Hi,
Is there such a thing as gluten sensitivity that is not diagnosable as Celiacs disease? A gastroenterologist told me no, but other people claim they have just such a condition.
thanks,
Nikolai
The topic is discussed in this thread: Antioxidants, gluten intolerance and supplements? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
Bottom line: lots of folks claim to have gluten sensitivity without having celiac disease, but objective scientific evidence to support such a claim is lacking at this point.
Yes, it is possible. But don’t forget wheat allergies, which are not quite the same thing but can keep people away from gluten items.
I had my 8yo tested for celiac disease - the test was negative. Yet, any time he has anything made of wheat, he gets BAD rashes/eczema. This has been going on for years. I wish i knew how to get rid of that problem, because keeping him on gluten-free diet is an enormous pain and limits his diet something fierce. Not to mention the problems with not eating pizza when we go to birthday parties.
Sounds possibly more like allergy than celiac disease, frankly. IgE-mediated food allergies often manifest as rash/eczema problems. Celiac disease is not an allergy.
An update to that thread - I could find this. Essentially of those with a clinical history of “wheat allergy” (not celiac disease and overlaps with what gets called “gluten sensitivity”) about half actually had one and half did not when tested with the gold standard of a double blind placebo controlled food challenge. Of note
That’s been my understanding of all but the immediate type allergic reactions (whih would be immediate hives or severe immediate reactions like lip swelling, vomiting, or breathing problems) to food - the IgE based tests, like the RAST and skin tests, are of little value. It seems that clinical history is good enough to get it to a coin flip level … which actually is not as bad as it sounds. For practical purposes, yes, if someone consistently has reaction when they are exposed to gluten or wheat or any other specific food and the reaction consistently goes away when gluten or wheat or any other food is avoided, then they have a food sensitivity, unless a double blinded placebo controlled food challenge disproves it.
Many children with wheat allergy will outgrow it (65% by age 12 years old).
I can’t help but wonder how double-blind a food challenge can be.
I’ve gone gluten-free for a year and tried many of the “gluten-free” without-wheat replacements for bread, pasta, pastries, and such, and I’m sorry, there’s just no getting around the taste and texture that gluten provides. The only thing that could ever pass muster was the gluten-free brownie mix, and I suspect that’s because the texture of brownies is supposed to be dense and crumbly.
“patients were assigned to ingest daily for 90 d a capsule containing 0, 10, or 50 mg gluten”
I’ve yet to find a decent brownie mix. So I just forgo brownies. Good thing there’s no gluten in my chocolate bar. 
The eczema sounds like a wheat allergy to me. He may outgrow it. I had the same reaction to rice as a baby and small child. I outgrew it.
And otherwise had a gluten-free diet? Okay, I could see that working.
I found a gluten free pie crust recipe that made a very satisfactory pizza base. You could make a small pizza that he could take with him so that he could eat pizza with the others.
unfortunately he has a similar reaction to casein as well. Anyway, that’s what we do - make our own pizza and take it with us, but you know how kids are.. he wants what everyone is having.
I tested negative for celiac disease, but when I eat more than a teeny bit of wheat products I get immediate severe bloating, a lot of gas from both ends, occasionally stomach pains, and a spastic colon for the next 24 hours or so (meaning I shit 4-8 times per day, just like when I was in the full throes of my IBS, rather than 1-2 which is normal for me these days eating mostly grain free). Wheat also effects my blood sugar like no other carb, giving me reactive hypoglycemic symptoms starting about 1/2 - 45 minutes after I eat it.
I’m not sure the exact causes of all this, but since I notice symptoms almost immediately after eating and I feel so much better without it, I avoid gluten at the recommendation of my gastroenterologist (who says that a lot of people seem to get indigestion from wheat, and that if you feel better not eating something, go ahead and don’t eat it - who cares if it’s psychomatic or not!)
I agree with the advice ‘just don’t eat it’ thoroughly. Though dammit, I really wish that they would make using ‘tropical’ or palm oil illegal … there are so many convenience foods that I could use if they didn’t have the damned palm products that give me the shits for several days. I also wish they would eliminate canola oil [also gives me the shits] It is so easy for someone to slip you something you can’t metabolize
I essentially had last week ruined, made the mistake of eating a canola based mayo and spent from saturday through thursday having the runs, gas, bloating, cramps and basically a real shitty outlook on life.