Negative Gluten Allergy Test Still Have Symptoms | Allergy

Negative Gluten Allergy Test Still Have Symptoms

by Allergy Guy

If you think you have a gluten allergy, but you have a negative gluten allergy test, what do you do? Here are some ideas and explanations.
In this article we will look at how accurate gluten allergy tests are, gluten allergy test alternatives, and what to do if you get a negative allergy test result but still think you have a gluten allergy.

Doctors generally prefer to run “scientific tests”, such as a skin test or blood test.  While these tests may yield precise measurements, precision is not the same thing as accuracy.  Also, accuracy is not the same as a diagnosis.

To tell you the truth, allergy tests are not all that terribly useful.  They are helpful if you have no idea what you might be allergic too, or to discover allergies you may not be aware of, even if you do suffer the symptoms.  Such tests are a guide.  By getting tested for many things, you may get results back that suggest cutting out certain foods.  But this is just a suggestion.

Allergy tests may miss foods you are allergic to, and they may come back with a negative result to foods that you really are allergic to, or you may have a gluten sensitivity.

So it is quite possible to have an allergy, get tested for confirmation, get a negative result, but still be allergic to the food, or at least sensitive to it.  Whether sensitive or allergic, if you are suffering the symptoms, you will want to avoid the food.

But just because you suspect you are allergic to a specific food, does not mean you actually are.  You don’t want to needlessly restrict your diet, mean while missing the foods you should be avoiding.  Also, you may have an air borne allergy such as dust allergy or mold allergy.

The best way to see if you are really allergic to gluten is to do a food allergy challenge.  This is where you eliminate the food for several weeks to see if you get better, then reintroduce the food to see if you get worse again.  See the article Gluten Sensitivity and Testing for important details about how to go about this.  If done improperly, you may be gravely risking your health, so this article is a must read.

What is your experience with thinking you have a gluten allergy but getting a negative gluten allergy test result?  Please leave a comment.

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