I've Been Told Diff Things By Diff Doctors!

[willamina]

What do I do?

What are the NORMAL symptoms of gluten intolerance?

[tarnalberry]

Lol! That's a question without an answer. Or rather, it has a really long answer with a lot of different things. Not to mention that a LOT of celiacs do not have normal symptoms. (I didn't.) While weight loss and diarreah and abdominal pain are listed as common symptoms, some people have no physical symptoms and just mental ones (brain fog, irritability, etc), and some people have the opposite symptoms (weight gain, constipation, etc).

Have you been tested? If so, what tests? Have you tried going gluten-free? Did that make any difference? Do you have family members with celiac or IBS or other digestive issues?

[Guest jhmom]

There are many symptoms of Celiac Disease, in fact over 200 of them. Here is a link to a list of symptoms located on this website click Here for the list. There are also other symptoms that are not listed, each person is different. Some people have this diease and severe symptoms and some don't have any GI problems at all, maybe just anemia.

If you don't mind maybe you should give us a little more info about yourself for example, have you been tested, what kind of symptoms are you experiencing, if any?

I hope this link helps....

[YankeeDB]

I wonder if all the different symptoms related to WHICH part of the small intestine is damaged. Perhaps different sections absorb different nutrients and that is a factor. My primary debilitating symptom was ever-increasing fatigue. A blood test showed B12 deficiency (but not iron deficiency) and I understand B12 is absorbed in the lower intestine (ileum). I also had mild-moderate steatorrhea but otherwise OK bowels. Oh, I think I had DH but that was "cured" symptomatically with cortizone cream and I regarded it as so trivial that I never mentioned it to my doctor.

The never-ending saga......

[seeking-wholeness]

YankeeDB,

Vitamin B-12 can only be absorbed at all if sufficient levels of "intrinsic factor" are present in the stomach to convert it into a form that is usable by the body. If B-12 supplementation is necessary, methylcobalamin is preferred because it is already the "active" form of the vitamin. Cyanocobalamin, while more common and less expensive, has to be converted by the body and is useless if the conversion mechanism is defective. I just thought you might find this interesting. I hope you're doing well!

[YankeeDB]

Sarah,

Thanks so much for your informed response. My intrinsic factor was OK, according to my doctor. Since the b12 problem was discovered, first I received monthly shots (1000mcg) and now I'm taking the sublingual form (1000mcg daily) of the supplement to bypass my battle-weary digestive track. My B12 levels are good now and I've used both methyl- and cyano- forms at different times so at least something is going right.

I'm still wondering if pancreatic insufficiency (another potential factor underlying b12 problems) may be at issue.

Quite a tangled (but interesting) web.

I'm just on the first steps of gluten freedom and have lots to learn and figure out.

Ann