[faze action]

...or are they pretty consistent? In other words: could a person experience symptoms that vary in intensity from one day to the next (or one week to the next), regardless of how much gluten they are consuming?

 

[Kathleen M.]

The celiacs I have known personally (only after being on the gluten free diet for awhile and that controlled their symptoms well) generally had severe symptoms from even a trace amount of gluten.I know all diseases range from mild to moderate but I can't imagine the people I know having a lot of days with few or no symptoms when consuming gluten regularly. Also I know some people need to be on the strict diet for awhile before the symptoms let up.FWIW, while a few people with IBS have the exact same symptoms every day it is very common for IBS symptoms to vary greatly in intensity from day to day or even minute to minute.

 

[Val44]

Hi: This may not be true for full-scale Celiac disease, but I've found from personal experience that the symptoms of gluten intolerance can vary in intensity and frequency regardless of the amount of wheat consumed. For a long time, I dismissed the prospect that I had gluten issues because I tested negative for Celiac and because some days I would feel terrible after having a sandwich and some days I'd feel fine. Occasionally I'd go for four or five days at a time with no/few symptoms, even though I was eating wheat the whole time. Ergo I thought I had no problem with gluten. But it's only after going completely without wheat (and rye and barley) for two months that the symptoms of my IBS have thoroughly cleared up (for the first time in over five years). This leads me to conclude that gluten has always been a factor in my IBS, probably a major factor, and the same thing may be true for others whose symptoms wax and wane. Hope that helps answer your question.

 

[Kathleen M.]

The problem with it when it waxes and wanes based on size of the dose it may be the resistant starch that was bothering you (which is dose dependent, more starch=more problems as it is based on how many molecules of gas get produced).Gluten sensitivity is like an allergy where even extremely tiny amounts tend to cause a big reaction.However, it doesn't matter which reason avoiding wheat helps, if it helps it helps. The advantage to having starch sensitivity rather than gluten (a protein) issues is you usually don't have to quite as vigilant as you aren't highly reactive to trace contamination (like if something was processed in a factory that also processes wheat).Wheat tends to be the major source of resistant starch (aka bacteria food) in the diet and generally any kind of reduced starch and carb diet seems to help those that tend to the looser end of things or have a lot of issues from gas volume regardless of how they limit the starches.

 

[catarific]

The problem with it when it waxes and wanes based on size of the dose it may be the resistant starch that was bothering you (which is dose dependent, more starch=more problems as it is based on how many molecules of gas get produced).Gluten sensitivity is like an allergy where even extremely tiny amounts tend to cause a big reaction.However, it doesn't matter which reason avoiding wheat helps, if it helps it helps. The advantage to having starch sensitivity rather than gluten (a protein) issues is you usually don't have to quite as vigilant as you aren't highly reactive to trace contamination (like if something was processed in a factory that also processes wheat).Wheat tends to be the major source of resistant starch (aka bacteria food) in the diet and generally any kind of reduced starch and carb diet seems to help those that tend to the looser end of things or have a lot of issues from gas volume regardless of how they limit the starches.

No, this is not true - gluten sensitivity is not like an allergy. Sometimes you can eat gluten for a few days with no ill effects. But eventually this will catch up to you. There is a difference between gluten sensitivity and gluten allergy. Yes, some are actually allergic to gluten and what you describe is true. But, with gluten sensitivity, it is the build up that actually will then produce a bad result - not having to be an immediate reaction.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Maybe I only have met people with severe celiac, but generally "starch sensitivity" seems to be more of a "it will catch up with you" but actual celiac disease (rather than undiagnosable I feel better when I don't eat wheat kind of sensitivity which seems to be more about the starch, IMO, than the gluten) from the people I know personally is not a "I can eat wheat every so often and not have symptoms"All them get very sick if there is even the tiniest amount of cross contamination (so someone stirred a pot with the wrong spoon) and do not go into any kind of symptom free remission unless they are completely and totally gluten free for long periods of time.I mean even when they didn't eat anything that should have gluten in it (like a restaurant meal where nothing in the meal should be a problem) I have seen them completely miserable for several days afterward because probably someone got a little flour or fried the fries in the same oil as something breaded, or used the wrong spoon. I don't know any celiac that can have wheat even for one meal and not have issues.Now I agree some people do better limiting wheat, but if you can have it once in awhil and not react at all until you've ate it for several days in a row, that just doesn't line up with what I've seen in people with diagnosed celiac (rather than non-celiac wheat issue that seems to be more about starch, IMO than an immune reaction to gluten. Celiac is by definition an immune system problem not a non-immune system reaction like starch sensitivity or lactose intolerance is)The OP did ask about celiac, so I responded about celiac, is that wrong for some reason?FWIW, low carb diets in some clinical trials do clear up some people's IBS and that has nothing to do with gluten, but has to do with a diet low in resistant starch. Also most studies of people with celiac that doesn't clear up on a gluten free diet find there are some very small trace amounts that they haven't eliminated and for at least most of them getting the last tiny trace amounts out makes it go away. There are some that don't resolve, but I think at least a few people might have celiac along with another issue like IBS, or other problem so they can't be symptom free until all the problems are dealt with.

 

[catarific]

Actually there are degrees of Celiac disease and the reaction to wheat. Some with undiagnosed celiac disease are diagnosed as having IBS because blood work may be negative as well as a negative endoscopy. It may never occur to someone with digestive complaints that it is gluten causing the distress. Actually some people with hidden celiac disease may not always get sick eating wheat and therefore do not realize that they have the disease. Some go to the doctor for other complaints, such as tiredness and anemia and then get tested for celiac as a possible cause. At that point, they may discover that it is celiac disease causing the anemia. Not all people with undiagnosed celiac react violently to eating wheat or cross contamination. That is why many do not suspect they have celiac disease. I read that in many cases, it can take up to 8 years to discover the patient has celiac disease due to a wrong diagnosis of IBS.