Endoscopy Scheduled, been gluten-free

[ajburns]

I have my Endoscopy -finally- scheduled for February 5th. Long road with some uninformed doctors. I've been gluten-free/DF for about 3 months. I know I have to do a Gluten challenge. Should I start today? How much Gluten per day Should I be having? And a month is enough for the endoscopy correct? How long do results typically take? My follow up with the doctor is February 20th, not sure it's enough time. And should I stick with eating gluten until this check up?

Also, should I go ahead and eat dairy again as well? I know it's definitely a problem because after accidentally having it recently I had some reactions. Or Should I mostly be concerned with getting the Gluten in my system?

Sorry for so many questions

Thank you!!

[ajburns]

I could try to schedule for 2 weeks from now if that is enough time of eating Gluten if they need more time to process results?

[frieze]

skip the dairy

[cyclinglady]

If you can tough it out, go longer than two weeks as celiac centers differ between 2 and 4 weeks for a challenge.  Select all your favorite gluten-containing old foods.   No sense eating junk!   Eat at least 1 to 2 slices of bread a day (or equivalent).  You can stop eating gluten once you get the test results (in case a mistake is made).  You should be able to at least get something over the phone instead of having to sit for that follow-up appointment.  Discuss this with your doctor as it is up to him how he communicates test results.  Let him know if you become very miserable.  A challenge should be done under a doctor’s care.  

Skip the dairy if you know you will have problems.  Why potentially suffer more?  If you do have celiac disease, you may get dairy back.  I did!  

Good luck!  

[ajburns]

Thank you so much! I'll start immediately and try to stay away from the dairy still

[QuietRowing]

I'd recommend going as long as you can on the gluten challenge, more than 2 weeks.

I was in a similar situation a few months ago and only did 11 days of a gluten challenge but ended up with a negative endoscopy result. I don't think I had enough gluten for long enough (I had about a slice and a half of bread a day, on average). 

With a family history and a high positive blood test, I'm fairly certain I'm Celiac but now am in the  position of doing an extended gluten challenge to pursue the gold-standard diagnosis. If I could rewind the clock I would have eaten a lot more gluten during the first challenge. I now need to get a second positive blood test (after minimum 4 months of gluten eating) before the GI doctor will see me again for another endoscopy. I'm 2 months into the challenge and not enjoying it.

In terms of results turnaround - they told me the initial results of the endoscopy while I was still in the recovery room, but the results of the biopsy took 8 weeks to get to my family doctor. I'm in Canada though, so I imagine turnaround times could be quite shorter elsewhere.