celiac.... weight loss

[Leah]

Hi everyone. I was researching celiac sprue because being IGA deficient, I can't be tested for it, but what I read made me think of the people out there that are curious as to why they lose so much more weight than others. It seems that Celiacs ( even if they test negative with the blood test) don't absorb fats, carbs, or proteins very well .... especially fats. And they tend to lose A LOT of weight. This could be the answer some of you are looking for. I suspect that cross contamination would be very important to these people.

Leah

[draperygoddess]

Leah,

I have read that it's one of the hallmark symptoms of celiac disease. Of course, if you're having severe D and not eating, you can lose a lot of weight, celiac or not! I think most of us lose weight at the beginning when we're trying to figure out what we CAN eat. There was a poll on this awhile back.

[humbird753]

Leah - thank you for finding this information. I wasn't as concerned about my weight loss as I was for a client/friend who was diagnosed with celiac disease a year ago who lost 45 lbs. within a few months. I only "assumed" there was a connection to which type of MC we had that made some of us lose huge amounts of weight (even if eating a lot). My weight loss was initially 8 or 9 lbs. and remained that way for about 2-1/2 years and when I went on the GF/DF/SF diet I lost an addition 8 lbs. Even though I was eating 3 meals a day and maybe a snack in the late evening, I see I did not have much for fats in my diet.

Paula

[tex]

It seems that Celiacs ( even if they test negative with the blood test) don't absorb fats, carbs, or proteins very well ....

The negative blood tests are due to the fact that those tests will not detect enough antibodies to show a positive result until after the degree of small intestinal damage reaches at least the Marsh 3 level, (significant villus atrophy). The degree of villus damage coordinates with the degree of malabsorption, (but not with the severity of clinical symptoms). Therefore, one can have significant malabsorption issues even without a positive blood test, (because the blood test has such poor sensitivity), and without severe clinical symptoms, in some cases.

Without a celiac gene, villus damage is unlikely to proceed past a Marsh 1 level, (lymphocytic infiltration only). Many of us with MC, have a celiac gene, which greatly increases our odds of developing villus damage, (because we are vulnerable to a Marsh score as high as 4), which is why some of us are so much more prone to losing weight with this disease, than others. Basically, IMO, anyone with a celiac gene, who has not been diagnosed with celiac disease, is an undiagnosed celiac, (the equivalent of an accident waiting to happen).

Tex