Is it possible to have mild celiac disease

[BlueKeith]

I'm having a celiac blood test next week and was wondering if it was possible to have mild celiac disease.? Also does it tell you if you are just wheat intolerant? The reason being that pasta, couscous, whole-wheat bread , weetabix , most wheat cereals make me feel really ill ,lethargic cramps in left side , refluxetc but I can eat white toast and shreddies with no ill effects.

[Edgar77]

Your symptoms may be mild now but if you are celiac and continue to eat gluten you will only get worse.

[BlueKeith in reply to Edgar77]

Thanks for the info edgar77. I'm not that clued up on celiac as I've been thinking I've had Ibs for the last 30 years. I remember as far back as when I was 12 and fainting at school and I was certain it was the weetabix was doing it all week but the teachers and doctors all thought it was funny . If I've been eating wheat all these years then the villi not gonna be on good shape is it. Thanks again

[eliz45]

Hi. The celiac blood test tells you if your body is producing antiibodies that are reacting to the presence of gluten. If the antibodies are present in sufficient quantities then they say you have celiac. However, there is the genetic test that tells you if you have the genes for celiac. You must have one or two of those genes. Then you can have an endoscopy which looks at the area where the stomach meets the small intestine, and they can see if celiac is present. But there is also something called non celiac-gluten sensitivity and that can cause problems like celiac but not be celiac. I don't know how they test for that.You can have celiac but not have symptoms for years. And Edgar 77 is so correct that if you have celiac and continue to eat gluten you will slowly destroy the villi in your small intestine and have terrible trouble digesting your food and getting the nutrition to be healthy.

I don't know why you can eat the saltines but if you have celiac, you can't eat them if they contain gluten. Dealing with celiac is not fun.

[BlueKeith in reply to eliz45]

Thanks for the info eliz45. I'm not that clued up on celiac as I've been thinking I've had Ibs for the last 30 years. I remember as far back as when I was 12 and fainting at school and I was certain it was the weetabix was doing it all week but the teachers and doctors all thought it was funny . If I've been eating wheat all these years then the villi not gonna be on good shape is it. Thanks again

[Edgar77 in reply to BlueKeith]

Do not go on a gluten free diet before the tests or they wont be acurate. The villi can grow back in time.