DON’T GIVE UP GLUTEN YET!

Logically, when you think your body reacts badly to something it should be cut out of your diet – right? Wrong. I made this mistake. Let me explain.

Back in 2014, I was suffering from awful stomach issues, a number of people said “Have you tried giving up gluten? Your issues sound like gluten intolerance or coeliac disease.” Having not thought of this I did the obvious thing – I cut gluten from my diet in order to see if my gastrointestinal symptoms improved. They did. Three months on and I felt much better than before – not 100% but; much improved.

With the knowledge of the improvement post giving up gluten, I went armed with this knowledge to my GP. He agreed that it sounded like I had Coeliac Disease, but to be sure tests were needed – specifically a blood test. To do the test I would need to eat gluten again for 2 weeks. This would induce an antibody reaction in my blood which will diagnose the presence or absence of Coeliac Disease.

Here is where I say to you again, if you think you have Coeliac Disease, DO NOT GIVE UP GLUTEN. Not until you have seen your doctor and had the blood test. Because let me tell you, it was not fun. The knowledge of something being literally eating at your stomach lining and yet having to eat it was torture. Literal torture. When you give up anything at all in your diet that causes you a reaction and then introduce that same substance back into your diet it’s going to be worse than before. Your innards have been healing and resetting due to the lack of your own personal poison – introducing said poison back into your diet will result in very unhappy innards.

Back to the story – the test came back inconclusive, not negative or positive but inconclusive. Not helpful and I had just spent 2 weeks eating gluten again. My GP has the theory that because I had cut gluten out prior to initiating testing – then attempted to eat it again – rather unsuccessfully, the amounts of the antibodies (IgA – Immunoglobulin A) that are present in people with Coeliac Disease were so low in my blood that the test results were inconclusive.

Lastly, I am aware that I could have a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis but this would involve once again eating gluten before the test. Furthermore, it would be a medical procedure which quite frankly I do not want – I have enough procedures on my plate at the moment without adding in something extra which would only confirm what my GP and I know – that I cannot eat gluten.

So, I say this to you dear reader. If you think you have Coeliac Disease – see your doctor before you give up gluten. Then – you will have enough antibodies built up to be detectable in your blood.

Thanks for reading.