Thread: How to tell if im allergic to gluten?

How to tell if im allergic to gluten?

Symptoms of gluten allergy include a range of digestive issues such as indigestion, heartburn, and irritable bowel syndrome. There may be unexplained weight loss, constipation, diarrhea, flatulence, minor rectal bleeding, and acid reflux. Itchy dermatitis is also a symptom of this disorder as is excessive fatigue. Coeliac disease is also associated with anemia, cardiomyopathy, depression, miscarriage, and peripheral neuropathy.

Gluten food allergy in young children will cause weight loss and an extended abdomen. The effected children will fail to thrive and will grow very slowly. This can continue into adolescence with puberty being delayed. Children will also be irritable and will vomit easily. Some evidence suggests a link between gluten intolerance and autism.

The short answer is go to your doctor who'll do clinical tests, consider your symptoms, medical history and genetic disposition.

The longer answer:

Technically, there isn't really a recognized thing as a gluten allergy. There are a spectrum of disorders in which gluten has an adverse effect on the body, but they are non-allergic and non-autoimmune.

Gluten intolerance/sensitivity and Coeliac Disease (or Celiac Disease - American spelling) belong to these. They are often referred to interchangeably, but they are significantly different, with Coeliac being the most severe.

There are several tests that your doctor can take to assist in diagnosing you. Importantly, do NOT start a gluten free diet before taking the tests as that will render the tests useless.

Serological blood tests are the first-line of investigation required to make a diagnosis of Coeliac Disease (positive in about 90% of people with Coeliac Disease). Because of the major implications of a diagnosis of Coeliac Disease, professional guidelines recommend that a positive blood test is still followed by an endoscopy/gastroscopy and biopsy. A negative serology test may still be followed by a recommendation for endoscopy and duodenal biopsy if clinical suspicion remains high.

So next it's an upper endoscopy with biopsy where the physician snips multiple samples (four to eight) from your duodenum. (Sounds painful, but it's not). He's looking for villous atrophy - essentially damage to your intestinal wall by gluten.

They might also consider pathology, and other investigations, such as iron deficiency, folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiency and low calcium levels.

If the doctor rules out Coeliac, and you've already been tested for wheat allergy, she/he might still want to consider that you might have gluten intolerance/sensitivity... He/she might consider symptoms (bloating, abdominal discomfort, pain, or diarrhea; headaches and migraines, lethargy and tiredness, attention-deficit disorder and hyperactivity, autism and schizophrenia, muscular disturbances as well as bone and joint pain). He/she might consider if you report alleviation of symptoms on a gluten-free diet.

But the big thing to remember is that the only way to tell is to see your doctor. It is not something that can be self-diagnosed. Hope this helps.