healthygirl's Blog

Here is my story. I don't know if I am celiac but am in the midst of the process. Being in Canada with our "universal health care" system, it may be quite a long while before I get any diagnosis.

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I probably had symptoms eons ago, just never really realized they were symptoms. The first GI issues I really remember having was when I was pregnant. I would get these really gassy, bloated bouts and just figured it was a pregnancy thing...I became gassier than normal. I mentioned this to my doctor at a check up and she said I was likely lactose intolerant, that it happened to her during pregnancy. So off I went in search of Lact-Aid. And sure enough, it worked like a charm, bloating gone. When my son was born, next day back on dairy with no lact-aid and no issues.

Fast forward about 11 years....I'm driving home from work on the busy St. Albert Trail. About 3 hours earlier I had a bowl of shredded wheat with milk on an empty stomach. I am now punching myself in the stomach, trying to get that big burp that will provide relief. Now I figured that was a little odd, hadn't had gas that bad before, although I have always been a bit on the burpy/farty side (no way to put it delicately...I can win burping contests, no problem). I made a mental note to try the same thing tomorrow to see if I got same result....sure did!! Couldn't wait for that big burp so that the gas pains would subside!! I thought back to my brief bout with lactose intolerance and figured it had to be the milk. So next morning, I took a lactose challenge. On an empty stomach, I downed 2 large glasses of milk and ate nothing else for 3 hours....nothing happened, so nix the lactose intolerance. The only other thing that could have triggered my excess rumblings was the shredded wheat...so I charged headlong into wheat and gluten based products and started searching out more info on celiac disease. I think during this time I could have created a renewable energy source, with the amount of gas pouring out of me. I wonder if there is a way to harness all that energy!!

Made a mental note to check with my doctor at my next check up (which was about 4 months away) but I didn't figure this was an urgent thing to rush in to see her for. Instead, I went gluten free for the summer. Everyone asked me if I felt any different. My response....I'm not sure.

Out camping in the end of July with my family...at this point still gluten free. We hiked for about 5 hours, up a mountain and down. I had taken my gluten-free snacks, but when we got back to camp, I had a craving for a peanut butter sandwich!! So I ate one and within about 2 minutes I was burping like crazy. Then I realized, over the 6 or so weeks I had been gluten-free I hadn't been burping!! I hadn't been farting!! My bm's became normal!! (that is the one thing I find kind of funny on this site, is how normal it is for everyone to talk about their bm's) I guess I always figured mine were normal before then, but how do you know? It's not like you compare with people or talk about it generally over coffee at work! If you go, you figure it must be a-okay!

Leading up to my check up in November I started eating gluten based products more regularly, as I was determined to ask for the blood test to be done. I started getting that horrible foggy head that I have had in the past, but never associated with my diet. I met with doctor and she agreed to run the test, partly because I have an aunt who is diagnosed celiac and also a cousin (although didn't know that at the time).

3 weeks go by, and I get a phone call from the doctors office, weak positive on the TTG-IGA and they want to retest it. I'm to go back to the lab in 3 weeks time (so a total of 6 weeks between blood tests). So I stuff my face with gluten products. I want to make darn sure I get a positive blood result and we are hitting Christmas season. I figure this might be my last year of regular Christmas baking and I enjoy every mouthful and earned every one of the 5 lbs I put on over Christmas this year. I felt like hell....I was sleeping longer, waking up tired, moody, etc. (but those cookies and squares and chocolates!!!) Went for my second blood test and 5 weeks later still hadn't heard anything. Phone my dr.s office only to find the second test had come back negative!! So I made an appt to chat with my doctor, we went through my symptoms again and she has referred me to a GI specialist. That was 3 weeks ago....I phone the doctors office last week to see if they had heard about an appointment yet. They said it sometimes takes 2 months to hear back from the specialist on when an appointment will be....so I could be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 months or longer away from an appointment with a GI. I phoned the GI's office as well, and they re-iterated I should stay on the gluten until all testing is done. Blah!! I waffle back and forth. there are days I know it makes sense to keep eating it, but days where I think I might not see the specialist or have an endoscopy for 6 months to a year. I don't want to eat gluten while I wait. This brings me to where I am now....the waiting game! So begin the trials and tribulations of waiting for a diagnoses.