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Comment by chris_mahan | Hacker News Reader

I went gluten-free 2 years ago and all my symptoms went away, I feel better, have lots of energy, etc.

I did not take a test, but my (non-alternative) internal medicine doctor told me to go on the gluten free-diet after I explained (in gory details) my symptoms.

Is the test really necessary then? Really?

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I slowly realized in college that I was lactose intolerant. The symptoms are quite obvious, but I had always drank milk and eaten ice cream, and halfway thought that I just would always have stomach problems. Doctors can test you for it, but the ones I've spoken with have always said "it sounds like a pretty clear cut case" and never suggested the test.

I roll my eyes at the sheer quantity of people avoiding gluten, but if your symptoms are really overt[1] and the difference was that quick, I'm not going to question you.

I'm bothered by people who are 80-20 gluten free or can't point to any concrete issues, because I suspect they are attaching themselves to a fad. And I'm bothered by people with serious symptoms being diagnosed by chiropractors. I think that level of random speculation is often not just pointless, but potentially harmful.

[1] You didn't say what they are, beyond energy, but I'm trusting your judgment here.

On your gluten free diet, do you eat (in no particular order): apples, pears, peaches, milk, sugar, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, garlic, avocado, cauliflower, mushrooms, and soft / fresh cheeses?

Do you have any issues with them? They are identified as high FODMAP foods.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1746.2009....

I do, and I have no issue with them. I eat lots of apples, sugar, broccoli, mushroom, and cheese. Daily. I eat goat yogurt (I like the taste better) but I eat some regular yogurt too. I typically don't drink milk (taste again) and eat almond and coconut milk instead. (Trader Joe's gets lots of my business)

I eat very few processed food, canned food.

I eat all fruit (except kiwi--i get irritable bumps on my tongue), meats, cheeses, vegetables, rice, potatoes, dairy products, wine, and non-beer, non whiskey alcohol. (Also, some Shoju is made from wheat, so I only drink those from sugar cane, potato, sweet potato, etc).

I eat very little fried foods. (Although I won't pass up french fries on occasion).

That’s what I kinda suspected. It would be hard for me to imagine someone mistaking sensitivity to the listed foods with a gluten problem.

I self-diagnosed after having stomachaches for a month and a half. I cut various foods out of my diet, and when I stopped eating bread things got much better.

But I've thought that I've been missing a variable for a while. Wheat-based pancakes trigger pain, but I've also very occasionally had pain after eating things that didn't contain gluten at all. A few times I've accidentally eaten things that should have contained a fair amount of gluten, but they didn't set me off.

My problem experimenting with an exclusion diet is that my pain is quick to show up, but slow to leave. It took two weeks after I cut gluten for my stomach to finally settle. The effects of subsequent accidental dosages of gluten took a week to wear off.

More often than not, it's actually an ulcer rather than gluten intolerance.

Maybe not to you, but from a public health perspective it is important to understand what's going on.

Also: if you learned that gluten in general could be on the menu again, but that you should avoid gluten products that also contain chemical X, wouldn't it make your life (or the life of people cooking for you) a bit easier?

Perhaps, but it's another test I have to pay for, so.

(health insurance may pay some, but I'll still have a bill in 3 months staring at me asking for money.)

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