Mari

Most of the symptoms I have seem to be related to digestive problems as long as I am gluten free. When glutened I develop mild but itchy DH, nerve pain, joint pain, swelling joints and other autoimmune symptoms. I have read that relatives of Celiacs have some digestive symptoms tho the blood tests for celiac disease are negative.

I have been thinking about what you wrote and wanted to say that I had asthma and it mostly cleared up after I did a herbal parasite program. So eliminating the parasites in my respiratory system worked for me. One way you might use to rule out food allergies or intolerances is to find a gluten-free diet and start with just a few simple foods then add other foods when you find a simple combination which works for you. I use the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and it has helped me to figure out which foods I tolerate best. Some people have good success with allergy testing and other people have good success doing various internal body cleanses - parasite, kidney, liver - The Curezone Forums are a good place to read about what others are doing. The weight gain you noticed could just be you are better nourished now that you are healing but another possibility is that your body is retaining fluids and if this doesn't clear up as your body heals and as you begin to get more exercise it would be time to figure out which parts of your body need help in healing and getting back in balance. The abdominal pressure and distension could indicate gall stones and sludgy bile. I do gall bladder flushes and have increased the amount of fiber in my meals for this common problem. gluten-free diets tend to be rich in carbohydrates so you may need to take digestive enzymes and probiotics or goat's milk yogurt to help increase the number of good bacteria in the gut. It is important that the digesting food you eat is not being slowed down by damage or inflamation in the intestine and it is best to make sure that you have a bowel movement within an hour of eating a meal. Adding acid in the form of Betaine - HCl capsules with meals will act to release intestinal contents into the bowel. Taking magnesium capsules will also help as will taking herbal laxatives. The book I use for healing the body is on my profile page.

Maybe it would help if you did not think of yourself as a person with an eating disorder but as a person with this genetic difference from people without this genetic characteristic. If this society had not become so dependent of gluten grains for nourishment you would not have this problem. You and I are in the same situation as Asians who lack the ability to make lactase. Neither you nor I, nor the Asians are defective. When the Asians learn about their inability to digest lactose and we learn not to eat gluten we have just made an adjustment to the real world around us which is different than the world of our far back ancestors who carried these genetic traits. Everybody has to learn ways to be careful. Tall people who don't learn keep banging their heads on door frames. When we avoid gluten we are healthier and safer but we don't restrict other people's choices in casual relationships and we expect their respect for our choices.

This seem more like an allergic reaction than the celiac autoimmune reaction unless you have dermatitis herpetaformis. I have an allergy to hot peppers, common in people with celiac disease, and anywhere the pepper oil gets on my skin it causes a burning sensation, itches and my lips swell. Even the small amount in catsup causes me to react. Pepper oil really sticks to the skin so I wash repeatedly with borax solution to get it off. Sometimes I have to scrub my face with a rough wash cloth or soft bristle brush to get the oil out of the tiny cracks and pores in my skin.

Hope this helps.

People have differing opinions about eating gluten just because their Dr wants to confirm his diagnosis. Some do it but many of us don't want to become ill again so refuse. When my blood tests came back they showed elevated alpha gliadin but a negative tissue transglutaminase. This confused my Dr but I felt so much better even after a week on the gluten-free diet I decided to have the genetic test done. The lab I used, not the one advertized at Celiac.com, showed I was DQ2/DQ2 and had a high risk of developing celiac disease. That was enough confirmation for me, I had the symptoms, did better on a gluten-free diet and will be gluten-free for the rest of my life. This lab also offers fecal tests for the antibodies which are much more sensitive than the blood tests, and fecal tests for food allergies and to assess the maladsorbtion problem. Dr. Fine who runs this lab has Celiac Disease and is considered an authority on celiac disease.

Hi

I have been dealing with various types of gastrointestinal problems for more than a year now. I have been tested for H Pylori and did a bunch of others tests. None of them resulted in anything relevant. I recently did a test called (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned) and a DNA test of my saliva. It came out I am extremely intolerant to Wheat and Corn. Although I stopped eating them I still feel very bloated, with nausea and constipation. I am arriving to the conclusion that I may have parasites. Does anybody know how to get a reliable diagnosis for this types of problems? Where can I find a good doctor in my area? Any web sites to recommend? Thanks!!!

Part of your problems may be parasites but laboratory tests for parasites which affect the digestive system are very poor. I worked in medical labs for years and often did the tests and found parasites in only about 1% of the samples. The Center for Disease Control has been warning the medical community that parasite infestation is much more common than was thought because the tests are just not able to find them. Because I have a damaged intestine I seem to pick up parasites very easily so routinely do herbal parasite programs to get them out. You might want to look at the Parasite forum at Curezone. Years ago while studying for my degree it was know then that parasite infestations caused people to develop allergies.

But there are other causes you might want to explore. Apparently you had an intestinal infection which left you with lingering problems. It may have damaged the intestinal wall and allowed food antigens into the body resulting in food allergies. It most likely left you with an unbalanced intestinal flora with toxin producing bacteria and yeasts over-growing your normal healthy intestinal organisms. Drs have their treatments for this but I and many others have found alternative treatments and programs are necessary to cope with this.

I just answered your post about cross contamination and wanted to share some comments about bloating and DH. I had bloating before going on the gluten-free diet but it did get worse. I did a lot of reading and found bloating - lots of gas in the gut - is caused by the food we eat fermenting. The food we eat contains carbohydrates and our gut bacteria ferments it if our digestive process is not functioning well. Gluten or food allergies or intolerances cause inflamation which slows down the food going through us and our gut bacteria have more time to ferment it. gluten-free diets tend to be high carbohydrate so we feed our gut bacteria when we eat it. To help with this problem I started using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet more than a year ago amd have found it very helpful and have been able to add back foods to my diet.

I have found it helpful to take betaine-HCl, digestive enzymes and probiotics. The betaine increases the stomach acids, necessary for good digestion and killing off the bacteria on foods. I use goat's milk yogurt now instead of probiotics and only occasionally need to use digestive enzymes.

A full or bloated upper abdomen - which I had too - turned out to be a problem with my bile system. I had gallstones which I got out ( and am still getting out) by doing liver/gall bladder flushes and sludgy bile for which I'm taking increased fiber with my meals. I have used flax seed meal in the past and lately am using gluten-free oat bran fiber. I often visit the Liver Flush Forum at Curezone to find out what others are doing about their digestive problems.

I used to get rough itchy patches of skin and itchy lesion in my hair. This cleared up on the gluten-free diet but comes back if I'm glutened but it is very delayed reaction which takes several weeks to start bothering me and lasts until the autoimmune reaction calms down - months later. This suggests to me that you are still getting gluten from somewhere - food, cosmetics, supplements, the crumbs around the toaster. I have also read that it may take a few years to clear the gluten plaques out of your intestines.

I gave away or got rid of anything in the kitchen which had been used for gluten food - pots, pans, dishes, bowels, rolling pin, cutting board, baking pans, wood and plastic spoons - anything that was rough surfaced or scratched. I kept metal utensils, glass and ceramic bowels which weren't scratched, ceramic mugs, glasses. I had read that I might have to do this and it took me at least a year to figure out what I needed to discard because of the gluten tapped in rough surfaces. Gluten can also become trapped in counter tops so you may need to have your own area to prepare food on and either cover it to keep off flour dust or scrub it down before using the area.

Recently I read a post by a woman who had been diagnosed with celiac disease about 7 years ago. Although she was on a gluten-free diet she kept cooking regular meals for her family. Her Dr decided to repeat the lab tests to check if she was still having damage to her small intestine and they came back positive so she was still reacting to gluten. Recently I got glutened just being in the same room with a large pot of cooking spaghetti.

From what I have read on various forums some people can tolerate small amounts of gluten but many of us become very sensitive after going on a gluten-free diet. As time goes on you will understand what you need to do to protect yourself, what you can tolerate and what you can't. We all have gone through this learning process so don't be discouraged. My health is much better after 4 years of being gluten and cow dairy free.

Hi - I often take a magnesium laxative before going to bed when I suspect I've been glutened because I tend to become constipated and I don't want the gluten stuck in my small intestine setting off a worse reaction. The magnesium is calming to your got and mind. Sometimes I use Cascara Sangrada, a herbal laxative and lately I have been eating at least 6 prunes or a glass of prune juice. After 4 years on a gluten-free diet I usually feel much better late the next day, only when I have gotten a large dose of gluten does the reaction last longer. I think that the problems - cramping, gas, bloating, brain fog were mostly due to toxins being produced by gut bacteria and yeast. These organisms over grew my good bacteria because the partly digested food wouldn't go through my small intestine because of the autoimmune reaction causing the cramping. Some of the ways I have found to help are various cleanses to get my digestive tract functioning better, using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet to starve the bad bacteria and yeasts, fasting with water until I have a good bowel movement, avoiding sugars and carbohydrates, using herbs such as turmeric and cinnamon to reduce the inflamation caused by the autoimmune reaction, taking probiotics or goat's milk yogurt (plain), using lots of oat bran fiber (mixed with food) for better elimination and to promote bile production.

Hope this helps you to avoid week long problems from glutening.