I am at my wits end with this sickness.
My story -
- I was raised on junk food, tv dinners, cans of veggies, etc.
- Around 3rd grade my abdomen became shockingly distended, stretch marks and all. Never went away, regardless of overall body weight. I suffered constipation daily. I was very overweight.
- As a teen, I suffered extreme D, lost a ton of weight for seemingly no reason. I went vegetarian around age 13, but I still ate the junk food my parents would buy, in large amounts.
- D remained throughout college, to the point of me fearing going anywhere without a restoom nearby. I could not drink cold water or drinks without immediately having D. I snuck away from my dorm and used the general university dorm bathroom downstairs to avoid embarrassment. I could eat anything I want, in any quantities I wanted without gaining weight. I also experienced extreme nervous bowels.
- In grad school I changed my diet to whole foods, and went vegan. The lack of dairy improved things immensely. Now, when I "cheat" and eat dairy, I feel the effects obviously. I gained weight because of this whole foods diet, and struggle with controlling portion sizes as I used to be able to eat anything.
- However, I'm still sick. No dairy, no eggs, no meat, all whole foods. I drink a green smoothie for breakfast, and eat healthy for lunch and dinner. I exercise. I am still so sick, so often, however. While I finally have normal-ish bowel movements, they are closer to D than what I imagine they are for other people (they're usually a run-to-the bathroom asap or be sorry, but not pure liquid as they used to be)
I'm so sick of being sick. A really bad doctor who I talked to for 5 minutes said I have IBS. I finally talked to a doctor about my concerns with gluten, but she did not seem to take my concerns seriously in the least, perhaps because I am overweight. I was going to get a test done, but she made it very complicated and by the time I convinced her to schedule it, I lost my health insurance.
I get headaches, stomach aches of all kinds, my immune system just seems to turn off for a week at a time - in which case I get rashes and feel awful, and I just generally feel sick. Just sick. Dizzy, disconnected, sick to my stomach, just sick.
I don't now if it is celiac, I am kind of hoping it is, so I will have a cure. Does any of this sound like celiac?
I still lack health insurance, however, so I suppose my only choice is to attempt a gluten-free diet to see what happens?
