Newbie with Enterolab results question

[migrator]

Happy New Year. This is my first post. I would like to thank all of you for your wisdom and compassion.
I am a 65 year old female and have been gluten free for over 20 years. Was never tested for celiac as I had no insurance back in 1999 and going gluten free solved all my digestive health problems at that time. I am hypothyroid and have had constant pain in back/neck since 1993, otherwise healthy.

In early October 2020, I had shingles and was prescribed an anti viral which I suspect screwed up my gut biome. Got over the shingles, then started having chronic diarrhea November 25th. Went to my PCP and was told to take Immodium which helped for a while, then didn't so I began searching for answers and found this forum.

I read the Understanding MC book, quit all oral supplements, bought Magnesium oil and topical D3, started the stage 1 diet with rice, lamb, yams/sweet potatoes, coconut oil, one ingredient coconut water and got immediate improvement in digestion/poop. Also a big improvement in my aches/pains.

Sent off my poop to Enterolab and just got results back with a BIG surprise. The Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA is 216 units. How is this possible when I have been eating only home cooked meals since February and am strictly gluten free - no gluten in the house? My question is can oats cause the Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA results to be high? I was eating a breakfast cereal from Bob's Red Mill called "Gluten free Tropical Muesli" which has some oats. Stopped eating this in October because I began feeling some digestive discomfort and thought it might be the oats.

Also was not surprised to see corn was a high reactivity food since I tried a few bites of corn meal mush a couple of weeks ago and my hands started hurting. I have been having increasing arthritis symptoms in my hands over the past few years. Guess what - the hand pain stopped when I went on the stage 1 diet.

Beef is also not a surprise. We bought 1/4 of local pasture raised beef just as I started the stage 1 diet and my husband has been eating the meat. I tried a few bites of the hamburger meat two days ago and got cramps and explosive diarrhea four hours afterward.

Here is my lab report from Enterolab:
Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score Less than 300 Units (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)
Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 216 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA 33 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 19 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-soy IgA 19 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods 22 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
While all of the foods tested can be immune-stimulating, the hierarchy of reactions detected were as follows:
Food to which there was no significant immunological reactivity: None
Food to which there was some immunological reactivity (1+): Walnut, Cashew
Food to which there was moderate immunological reactivity (2+): Oat, Rice, Beef, Chicken, Pork
Food to which there was significant and/or the most immunological reactivity (3+): Corn, Tuna, Almond, White potato

Within each class of foods to which you displayed multiple reactions, the hierarchy of those reactions detected were as follows:
Grains:
Grain toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Corn
Grain toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Oat
Grain toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Rice

Meats: Meat toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Tuna
Meat toward which you were next most immunologically reactive: Beef
Meat toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Chicken, Pork

Nuts: Nut toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Almond
Nut toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Walnut
Nut toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Cashew
Nightshades: You displayed immunologic reactivity to white potato, the member of the nightshade family usually consumed most often and in greatest quantities.

[tex]

Hello Kate,

Welcome to the group. You posed a very interesting question about gluten and oats. Most of us are sensitive to oats, despite what the celiac "experts" claim about pure oats being a safe food for anyone who is gluten-sensitive. The avenin in oats has a molecular structure similar enough to the gluten in wheat that I have long suspected that for some of us at least, oats can cause a cross-reactivity problem. In your case, either trace amounts of gluten are somehow sneaking into your diet, or oats are causing a cross-reactivity problem. After 20 years of following a strict GF diet, no matter how high your anti-gliadin antibody level might have been when you started the diet, by now it would surely have had plenty of time to decay to a normal level. Speaking from experience, if anyone else in the house is using wheat flour, it's almost impossible to keep it from drifting everywhere.

Your anti-gliadin level is relatively high, suggesting that you have been reacting (possibly to the oats), for longer than a couple of months. The other antibody levels appear to be in line with the time frame of the antibiotic treatment.

You appear to be on the right track, now that you've cut the oats out of your diet.

Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex

[migrator]

Thanks Tex, I thought the oats might give the impression of gluten in the test. There has been no gluten in the house that I am aware of, but who knows maybe it snuck into a supplement.

I am super sensitive to gluten. When I've eaten gluten accidently from eating out in the last 10 years, I've had simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea about 7 hours after eating.

Also got diarrhea from my thyroid meds in 2014 when something changed in the generic formula. Who knows what that substance was since the pills are manufactured overseas. I switched to Synthroid and avoided the generic version until last year when I felt brave enough to try the generic again. No problems now.

So glad to have found this forum where people understand the process of figuring out food sensitivities. Really appreciate all your dedication and hard work.