NewNicole

Two nights ago I started getting sick. Both sides of my stomach and pain that radiates to my back. I originally thought it was my intestines but I'm wondering if it could be kidney stones. Yes I have had stones a few other times...I'm pretty lucky, huh. The pain is definitely intense. I'm really not standing much. I am taking Aleve which at least makes the pain a little more bareable. Although I'm pretty sure my husband would have died with this much pain. lol. Today I started my menstrual cycle so I suppose this could be a culprit. However for me I have been blessed with very mild ones my whole life and the pain I have seems to be too high to be ovary related. I don't think I got glutened but when I do it is a nasty pain. But I also become very tired and have headaches. None of which is happening this time. I don't want to go to a doctors because I am sick of being told to suck it up and move on. Does this sound familiar to anyone out there? Is it celiac or something else? And would you deal with the pain or go have it checked? Thanks for the input. PS.....can I just say thank you to everyone on here. It's nice to feel like someone listens, is willing to help, and might give you some input. Often times in the medical world the response is "it sucks to be you." lol

Nicole

When someone asks me what it's like to have celiac disease I tell them it's like being on the wildest roller coaster you could ever imagine. It's been a little over a year now that I have been gluten free. I started out in severe pain, incredibly hungry, massive headaches, every muscle aching, and sleeping 14 hours a day and still feeling like I got ran over by a truck. Now I can say that after the withdrawal symptoms subsided I no longer even want bread. Ok maybe somedays I pine for a small little taste of a nice soft piece of fresh italian bread. But for the most part I don't think twice about it. During this last year I have experienced so many new symptoms while getting rid of the old ones. I traded severe abdominal pain for wierd arm pains that doctors were baffled by. It was here on this forum that I figured out that it was probably a vitamin issue that was causing my problems. Now the crazy new experience I seem to have is this thing called energy. I've never experienced it before. I literally feel like I drank 12 cups of coffee in a row. I haven't figured out how to use this energy yet. I must look like a bug on drugs to people at this point. I just seem to ramble and run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. It used to be that I only had one day a month that I felt good enough to do much of anything. So I still run around doing all the housework and all my chores in one day anticipating that tomorrow I will be dead to the world. I can't tell you how many nights I went to bed before dinner making my husband fend for himself and taking care of all the kids. Now I can actually cook, (which due to the amount of work it takes to make gluten free food I need all this energy), and I can even clean up after. My iron has always been very low and my thyroid levels were high. I learned to function that way. I can't believe this is how normal people live. I don't know if this is actually my thyroid going the opposite way or if this is my new norm, but I figure I better do as much as possible now before my body realizes it needs to turn into that slug again. So although I wouldn't say that I'm 100% and I still have some issues, I am really happy with how much better my life is without gluten. So for all those newly diagnosed people out there I want them to know not to give up. It is a roller coaster, but in the end you too will be able to do laundry, cook, and do the dishes all in one day. lol.

I was officially diagnosed with celiac a year ago. I have been gluten free for that year and I am now starting with a host of other issues. My doctor is confused and I am left just dealing with all of these issues. A few months ago I had an incident while driving where I started to go dizzy and blacking out. I had to sit on the side of the road for a few minutes but it did go away and I never had that experience again. But a month after that I started having numbness and tingling in my right arm. Some days the pain will also be in the left arm or even my legs. I do have moments where my legs feel weak and I'm pretty sure I am going to fall. I don't have this issue every day. But I would say that I do have it at least 3 days a week. My doctor did a blood test to make sure my thyroid and iron was normal. Then he ordered an MRI and a nerve study. All came back normal. I have had an issue with constipation even though I eat a ton of fiber and I take senna. But I don't think that is related to my arm issue. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone else? Could celiac be causing other problems? Thanks for the help.

Nicole

I was diagnosed last August and have been gluten-free since. I have been very good about making sure I haven't eaten anything that has gluten. My symptoms have improved slightly, but not completely and my biggest concern is the recent bowel changes. I have never had diarrhea, not even prior to diagnosis, but now for the last month I have had a problem. I have been eating more rice to try to help this but that's not even helping. Is this celiac or something all together different? I know they will blame it on celiac so I want some input before going back to the dr. Thanks for the help.

Nicole