Celiac Disease Support Group
Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder of the digestive system that occurs in genetically-predisposed individuals. It is characterised by damage or flattening to all or part of the villi lining the small intestine, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients. This damage is caused by eating anything with gluten (gliadin), a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley...
I had an endoscopy last week which confirmed Celiac. Question: how likely is it that wheat is not the only sensitivity? How do I go about finding out if I have more than just an allergy to wheat? Once I start my GF journey what happens when there is a slip? Is there a medication over the counter to combat the effects? Thanks in advance
Regarding a "slip," you will know it and you can be sick for several days or a couple weeks. When it comes to your intestines healing, I've read that a glutening can set a person back 2-3 months in their healing. Don't know of any OTC that can truly combat the effects. Be sure to learn all the ingredients that can contain gluten, such as MSG (monosodium glutamate), etc. In the beginning, I took a long list to the grocery with me. Nothing with gluten is worth "cheating". Best wishes to you as your intestines heal and you adjust to your new lifestyle.
Celiac is the worst form on intolerance to GLUTEN which is in Wheat, Rye, and Barley.
Celiac is an auto immune disease. The immune system is made of two parts, Innate and Adaptive. The innate system causes allergies in the classic sense, rash, sneezing, and anaphylaxis. The adaptive system causes the disease where the boy attacks itself. Rheumatoid arthritis is auto immune just like Celiac.
In Celiac, the body destroys the villi in response to gluten.
As for other sensitivities, we are as prone to sensitivities to other substances as anyone else.
How do I go about finding out if I have more than just an allergy to wheat?
You dont have an ALLERGY to WHEAT! You have a serious intolerance to gluten which strips the villi lining the small intestines resulting in nutritional deficiencies from failure to absorb the nutrition in the foods that you eat.
Once I start my GF journey what happens when there is a slip?
As you feel better from your villi healing and your body finally absorbing the nutrition from the foods that you eat, you will notice the reaction to gluten seems much worse.
Is there a medication over the counter to combat the effects?
There is no medication that will stop the auto immune reaction destruction of the villi. Every bit of gluten causes the body to alert the auto immune system which then attacks the body by mistake.
You can treat individual symptoms, diarrhea, vomiting, body aches, muscle pain with standard over the counter medications.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm328728.htm
I also agree with BrightSide987 that this isn't just an allergy. Gluten causes you immune system to attack your gut and it generally takes a lot longer to heal from that damage than it would to heal from an allergic reaction (assuming its not anaphylaxis).
I don't think we can stress enough that there is NO medication for celiac disease. The only Rx for Celiacs is to avoid gluten 100%!
On the upside, all the more expensive gluten free (GF) food you find yourself buying now is a tax write off if you itemize your deductions. With a written diagnosis to backup your claim, you can take a tax deduction for food that you now have to buy to follow your prescribed dietary restriction. Like GF breads (Udi's is a good brand but untoasted sandwiches are a thing of the past for me, I hate GF bread untoasted!), GF pasta, GF cookies, GF pizza crusts... special GF foods.
Remember it's wheat, rye and barley!! And a lot of Celiacs have other intolerances or sensitivities like dairy. A few foods that you may not realize contain gluten are MEDICATIONS, hari care products, cosmetics, skin care products, Soy sauce, Twizzlers, some flavorings, ground beef at taco bell... be sure to ALWAYS read the labels because companies can change their ingredients at any time. "Certified gluten free" products can be labeled as such when they test at 20ppm or less of gluten so this is another reason to ALWAYS check the ingredients. I personally avoid items processed in the same facility that manufactures products that contain wheat, even if the label says gluten free. my numbers went from 92 at my original diagnosis to 10 only 3 months later.
There's a lot of info to absorb but you got this!!! You've got Daily Strength to back you up! ;-)