Starting Over WITH Gluten??

Starting over with gluten is not something I am looking forward to because I have been feeling so much better these past 5 days without gluten. My energy level has been through the roof and my insides have been at peace for the first time in a long time.

In order to be tested for the tTG Antibody, the clinic would like me to go back on a gluten diet for the weekend, and the test will be done Monday morning. According to www.celiac.nih.gov/ (National Institute of Health), the "tTG test has a sensitivity of more than 90 percent, yielding few false positive results. The test also has a specificity of more than 95 percent, meaning it yields few false negative results."

These tTG (tissue Transglutaminase) antibodies are usually found in patients with CD, and are also found with juvenile diabetes. They are involved in the destruction of the precious villi in my intestines, that absorb nutrients. If these antibodies are detected at a level greater than 19 units, it suggests the "possibility of certain gluten sensitive enteropathies such as celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis" (www.aruplab.com/guides/ug/tests/0097709.jsp).

Though I am not looking forward to it, I am willing to do it for the sake of finding answers... it is just not good timing. Today is Thursday, and I have to eat gluten for the next three days, and those three days are very full for me. I have two final exams due by Saturday, and my girls are dancing in two performances of a Christmas recital on both Saturday and Sunday... and I may be too sick to attend by then.

Well, it was nice being gluten-free while it lasted! Even if this doesn't pan out to be CD, I have no reason to continue a gluten diet that makes me sick until something else happens.