AVR1962

My History:

Looking back now I can see that many things in my past were connected to my celiac all along but nothing was overwhelmingly troublesome until my late 40's.

Mononucleosis-5 years old, cold sores/canker sores - lifetime, terrible acne as a teen, I would end up with flu-like symptoms if I worked out consistently, repeated cases of strep throat thru 20's, age 24  started developing kidney infections & stones, miscarriage-age 24, anemia found at 24 years, very sick with 3rd child and was put on a diabetic diet- 34, sensitive to cold, heart palpitations, continual battle with sinuses, poor immune system, migraines- 37, restless leg syndrome- 43, depression, fractured finger- 44, blurred/double vision- 45, pins & needles poking in feet/hands/eyes- 45, reoccurring yeast infections, sleeping 10-12 hours nightly- 46, bloating/gas/stomach pain, bouts of constipation & diarrhea/noisy stomach- 46, itchy mole that came up on shoulder and then would go away-47.

I then did a 3 month herbal cleanse- Nov 2010. Docs had previously tossed me vit prescripts and my energy was continuing to decline. Thinking that perhaps my metabolism was suffering I decided to give this a try. After the cleanse I found myself in ER, heart palpitations going nuts. I had high blood pressure (never had before), dizzy, headache, stiff neck, stiff back, hair loss, crawling sensations on skin, felt like I had flu, muscle spasms, twitches, striped patterns blinded my vision, memory and thought processes were very bad (felt like I had Alzheimer’s), insomnia, burning feet, strength was gone, stomach was on fire, buzzing in ears, I could only stand for short amounts of time before I felt like I would pass-out, calcium high (10.9), low marks on blood work. My spleen, gallbladder and pancreas were all enlarged. Tons of tests ran, heart- fine, Lyme disease- negative, leukemia- negative, diabetes- negative, HPylori- negative, parasites- negative. Passed all tests in women's health, all annual exams normal. Bone loss in legs and spine. What was thought as possible parathyroidism because of my high calcium was determined not to be by German doc at a University hospital in Germany.

Docs felt the palpitations were due to the high content of herbs in the liver cleanse. I was told it could take up to 3 months to get the herbs out of my system and until then we had to kind of wit and see how my body reacted. I did not get better and with all tests showing negative results I was desperate. Doc said he felt that the cleanse had actually worked and had uncovered my underlying health issues but they could not figure out what was going on.

Went off glutens in April '11 which was suggested by a family member- blood pressure went into normal range, calcium went from high to borderline low, heart palpitations I'd had for years stopped, mole on shoulder has never came back again. 5 months on Nexium and no more burning. It took several months to get my diet clean but am no longer dizzy and all symptoms have gone except the buzzing in my ears.

I was diagnosed with celiac in Sept 2011 based on results of all testing and the improvement on gluten-free diet. No scope was ever completed and blood test for celaic was requested after I was on a gluten-free diet so I do not have the "gold standard" diagnosis which has caused some debate among docs but nothing else has proved itself to be the issue.

I am a piano instructor, teaching now for 30 years. An American living in Germany due to my husband's career, have lived in Germany for 10 years, Italy for 2 years. I enjoy travel, spending time with family & friends, and walks with my dogs. I have 3 especially sweet doggies and 3 kitties to keep me very busy. Am the mother of 3 daughters and 2 stepsons, all grown and on their own with the exception of one teenager still at home. Husband and I have been married 19 years and have 5 grand children. My family roots are Swedish.