I did a gluten sensitivity test through EnteroLab and my results came back positive (15). I have had inflammatory, seronegative arthritis for almost six years. I have been gluten free for six weeks and now dairy free for four days. If I am going to see results, about how long will it take? I am also currently on an antibiotic protocol and prednisone (based on the theory that some arthritis is due to a bacterial infection). Will I need to come off of this to be able to heal my gut?
Thank you for your excellent question.
You have established from your positive test that you suffer from gluten intolerance. You should see improvement in your health from eliminating gluten, but whether you will notice it in your joints and/or somewhere else in your body is difficult to state.
It takes a minimum of 30 days for the cells to renew themselves in the intestines so that would be the shortest period of time to allow your body to communicate that it was benefiting from your new gluten-free status. Regardless of any other mitigating factors that might be creating health difficulties, you do not want to ever reintroduce gluten into your diet. You may not have identified ALL offending factors but you have identified that one and it's important that you remain gluten-free.
As you so correctly noted, an integral part of optimizing health is the healing of the gut. This is critical for autoimmune disease but truly is vital regardless of the disease process or symptoms present. Antibiotics weaken the immune system and compromise the probiotic population and prednisone creates a leaky gut. So the combination of those is definitely going to be a deterrent to your healing.
We do have good success in this area and our destination clinic allows us to see patients from across the country as well as internationally. Please let me know if you'd like our help. We would be happy to offer you a free consultation.
To your good health,
Dr Vikki Petersen
