New gluten free mom.

[glutenfreenewbie]

After years of fighting stomach/intestinal issues in my 15 year old daughter, a friend suggested trying gluten free. She noticed less pain after only 24 hours. Can this really be the problem? No doctor ever brought this up. Can you really notice reduced symptoms that fast? If she continues to be pain free, should we have her tested?

[crox]

Yup. Definitely have her tested, but remember that if the doctors say she isn't a coeliac, she may still benefit from a gluten free diet.

[poing]

I think it's worth getting her tested just on the strength of what you've said here.

Your daughter needs to eat gluten until after she's tested because the tests may give a false negative otherwise.

The longer a person is off gluten, the harder it can be to eat it again for testing (and the more pronounced the symptoms), so as strange as it might sound, she should continue to eat the stuff for now. Then, once they've carried out the test, she can start the diet in earnest, if that's what she wants to do.

[rhy1]

Definitely! And not just stomach/ intestines. Also headaches, depression, joint pains and in my case the first pain free period of my life - having previously been a sit on the loo throw up in the basin kind of girl this has been a revelation! Not only that but she might find other foods she may have thought she couldn't cope with are less problematic - dairy, legumes etc.

[RusticRita]

I'd echo previous answers. Its worth a trip to the doctor to send her for a blood antibody test for Coeliac Disease, but she needs to stay on a gluten diet for this until the doctor can confirm whether positive (and a further endoscopy would be required to confirm diagnosis). A firm diagnosis of Coeliac Disease would enable her to get some gluten free food on prescription and referral to a nutritionist.

It's also possible she has Non Coeliac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) which DOESN'T show up in tests (apart from possible inflammation in blood). A lot of doctors are still very ignorant about this Both conditions can cause malabsorption of vitamins, minerals and medication and a host of other symptoms apart from gastrointestinal.

I have NCGS, I noticed a difference quickly, but also suffered some weird withdrawal symptoms from going gluten-free. It can take the intestines a while to calm down and important to stay off "Free From" and other foods made from corn, oats and soya (which are hard to digest) for a while.