Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Is There A Difference Between Intolerance And Celiac

mylady4

Recommended Posts

mylady4 Rookie
mylady4
Posted

I am wondering if one can have gluten intolerance without having celiac disease?

I had a blood test which showed slightly elevated levels of what ever they check for. I then had a biopsy which did not show any damage but my doctor still wanted me to be gluten free (I was already planning on it). I beleive that I did not show any damage because I have been trying to lose weight for the past 3 years and really did not eat that many products that contained gluten and I just started having problems about 1 1/2 years ago when I started to eat gluten again. My stomach feels so much better since I stopped eating gluten and I no longer look like I am 5 months pregnant. I am not nearly as sensitive as many other but I still do try to avoid gluten and really really try hard not to intentionally eat it (which is so hard when my DH makes cookies).

Is any body else just sentitive to wheat and what can I expect for the future?

Nicole

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Guest nini
Guest nini
Posted

from what I've read, I believe that Gluten Intolerance is the same thing as Celiac, the only difference being that Celiac is defined as total villous atrophy, which in my opinion is just waiting for severe damage before declaring that someone is truly sick.

If you are Gluten Intolerant, the treatment is exactly the same as a Celiac dx, a lifelong adherence to a strict gluten free diet. So in my mind this says it's the same thing.

If you are 100% gluten free, any damage that you may have will heal (usually) and your odds of living a healthy life return to that of the rest of the population...

Cookies are one of the easiest things to make gluten-free, and I've found that even my non gluten-free hubby likes my gluten-free cookies!

gointribal Enthusiast
gointribal
Posted

I had pretty much the same question and someone posted this for me, hope it helps a little :)

What is the difference between food allergy and food intolerance?

Many people think the terms food allergy and food intolerance mean the same thing; however, they do not. A food intolerance is an adverse food-induced reaction that does not involve the immune system. Lactose intolerance is one example of a food intolerance. A person with lactose intolerance lacks an enzyme that is needed to digest milk sugar. When the person eats milk products, symptoms such as gas, bloating, and abdominal pain may occur.

A food allergy occurs when the immune system reacts to a certain food. The most common form of an immune system reaction occurs when the body creates immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to the food. When these IgE antibodies react with the food, histamine and other chemicals (called mediators) cause hives, asthma, or other symptoms of an allergic reaction.

Introduction

Foods can cause a number of reactions, not all of which are allergic. Anyone can experience an adverse reaction to a food. The types of adverse reactions are as follows:

Adverse Reactions to Foods

Food Intolerance - where the immune system is not involved in the reaction

* Food poisoning

* Idiosyncratic reactions to food

* Anaphylactoid reactions (they act like anaphylaxis but there is no allergy-IgE antibody involved)

* Pharmacologic reactions

Food Allergy - when the immune system is involved in the reaction

* IgE mediated (classic allergy- tests are available) Non-IgE mediated

* Type III immune response- a serum sickness like reaction

* Type IV immune response- a contact dermatitis type reaction

Food Allergy- Facts and Figures

Food intolerance accounts for 80% of all adverse reactions to food.

Food allergy accounts for 20% of all adverse reactions to food.

Allergic reactions can be itching, swelling, rash, spreading hives, vomiting, diarrhea, breathing difficulties and in the most severe of the allergic disorders, anaphylaxis can lead to collapse and death. By definition, anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction which involves two of the body's systems (eg respiratory and gastrointestinal or skin). Anaphylactic deaths as a result of insect bites or penicillin are usually very quick - within minutes - and due to cardiac arrest, anaphylactic deaths due to food allergies are usually due to suffocation (breathing difficulties).

Food intolerance reactions can be the same as above, as well as:

skin (rashes, swelling)

airways (asthma, stuffy or runny nose, frequent colds and infections)

gastrointestinal tract (irritable bowel symptoms, colic, bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, frequent mouth ulcers, reflux, bedwetting, 'sneaky poos', 'sticky poos')

central nervous system (migraines, headaches, anxiety, depression, lethargy, impairment of memory and concentration, panic attacks, irritability, restlessness, inattention, sleep disturbance, restless legs, moodswings, PMT).

Symptoms of food intolerance can come and go and change throughout life.

mylady4 Rookie
mylady4
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try the cookies this weekend (1/2 a batch though). I am trying to lose about 25 pounds so cookies are not really in the picture but I would like to try it. I am eating gluten free, the bloated feeling is for the birds and I do not want to do any damage.

Nicole

mommida Enthusiast
mommida
Posted

When I do any gluten free baking, I double the batch and freeze portion sized containers. I feel that cuts down on overeating/ binging tendencies for dieters.

Laura

2Boys4Me Enthusiast
2Boys4Me
Posted
from what I've read, I believe that Gluten Intolerance is the same thing as Celiac, the only difference being that Celiac is defined as total villous atrophy, which in my opinion is just waiting for severe damage before declaring that someone is truly sick.

Isn't Celiac villous atrophy of any kind, not just total villous atrophy? Ty's biopsy indicated sections with normal villi and others with "severely blunted villi consistent with Celiac Disease", which I took to mean he was diagnosed reasonably quickly. Well, quickly enough that he didn't have total villous atrophy.

Meanwhile, there is a teacher at Ty's school who I haven't talked with too much, but she says she's gluten intolerant, but not Celiac. She doesn't eat gluten at all, and was over the moon when Ty took her some of his gluten-free birthday cake. She gave him a thank you card and a Glutino bar when she returned the container and mentioned how when the staff have sandwiches, cookies and stuff sent in for meetings she never gets to have any. Too bad we're on spring break right now, I'm trying to make a gluten-free Black Forest cake for my husband's birthday today.

Mommida...good call on the freezing in small container. I do that too. 2 muffins per zip bag, and several small 2 muffin bags in a bigger freezer bag. Cookies just go in loose, then he can grab a handful. (Which for him is two cookies.)

Guest nini
Guest nini
Posted
Isn't Celiac villous atrophy of any kind, not just total villous atrophy? Ty's biopsy indicated sections with normal villi and others with "severely blunted villi consistent with Celiac Disease", which I took to mean he was diagnosed reasonably quickly. Well, quickly enough that he didn't have total villous atrophy.

yes, that's kind of the point I was trying to make... can't quite make my thoughts clear on here sometimes! A lot of times the damage can be missed in a biopsy if the Dr. doesn't take enough samples or takes the samples from an area that isn't damaged yet... which is why I say that Celiac and Gluten Intolerance are the same thing...

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


CMCM Rising Star
CMCM
Posted
yes, that's kind of the point I was trying to make... can't quite make my thoughts clear on here sometimes! A lot of times the damage can be missed in a biopsy if the Dr. doesn't take enough samples or takes the samples from an area that isn't damaged yet... which is why I say that Celiac and Gluten Intolerance are the same thing...

I guess the question would be: Does all celiac disease start as gluten intolerance? And what if you don't have the celiac gene but you do have the gluten sensitivity one? And using myself as an example, I have both a celiac gene and a gluten sensitive one....which gene is influencing things, or are they both active? This whole area of understanding is very murky.... :unsure:

gfp Enthusiast
gfp
Posted

[qfgfg

darlindeb25 Collaborator
darlindeb25
Posted

Full blown celiacs disease is the worse case scenario--it starts as a gluten insensitivity, then grows to an intolerance and if left untreated, becomes full blown celiacs disease.

True, there is a difference between intolerances and allergies. BUT, they are both an autoimmune reaction, just 2 different types of reactions. A Celiacs autoimmune systems attacks itself because of gluten, where in a person with an allergy, the autoimmune system attacks in a different manner, the immune system reaction occurs when the body creates immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to the food. Both very dangerous, the allergy instantaneously and the intolerance much slower.

Nevertheless, if you are gluten sensitive, then you must become gluten free. It's like bee stings. If you react to a bee sting with nasty swelling, each reaction will get worse over the years until you become allergic to the sting. If you are gluten sensitive, in time you will be intolerant and then you will eventually have total villous atrophy, which is then called celiacs disease. Very fine line--I think any of us that are gluten intolerant are celiacs. Who needs a definition, we just need to all be healthy again. Deb

mylady4 Rookie
mylady4
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for all of the info. With all of the talk about horrible doctors around I am so glad that I have two good ones. I was shocked when someone said that their doctor told them in was a child's disease. How horrible. I have come to terms with this.

Nicole

Susan123 Rookie
Susan123
Posted
I guess the question would be: Does all celiac disease start as gluten intolerance? And what if you don't have the celiac gene but you do have the gluten sensitivity one? And using myself as an example, I have both a celiac gene and a gluten sensitive one....which gene is influencing things, or are they both active? This whole area of understanding is very murky.... :unsure:

Which gene is the gluten sensitivity one and which one is the celiace one?

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,301
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Vanessalynn
    Newest Member
    Vanessalynn
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.3k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • cristiana
      Options - 7 year old boy - Helicobacter pylori and serology

      By cristiana · Posted

      That is such a lovely post - thank you so much, @Kathleen JJ for taking the time to write.  I am so glad I actually saw it as at the moment I'm not really supposed to be looking at the forum.  I have a couple of long overdue work projects so I was taking a breaks from the forum to concentrate on my writing. 🙂 You have handled/are handling this situation so well.  What you say about gluten-free alternatives is so true about being laden with fats and sugar, and what I find very difficult to understand is that sometimes in the UK cereals and bread aren't fortified in the same way that glutenous equivalents are - surely if anyone needs minerals and vitamins added, it's coeliacs?!  Anyway, the best way forward is to cook from scratch when time and money allows. Here is a standard cake recipe.  You will need to source gluten free self-raising flour.  If that isn't a thing you have where you live, you will need plain gluten free flour then have to add the raising agent/baking powder separately, according to the brand's instructions.  This cake can be filled with jam, or with real cream and strawberries, or topped with melted chocolate or just powdered sugar.  Or use frosting.  If you look up different flavours of Victoria Sandwiches, you can see you can make them coffee flavoured, chocolate flavoured, or lemon, by adding those flavourings.   If you need me to supply that info let me know. This cake was made famous by Queen Victoria and is a staple of British baking.  Loosely based on the French Quatre Quarts cake, another way of making it is weighing the eggs with shells on, say three, and then that same weight is applied to the margarine, flour and sugar that you use.  Make sure you prepare the tins well, as the cakes stick easily. https://www.freee-foods.co.uk/recipes/delicious-gluten-free-victoria-sponge/ You can make a third layer, it looks quite impressive stacked up high! I am sure others will suggest recipes if you put in a request on a specific thread. Lovely to catch up with your news, and I hope that you will stick around for a bit to let us know how things go! Bon appetit!   
    • Kathleen JJ
      Options - 7 year old boy - Helicobacter pylori and serology

      By Kathleen JJ · Posted

      @cristiana First of all I want to thank you for your clear and gentle approach to my questions and emails. I was quite in shock because we were totally not expecting this scenario. We're 2 weeks later now and things have settled more. After the biopsie came back positive the rest of our family got tested as well but non of us have it. But now we know what we're up against, we told him. We laid out a table with crisps he likes (and are gluten-free) and had a little festive Friday-night moment and then told him that we finally had the results of his test. We had explained the gastroscopy to him that the doctor had found some substances in his blood and wanted to look at this tummy from the inside. We told him that he had seen that there was a little wound there, explaining the horrible pains he had had. That it was easy to cure this wound and make that it never would come back: leaving out some type of foods. Both our children had been asking us for a long time to take a packed lunch to school instead of eating at the cafeteria so we ended with the 'good news' that they now can bring a packed lunch. Our daughter was over the moon, our son at first as well but then he was really sad about leaving his friends behind at the dinner table (children who eat hot meals and packed lunches are different dining areas) and that he would not be able to sit with his friends who take packed lunches as the seats are set and he's the last one in and would have to sit alone. So that was quite sad [I went to the headmaster and asked her to maybe have a shuffle of the diner tables after New Years so he also can sit with a friend and she was going to look into it]   We are now trying out different types of foods. I at this point have no idea what to put in his packed lunch as before I'd take some sandwiches and put cheese or ham on them, but the gluten-free bread I've found so far doesn't really allow for that (it breaks and falls apart). So now I'm on a hunt for nicely tasting things to put in his lunchbox.   I've been shocked somewhat to see that a lot of gluten-free products are indeed gluten-free and thus healthier for him, but are also contain much more fats and sugar then their gluten full counterparts... I didn't expect that to be honest...   Anyway, you mentioned that your daughter and her friends love your gluten-free cake. I'm very interested in a recipe. It is customary in Belgium that if a child has his birthday, they give a treat to the rest of the class, and that treat is most often cake or cupcakes. He will not be able to taste anyones treats anymore so I asked the teacher for all the birthdays and am planning to bake some for him right before those birthdays, give to the teacher so she can give to him. But this entails I have a good cake recipe 🤭. Would you be so kind to share this with me?   Kind regards, Kathleen
    • Raquel2021
      gluten-free and continued upper left side pain after drinking wine

      By Raquel2021 · Posted

      Yes stress can .make the pain worse. That being said it is taking years for my body to heal. I am not able to eat out as 98 % of restaurants do not know how to cook for celiacs.  I only eat out on special occasions. Any time I eat gluten I feel there is a tourch going through my digestive system specifically in the area you have mentioned.  Like where the deudenal is . I am very sensitive to cross contamination so any small amount of gluten makes me sick.
    • trents
      Gluten free diet - are these symptoms normal?

      By trents · Posted

      @Ems10, celiac diagnosis normally involves two steps. The first one is serum antibody testing which you may have already have had done and are waiting on the results. The second step involves and endoscopy (aka, gastroscopy) with biopsy of the small bowel lining. This second step is typically ordered if one or more antibody tests were positive, is a confirmation of the serum antibody testing and is considered the gold standard diagnostic test for celiac disease. Now hear this, you should not be eating gluten free weeks or months in advance of either kind of testing. Prematurely going on a gluten free diet can and will sabotage the results of the endoscopy/biopsy should you get a referral to a GI doc who would want to do that. Eliminating gluten from the diet causes causes inflammation to subside which allows the small bowel ling to heal such that the damage they would be looking for is no longer there.
    • Scott Adams
      Gluten free diet - are these symptoms normal?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Approximately 10x more people have non-celiac gluten sensitivity than have celiac disease, but there isn’t yet a test for NCGS. If your symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet it would likely signal NCGS.  
×
×
  • Create New...