25 year biopsy confirmed/ate pizza with no ill effects?

[Linedancegal]

Hello! I am a 25 year biopsy confirmed female. 2 nights ago my husband and I both got pizza, one regular for him and one gluten free for me. Yesterday we ate the leftovers, and afterward, I realized that I had eaten 3 pieces of the regular pie! I was prepared to spend the next day (my usual reaction time) being sick and sticking close to a bathroom. It's now 9:30 pm, and I have had no ill effects. How is this even possible? Can your body change enough over the years that I could no longer have celiac? I am totally shocked that I am not sick. Thanks for any input.

Pat V

[knitty kitty]

Welcome to the forum, @Linedancegal,

No, you still have Celiac Disease.  You just have been on a gluten free diet successfully for so long that your body's immune system isn't reacting strongly YET.  

It can take many exposures consistently to get your immune system back to making the quantity of antibodies necessary for those typical symptoms.

Remember gluten challenges insist you eat ten grams of gluten daily for several weeks to produce the damage seen in endoscopy of small intestine and antibodies in the blood.  

Don't be fooled by no reaction today.  Don't think you can start eating gluten again.  Every exposure will stimulate the immune system.  

Hope this helps!

[trents]

We do hear of cases of remission but they generally eventually revert back. I wouldn't push your luck.

[shadycharacter]

  On 3/28/2024 at 1:31 AM, Linedancegal said:

Hello! I am a 25 year biopsy confirmed female. 2 nights ago my husband and I both got pizza, one regular for him and one gluten free for me. Yesterday we ate the leftovers, and afterward, I realized that I had eaten 3 pieces of the regular pie! I was prepared to spend the next day (my usual reaction time) being sick and sticking close to a bathroom. It's now 9:30 pm, and I have had no ill effects. How is this even possible? Can your body change enough over the years that I could no longer have celiac? I am totally shocked that I am not sick. Thanks for any input.

Pat V

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Fermentation breaks down some of the gluten in wheat. Nowhere enough for a wheat dough to become gluten free, but the gluten may be significantly reduced. I think some pizzerias make the dough the day before and leave it overnight. The longer the microbes are acting on the flour, the better.

[trents]

@shadycharacter, did you mean to reply to another post about sourdough bread? The present thread isn't about that.

[shadycharacter]

  On 3/28/2024 at 3:30 PM, trents said:

@shadycharacter, did you mean to reply to another post about sourdough bread? The present thread isn't about that.

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Lactic acid bacteria start to develop as soon as flour and water are mixed, so I assumed that in a yeast dough with long proofing time there could be some effect of fermentation and gluten break down. 

[Scott Adams]

The whole point of the gluten-free diet is to send the disease into remission. For some this process means strong reactions when exposed to even trace amounts of gluten, while for others it seems they have little to no reactions when exposed to larger amounts of gluten. In either case, research has shown that repeated gluten exposure will trigger the autoimmune reaction that leads to inflammation and various damage, as well as to possible additional autoimmune diseases. 

[Crystal H]

Celiac will never go away, your reactions may differ from time to time.  Even if you don’t get sick, it is still doing damage.
I want to know where you got gluten-free pizza so good that you didn’t notice the difference between the gluten-free and the regular until after you ate 3 pieces!

[Linedancegal]

Hello Crystal, We actually got the pizzas from Pat's Pizza in Cinnaminson. And yes, you are correct, there is a definitely a difference. I totally forgot that he also had pizza, so I didn't think twice about grabbing the pizza box and just eating it. I knew that something was different (maybe the fact that it tasted good, should have been a good clue?! lol), but it just didn't click that it was an entirely different pizza until I went to put the box away, and saw the other box! Then I knew immediately what I had done, and expected to be very sick the next day, as that is when I usually react. I was shocked when I got no reaction, I usually do when being glutened by mistake. I have NEVER cheated on the gluten-free diet on purpose, so I guess I've been doing a pretty good job of staying gluten-free! Thanks for your response.