You've already BEEN tested for Celiac by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!
Hi MC,
You've already BEEN tested for Celiac. Blood tests ARE definitive for Celiac. Celiac has a yes or no answer and no doctor is going to be willing to do more invasive digestive tract biopsies unless you are positive on the blood test.
It's definitive. You do NOT have Celiac Disease.
What you are probably asking about is gluten intolerance. There ARE more tests, but not one single one is 'definitive'. If there WERE a definitive test for gluten sensitivity than it would not take an average of 10 years for people to get diagnosed. Doctors would simply DO the definitive test and get it over with.
There is not a single test for lactose intolerance, yet people get symptoms, they get on the internet and discover what it is and they stop drinking milk. Problem solved. If they DO go to the doctor, the doctor says, "So, you went off milk and the problem went away? And whenever you drink milk, you get symptoms again? Yep, sure sounds like lactose intolerance."
So, if people with lactose intolerance are smart enough to simply get off of lactose and maybe/maybe not tell their doctor, then why do people feel this urgent need to get tested for gluten intolerance? I don't really understand it.
So, if you think that you are sensitive to gluten, do you REALLY need even one single test or a doctor to tell you to get off of gluten? You wouldn't if you were lactose intolerant. I really encourage people to not put their health entirely in the hands of the medical profession but to take full responsibility for their own health and to use the medical profession as tools when necessary.
Your 'tool' has failed you. It's time to just do what you already know that you need to do and learn that YOU listening to what your body needs is the best medicine...
Most people will test negative, and if you want to pursue it they can do a biopsy of your intestine. But you may be GLUTEN SENSITIVE or have gluten intolerance and both tests will show negative. The only true test is to eat gluten free for 30 days, and see if you see any difference, write down what you ate and how you felt at the end of the day.
Then eat something with gluten in it and see what your reaction is. Although it takes more than 30 days for your body to fully recover from the inflammation that gluten has caused, you will see a difference within a few days and then a few weeks. But be careful when shopping, read all lables, gluten is hidden in a lot of products. Each only fresh vegetables, gluten free products that are labeled, fresh fish and chicken. If you eat nothing with a label on it (unless it is gluten free products) you should be okay and then see a true result.
I told my doctor, I don't care what the results say, I haven't felt this good in 30 years and I don't need a test to tell me how I feel or why I feel bad. I firmly believe that there is no test for gluten sensitivity or intolerance you need to be your own doctor. Educate yourself, search online about gluten sensitivity - you will be amazed. I hope you try the 30 day trial - you have nothing to lose but to feel better!!
Maureen
Thanks for the advice by: MC
All very sensible. I guess I'm just reluctant to make the dramatic lifestyle change without "proof" that I must do it...it may sound simple, but when you're feeding a family of 5 who LOVE their bread and pasta it isn't! (Yes, I know there are substitutes, but still a tough sell to my family. Change is hard.)
Also, I really want answers for my chronic anemia and osteroporosis so we can attempt to reverse the effects. (45 - and pre-menopause - is too young to have fragile bones!) So if it's NOT celiac (or gluten sensitivity/intolerance) I want to find out what it is.
I will try the gluten-free diet and see what happens.
It's really not THAT drastic by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!
It's really not drastic once you know what to do. It's just the learning curve that makes it seem like it.
In any case, gluten foods are mostly NOT food at all, they are processed junk. If your kids (and you) are eating that stuff so regularly that not eating pasta and bread is 'drastic', then do your kids a favor and stop giving them so much nutritionless junk- you're not doing them any favors giving them that food.
While it's probably not reasonable to make them all gluten free, DO remember that if you have such severe problems from gluten sensitivity, then it's extremely likely that at least one or more of your kids is sensitive already and has a health problem that would benefit (constipation, frequent tummy aches, chronic bladder or sinus infections, always getting colds) or they will in the future.
So, start decreasing the amount of non-food junk food like bread and pasta that your family eats anyway and give them food that actually nourishes them instead... you'll be so happy that you did.
And by the way, anemia and osteoporosis are the CLASSIC CLASSIC undiagnosed gluten sensitivity problems.
Really, a gluten free diet is only hard if you make it hard. Make it a fun adventure and it will be. Just think how BLESSED your kids will be to have this information if they get sick and won't have to suffer for a decade like you..
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
Click on the HTML link code below.
Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment,
your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.
