Here's what happens to me: when I eat gluten, I'm exhausted within a few hours, then for ~2 days after. I also have clear GI symptoms - bleeding, mucus, etc. (I've heard that exact symptoms vary, based on your personal level of gluten sensitivity - it's a spectrum.)
When I eliminated gluten for 4 weeks, I felt much better - normal energy, no GI symptoms. Then I reintroduced a little - breaded ahi tuna on a salad for lunch. Within 2 hours, I was exhausted, and I was absolutely worthless for the next two days.
My doctor did a Celiac blood test - it came back negative on 2 tests, and positive on the 3rd. I'm waiting on the results of a genetic profile, but my MDs said my self-experimentation is the clearest signal, and to stay gluten free regardless of what the tests indicate.
Absolutely. This doesn't exactly sound like Celiac, but you're clearly having an adverse reaction to something you're eating, almost certainly in the wheat products that you're describing.
At the end of the day for an individual, the diagnostic label is much less important than curing the disease, which it sounds like you're accomplishing via experimentation. Cheers.
Gluten intolerance /= Celiac disease. They're two separate problems but often confused because the latter incorporates the symptoms of the former. Whatever the final verdict winds up as, avoidance of wheat gluten is a preventative step common to both conditions.
Second hand evidence, but what I've heard is that you'll know pretty quickly whether you have a response or not. Cramping pain, nausea, diarrhea, feeling miserable, you name it.
And this was just from eating a small treat, not even a full meal. So if you want to know for certain, follow the diet for some time, and then feast on gluten.
I can answer this one. It ain't 'telltale signs'. It's miserable hell. Imagine eating some bad food. The effects are far from subtle.