Should I do a gluten challenge?

Sammy_B · Joined: 04 Nov 2009 Posts: 24

I have been gluten free for a while, but not completely strict until a few months ago. For the longest time I refused to accept the fact that I might have celiac and just assumed I had a gluten intolerance. Well now i've more or less come to terms with it and would really like an official diagnosis. I never had an endoscopy or blood panel while on gluten and am assuming I have celiac based on my response to the diet, family history of colon cancer, positive stool tests and the fact that I am a carrier of one of the genes.

Thing is I have problems with a bunch of different foods along with digestive distress and I am afraid if i start eating gluten again it will reverse all the progress I made and further jeopardize my health.

Anyone have recommendations on what I should do? I guess somewhere there is still a slight doubt that I have celiac

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 10608 Location: WI, USA

Doing a gluten challenge is personal choice matter. It really depends on the type of person you are.

Myself, I do not have an official diagnosis (dx). I had the biopsy done - no reported damage. I had 1 test in the celiac panel done [without my prior knowledge], but I had been experimenting with the diet already. A neuro that I was seeing at the time was willing to do a full celiac panel, but this required me to go back on gluten full time. I had already figured out that gluten was causing me ill health, but I wanted an official dx. Honestly, I wanted a dx so I could go back to my primary doc and rub it in his face [sorry, I was a bit bitter back then].

I lasted 5 days in my trial before I called it off. My symptoms (sx) were coming back and I wanted no part of it. If getting my life back again meant being GF for life - so be it - I'll make it happen.

Fast-forward 6.5 years to Nov 9th 2009.

Frankly, most days I am happy being GF. I have gotten a number of benefits from it and have no regrets. I realize that my viewpoint on this is not everyones.

Let me ask you this:

What would you do if your tests came back negative?

If they came back negative would you go back on gluten?

If they came back positive could you remain GF for life [this means no cheating]?

Are you not willing accept the positive stool test [I'm guessing EnteroLab?] results for non-celiac gluten sensitivity? Gluten has far reaching effects than just gut damage.

There's a possibility that you could be caught in "no man's land". A place where medicine tells you that they can find nothing wrong even after running a boat load of tests - yet - you still feel like crap.

At some point in time, you may have to listen to your body and go by how you feel.

You might look thru these threads:

Compelling reason to dx by biopsy Biopsy or Not to Bipsy - That is the question.
Suspect CD, is dx worth it? - This discusses the value of getting an offical diagnosis.
Why insist on a biopsy - More discussion on the Pros and Cons of biopsy.
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

Sammy_B · Joined: 04 Nov 2009 Posts: 24

Do you think there is still any value in getting an endoscopy - technically ive only been completely 100$ gluten free for 3 months so perhaps they still might be able to get a picture of whats going on.

To answer you questions...if i had a negative biospy and or blood i would probly feel confused and hesitatnt to start eating gluten again; if they came back positive it would just reinforce what I already know and I would continue to remain strict.

I dont know how accurate the stool tests are, but when i went to see a celiac specialist she looked at the results and said "this is from a naturopathic doctor" and said that stool tests are useful for infants, not adults. my ND disagrees.

Bottom line is i feel better w/o gluten, but I still dont feel like im healing because i continue to suffer with constipation if i eat certain foods

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 10608 Location: WI, USA