Celiac And Other Autoimmune Diseases

[Guest Doll]

Hm, my previous post seems to have been deleted so I'll reply to this. The trigger for celiac disease is thought to be infection with the adeno virus. It is found in the intestines of many people and its protein coat is simillar to gliadin.

Here's an excerpt from a study:

>A 12 amino acid sequence from the adenovirus 12 E1B protein is homologous at the protein level with a >similar 12-mer derived from the wheat protein A-gliadin. It has been suggested that exposure to Ad 12 >could sensitise individuals to gliadins with resultant gluten sensitive enteropathy

So the way this happens, is that there's cross reaction between the antibodies produced against the adenovirus and gluten, so now the body views gluten as an infectious agent.

So you would say that the cumulative cause of Celiac is a combination of HLA type, additional genetics, and defective memory T-cells reacting to gliadin after being exposed to the Adeno virus?

Would it be because specific HLA types promote poor autoreactive T-cell regulation, PLUS a poor ability to recognize viruses structurally related to dietary proteins?

What about the evidence to suggest that Celiacs let in whole gluten proteins and THAT causes the immune response? Could this virus simply trigger the leaky gut enough to now let gluten in?

Thanks in advance!

[Guest Doll]

Yes, for celiacs there has been research. What my doctor was saying is that it can go away for non-celiac gluten intolerants. Or is anyone with the autoimmune reaction actually a celiac, even without the genes for celiac and without the intestinal damage (my tests can't count as I had an inadequate gluten challenge)?

For all intents and purposes, I believe that anyone who has a documented immune response to gluten is a Celiac. If you have positive TTG and EMA results, you are having an autoimmune reaction, even if you do not have widespread biopsy proven intestinal damage yet.

Even if you seem to have additonal genetic protection against intestinal damage say from another parent or moderately raised antibody levels (abnormal) but no intestinal damage, I think this should qualify as Celiac. Most people with high antibodies DO have damage (or it will occur at some point) but it may not always be detected on biopsy. Some doctors call this "gluten intolerence" but I feel this is incorrect. Antibodies = Celiac.

I cannot speak for those people who react to gluten and DO NOT have ANY diagnostic evidence, those people do not have Celiac. I would think for these people with non-autoimmune reactions, it would be more like an allergy and they do not have an increased risk of autoimmune diseases.

This is my personal opinion.

[Guest Doll]

Thank you everyone.

[CarlaB]

For all intents and purposes, I believe that anyone who has a documented immune response to gluten is a Celiac. If you have positive TTG and EMA results, you are having an autoimmune reaction, even if you do not have widespread biopsy proven intestinal damage yet.

Even if you seem to have additonal genetic protection against intestinal damage say from another parent or moderately raised antibody levels (abnormal) but no intestinal damage, I think this should qualify as Celiac. Most people with high antibodies DO have damage (or it will occur at some point) but it may not always be detected on biopsy. Some doctors call this "gluten intolerence" but I feel this is incorrect. Antibodies = Celiac.

I cannot speak for those people who react to gluten and DO NOT have ANY diagnostic evidence, those people do not have Celiac. I would think for these people with non-autoimmune reactions, it would be more like an allergy and they do not have an increased risk of autoimmune diseases.

This is my personal opinion.

This is basically how I've thought about it. I was gluten-free for several months before my blood test, but the antibodies showed up in the Enterolab test.

[gfp]

So you would say that the cumulative cause of Celiac is a combination of HLA type, additional genetics, and defective memory T-cells reacting to gliadin after being exposed to the Adeno virus?

Would it be because specific HLA types promote poor autoreactive T-cell regulation, PLUS a poor ability to recognize viruses structurally related to dietary proteins?

What about the evidence to suggest that Celiacs let in whole gluten proteins and THAT causes the immune response? Could this virus simply trigger the leaky gut enough to now let gluten in?

Thanks in advance!

It could equally be that Ad-12 cannot take hold without damage to villi.

I cannot speak for those people who react to gluten and DO NOT have ANY diagnostic evidence, those people do not have Celiac.

How can you say someone does not have something if they have NO diagnositc evidence to the contrary?

The majority of celaics are untested, I think the current incidence of diagnosis in the US is 1:4900 whereas in random screening 1:133 is commonly stated hence only 1:37 celaics is actually diagnosed.

This might not be what you meant but it is the basis of most of the studies.

Also non of the Abla research can be trusted. If they accidentally found a cure or anything looking like it may lead to a cure they would bury it. Their only interest is making a drug which will be expensive and require a lifelong dependance. (c.f. ranitidine)

[aikiducky]

I cannot speak for those people who react to gluten and DO NOT have ANY diagnostic evidence, those people do not have Celiac. I would think for these people with non-autoimmune reactions, it would be more like an allergy and they do not have an increased risk of autoimmune diseases.

This is my personal opinion.

I mostly agree, but like Steve, I'd just like to be precice and say that no diagnostic evidence means we don't know whether or not the person has celiac, not that we definitively know that they don't have it. Some celiacs are bound to be missed by the current diagnostic tools, because they are tested too early to show a rise in antibodies, or biopsies miss damage, or they go gluten free before testing.

Even so, I think it's quite likely that there is a group of people who have a reaction to gluten (iow they get sick in some way) that have a non-autoimmune reaction. And it would be logical that they wouldn't have an increased risk of other autoimmune diseases.

I'm curious to know what you think about the idea that there are people who do have an autoimmune reaction to gluten, but don't develop intestinal damage, or only mild intestinal damage? I know there's someone here in Holland who's researching this... in that case the current diagnostic tools would also fail since they measure the amount of damage, pretty much.

Btw I think one thing you need to keep in mind when reading this board is that many people have a tendency to extrapolate from their own experience - "I have celiac, it went untreated for x number of years, and I have other autoimmune diseases, hence untreated celiac leads to other autoimmune diseases". It's something I always try to keep in mind when I'm answering other peoples questions here as well - that my experience is just my experience, and it might coincide with other's experience, but it's not evidence.

Pauliina

[ravenwoodglass]

Btw I think one thing you need to keep in mind when reading this board is that many people have a tendency to extrapolate from their own experience - "I have celiac, it went untreated for x number of years, and I have other autoimmune diseases, hence untreated celiac leads to other autoimmune diseases". It's something I always try to keep in mind when I'm answering other peoples questions here as well - that my experience is just my experience, and it might coincide with other's experience, but it's not evidence.

Pauliina

Since I am one of those people who were untreated until other autoimmune diseases had taken hold I just wanted to say that at the time of my diagnosis I did not think the celiac diagnosis would help anything other than my GI symptoms. I was not expecting my other 'diseases and syndromes' to dissapear. It took a long time for complete resolution of other problems but resolve they did. Science may not see a connection but I certainly do. Just yesterday I was stopped by an old school mate who I had talked to about celiac. She had been diagnosed with MS, she was tested for celiac and found to have it. She is now gluten free. She is also now symptom free as far as her MS goes. All of this may just seem coincidence to the powers that be in the medical community but then again celiac research and knowledge is very much in it's infancy in the US.

[jcc]

Cara, I personally believe Celiac is merely an offshoot of something else, probably something like Chronic Lyme. Too many people with MS and the like on the Lyme forum walking around with Celiac's as well. I think HIV is the same way...not at all a death sentence. But too much money has gone into feeding what was reported and there's too much money to be lost, that they will never let go of their pride.

The frequency of Lyme/Celiac co-existing is hard to miss. I have also known several who had both, and usually B12 deficiency, as well. The symptoms overlap greatly. All parts need to be treated for people to be well.

My B12 deficiency symptoms looked a lot like Lyme or MS, so I have held Lyme disease potential in the back of my mind...although all my symptoms have now resolved. Anyway, the Celiac/Lyme circle seems a little chicken/egg to me. Is it the damage to the gut by Lyme disease that triggers the gluten sensitivity, or does undiagnosed celiac disease/gluten sensitivity and subsequent malnutrition lead to a compromised immune system leaving one more vulnerable to other invaders that healthier people can fight off?

I don't know the answer. I know some people I've discussed this with have doctors who believe the gluten sensitivity comes first.

I do believe that damage to the gut or poor gut health from any number of things can leave one open to developing gluten sensitivity (or be the trigger for developing celiac disease in some). But, I also think that gluten sensitivity/celiac causing damage to the gut and malnutrition, can leave one more vulnerable to Lyme Disease, h. pylori, yeast overgrowth, etc. I think it is circular... which makes it difficult to decide what is primary and what is secondary. The order of diagnosis can't really tell us.

There is a similar question with pyroluria. It is also associated with gluten/casein sensitivity, and I am left wondering what is primary and what is secondary. Here is a little tidbit that I've found interesting, since my family doesn't carry the celiac genes (although we do have other autoimmune disease), and my oldest daughter did test positive for pyroluria, which is associated with high oxidative stress. Check out the entries on Oxidative Stress, and Pyroluria if you haven't heard of it. It says that for some people (not celiacs), fix the oxidative stress and the gluten/casein sensitivity go away.

Open Original Shared Link

There still remain many unknowns for me, but in the meantime, my family has rebounded thanks to a gluten free diet and well chosen (needed) supplements. Because my family doesn't carry the main celiac genes, I try to keep an open mind that something else may be involved. in the short term, I know gluten sensitivity matters, with or without celiac disease. Whether it all has the same underlying root cause or not remains to be seen. My daughter and I are both double DQ1ers, and I wish they'd figure out what the deal is with us~

Cara

[aikiducky]

Since I am one of those people who were untreated until other autoimmune diseases had taken hold I just wanted to say that at the time of my diagnosis I did not think the celiac diagnosis would help anything other than my GI symptoms. I was not expecting my other 'diseases and syndromes' to dissapear. It took a long time for complete resolution of other problems but resolve they did. Science may not see a connection but I certainly do. Just yesterday I was stopped by an old school mate who I had talked to about celiac. She had been diagnosed with MS, she was tested for celiac and found to have it. She is now gluten free. She is also now symptom free as far as her MS goes. All of this may just seem coincidence to the powers that be in the medical community but then again celiac research and knowledge is very much in it's infancy in the US.

I'm not saying that a gluten free diet wouldn't help, because obviously several people here have reported that it did help them with other autoimmune conditions as well, and I'm not saying that there isn't a connection in your case. There might well be, but in someone else's case, the connection might not be there. There are also people here on the board who have reported that they feel better on the gluten-free diet but that they still have to deal with their other autoimmune diseases.

It's just like with the foods one can tolerate. I would't want to say "you should't eat potatoes, they will make your joints hurt" because for some people, that simply isn't true. I'll say "when I eat potatoes, my joints hurt, you might be like me". It's a subtle difference but I think it's important.

Pauliina

[ravenwoodglass]

I'm not saying that a gluten free diet wouldn't help, because obviously several people here have reported that it did help them with other autoimmune conditions as well, and I'm not saying that there isn't a connection in your case. There might well be, but in someone else's case, the connection might not be there. There are also people here on the board who have reported that they feel better on the gluten-free diet but that they still have to deal with their other autoimmune diseases.

Pauliina

I was speaking from only my own perspective and personal experience. Every one of us is an individual and depending on our genetic makeup and length of illness will be effected to different degrees and have different systems effected. Just because one is celiac it of course does not mean that other syndromes, diseases and genetic differences are not present also. And being gluten free does not insure that people have complete resolution of all their difficulties. I, for example, still have some nerve damage that appears to be permanent, but the system first severely effected in me was my neurological system so I don't expect a complete resolution at this point. But I have seen enough of a comeback in my nerve function, reflexes for example, that doctor has said my 'possible MS' would have been a misdiagnosis. Being gluten free also did not effect my development of diabetes after over 3 years gluten-free, although my doctor asserts that if I had been diagnosed promptly with celiac the autoimmune process that worked against my pancreas might very well have never occured. Which brings us back to the original question of whether other autoimmune problems could be prevented or reversed on the diet. In some cases this is definately possible I am walking proof of corelationship. When I speak I speak for myself and my experiences.

[Jestgar]

Even so, I think it's quite likely that there is a group of people who have a reaction to gluten (iow they get sick in some way) that have a non-autoimmune reaction. And it would be logical that they wouldn't have an increased risk of other autoimmune diseases.

I'm curious to know what you think about the idea that there are people who do have an autoimmune reaction to gluten, but don't develop intestinal damage, or only mild intestinal damage? I know there's someone here in Holland who's researching this... in that case the current diagnostic tools would also fail since they measure the amount of damage, pretty much.

Maybe some people feel like crap and start searching for answers before damage/autoimmunity is triggered. For other people maybe they feel bad only after the damage has occurred. The only way to test this would be to find someone who feels bad when they eat gluten, but without damage/autoimmunity and convince that person to keep eating gluten for 6-8 years to see if something more serious develops.

Who wants to volunteer?

[ravenwoodglass]

Maybe some people feel like crap and start searching for answers before damage/autoimmunity is triggered. For other people maybe they feel bad only after the damage has occurred. The only way to test this would be to find someone who feels bad when they eat gluten, but without damage/autoimmunity and convince that person to keep eating gluten for 6-8 years to see if something more serious develops.

Who wants to volunteer?

But if someone feels bad would it not stand to reason that the autoimmune action was there? Even if it never showed up in standard blood tests? I never showed up in blood tests so I did keep eating gluten for over 5 years after serious illness was present. My signature says it all.

[Jestgar]

I don't know, though. I think that's the big question. (Keeping firmly in mind that everyone is different...)

Do people start making autoantibodies that never show up? Or do they only occur if symptoms are ignored (or not understood to be symptoms) and gluten is continuously eaten?

Would you have developed these problems anyway? Would they have come more slowly? More quickly? Not at all? Did you develop Celiac as a result of the stress of the development of other problems? Are they still happening, but the symptoms were exaggerated by Celiac? Is Celiac just most easily diagnosed?

Dunno. Hope they find out though.

[ravenwoodglass]

Would you have developed these problems anyway? Would they have come more slowly? More quickly? Not at all? Did you develop Celiac as a result of the stress of the development of other problems? Is Celiac just most easily diagnosed?

Dunno. Hope they find out though.

In my case, and I can only speak for myself, since the other problems resolved after an extended period gluten free with the exception of the diabetes and some residual nerve damage, and since the neurological symptoms of celiac were present but misdiagnosed or ignored since childhood, I can confidently say the other autoimmune disorders would never have evolved. In addition in my case Celiac was very, very tough for my doctors to diagnose. Mainly because I do not show up in the standard blood tests and, as many with the IBS-IBD diagnosis have experienced, I was never given an endo exam only a colonoscopy. When MRI showed UBOs (brain matter white lesions that neuros here call 'unidentified bright objects) they were also ignored as an insignificant quirk by my neuro, in other countries that would have been the moment I was diagnosed but not here in the US. Here the neuros just shrug their shoulders and consider it insignificant.

[jcc]

Does anyone have a legit scientific link (NOT a personal webpage, alternative medicine page etc.) that can set this straight?

Back to original question, I just ran across this,~

Open Original Shared Link

Cara

[Jestgar]

This is a curious disorder. I have absolutely no intestinal symptoms and I sometimes wonder, if it hadn't been for my boss's observation and this board, would I have continued to develop worse and worse neurological sympts? Scary thought

[Guest Doll]

Back to original question, I just ran across this,~

Open Original Shared Link

Cara

Hi Cara and thank you for posting. I guess what frustrates me is that I was NOT exposed to gluten (breastfed then rice cereal) prior to Type 1 diabetes. Many others have also not been exposed to gluten or casein and still got Type 1. I also did not develop any Celiac antibodies, damage, or symptoms until I was 21. I am thinking gluten may accelerate the pace of autoimmunity or promote it, but not entirely be the cause (trigger).

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Hi Cara and thank you for posting. I guess what frustrates me is that I was NOT exposed to gluten (breastfed then rice cereal) prior to Type 1 diabetes. Many others have also not been exposed to gluten or casein and still got Type 1. I also did not develop any Celiac antibodies, damage, or symptoms until I was 21. I am thinking gluten may accelerate the pace of autoimmunity or promote it, but not entirely be the cause.

I pretty much agree with you--BUT you WERE exposed to gluten if your mom ate it when you were nursing (unless she was already gluten-free). Also, some brands of baby rice cereal used to contain wheat starch, as did most jarred baby foods.

Also--did your mom wean you to cow's milk or to formula? Many moms wean their babies to formula.

I was just wondering if the reason so many celiacs are sensitive to cow's millk is because the cows ingest so much gluten themselves? Then again, nobody seems to be that sensitive to steak, so maybe that was a silly thought to beging with.

[Guest Doll]

It could equally be that Ad-12 cannot take hold without damage to villi.

How can you say someone does not have something if they have NO diagnositc evidence to the contrary?

The majority of celaics are untested, I think the current incidence of diagnosis in the US is 1:4900 whereas in random screening 1:133 is commonly stated hence only 1:37 celaics is actually diagnosed.

This might not be what you meant but it is the basis of most of the studies.

Also non of the Abla research can be trusted. If they accidentally found a cure or anything looking like it may lead to a cure they would bury it. Their only interest is making a drug which will be expensive and require a lifelong dependance. (c.f. ranitidine)

I am with you on the AD-12 theory too, anything is possible. Maybe one idea is right, maybe both are, maybe neither are.

I can say that with our current medical standards, most people who do not EVER test positive (including borderline elevated) for Celiac in ANY way, shape, or form, do not have Celiac. The new tests are very specific. I agree testing frequency is poor for this disease, but my point initially was that most people who have autoimmunities DO NOT have Celiac. Steve posted a great snippet saying 12% in a group of those with Addison's have Celiac. Yes, that is a lot. But what about the other 88% that DON'T have it? Which was proved within the study? This could just demonstrate the genetic link some people seem to have, in which they are prone to multiple autoimmune diseases and have a defective immune response.

I also think it needs to be made clear that those who say they have gluten intolerance and have no autoimmune diseases weren't necessarily protected from the gluten-free diet. They generally don't have the genetics to get autoimmune diseases in the first place. They say they react to gluten, but they are not Celiac. If they have no autoimmune or genetic markers for Celiac, I am saying that the risk of additional autoimmunity is the same as the general public. It's like saying that Type 2 diabetics (a NON autoimmune disease with the same name) have the same risk of additional autoimmune diseases as Type 1 (autoimmune) diabetics, even though they are completely different diseases complete with different genetics. As I said, I (and the whole medical community) don't really know what the mechanism behind "gluten intolerance". It doesn't seem to be autoimmune Celiac, though. I am NOT saying that the gluten-free diet is not beneficial to them, just that the autoimmunity issue is not there. I personally can admit I do not know much about non-Celiac gluten intolerance.

I do want to point out that some people (fairly rare) have innate antibody deficiencies. This might explain those who test negative but react or have intestinal damage on biopsy with negative bloodwork.

I don't think Alba is working on a cure per se, but university researcher centres are. There are a handful of scientists searching for fame, fortune, or maybe have a child with Celiac and just really want to help. A cure can make money as well. Think about how much people pay for cancer treatment hoping to be free of disease. I live in Canada, but I can just imagine.

Hey gfp, don't you have a PhD in Organic Chem? If anyone is going to "cure" Celiac, it might as well be you! I'll be your lab gopher....hehe....

I pretty much agree with you--BUT you WERE exposed to gluten if your mom ate it when you were nursing (unless she was already gluten-free). Also, some brands of baby rice cereal used to contain wheat starch, as did most jarred baby foods.

Also--did your mom wean you to cow's milk or to formula? Many moms wean their babies to formula.

I was just wondering if the reason so many celiacs are sensitive to cow's millk is because the cows ingest so much gluten themselves? Then again, nobody seems to be that sensitive to steak, so maybe that was a silly thought to beging with.

All good points. My mom is not Celiac (Negative bloodwork AND biopsy-Got her to get tested since I was curious) so she would NOT be able to allow whole gluten in. In non-Celiacs, gluten is broken down first.

From my understanding, I was only breastfed. I am not sure about the rice cereal, but I can ask what type it was and check.

The idea behind the cow's milk is that some people seem to let in casein and react to it like gluten, and some studies have linked casein to Type 1, but others have refuted the link.

Sigh... Who knows!? Back to the lab....

[ArtGirl]

This is an interesting discussion. As one who is "only" gluten intolerant (diagnosed with two intolerant genes and no celiac genes) I've been wondering how this difference plays out the medical consequences.

I also think it needs to be made clear that those who say they have gluten intolerance and have no autoimmune diseases weren't necessarily protected from the gluten-free diet. They generally don't have the genetics to get autoimmune diseases in the first place. They say they react to gluten, but they are not Celiac. If they have no autoimmune or genetic markers for Celiac, I am saying that the risk of additional autoimmunity is the same as the general public.

I sure hope this is true. I probably have been gluten intolerant since I was in my early 20s and am now 59. Enterolab tests show NO malabsorbtion problem so, obviously, there has not been any damage. Which would confirm that I do not have celiac disease but just an intolerance.

However, my sister did have Type I diabetes and died from it (her's was very "brittle" and she did not do a good job of regulating her disease when she hit adolescence - and died from complications at 20). Obviously I do not have the same autoimmune tendencies as she did, as I have not developed any autoimmune issues all these years.

That's not to say that the gluten intolerance has not wrecked havoc with my health in other ways, but just not in developing an autoimmune disease. (Years ago the doctors first thought I had lupus, then MS, then IBS, then I fired them all and started looking at my diet which led me on the track toward getting well.)

[Jestgar]

All good points. My mom is not Celiac (Negative bloodwork AND biopsy-Got her to get tested since I was curious) so she would NOT be able to allow whole gluten in. In non-Celiacs, gluten is broken down first.

Invalid argument. Gliadin is the antigenic protein and gliadin is excreted in breastmilk.

Chirdo FG, Rumbo M, Anon MC, Fossati CA.

Presence of high levels of non-degraded gliadin in breast milk from healthy mothers.

Scand J Gastroenterol. 1998 Nov;33(11):1186-92.

my point initially was that most people who have autoimmunities DO NOT have Celiac. Steve posted a great snippet saying 12% in a group of those with Addison's have Celiac. Yes, that is a lot. But what about the other 88% that DON'T have it?

What if you say this differently.

What if you say "12% of Celiacs developed Addison's as a result of untreated gluten intolerance"

or for those who's symptoms remiss after going gluten-free:

"12% of Addison's patients were discovered to be mis-diagnosed Celiac patients."

If you say that autoimmune diseases can be both primary and secondary, then your question resolves.

Years ago the doctors first thought I had lupus, then MS, then IBS, then I fired them all and started looking at my diet which led me on the track toward getting well.

This was just such an excellent statement that I wanted to see it again.

[Guest Doll]

This is an interesting discussion. As one who is "only" gluten intolerant (diagnosed with two intolerant genes and no celiac genes) I've been wondering how this difference plays out the medical consequences.

I sure hope this is true. I probably have been gluten intolerant since I was in my early 20s and am now 59. Enterolab tests show NO malabsorbtion problem so, obviously, there has not been any damage. Which would confirm that I do not have celiac disease but just an intolerance.

However, my sister did have Type I diabetes and died from it (her's was very "brittle" and she did not do a good job of regulating her disease when she hit adolescence - and died from complications at 20). Obviously I do not have the same autoimmune tendencies as she did, as I have not developed any autoimmune issues all these years.

That's not to say that the gluten intolerance has not wrecked havoc with my health in other ways, but just not in developing an autoimmune disease. (Years ago the doctors first thought I had lupus, then MS, then IBS, then I fired them all and started looking at my diet which led me on the track toward getting well.)

I am sorry to hear about your sister. Type 1 diabetes is a very hard disease to "survive" with. I say that because "living" doesn't seem to get the point across. I think many Type 1's also find it hard to control. Essentially we have to be our pancreas 24-7, and are expected to adjust for every viral infection, stressor, and hormone in our body affecting blood sugar levels, which of course is impossible! I pray she is at peace and that she knows that she did well and I am proud of her.

As for the other stuff....Do you think that both the genes for autoimmunity (including Celiac) and gluten intolerance run in your family? That's my guess. You "lucked" out?

If you were to actually devlop an autoimmunity without those genes and only GI genes, that would be a link worth exploring. It is possible to have both conditions in one person or in one family, so that would have to be ruled out.

I have to admit I am not familiar with Entrolab, but have you had a full Celiac panel and gene test through your MD?

My thoughts are with you.

[Guest Doll]

Invalid argument. Gliadin is the antigenic protein and gliadin is excreted in breastmilk.

Chirdo FG, Rumbo M, Anon MC, Fossati CA.

Presence of high levels of non-degraded gliadin in breast milk from healthy mothers.

Scand J Gastroenterol. 1998 Nov;33(11):1186-92.

What if you say this differently.

What if you say "12% of Celiacs developed Addison's as a result of untreated gluten intolerance"

or for those who's symptoms remiss after going gluten-free:

"12% of Addison's patients were discovered to be mis-diagnosed Celiac patients."

If you say that autoimmune diseases can be both primary and secondary, then your question resolves.

This was just such an excellent statement that I wanted to see it again.

Gliadin may be excreted in breastmilk, but I was NOT Celiac when exposed. I personally don't see how a non-Celiac can be affected by gluten. For instance, a person is born with the genes for Type 1 diabetes. BUT they do not have antibodies against their beta cells NOR any clinical or biological signs of diabetes. They do not HAVE diabetes yet. They will react to a glucose load normally.

I like your primary and secondary autoimmune disease hypothesis. What I want to know is that if gluten is the trigger in any of these diseases, why do they never seem to be clinically documented as going into remission when the patient is gluten free, and why would people with the same genetics for Addison's would have different triggers?

The last statement is a good one. I also had neurological symptoms prior to going gluten free. They resolved on the gluten-free diet. But that doesn't mean I was developing MS and it went in to remission. It simply means that I had gluten ataxia from gluten exposure and it stopped. MS and Celiac can be similar in symptoms, but they are not the same disease. I know no one really said that, just wanted to point that out.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I can say that with our current medical standards, most people who do not EVER test positive (including borderline elevated) for Celiac in ANY way, shape, or form, do not have Celiac.

. My mom is not Celiac (Negative bloodwork AND biopsy-Got her to get tested since I was curious) so she would NOT be able to allow whole gluten in. In non-Celiacs, gluten is broken down first.

How would you classify me? The only positive bloodwork I had was an extremely high IgG. All other tests were normal, including the biopsy on my DH-type rash--though all the testing was done a month after a 10-day course of prednisone, so I don't know how any of the tests would be affected. (I had also been mostly gluten-free for about amonth.)

I have had Hashimoto's for about 20 years. I also have rosacea (tested negative for Lupus, yay). I have had increasingly severe GERD since high school. I didn't realize that I had the classic loose stools/constipation and bloating routine of celiac until after it went away off gluten. I thought it was just belly fat. My blood sugar was borderline high--but is now normal after being gluten-free.

I don't really care how my symptoms get labeled--but it's so obvious that a lot of my symptoms resolved after going off gluten. There is no way I would want to have a biopsy at this point.

Did your mom have any symptoms of celiac? Or did she undergo a biopsy just to satisfy your curiosity? (Yowch!)

[Guest Doll]

How would you classify me? The only positive bloodwork I had was an extremely high IgG. All other tests were normal, including the biopsy on my DH-type rash--though all the testing was done a month after a 10-day course of prednisone, so I don't know how any of the tests would be affected.

I have had Hashimoto's for about 20 years. I also have rosacea (tested negative for Lupus, yay). I have had increasingly severe GERD since high school. I didn't realize that I had the classic loose stools/constipation and bloating routine of celiac until after it went away off gluten. I thought it was just belly fat. My blood sugar was borderline high--but is now normal after being gluten-free.

I don't really care how my symptoms get labeled--but it's so obvious that a lot of my symptoms resolved after going off gluten. There is no way I would want to have a biopsy at this point.

Did your mom have any symptoms of celiac? Or did she undergo a biopsy just to satisfy your curiosity? (Yowch!)

My personal opinion is, if I were your doctor and saw any test come back positive, I would assume Celiac. Especially since you have Hashimoto's and previous GI symptoms. No brainer for me to consider. I would rule out any additional autoimmmune GI diseases though too.

I can't say much on the blood sugar issue. Unless you had antibodies to your beta cells as seen in Type 1, it could be non-related, especially if you are overweight and/or have a family history of Type 2 (not autoimmune and not genetically related to Celiac).

My personal opinion is that with your history and a positive result, I would say Celiac. If you responded to the gluten-free diet, that would confirm it. That is just my opinion.

My mom does not have any symptoms of Celiac.