What are symptoms of gluten allergy?
Category: Allergy
Questions and Answers
How did you find out you had a gluten allergy? Symptoms?, I have been experiencing severe abdominal pain, nausea, intermittent vomiting, severe bloating/gas, diarrhea. I have gone for ultrasounds of my abdomen, a series of gall bladder tests, and a stomach endoscope. All that the Dr's have discovered is inflammation in my stomach. I feel that maybe it's something else. I have been reading up on gluten allergies and wanted some "real life" stories before approaching my Dr with this. Any thoughts?
All of your symptoms _can_ be caused by celiac disease. (I was 14 when I was diagnosed - I was just unwell - I couldn't manage a whole week at school, was very tired, nauseous, headachy etc.)
The main thing is to make sure that you don't cut it out of your diet until after having tests (don't even reduce it). It is difficult to eliminate it fully without the support of a dietician, and although that small quantity can still cause serious ill-health, it may not be enough to register in the tests. (The current recommendation is to have about 5 or 6 slices of bread, or the equivalent, per day.)
Go and ask to be tested - it is only a simple blood test in the first instance. If that comes back positive, then you will probably be send to have an upper endoscopy with biopsy. (The damage is often not visible by endoscopy, and the samples need to be examined under a microscope in the path lab.)
Good luck.
what are symptoms of wheat/gluten allergies?, What are some of the symptoms of wheat/gluten allergies.
Some symptoms are stomach aches, fatigue, loss of energy and weight, a general feeling of discomfort.
The way most doctors test for a gluten allergy is by a blood test, but the only for sure way of knowing if you have it is by getting a biopsy of your stomach. Which of course is not the first method of choice.
If you family has a history of the allergy or if you or a family member has an auto-immune disorder (lupus, diabetes, etc) it is easier for you to have the condition.
Google celiac disease. Tons of sites and info will come up.
Good luck
Gluten allergy causes breast cancer?, I have an aunt who is on a "gluten-free" diet and she swears by it. She says that she tested positive for a gluten allergy, and says that it is a type of autoimmune disease. She has never had cancer (*knock on wood*) but she told me that gluten was poisoning her, and that gluten sensitive people can develop cancer as a result of eating gluten. Before she stopped eating gluten she had weird symptoms: tired all the time, feeling sluggish, and others... but she swears that they have all gone away since she started this diet. Is it true that gluten can cause breast cancer or autoimmune disease in people with the allergy?
Gluten allergy is very rare. The thing that is getting a lot of attention is gluten intolerance, which is not the same thing at all.
The symptoms you describe your aunt as having had before she had this "test" sound like some that can be caused by gluten intolerance. They are not the type of symptom one gets from an allergy - think about allergic symptoms for a moment. They are things like rashes that come up within minutes of touching or eating something. Many allergies cause much more serious problems. Peanut allergy can kill almost instantly. Allergies cause reactions like this because of a histamine reaction, which is very fast.
One form of gluten intolerance is celiac disease. If celiac disease is not diagnosed, or if after diagnosis a sufferer continues to eat gluten, it is not uncommon for bowel cancer to occur, because of repeated damage to the intestines.
There are to my knowledge no other proven links between cancer and gluten intolerance, although it has to be said that there is very little research, since gluten intolerance itself has yet to be recognised by much of the medical establishment. This is a generational thing. Once the current crop of top medical scientists has died and taken their prejudices with them, we will most likely see some real progress in this area.
Gluten if incorrectly digested (as is the case with some people) can break down into gliadorphin (or gluteomorphin), which has a structure very much like opium, and which can leak into the bloodstream and cause very nasty things, ranging from "foggy" thinking right through some serious mental problems like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, depression, so many different things it's difficult to put them all down here. Imagine a drip-feed of opium every day (gluten is in almost anything) and you can see it could have lots of pretty devastating effects. That is the poison your aunt is referring to, I think.
By the way, if your aunt is a blood relative and has been diagnosed with celiac disease, you and your mother/father, and anyone else related by blood, should get tests, because celiac disease and other forms of gluten intolerance run in families.
What is the difference between a gluten and wheat intolerance/allergy?, I was on a low carb diet and did not eat any breads for the past month and I felt great! My stomach pains, bloating, and constipation, and lethargy went away. As soon as I began introducing bread in small amounts back into my diet, I started to get the same symptoms again that I have had my whole life. I am thinking it is an allergy or intolerance. I have talked to my doctor in the past and she said to try an elimination diet to see what is bothering me...which I did.
Are there tests that say which it is?
There is a blood test for food intolerances called the Elisa test,usually alternative minded doctors use it in there practice.If it bothers you then avoid it,there are plenty of alternative grains,wheat is not a good food for the vast majority of people,you do not have to be a celiac to be allergic or intolerant to wheat.I suffer from wheat and gluten intolerance myself and if I ingest it get severe stomach pain,bleeding and a flair up of IBS symptoms,but I am not a true celiac.Use rice,quinoa,corn,amranth and millet and avoid wheat,a low intake of grains reduces gut inflammation because grains have a disacharide starch which inflames the gut.
check out http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.org
Celiac disease symptoms even with non gluten alcohol?, The same symptoms I get from eating wheat or gluten appear when I drink, even if it is distilled spirits/non-wheat based. I know it makes sense to think that they are independent allergies, but other celiacs report the exact same thing. Where's the link?
It could be many things, the colorings in the alcohols could contain gluten and they arent required to tell u that. YOu could be inadverntantly eating gluten in other ways and not realize it (toothpaste, chapstick, cross contamination from restaruants) and then u drink, get 'glutened' and assume its the alcohol.
You could have secondary allergies or intolerances.
You could be sensitive to things like niacin, a common B vitamin found in alcohols.
Some ppl are just sensitive to different liquors, such as colored rums and red wine.
I would try avoiding the alcohols that cause symptoms and see how it goes. If u still get 'glutened' then it wasn't the alcohol.
Gluten Allergy/Celiac disease questions?, Ok i was told to get a blood test for gluten allergy and Celiac disease. i know that there is a difference but i am still confused on whether i have the right symptoms or whether i should bother to get the test done at all.
my symptoms are memory loss, protein problems (can't keep my levels up properly), not producing enough tears, weight gain, O.C.D, A.D.H.D, mood swings, depression, no regular bowel movements (one extreme or the other), exhausted all the time, tingling in my hands and feet.
I'm not sure why the O.C.D and A.D.H.D were on the symptom list my therapist gave me but i do have them i was diagnosed with them 4 years ago.
the reason my therapist gave me the symptom list is because i was talking about the symptoms during my last session and she high recommended that i get a test done.
i guess i just want a second opinion.
what does everyone else think?
i know from my research blood test isn't the more reliable method but i still want to get it done before i consider the biopsy
Get a blood test. I'm a celiac, and you sound like you could be.
Memory loss- I had that. It results from not absorbing enough nutrients and vitamins. When you're celiac, your immune system is busy attacking itself so you become malnourished.
Protein problems- Same thing. You're not absorbing vitamins.
Not enough tears- my mom had that and she's a celiac too. That's because your eyes are so dry. Your skin probably is too. Lack of nutrients also causes dry eyes, dry skin, brittle hair (like I had), etc.
Weight gain- not as sure about this. Celiacs can be over and underweight. Just to repeat, since you're not absorbing nutrients, you are probably rarely full. You may overeat to compensate feelings of hunger, when in fact, you have had enough to eat. Your body just doesn't know it due to lack of vitamins.
OCD and ADHD (especially ADHD) have been linked to celiac disease.
Mood swings and depression- I had this. When you don't feel good from being sick, you just feel like crap anyway. That makes sense.
Bowel movements- I had this too- gluten just makes it so they're not normal and usually too frequent because your body wants to get rid of the gluten it can't digest.
Exhausted- I was. Due to amenia. Amenia results from lack of iron, another nutrient you may be missing. My ferritin (iron) levels on my blood test were forever low.
Tingling in hands and feet- I HATE THIS- tingling results from lack of vitamin B12. If it goes on enough, it damages nerves.
For the blood test, it measures several things. If you get one done, tTG and EMA are the ones that are most accurate for celiac. A blood test only takes a minute. You don't have anything to lose. If you do have celiac, trust me, there are much, much worse disease to have.
could i have a gluten allergy?, im not sure if this is a symptom but if anyone could help me with a good answer i would really apprieciate it. i noticed everytime i eat bread, or just about anything, i tend to blow up. what i mean by this is my skin starts to swell and retain fluid and gets really red sometimes almost purple,and it's usually in my hands and feet. it is very uncomfortable almost like burning water going through my hands and feet and my skin is hot to the touch. it lasts for about 5-10 min. Ive been testing myself,for instance i ate a piece of soft pretzle (small piece) and only one hand blew up. i ate the rest of it and the other followed. i did go to my doctor and he said it was adema. but i noticed its only after i eat. could it be a gluten allergy?
It could be the gluten but could also be the yeast, you should get tested.
