Right, I'm going to try gluten free. How long should I do it for?

[nomadwantshome]

Fed fed fed up of feeling crap.

IME it takes at least two weeks to get out of your system. Worth a try anyway. Tesco do a great range-tru free. Not too expensive and fairly tasty too. The bread is a bit grim but jacket spud for lunch and you can live without bread.

It depends - do you think you might have coeliac disease? If so, you must have the blood test BEFORE you give up gluten, or the test won't work. It could help to get a dx as you can get the (very pricey) food on prescription.

If you're really not fussed about it being official then just cut it out now - you may end up trying toast again after a month or something and then your reaction would tell you. :)

Have been tested for coeliac disease, which was negative. This is an autoimmune response though so I wonder if I have an intolerance. The symptoms are very similar but an intolerance wouldn't show up on a blood test. I'm sure I am reacting to something I'm eating so if it isn't gluten, I can rule that out and then try dairy or something.

Ive been tested for all kinds of stuff and I think I'm border line hypothyroid but that's a different story.

Ah I see. Funnily enough I have also been tested for autoimmune diseases, though they came back clear and I am expecting to be diagnosed with ME instead. I have been told I should try going gluten free too, though I'm waiting until I've seen a specialist next month.

Since you aren't going to have a test, I would just give it up then, but it should be at least a month I've heard. You have to go the whole hog with it though - unfortunately it is hard work. Gluten is in loads on unexpected things like stock cubes, sauces, crisps, chocolate etc. Apparently if you don't do it properly you may as well not do it at all.

Look at the coeliac uk site as there will be lots of good tips on there. :)

If you're not coeliac, then you can get away with cutting gluten down, but not avoiding it totally.

I avoid wheat and most gluten, but am still okay with oats and the occasional scone. Bread, cake and pasta are the worst culprits.

Just experiment and see what helps.

What are your symptons of crappiness?

Crapiness:
fatigue on a daily basis
Bloating
Sore on tongue that varies in size, pain and redness
Diarhea usually a couple of times a week
Stomach cramps,
Constant feeling of just about to come down with something
Intense itchiness on palms and soles of feet, comes and goes (related?)
feeling cold but then alternating wih night sweats (related?)

A couple of weeks ago I completely lost my appetite. I was barely eating and I started to get constipated which is very unusual for me. I did notice that bloating and tummy troubles were better. I really couldn't face bread but was eating alpen and not much else.

Gp thinks it's related to my depression, am on ad's but I'm a bit weary with all that. I think he thinks it's all in the mind.

Did you have a thyroid test? I would try to go wheat free or refined sugar free.

Hope you start to feel better soon.

Yes had a thyroid test. TSH 3.24 and T4 9.7. GP was going to retest last week but then declared that he thought it was depression or something. It felt like a bit of a cop out tbh.

FWIW I disagree with hidden - I don't have coeliac disease but I can't tolerate any gluten at all - even things with a bit of gluten in give me stomach pain.

reastie and nomad - have you only had the antibody test for coeliac? It's possible to get a false negative. DD1 is currently being re-tested for genetic markers and something else but can't remember what.

I have coeliac disease & similar symptoms pre GF. I've never had a positive blood test, it was discovered by chance through an endoscopy for something else. Endo us the gold standard so don't let them fib you off!

I'm OK with gluten, but not wheat
Bear in mind they are both possible causes of IBS, bloating etc

I'm not clear what you symptoms are. Hopefully they are not a obvious as mine were ( ignored by by various medics for over 5 decades )

The blood test for Coeliac disease is well known to give far to many false negatives

Before the test were you told that, to have a hope of the test working, you sould consume significant amounts of gluten every day for at least 6 weeks prior to the test ?

It has been suggested that even the hydrogen breath test ( "the h.pylori breath test" ) is better than the coeliac blood test.

So, it does not matter if your blood test for Coelaic disease is positive or negative

A gastroscopy ( if done by a competent person* ) will show if you are coeliac

Apart from 'free food', it does not even matter if you are coeliac or 'just' allergic to gluten. **

If you have a significant problem that you think may be due to gluten then give up eating gluten - Totally !

No cheating, no sharing of toasters, no chancing products with 'does not contain gluten as an ingredient' or 'manufactured in a factory which handles gluten'. Totally no cheating - bring your own G/F lunch to work - be very very reluctant to eat out.

( Cooking from scratch is the only way that I can manage this )

Do this for three months. Most with a gluten problem will feel a bit / much better by then ( very few take over a year )

HTH

Nutmeg

• • Dont presume that 'your' gastroscopy will be done by such a person

** - Many papers have been published which show circa 1% of the population are coelaic ( mostly undiagnosed ) and a further 2% of the population are just plain allergic to gluten.

med I had a gastroscophy (sp) FWIW but I had already given up gluten previously as my GP pretty much ignored me so I had to do it on my own and only found out after I stopped eating it I'd have to eat it again for the test. My reaction to gluten was then alot more servere after stopping it and I only managed one piece of bread a day for a week preceding the procedure so tbh I'm not sure if that would be enough for coeliac to show up in any case