. I would definitely recommend going on a strict gluten free diet. It has changed my life. And I get all my info from this great site! Good luck...

[Nevadan]

I agree with the others that you should probably be gluten-free. One current school of thought is that celiac disease is only one manifestation of Gluten Sensitivity, so even you turn out not to have celiac disease your tests point to GS. There is lots of evidence of people with GS who don't have celiac disease but still have some pretty bad autoimmune diseases due to consuming gluten. A good book covering this aspect is "Dangerous Grains..." by Braly and Hoggan. It's a good read and only costs ~$10 at Amazon.

George

[aikiducky]

Another thing to bear in mind is that the intestinal damage is not something that happens all in one go. It's possible, and IMHO highly likely, that you're in the beginning stages of celiac disease, when there just isn't a lot of damage to show YET. So if you stop eating gluten now, you'll be one of the lucky few to have caught on early, and prevented a lot more serious complications later. Those elevated antibodies didn't come out of nothing...

If you don't feel convinced, there's always the option of not going gluten free. if you're lucky, the doctor is right, you don't have celiac disease, and nothing happens. If you're unlucky, you do have beginning celiac disease, and it will get confirmed later when you've had time to damage your intestines to the point that it shows in a biopsy. By then, it will be much more difficult to recover though.

Hope this helps. You can see I'm biased one way.

Pauliina