Originally posted by Dr. Davis on 2013-11-18
on the Wheat Belly Blog,
sourced from and currently found at: Infinite Health Blog.
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of WB Blog articles.
Weird wheat re-exposure reactions
As the world of people who are wheat-free continues to
grow, I am witnessing a range of weird re-exposure reactions when people,
intentionally or inadvertently, get re-exposed.
Among the peculiar reactions:
Congestive heart failure–A
woman with a clear-cut syndrome of wheat intolerance that was evidenced
by diabetes, excessive expression of small LDL particles (around
2000 nmol/L at the start), high triglycerides, gastrointestinal
distress, widespread joint pain, and a peripheral neuropathy (impaired
coordination, reduced sensation to the legs), and negative blood markers
for celiac disease, improved substantially across the entire collection of
symptoms. She lost around 40 pounds of weight, reduced HbA1c
substantially, dropped small LDL dramatically (to zero), triglycerides to
double-digit values, with modest improvement in coordination and
peripheral neuropathy, marked improvement in joint discomfort. With each
re-exposure, e.g, a couple of bites of birthday cake at her
grandson’s birthday party, she experienced water retention and
congestive heart failure of 27-30 pounds but developing over 7 days.
This happened 4-5 times with water retention developing over the
precise same time course. On each occasion, she responded to diuretics,
losing the 27-30 pounds of retained water, with no other cause
identified (no change in left ventricular ejection fraction, no change
in kidney status, no change in serum albumin or protein levels, no
change in thyroid status, etc.).
Functional achalasia–A
young man had been wheat-free for over one year inadvertently had wheat
in the form of orzo, mistaking it for rice (since orzo is rice-shaped
pasta). Within minutes, food became trapped in his esophagus,
necessitating an endoscopy to extract the food. No pathologic findings
were seen: no esophageal stricture, inflammation, ulcer, or tumor.
There was also no evidence nor history to suggest eosinophilic esophagitis.
Delayed acute abdominal painWhile
abdominal pain from wheat consumption is common, given the many
gastrointestinal disruptive compounds in modern wheat (e.g., intact alpha
gliadin molecules, gliadin-derived peptides, wheat germ agglutinin,
glutenins, omega-gliadins, alpha amylase and trypsin inhibitors, etc.),
it usually expresses itself as heartburn/acid reflux, cramping and bowel
urgency of irritable bowel syndrome, or through the inflammatory
conditions ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
A 50-some year old man with repeated and incapacitating
bouts of mid-abdominal pain underwent repeated endoscopies, colonoscopies,
multiple upper intestinal and stomach biopsies, barium swallows, gallbladder
imaging, etc. with no explanation uncovered, including negative blood markers
and biopsy for celiac disease. Various anti-anxiety and antidepressants were
therefore prescribed by his gastroenterologists. At my repeated urgings, he
finally eliminated all wheat from his diet with complete relief obtained.
Occasional indulgences were followed by sudden excruciating abdominal pain,
sufficient to double him over and prompt emergency room visits, again with no
diagnosis made. He finally noticed that recurrences occurred 3 days after
a wheat indulgence, even testing the proposition himself: As expected,
3 days later, he experienced acute, severe abdominal pain. He is now
meticulously wheat-free with no pain whatsoever.
That’s just a sample. Making cause-effect
associations for some of these less common wheat re-exposure reactions
can be tricky, especially when there is a delay between exposure and
reaction, such as the consistent 7-day delay of heart failure described
in the first woman.
If you have observed unique wheat re-exposure
reactions of any kind, inadvertent or intentional, please share your story!
