Undiagnosed Need Advice

[Moogle39]

Hi, I hope it's ok to post about this, I'm a newbie on the forum. I've had IBS for about 15 years, and have had tests for celiac (both blood and biopsy) turn out negative. However, I have a lot of the symptoms including diarrhea, anxiety/mood issues and I don't gain weight well. My Dr. said to try the diet anyways to see if it helps. His P.A. said it could take 2 months to notice it working. Does anyone on here have a similar experience or could give me any advice on doing the diet? It would be amazing if doing this could help me get healthy, and feel better mentally too. Thanks for reading

[Scott Adams]

Do you recall when you were tested whether or not you were on a gluten-free diet beforehand? If so that could be why the tests were negative. You do need to eat gluten daily for several weeks before taking tests for celiac disease.

Also, were the tests zero, or were there antibodies that were measured? I ask because it could be the difference between gluten sensitivity and celiac disease depending on the results. It sounds to me like your doctor thinks you might be gluten sensitive rather than have celiac disease.

More on blood tests:

 

 

[Moogle39]

  On 5/31/2020 at 6:57 PM, Scott Adams said:

Do you recall when you were tested whether or not you were on a gluten-free diet beforehand? If so that could be why the tests were negative. You do need to eat gluten daily for several weeks before taking tests for celiac disease.

Also, were the tests zero, or were there antibodies that were measured? I ask because it could be the difference between gluten sensitivity and celiac disease depending on the results. It sounds to me like your doctor thinks you might be gluten sensitive rather than have celiac disease.

More on blood tests:

 

 

Expand Quote  

Thanks for the response. I was probably eating a normal diet when I had the tests. I did have one marker raised on a blood test, so not sure if that showed something or not. Yeah he thinks it's possible it could be an intolerance issue. I tried the diet before, but i fell off the wagon after a few weeks as I may have had symptoms and gave up. But then they said it takes time, maybe 2 months and I've seen posts here from people who have been diagnosed possibly longer. 

So I just started on the diet again, and hope giving it time will show something. My anxiety and mood are actually my main goals. Do you think gluten/wheat intolerance is a real thing? I read some of wheat belly and that was concerning also about the effects of wheat on the body and brain.

[Scott Adams]

Yes, gluten intolerance/sensitivity is definitely a real thing, and ~10% of people have it (about 1% have celiac disease).  Here are some scientific studies to back it up:

https://www.celiac.com/search/?&q=NCWS&type=cms_records2&search_and_or=and