Mari

Blood liver enzymes are elevated when the liver cells are being damaged or destroyed. The Dr will do a series of tests to uncover the causes. I have not read that gluten by itself can cause this problem but many celiacs have elevated liver enzymes before going gluten-free. If this were me I would also have the tests to rule out a virus or pollutants causing the destruction but would also ask the Dr about gallstones and a clogged biliary system and parasites. I have been very successful in passing thousands of gallstones by using alternative and natural cleanses and following programs to improve digestive and whole body health.

I live alone but thought I would reply as keeping gluten-free is one of my major preoccupations. It seems to me you are aware of most of what you need to do and are doing it very well. Are you having some symptoms that you think are caused by gluten? If not, then from what I have read, occasional ingestion of very small amounts of gluten won't usually raise the autoimmune antibody levels for most people. But some people are much too sensitive to gluten to be able to tolerate even that small amount. Some people can work in bakeries while others cant even go inside.

Have you thought of having the genetic marker test done to see if you inherited a predisposition to develop Celiac Disease or non-celiac sprue? I had the test done at www.enterolab.com tho there are other online labs. Another test is the molecular serology test offered by Prometheus Labs. This tests the gliadin binding site which presents the gliadin fregment to the antibody making cells. No gluten diet necessary for these tests.

I don't stop by this forum often as people have objected to my emphasis on alternative methods of healing that have been very helpful. Put a message in my inbox.

when I worked in labs it was not unusual to find a unexpected low hemoglobin. The Drs sometimes miss this. One time I noticed a thin looking blood sample and did the hemoglobin even tho it had not been ordered. I called the Dr and it turned out to be his mother-in-law, he was very grateful.

I searched for 'premarin bleeding' and got lots of websites. If you have not done so immediately call your DR as the sites advise. You can't afford to loose more blood.

Ask your Dr to order a test for Lyme Disease which is common in Celiacs. And ask for tests to see if you have low vitamin levels - especially Vit D and Vit B12. The Dr I see did not know to order these tests and I became very weak and tired and obviously sick before she would order them. The Vits were low and the Lyme test was positive.

I have read that reflux problems are common in Celiacs and recently read an article where a Dr actually referred to celiac disease as a reflux disease. Some Drs may tell you that you have swallowed air and are burping it back out, especially if you are a smoker. But it is more likely since you are burping bad smalling gas after eating eggs that you have some bacteria in your stomach or upper small intestine which are growing on the egg protein and producing the gas. This area is normally sterile as strong stomach acids kill almost all bacteria eaten and the bile also kills microorganisms. There are some lab tests for this, ask your Dr. There are also some alternative or natural ways to improve your digestive tract if the gluten free diet doesn't help.

You may want to look at The Gluten Syndrome Website for an overview of problems that gluten causes. When my test came back with confusing results I ordered the Genetic Marker (DNA) test and found that I had one main Celiac gene and another gene which made the celiac worse. Another test some Drs prefer is the molecular serology test offered by Prometheus Labs and I think several other labs. Drs will pay attention to these test results if you have the symptoms. This strengthened my resolve to stay gluten free for the rest of my life. I also felt better within a few days of a gluten-free diet.

Oh yes. I had to give up my job working in medical laboratories, had to give up my PhD program because I was too tired to continue, eventually moved to a rural area to avoid the pollution, started becoming a successful sculptor but had to give that up because of increasing brain fog and confustion. Started a plant nursery and minifarm so I could work outside at my own pace but had to retire because of complications of undiagnosed celiac. I continue to improve strictly gluten free and am actually enjoying my retirement more and more. I keep busy with my website (www.wattshaysletters.com) and feel lucky to be alive as my 75th birthday approaches. Never give up and keep working toward better health.

Recently I was having a lot of bloating and wind and none of my usual remedies helped very much. I happened to have some dried hoarhound in a jar and looked up what it is good for. It is a mild laxative besides being good for lung congestion although it may have some hypoglycemic effect, other than that it seemed quite safe to use. And it is also a paracide. I started using a strong tea with honey and the first thing I noticed is that the honey did not give me gas. Hoarhound did have a very mild laxative effect and helped get out the bacteria or yeasts which were overgrowing and producing gas. I used it for about a week and found that my gas problems were better even when I stopped. And I can still eat honey and tolerate other carbohydrate better. I did a few more days of the tea and like the effect it is having but it is very strong so will use it occasionally. I didn't notice the hypoglycemic effect.

I've used the food lists from the SCD for about 4 years and it has been very helpful. Some alternative and herbal remedies have also helped a lot and those programs and remedies kept me going for all the years I was undiagnosed. It has been helpful to do herbal parasite cleanses, I did not realize that the worms and other parasites living in me were interfering with my healing. Nor did I realize that my bile system was clogged with gallstones and some other parasites, especially flukes. Soft gallstones do not show up in most of the most used medical tests. People's first defences against getting parasites are a healthy digestive system which produces good levels of acid in the stomach and the immune system. Celiacs have problems in both areas so may acquire parasites more easily than other people. People and especially Celiacs who work with animals or live around animals are at risk for getting their parasites. Tho the regular parasite exams are often negative there are tests available at (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned) Labs and Diagnostech Labs that are much more sensitive. The Enteric Effects Panelt at (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned) will give a profile of the organisms in the intestine and show imbalances.

I have been reading up on B12 as a test showed I was way below normal. First I tried to take sublingual doses (1000 mg) but did not tolerate them, then took a month of injections weekly (1000mg), then found pure B12 (1000 mg.) capsules online and used them. B12 needs to be balanced by taking B6 and Niacian. I'm using Betaine HCl to improve stomach acids necessary for adsorption of B12, eating chicken liver and more red meat than usual for the natural B12. Some people use DSMO to help the body adsorb the B12. The other day I read that the small tapeworms which many people carry in their small intestine hinder the ability to adsorb B12. These small parasites are usually asymptomatic but in some people they cause a B12 deficiency and anemia. If you see what looks like white rice in your BMs it's likely you've picked up these very common parasites.

I use Magnesiom oxide 300 mg capsules once a day.

The gas is being produced by bacteria and yeasts in your gut. When people have an unbalanced mixture of organisms in their intestine it is common for people to have lots of gas, especially if they eat too many carbohydrates, sugars and other foods these organisms thrive on. The gastroenterologist will do the tests necessary to find the underlying causes and may do some tests to identify which organisms are out of balance. Although you have had some tests done they might have missed gallstones or insufficient bile production that may also include pancreatic enzyme deficiency. These gas forming organisms thrive better when the food eaten is not being well digested. I have found that taking a balanced Vit B supplement is helpful, especially Vit B12. The Dr may also order parasite tests but they are not very helpful, a better test is like the Enteric Effects Panel offered by (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned) Labs. This test also looks for anti gliadin antibodies and is more sensitive than the blood tests for possible Celiac Disease.

Hope this helps.

A elevated antibody to a food is considered positive whether you have the blood tests or the more sensitive fecal tests. A negative test, (no elevated antibodies) does not rule out a food allergy. As the enterolab report said you need to avoid those foods from your diet for 12 months. Some foods you may be able to add back later, some foods you will always have to avoid. I have been cow milk free for about 5 years and still react even to a small amount. You probably be able to tolerate goat's milk, especially yogurt and kefir. I can tolerate small amounts of sheep's milk yogurt. I have found casein added to goats milk cheese so avoid it.

No laboratory is perfect but but Enterolab is as accurate as humanly possible. I trust their results. Most of us go thru a period where we are overwhelmed by the changes we have to make but then we feel so much better and healthier that we adjust .

What causes the bloating and gas is the bacteria and yeasts in the intestine over-growing on undigested and partly digested food eaten. When the small intestine is reacting to gluten or other foods it becomes inflamed and food passes through more slowly giving these organisms a longer time to grow and produce more gas. Many of these organisms also produce toxins which make you feel ill often with anxiety and depression. Some of these organisms are difficult to get rid of or control. This is called a dysbiosis. Drs have diagnostic tools and treatments and often use antibiotics. I usually treat these episodes with herbs and supplements. The B vitamins are important to intestinal health, especially B12 and taking a sublingual B12 may help with this problem as it did with me as will taking a magnesium supplement daily. Other helpful things - Turmeric (see recipes online), Cayenne or other hot peppers, Cinnamon, all work to reduce inflammation. Don't forget to take VitD and Calcium for bone health.

If you have an autoimmune reaction to gluten the antibodies will persist for 3 to 5 months as I found out when I was glutened and still had itchy skin 5 months later.

Hope this helps.

What is causing all that gas and bloating are the gas producing bacteria in the gut feeding on partly digested and undigested foods. It may help you to take an acid supplement such as Betaine-HCl which will prepare food for digestion and it also helps to kill off bacteria and other organisms in food or from your hands when eating. To help digest the foods many people use digestive or pancreatic enzymes with meals. High carbohydrate foods can cause a lot of gas and bloating as the happy little bacteria and yeasts just love it and grow wildly. Celiacs and people with food allergies and intolerances often have inflammation and congestion in the small intestine. This impedes the partly digested food so it passes through the small intestine more slowly, and this gives more time for the bacteria and yeasts to over grow. Some people find benadryl and other antihistamines helpful. Many people find that this problem lessens as they heal and learn to avoid certain foods. I found that I needed to supplement with Vit B12.

At the top of the page click on Celiac info, I remember seeing a page of tests which follow how well you are recovering on a gluten-free diet. My Dr refused to do most of the tests and it wasn't until I had a more serious problem, a small transient stroke, that she ordered some of them. I could have probably avoided that problem (6 hrs in the ER 60 miles from home) if I had know some of the tests were abnormal.

Yes do have the vitamin tests. My Dr did not test for B vitamins and I was not absorbing them from my diet and couldn't tolerate the pills. Taking B12 has really been effective in clearing up some lingering intestinal problems. When finally tested almost 5 years gluten-free the B12 was very low. I tried sub lingual pills but did not tolerate them so got a month of weekly injections and now have some pure B12 in capsules from an online store. I've added more red meat to my diet and often eat chicken livers. It is necessary to have good stomach acids to adsorb B12 so use Betaine-HCl with meals. My B12 is now high normal.

I had itching rough skin and bumps on my scalp before going gluten-free. Most of that cleared up as I began to heal and adsorb more vitamins, nutrients and minerals from food and supplements. A few years on the gluten-free diet I ate some wheat crackers by mistake and the itchy skin and scalp bumps were the last symptom to arise (several weeks) and the last symptom to go away - about 5 months later. I have noticed lately that I have the bumps and some itchy skin and think it is probably from the Enriched Rice Dream I've been using for Vit B12 as it is known to contain a small level of gluten. I don't use any shampoos or body products, instead use a saturated solution of Borax in a squirt bottle and rinse with 1/4 teaspoon of citic acid in water for hair and also use it for washing my skin. . This keeps my hair looking healthy.

I did have a Celiac Panel of blood tests when the Dr suspected Celiac Disease. The results were confusing, the alpha gliadin antibodies were elevated but the tissue transglutaminase antibodies were not elevated. I knew that if I tried to eat gluten again I would be very ill so instead had the genetic marker test done. These tests showed that I had a high risk of developing celiac disease because I have a main Celiac gene and the other gene put me at risk for developing another gluten problem, Non-Celiac Sprue (Leaky Gut Syndrome). Now I have test results I can show a Dr and avoid having to eat gluten again for the tests. There are several online labs to order the genetic marker tests from, The 2 marker test is less expensive than the 4 marker test. Some Drs prefer to order a molecular serology test as it can give a little more information (Prometheus Lab). I had the genetic marker test done at enterolab.com, their website has lots of information.

I had this type of problem for years. One time it was head lice but the other times it was not. In this area quite a few people have gotten scabies in their scalp. The easiest treatment is to use Diatomaceous Earth, a fine power which smothers the parasites. There are images of lice egg cases online, using a magnifying glass helps find them.

I searched for 'celiac skin' - here's one website

Celiac Skin Problems | LIVESTRONG.COM

Celiac Skin Problems. It can be difficult to make the connection to celiac disease celiac disease, or gluten intolerance, when rashes, bumps or lesions appear on the skin. Celiacs seem prone ...

www.livestrong.com/article/78438-celiac-skin-problems

One time I was glutened by a handful of wheat crackers. The head sores and itching came back and persisted for months. I also had itchy rough skin on my sides and back (lizard skin).

I like Kyodophilis 9 best. Often I use Futurebiotics Vegeterian Enzyme Comples which has Acidipholus, Digestive enzymes and Betaine HCl in one pill. Goat's milk kefir was good for a while but goat dairy does not agree with me very well. Homemade, digested overnight, cow or goat yogurt is used with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

Hi Shauna,

I have looked at several studies who were asking for volunteers. They all required the subjects to have had positive blood tests and small intestine biopsies. I had an elevated anti alpha gliadin but a mormal anti TtG, no biopsy, one hi risk main celiac gene (DQ8) and one gene putting me at risk for non-celiac sprue so I would not have been accepted. So yes the results are skewed toward the people with the positive results and ignored the 20 to 30 % of celiacs with incomplete testing, those who had too little of the antibodies when tested and people who are self-diagnosed. It is becoming more obvious that the criteria used for these studies have not been realistic. A recent study (didn't read the paper, just an article about the paper) has shown that people with positive tests and symptoms have the same metabolic profile as people with no symptoms. They concluded that all people who have a predisposition to celiac disease, or 'silent' celiac disease would be safer gluten free. The study also noted that the intestinal symptoms are more related to disturbed intestinal flora than the autoimmune reaction. Jefferson Adams, I think did the review of this paper in one of the newsletters or updates from celiac.com. Hope I;ve got this right.

Please do post your Enterolab results. I also used Enterolab, my two b allele markers are 0302 and 602. Drs are more familiar with the molecular serology terms so these translate to HLA-DQ8 and HLA-DQ6. DQ8 indicates a main celiac gene and DQ6 confers a predisposition to non-celiac sprue also called Leaky Gut Syndrome. Both of these conditions are gluten sensitivities.

Wikipedia has some good articles - search for HLA-DQ for an overview. The Enterolab report gives the DNA HLA assay results - the marker/gene number.

Below that are the results changed to the molecular serology terms. Look at the numbers in parenthesis, mine were (8, 6). You can then search WiKipenia for HLA- your number and HLA-the other number.

Any degree of positive is considered postive but a negative result does not rule out celiac disease. Many Drs would have you go on a gluten challange diet for up to 3 months to raise the antibody level before doing the blood tests for celiac disease. Also they would order a total immunoglobulin A level to make sure you have enough IgA to make the test valid. Some Drs would do another endoscopic exam with multiple biopsies to see if you have flattened villi or other damage to the small intestine.

Even if you show no intestinal damage by the blood tests or biopsies most experts would advise you to go gluten free. If the autoimmune reaction is not causing you symptoms there is evidence that you may develop more serious problems in the future and it may reduce your risk for some types of cancers.

Hope this is not too confusing.

It has been at least 10 years since going cow dairy free. I'm not lactose intolerant but do make antibodies to cow dairy. Last year, 4 years gluten-free I decided to try some cow dairy and choose some gluten-free butter cookies and reacted. I have a little intestinal reaction then 3 - 4 days later my ankles swell, as they used to.

I've read that some cow milk allergic celiacs can eat cow milk yogurt if it is digested overnight, long enough to digest the casein. I used goat milk kefir for a while but it does not agree with me. A few weeks ago I took some over-the-counter antihistamine which had a lactose filler. The cold got better then I noticed I had a fit of runny nose and sneezing after taking a pill. Apparently the lactose came from a cow dairy source.

Nice to hear from another mini farmer, I did biointensive farming for 15 years before retiring. I didn't raise animals, had dogs and cats over the years. I'm very sensitive to gluten, being near a pot of boiling sphagetti gave me problems for days - was I ever fog headed and scared to drive. I could not use some fertilizers and soil amendments so learned more natural ways to grow food crops and nursery plants. Loose straw and hay, green grass would give me a prickly rash so wore long sleeves/gloves while handling it. I avoided dust as much as possible, the inexpensive dust masks worked quite well.

People with digestive system damage and poor immune systems tend to acquire parasites more easily than other people as they have lost the bodies first line of defense to these invaders. Some of these parasites can cause allergies and increase an allergic response to allergens in general. Often the usual lab tests won't find them but there are test offered at Metametrix Labs (from your Dr) and Diagnostech Labs (from your vet) often will. I did not have the tests but used several herbal parasite programs and got out many parasites and stay on a maintenence program to help with reinfections.

One local ND used muscle testing and a small machine to id parasites in her clients. She told me that one person who raised horses had about 8 parasites and 4 or 5 of them were horse parasites.

You will learn to adapt to gluten-free farming. I would sell at a small local farmers market and three of of women were Celiacs. One woman was a cattle rancher, Another raised sheep for wool and produce.

I agree with the other posters. Adding a calcium supplement and Vit D3 will help add to strong bones and cartledge. For joint pain, since I can't take most pain meds, I used the spice turmeric, see recipes online - and also was able to cure Lyme Disease. Lyme is a problem with many Celiacs and there are good tests for it. Lyme can cause swollen, painful joints. Ask your Dr about Peripheral neuropathies, some people have stabbing pains. You are young so you will probably heal rapidly.