Enterolab Results

[e&j0304]

Today I got Ella's test results from Enterolab. I just wanted to share them with you all since you've all been so helpful to me through all of this. Here they are:

Gluten Sensitivity Testing

Fecal Antigliadin IgA 23 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA 17 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Microscopic Fecal Fat Score: 51 Units (Normal Range < 300 Units)

HLA-DQ Gene Molecular analysis: HLA-DQB1*0602, 0604

Food Sensitivity Testing

Fecal anti-casein (cow's milk) IgA antibody 6 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA antibody Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae (dietary yeast) IgA Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Anti-Soy IgA Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

(Note: Any fields left blank means that the test was not ordered.)

Analysis of this stool sample indicates you have dietary gluten sensitivity. For optimal health and prevention of small intestinal damage, osteoporosis, damage to other tissues (like nerves, joints, pancreas, skin, liver, among others), and malnutrition, recommend a strict gluten free diet. If you are experiencing any symptoms, these may resolve following a gluten free diet. As gluten sensitivity is a genetic syndrome, you may want to have your relatives screened as well.

Although you do not possess the main genes predisposing to celiac sprue (HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8), HLA gene analysis reveals that you have a genotype that predisposes to gluten sensitivity [either HLA-DQB1*03xx (HLA-DQ3, not 0302), or any HLA-DQB1*05xx or any HLA-DQB1*06xx (HLA-DQ1)].

I am not sure I completely understand all of this yet. There is actually a lot more info that they sent and I need to reread it a couple of times. I guess my biggest question is that since she does not have the genes for celiac and is just gluten sensitive, will she outgrow this??

Also, since her numbers aren't very high does that make them not as severe? I wonder if the number were altered since she is gluten free. She is of course still doing great on the diet (although she is still losing hair) so I wouldn't dream of taking her off of it. I was just wondering...

Anyway, thanks for all your help and support.

[KaitiUSA]

There has been debate on whether if you are gluten intolerant without the gene and do not follow the diet whether it can turn into celiac. I personally think it can. I think if your body is against it and you keep feeding it to your body then your body will eventually say no more.

It's also been looked at on whether you can get celiac without the gene. It is rare to see celiac without the gene but it is not impossible.

As far as I know, gluten intolerant is lifelong just like celiac is. Best thing to do is keep her on the diet because she is obviously having reactions to gluten and has those gluten sensitivity genes.

[skbird]

Hi -

I have one of those genes, DQ1. DQ1 is being seriously looked at as another gene predisposing one to Celiac. It also has been identified as predisposing one to microscopic colitis as well as autoimmune gluten intolerance, especially with neurological symptoms (gluten ataxia for one). Definitely have her keep following the diet, since she shows improvement. I only have one of those genes (and none of the classic Celiac genes) but I could never eat gluten again. Having double DQ1 often means more severe symptoms.

Also, I had been gluten free for 5 months when I got tested and I was actually negative (had a 9 on my IgA and a 7 on the Ttg) but it's likely the absence of gluten in my diet lowered these results. No matter how low, there is still a reaction going on - sort of like there is no "little bit pregnant" etc...

Take care

Stephanie

[e&j0304]

Thank you so much for your opinions on this. I have a quick question. Ella's test says "HLA-DQ Gene Molecular analysis: HLA-DQB1*0602, 0604"

What does that mean? What is the * for and does she have two of the genes because it says 0602, 0604 or not? I am confused by this.

Thanks again for helping me through this. I guess this is the negative to not going through a drs office because I have no one to explain this to me!! Of course most of the drs. we've seen have not been much of a help anyway so I'd probably still be on here asking questions of all of you!

[Merika]

Hi Shannon,

I haven't done enterolab testing. I have read some stuff online about gene markers and all that, and my understanding is that they have found the main/most common genes for celiac, which covers about 90-95% of celiac cases. basically, if you have one of the known genes for celiac, you *could* develop celiac (most people don't). If you *don't* have the gene(s) you will most likely not develop celiac. They just don't have all the info yet. This gene stuff is new....

I think you have your answer that gluten is causing your dd problems. Of course, you kind of knew that already It is great news if it's not celiac. Btw, the numbers can be just a little over or a lot over, and the level of illness doesn't really correspond....it's just if you are or aren't.

Hth,

Merika

[Jnkmnky]

Have you read the book Dangerous Grains? I know there are lots of books to choose from on the subject, but I find the easy, readable style of Dangerous Grains to be the best. All of the medical is supported with refs in the back of the book, so you're not bogged down while reading. It covers the spectrum of gluten sensitivity in a very comprehensive format. I liked it.

[skbird]

Thank you so much for your opinions on this.  I have a quick question.  Ella's test says "HLA-DQ Gene Molecular analysis: HLA-DQB1*0602, 0604"

What does that mean?  What is the * for and does she have two of the genes because it says 0602, 0604 or not?  I am confused by this. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Shannon - 0602 and 0604 are also known as DQ1, subtype 6. They are two slightly different genes, but are both classified as the same. I have 0602, I also have 0303 (which is only slightly different from 0302, which is also known as DQ3, subtype 8, or DQ8 for short - the other main Celiac gene).

As of yet, I haven't seen anyone mention they only have one gluten-sensitive gene, for whatever reason that is (gluten sensitive is more inclusive than Celiac only - for there are only two official Celiac genes, DQ2 and DQ8). As far as I know there are DQ1, DQ3, DQ7 and DQ9 in addition to the two main genes that are also considered sensitive, and tested for by Enterolab.

I know this stuff is confusing, I didn't figure it out at first, either. I did a lot of reading up on it. From what I've learned, DQ1 is a pretty strong reactor, and may or may not include damage to the intestines. Double DQ1 is found in people who react pretty strongly, too. Here is a thread on another forum about genetic test results I found helpful: Open Original Shared Link

Take care

Stephanie

[e&j0304]

From what I've learned, DQ1 is a pretty strong reactor, and may or may not include damage to the intestines. Double DQ1 is found in people who react pretty strongly, too.

Stephanie, does Ella have double DQ1? I don't know why this is so confusing for me, but it is!

I got an email back from enterolab today and they stated that people do not outgrow a gluten sensitivity and it can be just as damaging as celiac disease. She said that that theory is not yet accepted by the medical community.

Just thought I'd let you know what they said about and thanks for answering the DQ1 question. I guess I should have asked enterolab that when I emailed about the other stuff!

[skbird]

No problem - it does get confusing. Yes she has double, she has two DQ1 genes (though one is 0602 and the other is 0604, they are both considered DQ1).

By the way, this info will help you when talking with Enterolab or on the web, but your doctor will look at you funny, guaranteed. That's just how it is...

Stephanie

[Caroline's mommy]

We just got our 23 month old daughter's results back tonight from Enterolab. Her numbers are quite a bit higher than your daughters plus we have a milk sensitivity to deal with as well. Anyway, how long has your dd been gluten-free? Ours was only gluten-free for 2 1/2 weeks before we sent the tests in so I am wondering if that has any bearing on the results. This is so confusting and stressful. I've been crying all night because I am so overwhelmed by all this stuff. These are "our" results:

Gluten Sensitivity Testing

Fecal Antigliadin IgA 128 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA 69 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Microscopic Fecal Fat Score: 77 Units (Normal Range < 300 Units)

HLA-DQ Gene Molecular analysis: HLA-DQB1*0501, 0301

Food Sensitivity Testing

Fecal anti-casein (cow's milk) IgA antibody 114 Units (Normal Range

<10 Units)

Analysis of this stool sample indicates you have dietary gluten

sensitivity. For optimal health and prevention of small intestinal damage,

osteoporosis, damage to other tissues (like nerves, joints, pancreas, skin,

liver, among others), and malnutrition, recommend a strict gluten free

diet. If you are experiencing any symptoms, these may resolve following a

gluten free diet. As gluten sensitivity is a genetic syndrome, you may

want to have your relatives screened as well.

Although you do not possess the main genes predisposing to celiac sprue

(HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8), HLA gene analysis reveals that you have a genotype

that predisposes to gluten sensitivity [either HLA-DQB1*03xx (HLA-DQ3, not

0302), or any HLA-DQB1*05xx or any HLA-DQB1*06xx (HLA-DQ1)].

Erika

Mommy to Caroline 23 months and Chelsea 6 months

[Caroline's mommy]

Today I got Ella's test results from Enterolab.  I just wanted to share them with you all since you've all been so helpful to me through all of this.  Here they are:

Gluten Sensitivity Testing

Fecal Antigliadin IgA    23 Units    (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA    17 Units  (Normal Range <10 Units)

Microscopic Fecal Fat Score:  51 Units    (Normal Range < 300 Units)

HLA-DQ Gene Molecular analysis:  HLA-DQB1*0602, 0604

Food Sensitivity Testing

Fecal anti-casein (cow's milk) IgA antibody    6 Units    (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA antibody    Units    (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae (dietary yeast) IgA      Units  (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Anti-Soy IgA      Units  (Normal Range <10 Units)

(Note:  Any fields left blank means that the test was not ordered.)

Analysis of this stool sample indicates you have dietary gluten sensitivity. For optimal health and prevention of small intestinal damage, osteoporosis, damage to other tissues (like nerves, joints, pancreas, skin, liver, among others), and malnutrition, recommend a strict gluten free diet. If you are experiencing any symptoms, these may resolve following a gluten free diet.  As gluten sensitivity is a genetic syndrome, you may want to have your relatives screened as well.

Although you do not possess the main genes predisposing to celiac sprue (HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8), HLA gene analysis reveals that you have a genotype that predisposes to gluten sensitivity [either HLA-DQB1*03xx (HLA-DQ3, not 0302), or any HLA-DQB1*05xx or any HLA-DQB1*06xx (HLA-DQ1)].

I am not sure I completely understand all of this yet.  There is actually a lot more info that they sent and I need to reread it a couple of times.  I guess my biggest question is that since she does not have the genes for celiac and is just gluten sensitive, will she outgrow this??

Also, since her numbers aren't very high does that make them not as severe?  I wonder if the number were altered since she is gluten free.  She is of course still doing great on the diet (although she is still losing hair)  so I wouldn't dream of taking her off of it.  I was just wondering...

Anyway, thanks for all your help and support.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Rachel--24]

Erika,

I know its alot to take in at once. I cried when I got my results too. From what I understand the numbers arent actually that important. A positive is a positive. They don't indicate severity of symptoms or damage. Of course you will want these numbers to come down and they will once she's been on the diet awhile. I wouldn't worry about those numbers too much. She doesnt have malabsorption which is good.

I was mostly gluten-free for 4 months prior to my test. My numbers were MUCH lower. Only 15 & 16....but my malabsorption was 912. It just goes to show that the damage can be severe for ANY positive number.

I think her numbers are still high because she hasnt been off gluten for very long at all. It will take time but she'll be better.

[Nevadan]

Thank you so much for your opinions on this.  I have a quick question.  Ella's test says "HLA-DQ Gene Molecular analysis: HLA-DQB1*0602, 0604"

What does that mean?  What is the * for and does she have two of the genes because it says 0602, 0604 or not?  I am confused by this. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Shannon,

I'm pretty new to all this as well. I too was tested by Enterolab and found to have HLA-DQB1*0602,0602, equivalent to a double dose of DQ1. Our genes come in pairs, one from the father and one from the mother; hence the two numbers following the *. Also keep in mind that there is still a lot to be learned about gluten sensitivites meaning what is currently believed regarding specific genes relation to gluten sensitivity is subject to revision based on new research. But since one's genes don't change with age, once a *0602,0604, always a *0602,0604.

I second the recommendation to read "Dangerous Grains" by Braly and Hoggan (~$10 at Amazon). I found it particularly relevant for those of us the book terms non-celiac disease gluten sensitive. Also if you really want to pursue this, do a Google search for "HLA-DQB1*0602" (repeat this for the other gene) to find lots of references, usually research papers, citing evidence of some pretty nasty diseases related to these genes.

George

[Mr J]

hello Erika, i got tested by enterolab too. Got genes just like Ella's at the top of this thread so it caught my eye.

it looks like that altho your daughters genes have different numbers your daughter is in the same boat as me - genes indicate a predisposition to gluten sensetivity - not the "classic celiac" but other intestinal problems possible

however predisposition does not necessarily mean got sensetivity - however we do know that like me she IS sensetized - thats coz the hi antibody results show that our bodies have "switched on" the effects of those genes and producing anti-bodies. Gluten anti-bodies are dumb not only do they attack the forein gluten in our bloodstream they attack the intestine too!

like me she is also sensetized to cows milk protein too. Its less clear how damaging the cows milk antibodies are, but some researchers think it can do comparable damage to the intestines and other parts of the body.

my first post here - i've been dealing with gastroparesis - awful condition - - paralysed stomach - but i've got some stomach action back by following the diet Gluten-free Casein-free diet.

Like me your daughter needs to go on Gluten-free Casein-free diet (acronym for Gluten Free, Casein Free) - casein is name for one of the milk proteins (whey is the other main milk protein). So altho they call it a CF diet the only practical way of going casein free is to totally remove milk products.

anyway this might seem strange to you at this confused moment in your time, but i was so happy when i saw my results. I felt i'd found the "smoking gun" which had been wrecking my system - prolly for couple of decades if i look back on my gradual digestive deterioration. Your daughter is lucky to catch it early, i'm much older and don't think i'm going to be able to reverse all the damage. Actually "axis of evil" might be a better description coz of the casein antibodies too.

like Rachel said on this thread the enterolab test description says that the scale of the numbers vary from person to person and the important thing to know is just whether we are positive or negative not how big the numbers are. So in your daughters case and mine the path is clear - go Gluten-free Casein-free and expect better health.

cheers,

Mike

[e&j0304]

Thanks everyone for your insight. Erika, I wish you the best for little Caroline. I hope you get all of this figured out. You will find lots of good advice and support on this website. Obviously I'm new to this too and have learned so much from the people on here. To answer your question, Ella has been gluten-free since Aug. 3rd, so a little over 2 months. She had been gluten-free for a little over a month (about 6 weeks I think) when we sent in our sample to Enterolab.

To Mike and George....thanks for sharing that you have the same genes as Ella. It doesn't seem as though there are many with those exact genes. Have you found that your symptoms are severe? I ask because I emailed enterolab and they said that someone with a double copy of DQ1 often has more severe symptoms and that any kind of gluten sensitivity left untreated can cause many autoimmune diseases. Ella does not have "classic" symptoms and I'm not sure how severe they are in comparison to others, but she is a totally different and healthy little girl on this diet so we're sticking with it! They only problem we're still having is that her hair is still falling out a lot and I'm really concerned about it. She actually has very little hair on the top of her head now and I'm scared she's going to lose it all. I'm not entirely sure that it's even related to the gluten thing, but I think it may be. She is going to see her dr. tomorrow to talk about it.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for your help. It's just really nice to know we're all not alone in this!

[Mr J]

..To Mike and George....thanks for sharing that you have the same genes as Ella.  It doesn't seem as though there are many with those exact genes.  Have you found that your symptoms are severe?...

.....They only problem we're still having is that her hair is still falling out a lot and I'm really concerned about it.  She actually has very little hair on the top of her head now and I'm scared she's going to lose it all.  I'm not entirely sure that it's even related to the gluten thing, but I think it may be.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hello Shannon, to answer your first question, i would say that effects of gluten are severe on me, coz gastroparesis is a severe condition. I have the same genes as Ella, but everyone is individual, so symptoms and severity seem to vary radically from person to person. My primary prob is gp which gradually worsened over a long period, gp causes malnutrition and other probs follow... however hair loss is not amongst them in my case.

related to your concerns about whether you have found the smoking gun or whether there are others lurking, i'll describe my individual situation for your interest. Gluten certainly seems to be at the core of my gastroparesis problem, however i'm now starting to move away from placing all the blame on the smoking gun/axis of evil. removing them alone is not adequate for me, i still need other management approaches for my condition. So for theorizingg purposes I'm looking closer to home now and note that anti-body attack is in fact collateral damage - a failure of my own bodily defense system. I'm now considering why i got sensetized in the first place. Apparently i've always had an easily disrupted digestive system, my nephew does too - even before moving to solid food, so can't blame gluten in his situation. So i think its quite possible that my faulty digetive system allowed partially digested wheat proteins (called peptides ) to leak into my system and trigger the sensetivity.

For about 2yrs now, i've been using digestive enzyme supplements and for about a year a diet known as "food combining", like the specific carb diet (which i don't use for various reasons) its a healing diet and helps keep those nasty peptides out. Plenty of info on the net about those subjects. On the former subject i've been muddling my way thru the ideal way to use enzymes, its not a case of just go out and buy any brand and take the dose recommended on the bottle, i really only got good results when i started to understand what type to take with what food, how much and the timing of the ingestion that it started to be effective. There are great links and knowledgable members on the yahoo enzymes and autism group which would have saved me a lot of trouble if i'd found them sooner.

thats my particular situation, which as i said requires other management in addition to Gluten-free Casein-free. i have found it helpful to introduce one change at a time, when a bunch of management techniques are thrown at the system its hard to tell whats working and what not working.

cheers,

Mike

edit---> PS i'm leaving for Thailand tonite to meet my wife, so might not be able to reply to any further correspondence for a couple of weeks

[deb.h.]

this is what Phyllis sent me from Enterolabs when iasked the question about the importance of the numbers since my husbands numbers wern't that high. he wanted not to take it seriously. Now he is thank goodness. anyway here it is

The low positive number on the anti-gliadin test does not indicate that he

is "just a little bit sensitive." Our antibody tests are qualitative and

not quantitative. This means that the number will either indicate a

positive or negative result. It does not indicate severity. Someone with a

10 can have worse symptoms than someone with a 300. This just means that

people produce antibodies at different rates and some have produced them

for a longer period of time than others. There is no hard and fast rule of

thumb as to when a person starts to get symptoms, whether it is at 10 or 50

or 300, but they all need to be on a gluten-free diet.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you need more

information.

Most sincerely,

Phyllis Zermeno, RN, BSN

Clinical Manager, EnteroLab

Open Original Shared Link

[Matilda]

..

[e&j0304]

Thank you for posting that, Debbie. That was very helpful to me.

Also, thank you for your reply, Mike. I hope that we caught this soon enough in Ella that she won't have any other major problems. I hope you're feeling well and I hope you have a wonderful time in Thailand...I'm jealous!

Matilda, thank you to you as well. You are absolutely right. I was so sure that Ella had celiac disease that I was a little let down when I found out that wasn't it. I was having a hard time following this diet without a definite answer as to whether she needed to be on it. As everyone well knows it's not an easy adjustment and in this country food is central to many things espcially for children (pizza parties, birthdays, holiday parties at school, etc.) and I just don't want Ella to feel different or left out. Of course she always has a safe treat there, but it's not quite the same and she knows the difference even though she's such a trooper and never complains. I just hope that she handles everything ok.

Thanks again to everyone

[Mr J]

hello Shannon, I'm in Thailand right now and about to post some non-directly relevant content. I realise this is "the parents of" thread so i should own up to not having any children. Regardless of the 3 groups i subsribe too one is EnzymesAndAutism which specialises in enzyme therapy for autistic children and therefore its members are typically parents of ADD childre. In my search to sort out my own probs i'm ending up learning far more about ADD children than i bargained for. But its all interesting stuff which is the excuse i'm giving for the content i'm about to post.

regarding the "pizza test" you talk of i'll admit to just recovering from a series of travel induced food stress tests. As a bit of background gastroparesis is a condition where the stomach loses its ability to churn the food either partially or entirely. Without this ability eating becomes very difficult, i was seriously struggling to eat enough to maintain my job for a while, but thankfully i'm well enough to cope alright with it now. Some of the ppl on the gp (gastroparesis) yahoo group can't eat at all and have feeding tubes surgically implanted to bypass the paralysed stomach. Its been maybe 5 months since i ate any vegetables which haven't been turned into juice via my juice machine. Any chicken i've eaten has been liquidised thru my blender, but i tend to eat fish which i use with digestive enzymes powerful enough to turn it into soup! Airline had gluten free meals, the improvement i've had from going gluten-free is quantifiable - been able to get rid of my motility drug (stomach churning stimilator), but definiately haven't had normal eating capacity returned. So got nervous at this, decided to try some non-juiced veggies, penalty would be starving myself until recovery if things went wrong - starving myself while immobilsed aboard an aircraft is easier than when havng to work i figured. But as each meal passed, i breathed a sigh of relief as they seemed to digest :-) this helped my nervousness a lot as i tried a little of my mother in laws cooking of vegetables and fish, while still keeping to my "food combining" diet and leaving the rice - this sat well with me. Nevertheless some nervousness involved. And then yesterday the big test - eating out in a restaurant with my wifes friends. To put things into perspective my wife is Thai native and Thailand must be one of the easiest places in the world to eat gluten-free (and CF) neither wheat nor milk is part of their traditional cuisine, so thats not mystress prob - its the gp. watching a 7 yr old boy eat literally twice as much as me and then watching everyone else tuck into the delicious looking arrary of food while i had to stop after consuming my ration of food or endure certain nausea wasn't fun. The effects of the stress had taken its toll on me I think and i'll admit to getting upset and felt the need to leave the table and go for a walk, normally i would have handled it better. Today will be easier, a day on our own in a hotel, had "Jok" thai congee for brekky (rice porridge with small quantities of various stuff such as ginger and a few fish fragements). Will have "Pud Thai" for lunch (rice noodles traditionally cooked without "SeeYu" (soy sauce) but my wife will make sure they don't add any anyway..

back to the subject of your daughter and catching the prob early, both yourself and Caroline's mum have done well to achieve that so early. I'm expecting only a partial recovery at age 44, i really believe if i knew what i know now, when I was a child i could have avoided much of the problems i'm experiencing now. Problems plural is the key word here coz i do believe that extra care in addition to gluten-free would have been needed, but really for a while i was quite normal when younger. But from hanging out on the 3 online communities i mentioned its become quite clear to me that all 3 groups have many members with multiple problems. I'm sure that the wonderful looking recovery testimonials on the enterolab website are real, but from what im seeing here its not as clear cut for everyone and some of the follow on problems have need dealing with separately too. eg contributing to my probs was the candida fungus, i dealt with this prior to going gluten-free which has defintaely helped my improvement.

Right now i've decided to just continue with what i'm doing, the eating techniques i mentioned and continue Gluten-free Casein-free of course and see what happens for a while longer. i've only been gluten-free since mid aug so i'll see if some continued improvement occurs before resorting to further investigation. I'm as lost as anyone with this decision - don't have any doc's who can advise me on this, so just gotta try and make some sort of reasonable guess as to how long i should maintain this before say getting investigated for possibility other food allergies. I'm thinking that even if i do have other allergies then maybe after a bit more healing they might go anyway, but really im in the dark on this one. So please do continue to post reports on Ella's progress, so that we can all learn from the experiences.

cheers,

Mike

hmm this mail is long - had some time to post it while my wife works, but any further correspondence may be intermittent as i mentioned

[Mr J]

was going to ask you Shannon about what alerted you to the possibility of Ella reacting to gluten, but i can see that you have answered that on the thyroid

thread. Its good to see that she didn't react with the further complication of gp like I did. Comparing symptoms she in fact went the oppposite way to me and has reacted with a voracious appetite.

Also the opposite to me is the results of the Enterolab fat absorbtion test. Ella's shows quite a hi rate of malabsorbtion, whereas mine came in at a healthy looking figure of only 65. Yet both Ella and myself seem to be suffering from malnutrition. How can this be so? My theories on whats been going on inside me do change as i get more knowledge, however at the moment i have come up with 2 explanations for why my results were low. Firstly my entero system has reacted in the opposite way to Ella's, unlike her I am only able to process small quantities of food in my stomach, so only a very small load is reaching my small intestine. Therefore my small intestine really doesn't have to work very hard to achieve a good absorbtion score. Secondly i'm taking quite hi doses of digestive enzymes, one of which contains a lot of lipase which would be helping me in fat digestion/absorbtion, or maybe enterolab's test is looking specifically for fat and not what my enzyme supplements break it down into? I should ask them I suppose, but i'm just concentrating on getting more nutrition into me at the moment rather than worrying about the results of that test.

Despite my good score on the absorbtion test, i've nevertherless managed to feed some nasties in my large intestine. These nasties according to contempary theories may have contributed to my gluten intolerance.

Acute symptoms of the bad things in my lower gut started in 2001 Australia. I started work for a small software development company. Office was an old converted residential house, although its previous use was a restaurant judging from the menus left on the wall. Unknown to me my desk/workstation was sitting

over a flooded basement, full of mouldy papers and carpet. I developed chronic sinus infection (as did 2 of my colleagues, I later discovered). Also developed

what could be approximately described as IBS. Much online searching led me to believe it was candida - quite likely the mould in the basement broke down my

resistance to fungus in general of which candida is a species. I think my self diagnosis of candida is correct coz it responded to some of the known candida treatments. I don't have a candida prob anymore and this can only help my recovery from gluten/casein.

It wasn't easy to get rid of my candida symptoms and i will post on what worked and what didn't.

we've clearly got quite different symptoms so no reason to think she has the prob i had. Altho Ella would be pushing a fair amount of unabsorbed food into her lower gut which could possibly feed unfriendlies, Just out of curiosity would you mind

telling me if Ella has white stuff on her tongue Shannon?

cheers,

Mike

[e&j0304]

Mike,

Actually, Ella's absorbtion score was only 51 and so was normal. This was after 2 months of a gluten-free diet, so I'm not sure if that affected anything. She was obviously not absorbing her food properly pre-gluten-free since she was always so hungry and wasn't gaining weight no matter what she ate. Also, her hair is falling out so much and her dr. said that is likely from malabsorbtion.

Ella's main symptoms were the insatiable appetite, lack of growth, distended abdomen, hair loss, and overall irritability. I have never noticed anything white on her tongue or in her mouth.

Thank you for sharing your story with me and I hope you're doing well.

Enjoy your trip.

[Mr J]

my mistake Shannon, thats good she scored 51, I must have previously misread her enterolab report, or got something confused. Sounds like she is well on the way to recovery now. I am finding that different symptoms are resolving themselves at different rates.

yes, enjoying the trip in low gluten Thailand, while its true much of their food is gluten-free, thats not to say i can sample things recklessly! there are still plenty of things which could trip me up.

I wish Ella all the best too.

cheers,

Mike