Not sure what's going on with me....

IDreamInColor · Post by **IDreamInColor** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:09 pm

....but I'm not complaining :) I have gone from watery d 8+ times per day for months on end, to constipation for the past week or so.
So yesterday I baked a ham for dinner and I made rolls to go with the dinner for the rest of the family, something I haven't ate since being gluten free. Well, the temptation got the best of me and I ate a dinner roll, my goodness I forgot how good they tasted. I have suffered no ill effects from that roll. I'm starting to think that I might be a "sometimer" like maybe I can have a smidgen of gluten every so often without much harm?
I'm tempted to go all out on the gluten and see if the problem recurs. Remember my enterolab showed me at a 9, and stated there was no problem with gluten, however my casein and yeast showed an intolerance, which is strange because I don't react to either of those, but I definately reacted to gluten.

Is it possible for this problem to just clear up and go away and I would be ok to eat gluten again? Of am I playing with fire and would be smart to avoid gluten forever?

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:52 pm

Hi IDream. Wow a dinner roll.. sounds like such a treat. While I am not sure of the answer here, I would lean towards avoiding gluten for a while longer. The reason I make this statement is that it seems that many need a significant amount of time for the gut to heal. I would imagine that after a time you might be able to have some gluten I would be cautious about re-injuring your gut. Your numbers were low on Enterolab so hopefully that means that gluten will not be a big problem long term.

I'm sure others will weigh in here.

Hopefully your healing will continue.

--Joe

Post by **tex** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:53 pm

IDreamInColor wrote:Is it possible for this problem to just clear up and go away and I would be ok to eat gluten again? Of am I playing with fire and would be smart to avoid gluten forever?

All types of inflammatory bowel disease are marked by symptoms that wax and wane, occasionally, especially for certain people. It is possible for some patients to go into spontaneous remission, and the periods of remission can last anywhere from a day to years. They are unpredictable. With most IBDs, the periods of remission are typically measured in months. With MC, unfortunately, periods of spontaneous remission are not very common.

If you have constipation, though, you are not necessarily in remission, because C can also be a symptom of MC, and quite a few of us have had alternating D and C, (including myself).

If you truly are not sensitive to gluten, then it should do no serious harm to eat it. If you happen to be sensitive to it, though, and also asymptomatic, then the damage will continue to accrue, even though you don't have any symptoms. There are many more people who are sensitive to gluten and asymptomatic, then there are people who are sensitive to it and have clinical symptoms.

Since your Enterolab test result was negative, and yet you reacted to gluten, all bets are off, and it's anyone's guess, as to your actual status. Your situation is somewhat unusual, so I'm going to make an unusual observation, (not necessarily a suggestion). Personally, based on the fact that you were so willing to do something that I would never consider doing, (eat a dinner roll), I feel pretty confident that you won't be satisfied until you prove to yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt, by trial and error, that you are, or are not, actually gluten-sensitive. If you're sensitive, your symptoms should return within a week or so after you drop the diet. (Unless you're a celiac, in which case it could take up to 6 months for enough damage to accumulate to initiate the symptoms, again.)

IOW, IMO, if you're still in the denial stage, at this point, then you might be just as well off starting over, if that's what it takes to get you past that stage. It may save time in the long run.

Remember, though, I'm not suggesting that you do this - I'm simply guessing that it's what you will decide to do. (And if it will save time in the long run, them maybe it's a "practical" option).

Tex

Linda in BC · Post by **Linda in BC** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:17 pm

I dream, that is quite amazing if you just stopped having D just like that. Is there anything you did differently this last week? A new medication? Tylenol 3's? ( they can cause C.)

Also, I was wondering how you determined that you were reacting to gluten in the past. I find so often wheat and dairy are used together, and before I did the Enterolab testing, and discovered I was gluten intolerant, many times I reacted and thought it was the dairy, when it actually was both the dairy and the gluten but i just blamed the dairy. IOW one intolerance masked the other. Just curious. Since your numbers were low for gluten, I am wondering if it is possible that your reaction really was not to the gluten but maybe to something else you ate at the same time...

Linda

IDreamInColor · Post by **IDreamInColor** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 11:19 pm

Linda, I determined it was gluten by testing myself. I went gluten free but continued to eat casein, and the d slowed way down, i was even having norman days. And then after a few weeks I ate gluten and on the third day the d started back up again. I repeated this process and reacted all 3 times to the gluten test. During this past week of having C I have continued to eat dairy, I have never given it up from the start of this disease, just gluten. My appetite is back and I have more energy.
This disease makes me fret, it doesn't make sense, it's impossible to understand it, it's finnicky and sneaky, and I just wish I could udnerstand the whole dang thing.

Linda in BC · Post by **Linda in BC** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 11:56 pm

Amen, IDream! It is.

Here's another possibility though re: what I was talking about before. I was reacting to all my gluten free baking. I thought it was some of the different kinds of flours like tapioca and sorghum i was using, and for some it was but when I got down to just basically rice flour and I was still reacting, I finally realized it was the EGGS! Eggs are often in things made with gluten... (pasta, bread) Just a thought...

Linda

IDreamInColor · Post by **IDreamInColor** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:34 am

I don't react at all to eggs, in fact that's what I had for breakfast today :)

Linda in BC · Post by **Linda in BC** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:32 am

Well, that is very good.

Being intolerant of eggs is the most challenging of intolerances for me, I think. Are you still maintaining normans/C?

Linda

klhale · Post by **klhale** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 7:59 pm

Hi,

I would be very careful. You can get your bowels all inflamed, and it will start the D all over again. I think it is ok to eat breads etc. sometimes, but not all the time.

FYI - I can eat sourdough bread anytime, and it does not bother me at all and never has.

Don't push it

Stay well,
karen