Attack of the gluten intolerant sex addicts, Mark Morford

[pnwmom]

64. That's not true for adults. Many adults are overweight or even obese, unlike children with Celiac.

Many adults go undiagnosed at least in part because doctors expect to see the same pattern as in children. Children with Celiac tend to be thin and have diarrhea, but adults with positive endoscopies can be overweight and constipated.

And not all forms of gluten sensitivity can be discovered through the endoscopy and blood tests; and not all forms affect the small intestine. I was having severe lower intestinal symptoms, including bleeding, and it turns out there is a gluten-sensitive form of Crohn's disease -- which won't necessarily give a positive result on the standard Celiac tests. Sometimes an elimination diet is the only way to determine sensitivity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17032202

Few celiac patients are underweight at diagnosis and a large minority is overweight; these are less likely to present with classical features of diarrhea and reduced hemoglobin. Failed or delayed diagnosis of celiac disease may reflect lack of awareness of this large subgroup. The increase in weight of already overweight patients after dietary gluten exclusion is a potential cause of morbidity, and the gluten-free diet as conventionally prescribed needs to be modified accordingly.