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Genetic Testing A Must?
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Started by mamamonkey,

3 posts in this topic

Posted

Hi everyone! I am new here. So, here's the back story. I had diarrhea, pain after eating, fatigue, and abdominal bloating for 4 years after the birth of my son. I had my gallbladder removed when he was 10 weeks old due to gallstones from pregnancy; so, I chalked all my GI symptoms up to no gallbladder.

Fast forward to this past May 2012. I decided to try going gluten free in a last ditch attempt to get off of Topamax that I had to take for migraines. Within 2 days of going gluten free, my GI symptoms significantly improved. After a month, I had dropped a pant size in bloat. I was able to get off of Topamax. (I know, I know, I should have gotten tested then)

In December, I had some additional issues that ended me up seeing GI. She then decided that I could possibly have celiac since all of my symptoms dramatically improved with cutting gluten. Serology was negative (I wasn't eating gluten). EGD showed mild inflammation, possibly suggestive of partially treated celiac (I ate gluten daily the week before my test).

So, now, I would like to have the genetic testing done. Since it requires prior authorization from my insurance, the GI is now saying that with my symptoms, symptom resolution off gluten, and the biopsy results that I don't need the genetic testing.

My question is, how hard should I push for this? I mean, is it worth changing docs over?

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Posted

This was just posted on the University of Chicago Celiac center's Facebook page:

"True or false? Genetic screening is the best way to know for sure if someone has celiac disease."

"The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center Answer: False. Genetics are often times not even included in the diagnostic process. 30% of the U.S. has the genes for celiac disease, but <5% have it become active. In addition, if the genes aren't present then celiac can all but be ruled out as the cause of symptoms.

Like · Reply · 6 · 6 hours ago"

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Go To Topic Listing Celiac Disease - Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms

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    • ironictruth
      heart related question

      By ironictruth · Posted

      Thank you everyone! Good to know I am not alone with this. I am asking for a referral to a new cardio. Hopefully it will all go away the longer I am gluten-free. It started up in February/March after a gluten challenge and mostly vanished until July when I had a lot of shortness of breath. It absolutely was CRAZY just a few days after the glutening. I was gasping for breath and the beats were all over the place just walking through a parking garage and I was only mildy anemic at the time.   But it seems to "quiver" and do funny things for a bit still. I sort of theorized maybe it was inflammation in the heart because after this last glutening, my head felt like it was in a vice and my eyes would sting or get stabbing pain hurt (that is finally going away thankfully...knock on wood).  The head/eye pressure I learned also happens to my sibling who has celiac and his naturopath told him that sometimes the brain gets inflamed. Hopefully I can meet the new cardio soon and feel confident that he is taking me seriously. It is sort of difficult to feel confident in the opinion of a doctor that your ticker is ok when they are not really listening and end up making you cry. LOL. A friend of mine in the mental health field recently listened to my story of doc after doc and test after test and said that it was akin to the folk story of blind men describing an elephant. A group of blind men all feel one part of an elephant (tusk, tail, ear, tail) and then compare notes only to find they all disagree.  In some  versions they argue intensely. In other versions they have to collaborate and listen to each other in order to "describe" an elephant.    
    • jelefr
      Am I going in the right direction?

      By jelefr · Posted

      Good afternoon! I am new to this board and fairly new to researching Celiac Disease, although I had a general idea what it was. My health has become a huge mystery to me, and it's one that I am desperate to solve. The biggest issue right now is horrible, life affecting fatigue. I have been dealing with it for several years now- as many as 5 to 6. It has gotten progressively worse, and nothing at all helps. Sleep apnea has been ruled out. Intestinal issues are something I have dealt with for almost two decades. I'm 45, but I've already had two colonoscopies as well as two endoscopies. My first endoscopy was as a child for persistent, severe stomach pain. My last colonoscopy and endoscopy was two years ago. The only thing that has come from those is an Irritable Bowel type condition and GERD, which is pretty bad. My bowel movements have always been crazy. They can be very normal and healthy to completely crazy. I've had periods of persistent diarrhea to occasional constipation, which is a fairly new thing within the last year. Last week, I went from having diarrhea that morning to hard, round balls of stool by that evening. My most common stools here lately, though, are not quite diarrhea, but more fluffy, large piles. Gas is an ongoing, daily issue for me. I have copious amounts of gas every day no matter what I eat or drink. Most of the gas in non-odorous but it can be very loud. I am currently on a total of 60 mg of Ritalin per day just to function. I often add energy pills, purchased from places such as GNC, because the Ritalin isn't working. Yesterday, I took both doses of Ritalin and two energy pills, and I passed out on the couch after work. I work from 7:30am to 3:30pm, and my work day is nothing too crazy. I try to keep very consistent sleep hours and could easily sleep to 1:00pm or longer if I don't have to get up for something. I sometimes have short periods of energy in the mornings, but that is usually over by noon. The quality of my life is greatly affected. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything because I am way too tired. I'm trying to keep up with my exercising, but that is also a struggle.  I have a history of clinical depression for practically all my adulthood, but it has been very well managed for the last four years. The fatigue is currently causing a great deal of depression, but it is very different from the clinical depression that I use to deal with. When I don't feel sleepy and tired, I don't feel depressed. When the fatigue sets in, I feel very irritable and sad. I realize that the stimulants can cause irritability, but I don't feel irritable or sad when I'm not feeling fatigued.  I've only recently began to explore that the fatigue and the intestinal issues could be related. I have always accepted that I have a sensitive, cooky digestive track. The increasing, unrelenting fatigue is what has lead me to exploring the possibility that everything could be related. I did have blood work last November. My doctor did not test for anything Celiac Disease specific, but she did do a Vitamin D, ferritin level and overall metabolic panel. All of that is normal. My thyroid level is also normal, and I do take thyroid hormone because I had half of my thyroid removed 11 years ago due to what turned out to be a benign thyroid tumor.  I just saw my doctor two weeks ago, and she increased the dosage of my Ritalin. That has not helped at all. She has never mentioned Celiac Disease to me before. I made an appointment for this Friday afternoon to talk about it, but I keep wondering if I'm even heading in a direction that makes sense. I decided to post here for some guidance. I'm sorry this has been so long. I'm not really into cutting something totally out of my diet just to see what happens. I also feel like that if I have something that is poisoning my system, I need a real clinical diagnosis of that. I feel like maybe I'm grasping at straws now and imagining a correlation that isn't there. I am not looking for a quick fix, but right now I have no idea what needs to be fixed. I am open to any information and/or suggestions. Thanks so much!   Jennifer
    • admin
      News: Celiac.com: Check out Canada's Gluten-Free Market

      By admin · Posted

      Celiac disease sufferers or those who embrace a life without gluten can check out Canada's Gluten-Free Market when it makes stops in London and ... View the full article
    • Froggymom3
      heart related question

      By Froggymom3 · Posted

      I too have heart palps, flutters, skips whatever you want to call them. Ecg shows nothing. I was told by my doctor it is due to my low iron which is due to celiac. They pretty much went away after being gluten-free. But occasionally do come back. I've actually been having them for the past 3 days. But I was glutened with really severe reaction about a week ago so not sure if its due to that. Or if iron is low right now. I am on supplements but it still goes up and down. I hear you about doctors. It seems if you don't do research yourself or ask questions they don't say or do or test for anything. 
    • squirmingitch
      heart related question

      By squirmingitch · Posted

      For a number of years pre diagnosis I had irregular heartbeats - anything from a fluttering type thing to seemingly skipping one or more beats to rapid beats to something like a short drum riff. I had multiple ECG's which didn't find anything odd. It never did it when I was at the doctors or getting the ECG's. Sometimes it seemed to pound very hard & rapid, at these times I discovered if I just laid down flat on my back, it would restore normal rhythm almost instantly. These things happened at random whether I was at rest, sitting, standing, running or working hard. It was always short lived -- lasting only 1 to several seconds, perhaps the longest was close to a minute. I too have little faith in docs as I've had my share of being blown off, to misdiagnoses. The whole heart thing quit after I had been gluten-free for a while but if I get glutened, it returns.

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