Gluten intolerant?

sammy_c_read

Has anyone discovered that they're gluten intolerant (don't try and tell me there's no such thing cause I'm currently getting my masters in nutrition)? I can't figure out of gluten intolerance is what my symptoms are or something else going on. My insurance does not cover the blood test so that's not really a great option for me.

janejellyroll

I don't think there is anyone here who doubts that gluten intolerance is real. It's just that self-diagnosis is much less reliable than a blood test.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Best way to find out is to eliminate gluten from your diet for a few weeks and see if you notice a difference in your symptoms

attallma

My symptoms don't normally show up until the next morning after I eaten gluten. I wake up with stomach pains and gas. I think I'm just sensative to gluten though.

tryasimighty

Intolerance does not show in a blood test, only coeliac disease (I think!) I was diagnosed with this (intolerance) many years ago by a homeopath- not a cheap option either I realise, nor one that many give credit to, but that appointment changed my life. Easiest way to see is avoid gluten totally for three or four days and then eat something rich in gluten- you will soon see! Good luck, everyone is so different it can be hit and miss but my personal experience has been trial and error paying attention to my body!

ClosetBayesian

I am gluten intolerant. Gluten makes me violently ill, to the point where I have to go to the ER for IV fluids. I do not, however, have celiac disease (as tested through bloodwork).

WholeFoods4Lyfe

janejellyroll wrote: »

I don't think there is anyone here who doubts that gluten intolerance is real. It's just that self-diagnosis is much less reliable than a blood test.

There is no blood test for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance (which I have). There is a Celiac blood test however. The only really way to determine if you have NCGI is to eliminate it from your diet and see if your symptoms resolve.

everyone321

Celiacs can be determined by blood, but not reliably. Endoscopic exam to explore is the most reliable.

I will say this: gluten intolerance usually shows up in an hour. Celiacs shows up in 2 to 3 hours after because it has to get into the small intestine. If you think you have either, remove gluten for two weeks, keeping in mind that anything processed (even if it says gluten free needs to be manufactured outside of a wheat factory). No oats because a significant portion of people who have issues with wheat also have issues with oats.

I have celiacs. It is not a diet option, but don't be surprise if you loose 10% of your weight in the first few months, it all comes back once your body starts to heal.

Hope that is helpful.

janejellyroll

michelle172415 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

I don't think there is anyone here who doubts that gluten intolerance is real. It's just that self-diagnosis is much less reliable than a blood test.

There is no blood test for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance (which I have). There is a Celiac blood test however. The only really way to determine if you have NCGI is to eliminate it from your diet and see if your symptoms resolve.

Thanks for the correction.

Smccabe8

My mom used a saliva test from a nutritionist to diagnose gluten sensitivity. She suddenly started getting sick when she turned 50. It was like my super healthy mom went from age 50 to age 90. Headaches constantly, joint pain and stiffness, tummy troubles... it was very odd. She did the saliva test (you spit in test tubes several times a day) and was diagnosed with a sensitivity to gluten, soy, dairy, and egg. After eliminating those from her diet, all her symptoms went away. Even her crazy bad seasonal allergies cleared up.

KombuchaKat

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage wrote: »

Best way to find out is to eliminate gluten from your diet for a few weeks and see if you notice a difference in your symptoms

Agreed. And wheat is certainly not a necessary food group so if it bothers you just cut it way down or eliminate it.

karenmorgan946517

I am gluten intolerant enought to have spent a year in bed. I test negative thought for celiacs. After just eating chicken, rice and veggies for a week there was no question that I was gluten intolerant. Most of my pains went away, I did not need 15 hours of sleep a day , lost lost of my brain fog. I felt totaly different.
My doc fought with me , cause 4 years ago fat people could not have celiacs, but three months later when he saw the change in my blood work he said keep doing what you are doing. It's been 4 years now and I have held a job for two years.
Try the diet before you waste money on testing.

DanielleTake2

Also -- I've been reading lately that a lot of "gluten free" foods (i.e. pastas and breads) have way more sugar than their gluten counterparts! I'm very careful to read labels on all gluten-free products now!

StacyChrz

After cutting gluten out of my diet a whole host of symptoms changed for me. I get fewer migraines, I don't have joint pain, I get less gas and bloating and other digestive issues and I don't feel fatigued. I know when I've eaten something with gluten because I get gassy and achy. I also haven't had heart burn other than after eating something I knew would be an issue (like the donut I just couldn't pass up). If I have repeated contamination or make poor choices I end up with a lot of fluid retention as well.

JoshuaMcAllister

scjamieson644 wrote: »

Has anyone discovered that they're gluten intolerant (don't try and tell me there's no such thing cause I'm currently getting my masters in nutrition)? I can't figure out of gluten intolerance is what my symptoms are or something else going on. My insurance does not cover the blood test so that's not really a great option for me.

Blood tests are not always conclusive when diagnosing gluten intolerance, the best result are usually found from colonoscopy or endoscopy, much more expensive unfortunately.

Symptoms vary from person to person, before my diagnosis I lived every day in pain. Which is the most common are pains and cramps in the stomach caused by your digestive system struggling to break down the gluten in your system.

The less common side effects can included breakouts of small spots/rash over arms and legs which can become itchy and irritating the more contaminated your body becomes. My younger sister suffered from neither of these symptoms, she was frequently at the doctors with hair loss issues, acne style breakouts over the back and face, which our GP for many years put down to puberty until I was diagnosed and she was fully tested. Heartburn is another very common side effect, I think someone mentioned water retention but wheat causes that in non/GF diets thats just down to wheat grains expanding and soaking up any consumed liquid.

CynderJenn

I discovered I was gluten intolerant last month. On the advice of my Dr I was trying GF to see if it would help with my PCOS, (which it has), and on day 10 I was feeling much better. But when we were on a car trip and my kids asked to stop for a milkshake at a local burger place and I was starving I thought one cheeseburger wouldn't kill me. Having to the car over 30 minutes later to find a restroom convinced me I need to avoid gluten all together. Good luck.

cariduttry

i went gluten free almost a year ago and it has literally changed my life. the worst symptom i would get was aching joints that would cause me to have to go to bed (kind of like they ache when you get a fever). even in the absence of that though, i'd suffer ibs-d type symptoms, horrible brain fog, never-ending fatigue, never-ending hunger, and a post-eating slump that would cause me to be completely useless for an hour. i had a host of reasons for these symptoms...onset of arthritis (runs in the family), changing weather, ibs, certain foods just "make me sick", etc.

anyway, it got so bad one night that i decided to try going gluten free because, like others have said, you can try for a week or two and decide if it makes a difference.

it made a difference in less than 48 hours.

aches were gone, ibs was gone, bloating was gone, brain fog was gone, energy was back...and my insatiable hunger was gone!!!

earlier this year i wound up taking a half a sick day (spent soaking in epsom salts) because my dumb self had been cheating and i began aching again.

needless to say, i'm unwilling to start ingesting gluten again just so a blood test can say i'm positive for celiac. i don't care if i am or not honestly. all i know is that keeping gluten away from me has been wonderful!!

i do eat gluten free products VERY sparingly. i read once that you should approach GF breads and pastas like a treat no different than a piece of candy because of how they affect your glycemic index.

interestingly, once i was away from gluten, i never craved it again. i used to live for good bread and pasta...now i couldn't care less. i've read that there are addictive properties in gluten; i don't know if that is true, but it is pretty odd how i don't crave it anymore.

good luck to you, OP!

MelissaPhippsFeagins

everyone321 wrote: »

Celiacs can be determined by blood, but not reliably. Endoscopic exam to explore is the most reliable.

I will say this: gluten intolerance usually shows up in an hour. Celiacs shows up in 2 to 3 hours after because it has to get into the small intestine. If you think you have either, remove gluten for two weeks, keeping in mind that anything processed (even if it says gluten free needs to be manufactured outside of a wheat factory). No oats because a significant portion of people who have issues with wheat also have issues with oats.

I have celiacs. It is not a diet option, but don't be surprise if you loose 10% of your weight in the first few months, it all comes back once your body starts to heal.

Hope that is helpful.

I have celiac and can tell you within 20 minutes of ingestion that I have done it. I get a migraine before I get the GI symptoms most associated with the disease and I inflamed joints & fatigue for a minimum of 4 days after.

I will not even use my children's peanut butter or toaster.

Fortunately, I do not have issues with oats.

osche731

Oddly enough, I am in the same boat. I too am working on my master's in nutrition and I am questioning if I have celiac's or a gluten intolerance. It's tough when your insurance won't cover a test!

Pinkylee77

true Celiac disease is best diagnosed by a biopsy of the small bowel. The blood work will can tell if you have some of the markers or an elevated titer. Depending on how high those levels are then the doc will decide if you need the biopsy. A co-worked had some elevated levels but not high enough for Celiac but high enough for the doc to recommend a gluten free diet.

puffbrat

I would also suggest a wheat allergy could be a possibility. I know a couple of people who thought they had celiac disease then realized they were allergic to wheat. Either way, it seems like cutting out gluten and seeing how you feel could be the easiest option.

Queenmunchy

Pinkylee77 wrote: »

true Celiac disease is best diagnosed by a biopsy of the small bowel. The blood work will can tell if you have some of the markers or an elevated titer. Depending on how high those levels are then the doc will decide if you need the biopsy. A co-worked had some elevated levels but not high enough for Celiac but high enough for the doc to recommend a gluten free diet.

Same with me. Blood work showed elevated levels, got a biopsy, showed irritation, but not enough to be conclusive of celiac, but enough for the dr to tell me to lay off of the gluten (and most starches) as they give me additional distress.

Pinkylee77

Queenmunchy wrote: »

Pinkylee77 wrote: »

true Celiac disease is best diagnosed by a biopsy of the small bowel. The blood work will can tell if you have some of the markers or an elevated titer. Depending on how high those levels are then the doc will decide if you need the biopsy. A co-worked had some elevated levels but not high enough for Celiac but high enough for the doc to recommend a gluten free diet.

Same with me. Blood work showed elevated levels, got a biopsy, showed irritation, but not enough to be conclusive of celiac, but enough for the dr to tell me to lay off of the gluten (and most starches) as they give me additional distress.

how are you feeling? My friend is feeling better.

elphie754

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage wrote: »

Best way to find out is to eliminate gluten from your diet for a few weeks and see if you notice a difference in your symptoms

Only problem with this is there is a huge placebo effect.

Queenmunchy

Pinkylee77 wrote: »

Queenmunchy wrote: »

Pinkylee77 wrote: »

true Celiac disease is best diagnosed by a biopsy of the small bowel. The blood work will can tell if you have some of the markers or an elevated titer. Depending on how high those levels are then the doc will decide if you need the biopsy. A co-worked had some elevated levels but not high enough for Celiac but high enough for the doc to recommend a gluten free diet.

Same with me. Blood work showed elevated levels, got a biopsy, showed irritation, but not enough to be conclusive of celiac, but enough for the dr to tell me to lay off of the gluten (and most starches) as they give me additional distress.

how are you feeling? My friend is feeling better.

Much better! I also am not taking the three daily indigestion pills anymore. If I eat something that doesn't agree with me, I immediately have to take a pill and have pain for at least a day, so it's worth avoiding for me.

FunkyTobias

janejellyroll wrote: »

I don't think there is anyone here who doubts that gluten intolerance is real.

Except perhaps the researcher who first proposed its existence, but on further review found that it probably didn't.

Analyzing the data, Gibson found that each treatment diet, whether it included gluten or not, prompted subjects to report a worsening of gastrointestinal symptoms to similar degrees. Reported pain, bloating, nausea, and gas all increased over the baseline low-FODMAP diet. Even in the second experiment, when the placebo diet was identical to the baseline diet, subjects reported a worsening of symptoms! The data clearly indicated that a nocebo effect, the same reaction that prompts some people to get sick from wind turbines and wireless internet, was at work here.

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/05/gluten_sensitivity_may_not_exist.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697

WholeFoods4Lyfe

DanielleTake2 wrote: »

Also -- I've been reading lately that a lot of "gluten free" foods (i.e. pastas and breads) have way more sugar than their gluten counterparts! I'm very careful to read labels on all gluten-free products now!

This is why I generally try to avoid packaged gluten-free foods, a lot of them are mostly junk. Though, I do like having the option if I ever do want the occasional plate of pasta or what not, I just don't make those types of food part of my daily WOE.

Pinkylee77

Gluten free is not a weight loss diet but for those that can not tolerate gluten being able to have pasta or bread makes the life style much easier

janejellyroll

FunkyTobias wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

I don't think there is anyone here who doubts that gluten intolerance is real.

Except perhaps the researcher who first proposed its existence, but on further review found that it probably didn't.

Analyzing the data, Gibson found that each treatment diet, whether it included gluten or not, prompted subjects to report a worsening of gastrointestinal symptoms to similar degrees. Reported pain, bloating, nausea, and gas all increased over the baseline low-FODMAP diet. Even in the second experiment, when the placebo diet was identical to the baseline diet, subjects reported a worsening of symptoms! The data clearly indicated that a nocebo effect, the same reaction that prompts some people to get sick from wind turbines and wireless internet, was at work here.

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/05/gluten_sensitivity_may_not_exist.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697

That's interesting stuff, thanks.

MelissaPhippsFeagins

Pinkylee77 wrote: »

true Celiac disease is best diagnosed by a biopsy of the small bowel. The blood work will can tell if you have some of the markers or an elevated titer. Depending on how high those levels are then the doc will decide if you need the biopsy. A co-worked had some elevated levels but not high enough for Celiac but high enough for the doc to recommend a gluten free diet.

My levels were so high that no biopsy was required. It took almost a year off gluten to get them into the normal range and my kidney function is still not in the normal range after 5 years. (I test again next month...hoping for normal finally)

HeathBro

I recently developed a case of laryngitis and while waiting on an ENT appointment, did some research and decided to give up gluten. 3 weeks later, after 2 months of having very little voice, my voice is 90% better.

Beyond the voice i'm noticing i'm not falling asleep in the middle of the day, my stomach is flatter, my skin is better and I feel better overall. I have been purchasing quite a few GF products as of late, that I should probably cut back on. But man Udis GF white bread is DELICIOUS!!