Ask the Doc: How long to get gluten out of system?
Posted on May 19th, 2007 by alison
Q. How long does it take to get wheat or gluten out of your system?
A. No one knows for sure, but given the digestive rate, absorption of gluten and glutenin peptide fragments, and the turnover rate of the intestinal cells, about 3-7 days would be a rational guess. How much time it takes to recover from damage done by gluten, however, depends on a number of factors: the dose of HLA DQ2, DQ8 genes that you receive from your parents, the position of the genes of chromosome 6 (genes on the same side of the chromosome-”cis” position are more potent than on opposite sides of the chromosome-”trans” position), the reactivity of your innate system at the level of the intestinal cell, and on the adaptive immune system’s pre-programmed drive. That said, the more advanced your biopsy (Marsh III), the longer it will take to completely reverse the disease. Marsh III’s take about 2 years, while Marsh I’s may take 6 months to a year. All the more reason to have a biopsy at the time of initial diagnosis, and another one one year after being free from gluten.
Health and happiness,
Dr. Aron
Have a question?
I’ve had a severe itchy skin rash off and on for the past two years. Docs have ruled out Gluten intolerance - my thyroid showed hypo so they started me on synthroid - all other blood results are good other than my Sed rate is 40. Can you get a skin rash that will not clear up if the beginning spot started with a common wart? The initial itch spot turned to a wart and ever since then I have had this rash come and go with no answers and no relief. The rash is normally on my legs, arms and buttocks. Never been on face or neck area. It’s red raised and seems to have tiny water blisters at times (not visible until they burst and become a sore)
A skin problem from gluten may last eight months to a year AFTER giving up all gluten-containing foods. This is because the villi of the small intestine, including perforations, take a long time to heal. Until this healing takes place, food continues to escape into the blood and the body reacts with inflammation and histamine. Further, the initial gluten problem often leads to negative reactions from eating other foods such as eggs, chocolate, tomatoes, and others. Once the gluten problem has resolved, it MAY be possible to resume eating these other foods.