gluten intolerance and its symptoms?

lkcuts
lkcuts Posts: 224
in Health and Weight Loss
What are the physical signs that you are gluten intolerant? I was wondering if maybe I had that problem and curious to know if there is a physical way to know that without tests.

Replies

  • kenhelms17720
    kenhelms17720 Posts: 62
    Unfortunately, Gluten sensitivity really depends on the person. Some people have gastrointestinal distress, but some people even with celiac don't show.

    Honestly, a couple blood tests are the best bet to do. Most states allow direct access to lab tests. Directlabs.com has the ability to order the tests for you, and all you have to do is stop at a labcorp center and they will draw.

    Since I am going to assume you don't have full on Celiac (you would know that most likely, although sometimes there is late onset)
    The test is for the IgG-gliadin and IgA-giladin antibodies

    This is an older test, a lot of the industry has moved away from it because it is not accurate for testing for Celiac. Also, a percentage of the population (around 12 - 25% depending on source) has naturally elevated levels of this antibody anyway so if this was in use for diagnosing Celiacs, then the next step would be a biopsy of the gut. So you can kind of see the reasoning for backing away from it. However if you are just looking for sensitivity its atleast a start.


    Edit- looks like a company I suggested for lab draw and testing only does a comprehensive package for testing. It runs $299 if you need/want it done. Like any test though, there can be false positives, etc so keep that in mind. The Anti-Gliadin tests do have a higher than normal false pos/neg than others.


    Sorry for answering your question with the answers you were not looking for, but the external symptoms that some people claim prove that they are gluten sensitive can be easily misidentified. :-(
    Gluten is found in so much food.... for a lot of people, totally eliminating it from a diet can be a PITA. That being said... every person on the planet has some form of intolerance to it, just some are so low it matters very little.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    My granddaughter is celiac from birth. She was always really small, severe diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, and underweight. She's 5 now and the smallest crumb of something with gluten is enough to set her off for weeks.

    My hubby is allergic to wheat, the grain itself, not gluten. If he eats something with wheat in it he gets bloated with diarrhea.

    If you want to be tested you have to still be eating items with gluten in them so if you plan to go that road don't do an elimination diet first. Being gluten free or wheat free is a huge PITA so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you truly have a medical condition.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Intolerance and allergies are not the same thing at all and diagnosis is completely different. There is no magic way to know what you are allergic or intolerant to a given food from general symptoms because there is so much overlap, or whether you have a different digestive complaint like imbalanced gut flora or IBS (differential diagnoses) without an elimination diet or detailed food diary analysed by a medical professional. Most people self diagnose in the most unscientific manner, forgetting that every time they have wheat they have gluten AND the starchy part of the rain, or always have processed/ refined wheat, or always with milk or sugar or always over the recommended portion size.

    Try eating far more oily fish, cut out sugar and white refined carbs, take a course of freeze dried probiotics (friendly bacteria) and see if you have the same symptoms in a couple of months.
  • aplhabetacheesecake
    aplhabetacheesecake Posts: 181 Member
    I have type 1 diabetes-they always tested my thyroid saying diabetes and thyroid disease go hand in hand. After the birth of my son I developed hypothyroidism. Then About 6 months post partum my hair got really thin, I lost my energy, gained 20lbs but it was weird weight, like bloaty weight. I was moody, depressed, binge eating.....I tried antidepressants and anxiety meds, had my thyroid checked and my dose of meds was ok...unsure what the problem was, so my specialist recommended a AGT or sumtin antibody test to determine gluten sensitivity. The test took about 2 weeks to get back and in waiting for it I went gluten free!

    within a month of NO gluten I feel back to myself again, off antidepressants and back to running and eating normally, 20lb bloat is leaving quickly too!

    so apparently diabetes and thyroid and celiac are all autoimmune diseases and common together ugh FML

    my symptoms

    -lack of energy
    -tired ALL the time
    -craving insane amounts of food (like eating whole baguettes, box of KD ect)
    -brittle peeling nails
    -hair falling out in clumps in shower
    (sorry if TMI but I also stopped getting my monthly cycle-) and def not preggo!

    4 months gluten free now and I feel back to myself yay!
  • xNJAx
    xNJAx Posts: 170 Member
    I'm intolerant to wheat and gluten. Symptoms for me include any and all of the following:

    * Bloated stomach
    * Stomach pain
    * Constipation/diarrhoea
    * Muscle ache
    * Fatigue (to the point of literally falling asleep at my desk)
    * Headaches
    * Nausea
    * Craving wheat & gluten products (I have no idea why this is but I often crave things like bread even though I know it can make me ill – sometimes even when I’m already feeling ill from having given in to such a craving!)
    * Cold-like symptoms

    It can be really difficult to know if you have a sensitivity without tests though. Sometimes if I eat wheat I'll be absolutely fine or have very mild symptoms. Other times I'll be agony, but it may be within minutes, hours or days. I think it might depend on the type/quality/amount of wheat/gluten that I've eaten but there are times when, for example, one slice of bread will seemingly give me no trouble, but a slice of bread from the same loaf on another day will have me practically bed-ridden for a couple of hours.

    If you don't want to have tests done I'd suggest you have a gluten-free diet for a month or two and see how it goes. It might be really obvious to you after that amount of time whether or not it has made any significant difference to how you feel. :)
  • lkcuts
    lkcuts Posts: 224
    Thank you all for your response! Sometimes after I eat I get totally bloated. Some constipation, no energy, brain fog. and my hair was coming out in clumps in the shower also. I started taking iodine drops, liquid trace minerals, a good multi vitamin and zinc supplments. I can feel a difference in a few days when I don't take the iodine drops in how I feel. I have cut bread to a minimum and eat light whole grain when I do have it.
    One thing I found sets me off to where I get the shakes a few hours later is pancakes of any kind for some reason. I can eat french toast with the same stuff on it as pancakes and I have no trouble,- Thats why I was wondering. I do feel better in the bloating stomach part when I hardly eat anything but veggies and protein.
    My ankles and legs swell for a few days then all of a sudden, it goes away. I have found using the eliptical machine tends to help the swelling in my legs and feet . Having no insurance makes me try to self fix my symtoms as tests etc are expensive. Again, thanks for everyones in put.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    See your doctor. Self diagnosis is never a good thing.

    Edited to Add: It won't hurt to cut gluten out for awhile and see if you feel better. But I would hesitate to label yourself 'gluten intolerant' without first talking to a specialist.
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
    having a gluten intollerance is not the same as being incapable of digesting it.

    1) google it

    2) go ask your doctor

    if you are of native american / caribbean or scandinavian / croatian ethnicity you may have celiac sprue.

    as for intolerant, who the fkn hell can digest GMO wheat? at 72 chromosomes over the normal 17, NO ONE CAN digest gluten.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member

    One thing I found sets me off to where I get the shakes a few hours later is pancakes of any kind for some reason. I can eat french toast with the same stuff on it as pancakes and I have no trouble,-

    If you can eat french toast which is bread with egg on it then neither gluten or wheat is the issue. Pancakes are made with wheat flour just the same as the bread.
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    "One thing I found sets me off to where I get the shakes a few hours later is pancakes of any kind for some reason. I can eat french toast with the same stuff on it as pancakes and I have no trouble,- Thats why I was wondering."

    I don't know about the rest but the above actually makes me wonder if you are experiencing reactive hypoglycemia. That is where you consume too much sugar, your pancreas pumps out too much insulin, and your blood sugar drops too low. The French toast would have a little more protein in it than pancakes and that could mitigate the effect some.

    Overall I really think you should see your doctor if you can :)
  • kenhelms17720
    kenhelms17720 Posts: 62
    You should really see a medical pro on this. Some of your symptoms raise a red flag. Elimination of the wrong food groups may make this worse and the added stress to the body isn't good.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Thank you all for your response! Sometimes after I eat I get totally bloated. Some constipation, no energy, brain fog. and my hair was coming out in clumps in the shower also. I started taking iodine drops, liquid trace minerals, a good multi vitamin and zinc supplments. I can feel a difference in a few days when I don't take the iodine drops in how I feel. I have cut bread to a minimum and eat light whole grain when I do have it.
    One thing I found sets me off to where I get the shakes a few hours later is pancakes of any kind for some reason. I can eat french toast with the same stuff on it as pancakes and I have no trouble,- Thats why I was wondering. I do feel better in the bloating stomach part when I hardly eat anything but veggies and protein.
    My ankles and legs swell for a few days then all of a sudden, it goes away. I have found using the eliptical machine tends to help the swelling in my legs and feet . Having no insurance makes me try to self fix my symtoms as tests etc are expensive. Again, thanks for everyones in put.

    It's dangerous to self diagnose and self treat, more so if you are getting your 'advice' from largely unqualified people on a forum. Legs swelling is a significant symptom, this needs to be discussed with a doctor.

    Please don't randomly supplement with individual micronutrients or small groups, these work synergistically and in opposition so you can do more harm than good - just take a complete multivitamin and multi mineral, ensure your daily diet is balanced between the different food groups and contains as many wholefoods as possible. Gluten is not just in wheat it is in rye and barley and a very similar protein is in oats so I'd expect you to react to more than just wheat if you were truly gluten intolerant.

    Pancakes are full of very finely ground white flour, as far as the body is concerned they are solid sugar because the starches break down so easily so can cause massive spikes and troughs in blood glucose which could account for some of your symptoms. These carbs also feed the bad bacteria in your guy which can respond by producing gas and making you bloated. If you have an imbalance in the gut flora you won't absorb or produce certain nutrients effectively. Not saying that is the reason in your case but there are scientific explanations that do not implicate gluten.

    Not sure what you mean by French toast but if you mean bread soaked in egg then the protein and fat in the egg slows the digestion of the starches, keeps your blood sugar stable for longer. Eating nothing but protein and veggies will leave you deficient in a range of nutrients from minerals to essential fatty acids - this could be contributing to any health issues you have. If you want to improve your health stop eating highly processed/ refined starches.
  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
    Only symptom I had was stomach pain, pretty bad ones. It varies from person to person. Some might only feel light headed while some may get the whole pack - vomiting, terrible pain is stomach, diarrhea, head ache, etc. You really can't tell by those symptoms only, you need a blood test and possibly even make a procedure to check inside your stomach for a sample to know for sure.

    Anyhow, it's always a good idea to go and check at doctor if you have ANY kind of symptoms. Even if it's just a light head for long time and nothing you do helps to stop it. It might not seem serious, just a light head, but it may be a sign of something very bad. Take care of your health. :)
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member

    as for intolerant, who the fkn hell can digest GMO wheat? at 72 chromosomes over the normal 17, NO ONE CAN digest gluten.
    Just like "Big Pharma", "Big Ag." is trying to kill us. Let's stop eating a nutritious food we've been eating for thousands of years.
    Vegetables and fruit are out too as a good portion of them is indigestible.
  • Ral263
    Ral263 Posts: 318 Member
    I'm intolerant to wheat and gluten. Symptoms for me include any and all of the following:

    * Bloated stomach
    * Stomach pain
    * Constipation/diarrhoea
    * Muscle ache
    * Fatigue (to the point of literally falling asleep at my desk)
    * Headaches
    * Nausea
    * Craving wheat & gluten products (I have no idea why this is but I often crave things like bread even though I know it can make me ill – sometimes even when I’m already feeling ill from having given in to such a craving!)
    *

    If you don't want to have tests done I'd suggest you have a gluten-free diet for a month or two and see how it goes. It might be really obvious to you after that amount of time whether or not it has made any significant difference to how you feel. :)

    These are my symptoms, to a T!!! Almost scary how similar.

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