Abandoning a gluten-free diet

Her diet is ridiculously limited, and if something doesn't say GF on it - even if it is natually GF - she won't eat it. As a result, she's eating a lot of processed foods with GF labeling. This is likely a lot of her GI issues, regardless of anything else. If all I ate was Glutino pretzels and granola bars, and Amy's GF pizza, then I'd feel like crap too. :) You said that she's had a bum stomach forever... has she ever had a diet (mostly) free of processed food? You said she misses 'regular' food - what was she eating before?

I've never had a chronic stomach problem, but my occasional bouts with heartburn, indigestion, stomachaches, etc., went away almost 100% when I stopped eating processed foods almost entirely and replaced them with whole foods. I'm mostly paleo/primal, but I don't keep to any one principle - I eat chicken, shrimp, fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, and very occasionally, full-fat dairy. I'm amazed at how calm my stomach is. Your relative would be better off just eating whole foods and cutting out processed food and white carbs than by cycling through fad diets. Food allergies and intolerances are real, but I'm convinced that most self-diagnosed food allergies are really just the body's way of rebelling against a diet of processed food and white carbs.

Between the "she" and 60s part and all the indigestion and the weight loss and the very limited list of "safe" foods--I know this isn't strictly an answer, but does she still have her gallbladder? I guess to tie it back in better, if there's a gallbladder problem than trying to go back to eating like before could be even more uncomfortable, but not necessarily because any one thing she's eliminated currently is the culprit. In particular, though, I've known a couple of older women for whom ongoing indigestion issues didn't get treated as potential gallbladder issues. Because they weren't having the incredibly painful gallbladder attacks, because they were mostly avoiding the worst of it through just not eating anything even remotely risky. If her doctors have already checked out that possibility, never mind!

I was off gluten for something close to four years on the advice of my doctor. I tested negative for celiac antibodies, but I had a range of symptoms including hair loss, fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and menstrual irregularities. "A gluten-free diet helps some of my patients," he said. It wasn't until I was off gluten that I realized I'd also been suffering from extraordinary amounts of gas and diarrhea -- I'll spare you the details. When I went off gluten, suddenly for the first time in as long as I could remember, I didn't always have a stomach ache anymore. It wasn't *perfect,* I still had all of those things from time to time, but the amounts were so much less that I felt like a whole new person. Turns out gluten wasn't the culprit. When you give up gluten, you give up fried foods because of cross-contaminated oil, rich sauces, creamy soups, cheesy pasta -- in short, you wind up cutting a lot of fat out of your diet. And it turns out gluten wasn't the thing that had ever bothered me -- it was fat bothering my gall bladder the whole time. I had my gall bladder out at the beginning of June, and after a few weeks I decided to *try* gluten, to see how it went. I've now been reglutened for three, four weeks now, and it's been *amazing.* There's a moment when you go into a restaurant and realize you can eat anything you want... I just can't get over it. For more details and a lot of emoting, see my blog post about http://www.deusexmachinatio.com/blog/2010/12/2/a-thousand-small-goodbyes.html and then the one about http://www.deusexmachinatio.com/blog/2014/6/30/reglutening-and-science. The upshot is that I did indeed have a real sensitivity to something, and removing gluten from my life got me about 85% better than I'd felt before, but gluten was never the root cause in my case. I'm eating epic amounts of gluten now (and I'm probably going to gain some serious weight because of the sudden influx of carbs into my diet) but my stomach is feeling better than it has in some ten or fifteen years, because the source of the true problem, my gall bladder, has been eliminated.

I have chronic stomach problems. I also have non-celiac gluten intolerance. It's a real thing and gluten makes me really really sick. I found out by tracking my food intake then lessening gluten, then trying to eat two slices of bread because I was going in for celiac blood tests. I was so sick from that bread, just, Uhg. Anyway. If she wants to try to get gluten back in, I suggest she picks a quiet night and just eats a slice of bread. If nothing bad happens then she can try it again the next night and so on. I agree she needs to see a GI and probably a dietician. Is she on a low-acid diet ( no spicy, onions, etc)? That's a huge thing for chronic acid problems. Also has she tried no lactose? Most people can't properly digest lactose and that's much more common than gluten problems.

I'm going to add to the possible other-stomach-issues comments above. I'd recommend visiting an MD about your relative's group of symptoms. Among others, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/angina/basics/symptoms/con-20031194 can also look like really bad heartburn in women. If her MD is dismissive, I'd find a new doctor. She's at an age (aren't we all, I suppose) where it could start to matter to be followed by someone serious about her health and well-being.

I have a rare thing, and after years of it I got sick of it and tried an elimination diet. I notice real differences in how I feel when I don't eat wheat. I have never been tested for gluten intolerance or a wheat allergy. But I also know I don't have celiac, because when I do eat wheat I don't have an instant horrible reaction like those who do have that condition. When you have celiac any trace of wheat can mess you up. That's not me, but I can still tell a real difference when I don't eat it. Based on this, if your friend is not feeling any different, I'd say don't bother keeping it up. It can be expensive to eat that way. Given that it's been a long time since she had any, she'll know as soon as she eats a piece of bread it if it's a real problem for her. I think Crystalline above has the best idea for how to do it.

has she ever had a diet (mostly) free of processed food? You said she misses 'regular' food - what was she eating before? This! And based on your update about the things she misses I would imagine she hasn't ever eaten much non processed food. So if it makes her happier to eat her old food by all means. But assuming the various alternative causes suggested here can be ruled out, chances are that her digestive troubles will continue unless she starts to eat a cleaner diet.

To answer your actual question: I have several family members who thought they were celiac, had the biopsy done and found out they had absolutely no gluten sensitivity at all. They immediately switched back to a gluten-full diet and experienced no ill effects. So, your friend should feel free to try that! But yeah, eating processed stuff is going to make your stomach feel gross no matter what - all of the preservatives and chemicals and crap is just not good. Random: you mention acid reflux and Nexium. Has she ever been treated for H. Pylori? It is a stomach bacteria that causes GERD symptoms (belching, bloating, nausea, abdominal pain, etc) and it only goes away with a special course of antibiotics. Antacids are often prescribed instead, which do nothing to get rid of the infection.