People with Gluten Sensitivity

My son and I both have Celiac disease. Neither of us had gastrointestinal symptoms. Our symptoms were fatique, joint pain and sores on our tongue. My son had a history of iron deficiency anemia prior to diagnosis. I had a history of iron deficiency anemia and B12 deficiency.

My son had the blood test that screens for Celiac. His blood work came back very highly positive. He then had an intestinal biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.

I had the blood test that screens for Celiac and it came back negative, Because my fatique was so bad and I just never felt well, I inisited that the doctor do an intestinal biopsy, I am glad I did because the biopsy came back positive for Celiac.

So the blood test is just a screening and it can give a false negative. Sometimes it gives a false positive that is why it is important to also have the biopsy. Gluten free is not an easy diet and you really don't want to be on it unless you have to.

Yes, you can be deficient on only one vitamin or mineral with celiac, it depends on how severely your intestines are affected.

The only test for gluten sensitivity is trial and error. Many people are sensitive without having Celiac. You can eliminate gluten from your diet completely and see if that makes a difference. Just remember that once you go gluten free you cannot get tested for Celiac because the antibodies will not be in your blood if you are not eating gluten and your intestines will begin to repair themself once you stop gluten intake.

Get the test, then try out a gluten free diet.

Good Luck, let us know what happens

I just want to add you can have celiac disease without having any symptoms.

IF you are taking individual supplements, you are missing the various elements (vitamins, minerals, etc.) that every other element needs to be absorbed. That is, every nutrient requires all the other nutrients - that balance and interaction are really important. So, if you are low in selenium, you can't just take selenium! This was worked out in the early 1980s by the World Health Organization and people are still spending a fortune (often at their physician's insistence) taking a single ingredient. Understand that your wonderful physician has great medical skills but probably has had zero nutrition courses in medical school or afterwards. They've just been told by the pill industry to throw more pills at you. And please understand, I love my doctor! But pills are only absorbed 15-30% so anything you're taking is 70-85% down the drain, and those are figures that come from the Physician's Desk Reference! Funny how many physicians don't actually read it.

You've proven that you are not absorbing selenium by itself. Who told you that the supplement is absorbed well by the body? What form is it in? The fact is, most people don't absorb well, regardless of whether they have an inflammatory condition such as celiac, because there's so much sludge in their colons (8-12 pounds average) that the colon walls are coated. They're not absorbing a lot of nutrients from their food either, and the colon can be leaking toxins that cause problems in the rest of the body. And now you are also low on zinc, because whatever you've been doing isn't balanced. So you can go another 4-5 months, have more blood work, and then you will be low in yet another mineral.

You have to add in balanced nutrition, including elements you aren't (or don't think you are) low in. This can be reversed in 3-4 months with less cost and more success than what you are doing now.

If you don't have full-blown celiac (which it doesn't seem you do given the absence of symptoms), then I would try a different approach. I have colleagues with gluon sensitivity, celiac, ulcerative colitis, etc. - they've all done the elimination route with less success and more hassle. There is more you can do -and that's based on the latest research from top food scientists - I can give you the data if you're interested.

Gluten sensitivity isn't normal - it's the result of insufficient balance all along. You can eliminate, or you can fix this.

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Letty thanks for your post . . . my younger son is very gluten sensitive and one of the first signs I notice when he eats it is that he gets very pale.

His celiac blood test came back in the "equivocal" range. We never did a biopsy because it was plain as day that - when he goes off gluten - he is much healthier.

IMHO you may be on the right track. I would seek out an integrative physician if you haven't done so already. We never had any luck with our highly qualified, board certified pediatrician. Just years and years of constant illness, until we got "outside the box."

Good luck.

ETA: As far as the gluten "fad" goes (mentioned below) - our nutritionist believes that modern day wheat is very different from what was grown previously in human history. It's a large protein to start with, and today it is highly fortified and doused in pesticides to make it impervious to bugs. Well if the bugs can't eat it what is it doing to us at the microscopic level?

My husband had iron def. anemia for five years and had all kinds of tests for scary things. His blood test for gluten intolerance was negative and the biopsy was inconclusive. Finally after years of him taking massive amounts of iron and still being anemic, a wonderful doctor finally fought for a capsule endoscopy (very expensive) and there was evidence of intestinal cilia atrophy (common in gluten sensitivity). He eliminated gluten and withing one week felt better. After two weeks he was no longer deathly pale. He still has to take supplements, but his iron levels are steadily increasing after years of decline.

I have a relative who does not have Celiac's but she does have a gluten allergy. No bowel symptoms but her face and throat would swell up after eating gluten foods. So I guess it is possible to not have bowel symptoms. I'n not sure if it was diagnosed through elimination or a blood test.

I think this gluten thing is a fad, honestly. We've been eating wheat for too long, glutten is a fad. But when your mind tells you that you feel better without it, then that is the trick. Most everything is in our mind.