Mari

I have used cascara sagrata and senna. These herbs can be habit forming so it is not good to use them daily. Diet, I've found, is very important. I eat gluten-free breads, vegetables with fiber, potatoes for soluable fiber. I drink lots of carrol juice. If I eat too much fats or oils it results in 'sticky stools' which do not pass through the small or large intestine easily. Since I have adjusted my diet and included 1 or 2 Magnesium oxide (300 mg) capsules every evening I have not had to use herbal laxatives for several years.

I had a similar problem years ago and besides the weird dreams at night would see flashes of light when I was in a dark room. This went on for quite a few years and was long before I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. Eventually I read in one of my alternative books that the cause might be mold toxins. Mold toxins are chemically similar to the psychedelic  drug LSD though not as strong. The book said take increased Vitamin C - so I did increasing the amount until I had loose stools and then lowered the dose and kept taking it for several weeks and by then my symptoms were gone. It may be that you are living with mold toxins in your home and taking gluten foods that  contain  molds as they often do elevated your exposure to mold toxins to where your body could not detoxify them. At that time I was making my own breads and learned to put Vit. C in the dough to detoxify the molds. Over the years I've found some commercial foods, even gluten free foods, have contained enough mold toxins to bring back the flashing lights and dreams. I take my Vit C and cross that food or company off my list of OK foods.

Hope this helps.

Marian

This report reminds me of a tissue typing report, a woman had been tested for compatibility for a bone marrow transplant and it seemed she did have one of the main celiac gene DQ B alleles. The DQ B alleles correlate more than 99% with a predisposition to develop celiac disease so for this purpose the results of the DQ A alleles can be ignored. The DQ B *06 alleles are a subgroup of DQ B *01 and some of them confer a risk for developing non-celiac sprue. This is a gluten induced leaky gut syndrome. It appears the neither child has inherited a Main Celiac Gene (DQ2 or DQ8) but there are rare combinations of some of the other DQ B alleles that put the person at risk.

It's wonderful that you have come through the withdrawal and are finally feeling the good effects of the gluten-free diet. There was a lot of comment about a year ago when a scientific paper reported that gluten and casein both contain addictive opoids and some people were having as much trouble with the withdrawal as you had. The other posters have given you some good advice and you can look forward to feeling better.

Lately I've been using futurebiotics Vegetarian Enzyme Complex. It has several digestive enzymes, Lactobacillus spores and Betaine-HCl all in one pill. When I buy probiotics I would get one with a mixture of good bacteria. The last that I used had 9 different 'good' bacteria. Mostly now I use sheep milk yogurt with live cultures. Some people use both milk and water Kefir. Some people buy a large yogurt maker and use cow or goat milk. Some people use sauerkraut with live bacteria available in most health food store refrigerators.

I think it is clear from your lab tests and symptoms that you have Celiac Sprue. I had an elevated antigladin IgA but a normal TTG blood test. I had floating stools so I had sprue. I read that people with flattened villi would often show a normal TTG so if that test is used for diagnosis it misses some people who have extensive flattening of the villi. If you email enterolab they will tell you more about their TTG assay. Any elevation of the TTG antibodies is considered a positive test, even such a small elevation as you had.

I did a search for 'dgp iga' Here's one result:

Positive Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Antibodies and Negative Tissue ...

Mar 31, 2010

I developed an allergy to hot peppers several years before being diagnosed with celiac disease. Then I read that this is a fairly common allergy for Celiacs. Even ketchup gives me a reaction. Allergies to wheat and related grains is also common with Celiacs as is cows milk allergy and lactose intolerance. Besides the rice you may be able to eat gluten-free buckwheat and gluten-free millet and most of us can eat gluten-free oats. You have been gluten free for only a short time and your problems with foods will decrease over time. I speeded up my recovery by using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and tho recovery was slow I have been able to add quite a few foods to my diet.

Some of the people on this forum are very good at understanding laboratory and biopsy reports. You could get copies of these tests from your Dr and post them in a message. Be sure to put the normal range with your results. Not all Drs understand that a person needs to follow a gluten challange diet before the blood tests are taken.

I would probably ask a Dr to do a urinalysis and culture to rule out a silent urinary tract infection and a test to rule out diabetes if I had not been tested recently. It seems seems possible also that your body is storing too much water as you are resting and when you become more active it is excreted by your kidneys. There is usually a small weight loss when the body excretes excess fluids. Our bodies go through a variety of changes when we go gluten free but if this uncomfortable situation persists then getting it checked out might save you from having future problems.

Most of us who choose to not have surgery for bile system dysfunction and congestion are able to improve or eliminate the congestion by doing programs that have Liver/Gallbladder Flushes. There are several Liver Flush Support Forums online. Most of the programs advise parasite programs, a method of softening or dissolving hard calcium stones followed by Liver Flushes. Several experts have produced books on Liver Flushes - Hulda Clark, PhD, ND; Andre Moritz; Dr. Richard Schultze and Dr. Sutter's coke Liver Flush and others. I have been using one of these programs for the last 20 years and found it very helpful before I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I have been gluten-free for 6 years and no longer make so many stones and sludge and have been able to do the LFs less often. It seems that only an rare person who has damaged tissues, usually caused by an infection, will need their gallbladder removed.

I would go thru that cycle and still do sometimes. Stomach Acid levels decline with age and affect the adsorbtion of Vit B12. Has your Dr ordered the test for B12 and Folic Acid levels? Some people need injections of B12 to keep their levels up. I used sublingual 1000 mg B12, B6 and Niacin but found it disagreed with me so took the injections for a month or so then started using Betaine HCl and eating red meat and liver.

For that tired feeling I eat vegetables and a little meat for breakfast. Later on I have some cereal with a combination of 1/2 ripe banana, prunes and either apples, pears or nectarines. My next meal will be greens, 1 egg, cabbage, carrot and sometimes beets with mayonaise or vinegar. If I'm hungry in the evening I eat broccoli, string beans and another carrot. I find the food lists from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet helpful in choosing the foods I eat.

I just saw your message, hope you are still checking back.

I would buy a small rice cooker and if possible take along a bag of gluten free rice. Baked potatoes and yams in the skin will be OK. Millet and buckwheat may be available. Disposable dishes/plates/eating utensils.

I you have some specific concerns just ask. I have a niece who has spent 2 summers in China and I'll ask her.

I was having the same problems with foods when I was diagnosed. It has taken a while to add foods back to my diet. It helped to follow the online SCD diet.

Bananas give me stomach aches but now I eat a lot of them. They have to be very ripe, no green, lots of brown spots. I can peel them, dip them in Vit C or lemon water and freeze them in small bags for snacks. They are OK cooked with gluten-free millit, rice or buckwheat cereal. I can mash them with cooked winter squash, raisins, cooked pork, pears, coconut. Unless they have been frozen I have to mix them with something.

Fruits I can eat are apples and pears. Prunes, dried cranberries and raisins I soak in Vit C water to deactivate mold toxins. Can't tolerate grapes or fresh prunes/plums. Grapefruit, tangerines OK but oranges less OK.

Over about a 10 year period my weight went from about 140 lbs to less than 100 lbs. 5 years gluten and cow dairy free I'm still trying to get back up to 120 lbs, a good weight for my age. I have gained a few lbs but then lost it when I was glutened or developed intestinal overgrowths of yeasts and bacteria. Right now I'm able to eat more but have not added any weight. I also had some intestinal parasites which I got out using herbal remedies.

I eat a lot of ripe bananas ( no green on them, lots of black spots)

buckwheat, rice and millet cereals all gluten-free.

small amounts of meat once or twice a day, one egg a day.

winter squash, carrots and green veges.

Sheep's milk yogurt. Apples and pears.

prunes and small portions of organic raisins, cranberries.

I buy a bunch of very ripe bananas, slice, dip in water with Vit C (lemon works too) then freeze in small bags. Makes a delicious snack.

There are some websites where you can calculate the calories in the food you eat. Other websites where you can calculate the fiber content of the foods you eat.

If you have an allergy to cow's milk you will probably react. It may take a few days or longer of eating milk products to raise the antibody levels enough to cause the reaction. Some celiacs can tolerate home made cows milk yogurt, digested over night, as the casein is digested. Many people use goats milk products, I like goat milk kefir. Commercial yogurts are not digested long enough to destroy the casein. See the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for yogurt recipes.

Many celiacs have lost their ability to produce lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose in milk . Lactose is posionous to our bodies. Younger celiacs often regain their ability to produce lactase and can tolerate milk again. Older people, many asians, africans and native americans do not produce lactase so will not tolerate milk. Some of these people can tolerate milk if they take the lactase enzyme supplement.

There is a panel of tests that need to be done when a celiac is diagnosed or suspected of being gluten sensitive. I've seen the list online - some of the tests are Vit D, B12, folic acid, thyroid tests and more. I would have really benefited from these tests but the Dr refused to order them and waited until I developed worse problems. I did get her to order the ferritin level.

The autoimmune reaction to gluten is so delayed in many people that it is not obvious that gluten is casing a problem. I usually react in about 6 hours, some people take longer and the symptoms may not be typical. Some people tho react sooner and they probably also have an allergy to gluten and related grains.

When I was an undiagnosed celiac most of my eyelashes fell out, really upsetting - I was quite proud of my long dark lashes. Over time most of my body hair fell out too tho the hair on my head only thinned a little. I have grown back some of my body hair. I read about a 12 year old boy who was completely bald who's hair all came back on a gluten-free diet.

You have gotten lots of comments but thought I'd add a few of my own.

Most tests for parasites are not very good. You might want to look at some of the herbal preparations with with instructions for small children.

The tummy bug problem - I have used several common spices - turmeric is very helpful when lots of it is eaten either in capsules or in food. See recipes online for how to use it.

Look at the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, it's gluten-free, usually children like it and there are lots of recipes online.

I had confusing lab tests but felt better off gluten foods so had the DNA genetic marker tests done. I carry a main celiac marker/gene

. Since these markers are inherited it may help your relatives decide if they need to be gluten free.

You did have a test for autoantibodies to gluten

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 108 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Gliadin is one of the proteins in gluten. Fragments of gliadin start off the production of antibodies. Your results are quite high. I think this would mean that you have an allergy to wheat and also have non-celiac sprue but do not have autoimmune celiac disease. Non-celiac sprue is one type of gluten sensitivity and some times referred to Leaky Gut Syndrome.

This report confuses me as I don't see exactly what your results are.

Is this right:

GLIADIN IGA, DEAMIDATED 4 0

GLIADIN IGG, DEAMIDATED 3 0

TRANSGLUT IGA <2 0

TOTAL IGA (LCA) 171 70 - 400 mg/dL

These tests only give information about autoimmune gluten sensitivity. The other types of gluten sensitivity are wheat and related grain allergy and non-celiac sprue. I found the genetic marker test to be helpful.

ITG 6

TTG 359

They say not celiac because I was less than 10 in the ITG but isn't the TTG at 359 kind of high? Or does that not matter?

Get the actual lab report from your Dr and post here with the normal range. I did a search but couldnt find any results for ITG. I also did not find a normal range for tTG but several people on this forum has reported their results and the 359 seems high to me. The tTG is a screening test and gives 20 to 30% false negatives. Doing a gluten challange diet then having a complete Celiac Panel of tests will give more information. See the information pages listed on the home page. My tests showed I had elevated anti gliadin antibodies but the tTg was not elevated. I ordered a DNA test online which showed I carry a main Celiac marker.

It would be helpful if you posted your test results, just get a copy from your Dr.

A positive test shows that you have elevated autoimmune antibodies so you are sensitive to gluten. Since the small intestine is 28 ft. long it's very likely the biopsy missed the area that was damaged. Even the multiple biopsies will miss damaged areas. If you are still uncertain you could order the DNA test from one of the online labs or have your Dr order the molecular serology test. You do not have to eat gluten foods for these tests.

I have found the Wikipedia articles easiest to understand search for HLA-DQ). The genetic marker tests - HLA-DQ reports list the results as the marker numbers. www.Enterolab.com only gives the results for the HLA-DQ B but other labs report the marker number of the HLA-DQ A and B. The A and B are subunits or alleles of the HLA DQ gene. We inherit one DQ gene from each parent, an A and a B. The report usually states whether a person has one or two main celiac markers.

An older test done by serology tests for the shape of the antigen binding site. Drs often prefer to use the terminology of this test. The Wiki article will tell you how to figure out how to tell whether you have a DQ1 thru DQ8 or DQ9 and there are individual articles for each HLA-DQ class.

My Enterolab results (DNA assay)

HLA DQ B 0302

HLA DQ B 0602

The 0302 is a main Celiac marker (often referred to as a gene)

The 0602 is a marker that put me at risk for developing non-celiac sprue ( a Leaky Gut Syndrome, not autoimmune)

The older terminology:

The 0302 translates to a HLA-DQ8

The 0602 translates to a HLA-DQ6

I cannot tolerate many brands of probiotics as they contain traces of cow's milk and I'm allergic. Some probiotics also contain mold toxins and people sensitive to yeasts and molds can't take them. I can usually smell a musty or yeasty odor so don't take them and notify the manufacturer.