I really believe celiac is just one manifestation of damage that can occur when somebody who is sensitive to wheat/gluten eats it. Celiac just means that your gut was damaged severely enough for particles to leak out and for your body to form antibodies against them, right? So we don't go from a condition of no damage to severe damage with antibodies present instantaneously, right?
Therefore, damage can be present in various forms whether those antibodies are there yet or not.