I am wondering if one can have gluten intolerance without having celiac disease?

I had a blood test which showed slightly elevated levels of what ever they check for. I then had a biopsy which did not show any damage but my doctor still wanted me to be gluten free (I was already planning on it). I beleive that I did not show any damage because I have been trying to lose weight for the past 3 years and really did not eat that many products that contained gluten and I just started having problems about 1 1/2 years ago when I started to eat gluten again. My stomach feels so much better since I stopped eating gluten and I no longer look like I am 5 months pregnant. I am not nearly as sensitive as many other but I still do try to avoid gluten and really really try hard not to intentionally eat it (which is so hard when my DH makes cookies).

Is any body else just sentitive to wheat and what can I expect for the future?

Nicole

from what I've read, I believe that Gluten Intolerance is the same thing as Celiac, the only difference being that Celiac is defined as total villous atrophy, which in my opinion is just waiting for severe damage before declaring that someone is truly sick.

If you are Gluten Intolerant, the treatment is exactly the same as a Celiac dx, a lifelong adherence to a strict gluten free diet. So in my mind this says it's the same thing.

If you are 100% gluten free, any damage that you may have will heal (usually) and your odds of living a healthy life return to that of the rest of the population...

Cookies are one of the easiest things to make gluten-free, and I've found that even my non gluten-free hubby likes my gluten-free cookies!

I had pretty much the same question and someone posted this for me, hope it helps a little

What is the difference between food allergy and food intolerance?
Many people think the terms food allergy and food intolerance mean the same thing; however, they do not. A food intolerance is an adverse food-induced reaction that does not involve the immune system. Lactose intolerance is one example of a food intolerance. A person with lactose intolerance lacks an enzyme that is needed to digest milk sugar. When the person eats milk products, symptoms such as gas, bloating, and abdominal pain may occur.

A food allergy occurs when the immune system reacts to a certain food. The most common form of an immune system reaction occurs when the body creates immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to the food. When these IgE antibodies react with the food, histamine and other chemicals (called mediators) cause hives, asthma, or other symptoms of an allergic reaction.

Introduction

Foods can cause a number of reactions, not all of which are allergic. Anyone can experience an adverse reaction to a food. The types of adverse reactions are as follows:

Adverse Reactions to Foods

Food Intolerance - where the immune system is not involved in the reaction

* Food poisoning
* Idiosyncratic reactions to food
* Anaphylactoid reactions (they act like anaphylaxis but there is no allergy-IgE antibody involved)
* Pharmacologic reactions

Food Allergy - when the immune system is involved in the reaction

* IgE mediated (classic allergy- tests are available) Non-IgE mediated
* Type III immune response- a serum sickness like reaction
* Type IV immune response- a contact dermatitis type reaction

Food Allergy- Facts and Figures

Food intolerance accounts for 80% of all adverse reactions to food.
Food allergy accounts for 20% of all adverse reactions to food.

Allergic reactions can be itching, swelling, rash, spreading hives, vomiting, diarrhea, breathing difficulties and in the most severe of the allergic disorders, anaphylaxis can lead to collapse and death. By definition, anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction which involves two of the body's systems (eg respiratory and gastrointestinal or skin). Anaphylactic deaths as a result of insect bites or penicillin are usually very quick - within minutes - and due to cardiac arrest, anaphylactic deaths due to food allergies are usually due to suffocation (breathing difficulties).

Food intolerance reactions can be the same as above, as well as:

skin (rashes, swelling)

airways (asthma, stuffy or runny nose, frequent colds and infections)

gastrointestinal tract (irritable bowel symptoms, colic, bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, frequent mouth ulcers, reflux, bedwetting, 'sneaky poos', 'sticky poos')

central nervous system (migraines, headaches, anxiety, depression, lethargy, impairment of memory and concentration, panic attacks, irritability, restlessness, inattention, sleep disturbance, restless legs, moodswings, PMT).

Symptoms of food intolerance can come and go and change throughout life.

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try the cookies this weekend (1/2 a batch though). I am trying to lose about 25 pounds so cookies are not really in the picture but I would like to try it. I am eating gluten free, the bloated feeling is for the birds and I do not want to do any damage.

Nicole

When I do any gluten free baking, I double the batch and freeze portion sized containers. I feel that cuts down on overeating/ binging tendencies for dieters.
Laura

Isn't Celiac villous atrophy of any kind, not just total villous atrophy? Ty's biopsy indicated sections with normal villi and others with "severely blunted villi consistent with Celiac Disease", which I took to mean he was diagnosed reasonably quickly. Well, quickly enough that he didn't have total villous atrophy.

Meanwhile, there is a teacher at Ty's school who I haven't talked with too much, but she says she's gluten intolerant, but not Celiac. She doesn't eat gluten at all, and was over the moon when Ty took her some of his gluten-free birthday cake. She gave him a thank you card and a Glutino bar when she returned the container and mentioned how when the staff have sandwiches, cookies and stuff sent in for meetings she never gets to have any. Too bad we're on spring break right now, I'm trying to make a gluten-free Black Forest cake for my husband's birthday today.

Mommida...good call on the freezing in small container. I do that too. 2 muffins per zip bag, and several small 2 muffin bags in a bigger freezer bag. Cookies just go in loose, then he can grab a handful. (Which for him is two cookies.)

yes, that's kind of the point I was trying to make... can't quite make my thoughts clear on here sometimes! A lot of times the damage can be missed in a biopsy if the Dr. doesn't take enough samples or takes the samples from an area that isn't damaged yet... which is why I say that Celiac and Gluten Intolerance are the same thing...

I guess the question would be: Does all celiac disease start as gluten intolerance? And what if you don't have the celiac gene but you do have the gluten sensitivity one? And using myself as an example, I have both a celiac gene and a gluten sensitive one....which gene is influencing things, or are they both active? This whole area of understanding is very murky....

[qfgfg

Full blown celiacs disease is the worse case scenario--it starts as a gluten insensitivity, then grows to an intolerance and if left untreated, becomes full blown celiacs disease.

True, there is a difference between intolerances and allergies. BUT, they are both an autoimmune reaction, just 2 different types of reactions. A Celiacs autoimmune systems attacks itself because of gluten, where in a person with an allergy, the autoimmune system attacks in a different manner, the immune system reaction occurs when the body creates immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to the food. Both very dangerous, the allergy instantaneously and the intolerance much slower.

Nevertheless, if you are gluten sensitive, then you must become gluten free. It's like bee stings. If you react to a bee sting with nasty swelling, each reaction will get worse over the years until you become allergic to the sting. If you are gluten sensitive, in time you will be intolerant and then you will eventually have total villous atrophy, which is then called celiacs disease. Very fine line--I think any of us that are gluten intolerant are celiacs. Who needs a definition, we just need to all be healthy again. Deb

Thanks for all of the info. With all of the talk about horrible doctors around I am so glad that I have two good ones. I was shocked when someone said that their doctor told them in was a child's disease. How horrible. I have come to terms with this.

Nicole

Which gene is the gluten sensitivity one and which one is the celiace one?