My mom has two copies of the celiac gene… and still doesn’t have celiac disease.
She asked me this recently…..
“I read that mucus in stool can be a sign of celiac disease. I had lots of mucus in my stool in my 40’s. Could I have had celiac before and it went away?”
Short answer:
Mucus in stool can happen with celiac disease.
But it’s not specific to celiac.
It’s a sign of irritation or inflammation, and it can show up in:
• IBS
• Infections
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Microscopic colitis
• And sometimes untreated celiac disease
This is part of why doctors use tests like fecal calprotectin—a stool marker for inflammation.
But that is not a celiac test.
My mom has:
• Severe environmental allergies
• Two copies of HLA-DQ2 (highest genetic risk tier)
• And no celiac disease despite repeated testing
So the question becomes: Could she have had celiac disease in her 40s… and then it went away?
The uncomfortable answer: There are rare cases in the medical literature that suggest something like this can happen.
But:
- We don’t know who this happens to
- We don’t know why
And for the vast majority of people:
This is not how celiac disease behaves.
To be very clear, celiac disease is:
• A lifelong autoimmune condition
• That reactivates with gluten exposure
• Even if you don’t feel symptoms
Where people get into trouble is that, they hear something like this and think:
“Maybe I’m one of the ones who can tolerate gluten again.”
That’s how people end up:
• Reintroducing gluten
• Causing silent damage
• Undoing years of healing
Back to my mom-
Two copies of HLA-DQ2 puts her at higher risk.
And
Genetics are not a diagnosis
A large portion of people carry celiac risk genes.
Only a small percentage actually develop the disease.
So:
• Could something have been going on? → maybe
• Was it definitively celiac disease? → no evidence of that
Bottom line
• Mucus in stool = nonspecific, not diagnostic
• Rare cases of “celiac that appears to go away” exist
• We do not understand who or why
• She has been tested a million times – no celiac disease
Celiac disease is something you: diagnose carefully, monitor properly, and manage consistently
Have you ever questioned your diagnosis or test results?
Or heard something about celiac that made you stop and think, “wait… is that true?”
Drop it below—I want to hear it.