F'ed Up Doctor Appt Today

[CruiseWriter]

Went to my PCP today.....not sure if she's a keeper but tired of going through doctors like socks. She made a big deal out of my going back to the shrink for depression and fatigue. I've only been to about ten counselors,so sick of therapy already. She said I don't have Celiac as the colonoscopy was normal but if I felt like sticking to the gluten-free diet,go ahead. I did lose a few pounds on the scale, but she was not impressed,although I have not lost anything in years. She said my edema is from all the weight I put on and I need to lose the pounds if I want to lose the edema. My heartbeat's very irregular (was irregular at endo's office two months ago,also) so I was given an ECG. Test turned out fine so doctor said to lose weight,see a sleep specialist for the fatigue,see the shrink. Yeah, I was given an appointment for the sleep specialist. Not sure if I should go.

[frieze]

celiac disease is not diagnosed with a colonoscopy (that is from the bottom up), you need an endoscopy (that is from the top down)

[sb2178]

A colonoscopy will not detect celiac. An endoscopy (through your mouth and stomach to the small intestines) will.

I favor testing, just in case it's really something(s) else, but you could just go entirely gluten free and see if it helps. YOu don't need an rx for basic food. The only thing it could hurt is if you did want testing, you would have to go back on gluten.

[CruiseWriter]

I had the endoscopy done at the same time as colonoscopy......don't know results as I don't see GI for another month. Just know I have IBS/acid reflux.

[mushroom]

You have two of the major symptoms of gluten intolerance - IBS (which is symptoms only, not diagnosis) and acid reflux or GERD as doctors like to call it (which sounds like a diagnosis but is also a description of symptoms). If you have gone as far as you can go with testing, do give the diet a strict three-month trial, and you may find that those two pseudo-diagnoses go away because the real culprit is gluten intolerance.

[tarnalberry]

While other issues may be causing it, I would definitely try the sleep referral, as poor sleep (not just quantity, but quality) screws with your body A LOT.

[eatmeat4good]

Your symptoms are consistent with Hashimoto's disease which is very common in Celiacs. Have you had your thyroid tested? My TSH was normal for years, but after I read about Hashimoto's I asked for the antibodies test and the antibodies were elevated so I was positive...I had severe weight gain, depression, fatigue, coarse and thinning hair. Google the symptoms and see if it fits. Then ask the Dr. for a full thyroid panel if you feel it is appropriate. There are Hashimoto's antibodies and Graves antibodies. I have no insurance but neither of these tests were very expensive. The swelling and edema and inability to lose weight also go with thyroid disease which can be a secondary autoimmune disease.

I'm a therapist...and they told me to go to therapy too. Yeah right, I couldn't even process a coherent thought while I was on gluten, no amount of therapy would help. If your Hashimoto's antibodies are out of whack you will have something to go on. Also get off of gluten and Soy. Soy is very bad...for your thyroid and for causing depressive symptoms. Good luck

[CruiseWriter]

I'm on .88 mcg of Levo for my thyroid. I do have Hashis, dx 3 years ago. Not sure if the meds are working,though.

[dilettantesteph]

The gluten free diet cured my depression. Therapy and anti depression drugs did not. You don't need permission to stop eating gluten.

[Takala]

Check and see if your meds are gluten free, too, as well as any vitamins or other supplements.

Do try the gluten free diet. Celiac/gluten intolerance and thyroid problems are very interconnected. A shrink is not going to fix your malnutrition and hormonal imbalances.

[eatmeat4good]

Yes to the above.

AND check your Hashimoto's antibodies again because things can change!

[mamastinky]

I had the exact same experience last week. To top it all off, there were interns standing-in and laughing at me; he wouldn't even look me in the eye while trying to tell me to go to a psychiatrist. I swear I'll eventually need therapy because of all the doctors who keep sending me to therapy..

[mushroom]

I wonder how many gluten intolerant patients psychiatrists have???

[ravenwoodglass]

I wonder how many gluten intolerant patients psychiatrists have???

Likely lots. Most are not even aware that if depressed patients are not responding to antidepressants they should be tested for celiac. Instead they pile more drugs on.

[Takala]

(fair warning- I'm part Irish descent. Remember which northern European tribe has the highest % of the DQ 2.5???? )

All this psychiatrist talk reminds me of the following quote, from one of the greatest and funniest autobiographies of modern times:

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.

. . . nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty; the shiftless loquacious alcoholic father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying schoolmasters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years."

[mushroom]

Funny, Until I got to the end and saw who you were quoting, I was saying to myself, well Frank McCourt does the most miserable Irish childhood I have ever heard - I couldnl't even finish Angela's Ashes, it was just too darned miserable

[IrishHeart]

I wonder how many gluten intolerant patients psychiatrists have???

Funny you should ask ....I was so anxious and depressed (and did not know why) before DX and my heart was racing out of my chest and skipping beats but my EKG was normal, so I reluctantly went to a psychiatrist at my PCP's suggestion as he did not know what to do for me anymore and I was so ill and deteriorating and in chronic pain . He convinced me it was "just anxiety" and I had tried xanax and SSRIs and they made me sicker than I already was. I did not know WHY I was this way...I was a happy person with a wonderful husband. Granted, my Dad had died, but I was accepting of that.

I went from being a vivacious 215 lbs. to an emaciated 122 with lost muscle mass in just 6 months. (thus exploding the myth doctors perpetuate that if you're overweight, you can't be a celiac)

I told her...look, I am not depressed in a clinical sense...I am sad and angry because I am ILL and in PAIN and I do not know why. Doctors tell me I have to "live with this" (it is IBS and "fibro") and to get a scooter if my legs hurt so much...I refused to accept this answer... I kept telling her I am NOT anxious because of anything in particular--except that I FEEL LIKE MY NERVOUS SYSTEM is revved up to a million and I cannot sleep more than an hour at a time. She gave me sleep meds which did nothing but make me sick and keep me up all night with the tremors!! I tried everything once, then told her NO MORE! She said okay.

SOMETHING is keeping me ILL and on fire and no one believes me, I tearfully told her again and again. I was losing weight rapidly, sick as a dog, had edema, burning neuropathic pain, my hair fell out, I had all the GI stuff...and she would get frustrated with me when I still seemed to be "nervous" and crying. She wanted me to talk about everything from my childhood (which was happy)to my miscarriages years before. Why??

She had me go to stress reduction classes and yoga,(because of course, we are told that stress is all we are suffering from) which I dutifully went to, even though I could barely walk and I could not sit without searing pain, and I was trembling all over and lost in surreal space the entire time ...gluten was killing me slowly.

I did not want anti-depressants, I wanted to know what the hell was going on...!! I kept insisting to her that I wasn't depressed or mentally ill, I was ill in MY BODY. What would keep someone revved up like a nervous nutjob, I asked??? No doctor knew; I asked them all for 2 years....until one day, SHE FINALLY asked me...do you have any food intolerances by any chance??? I said I think I might because I saw a Naturopath and she said something about a leaky gut..and that got me researching...

I called that psychiatrist just recently and thanked her for pointing me in the right direction and for believing me when I said I felt like it was physiological, not psychological.

Vitamin deficiencies like folate (B9)--very common in celiac disease--cause low levels of seratonin, norepinephrine and dopamine...which are necessary for mood stabilization in the brain ...no wonder so many celiacs are depressed!

Don't doctors know this?? I do--and gee, all I did was read an article or two..

When doctors do not know the answer, they (1)give drugs or (2) send you to a psychiatrist who will (3) give you more drugs. What a racket.

It's criminal, really.

As I rid my body of the gluten, and had my low folate levels addressed, the anxiety and depression is diminishing and someday, I will go back to all of those arrogant prigs who told me "it's not celiac--take these antidepressants"...and say I TOLD YOU SO!!

[Cypressmyst]

I wonder how many gluten intolerant patients psychiatrists have???

The short answer: Every single one.

Not a single human on this planet can digest this stuff properly.

[IrishHeart]

The short answer: Every single one.

Not a single human on this planet can digest this stuff properly.

I think you are absolutely correct!!! And the sooner people "get it", the sooner they will resolve most of their health problems.

My cousin and I said "there needs to be a gluten revolution". Right now, though, many people think WE are in the minority. They think this is a "fad" or "an allergy".

I try to educate those in my life, but they are resistant and it is exhausting....sigh...ah well...

[Cypressmyst]

I will tell a person once and then don't bring it up again unless they ask. My conscious is clear and I have better things to do then try to convince someone who isn't ready to hear it. But the next time it comes up they will likely be more receptive so I like to think that it does make a difference...even if it isn't immediate.

15 people around me have gone gluten free in the past year. Of those 15 every single one has seen a miraculous improvement in their health and well being. We won't be the minority for very much longer.

Oh for the day when CC is no longer a problem!

[IrishHeart]

I had the endoscopy done at the same time as colonoscopy......don't know results as I don't see GI for another month. Just know I have IBS/acid reflux.

The endoscopy without a biopsy won't tell you much either. Hope he/she did that while down there (mine did NOT--what an idiot)

I wouldn't wait a MONTH to know what happened...give the office a call.

I had "IBS" and "acid reflux" for 20 years too....those are SYMPTOMS--and usually of celiac. Lived on antacids, zantac, Immodium, etc.

Hope you get answers and fast!

Going gluten-free solved my horrid GI symptoms after suffering for 20 years. You can get relief too--diagnosis or not.

[IrishHeart]

I will tell a person once and then don't bring it up again unless they ask. My conscious is clear and I have better things to do then try to convince someone who isn't ready to hear it. But the next time it comes up they will likely be more receptive so I like to think that it does make a difference...even if it isn't immediate.

15 people around me have gone gluten free in the past year. Of those 15 every single one has seen a miraculous improvement in their health and well being. We won't be the minority for very much longer.

Oh for the day when CC is no longer a problem!

amen to that, sister!!