Just Got Back From The Doctor

[brandyburl]

Well I had my appt with my PCP. I told him I had a big list of symptoms but my most prominent ones are muscle pain, forgetfulness/memory loss, hypoglycemia, and lightheadedness upon standing. I then told him that 3 days ago I decided to avoid gluten and as many processed foods as possible. He said it did sound like a food intolerance. But he said he doubts if it's gluten because I'm getting kind of old and would have had past problems with it. I'm 33. I do realize that is contradictory to a lot of people who are diagnosed with Celiac late in life. He doesn't think my symptoms of hypoglycemia are my blood sugar. Last time I had an episode my bs was 66, not that low from what I understand. He thinks it's related to a food intolerance, but we just don't know which one. Then I mentioned my ulcer. I asked him if ulcers can be cured. He said yes, and then I asked if we were just covering up the symptoms of mine and not curing it. He said probably. To give him credit he was not the dr who "diagnosed" my ulcer in the first place. She left the practice and he took over my care. 

 

So here's the plan: I have a consult with the surgeon on Thursday afternoon. My dr thinks we need to do a scope (not sure if that's the same thing as endoscopy) and probably a CT scan to look at my stomach. He and the surgeon think the problems I'm having is related to my gastric bypass surgery. I asked him if he thought I should continue avoiding gluten and he said right now if it makes me feel better to go ahead at least till we figure out what's going on with my stomach.

 

So there you go. I feel good that he didn't just look at me like I was crazy. Perhaps the scope will give more answers. 

[mamamonkey]

Um, I just was diagnosed this year and I'm 34. So, 33 is not too old.

 

I didn't have any problems until after my pregnancy. So it may be that you just had a trigger in the past few years. Endoscopy is where they go down the esophagus and look at the stomach and duodenum (first part of small intestine). The biopsies they take from the SI will show if you have any damage. They will also be able to look at the ulcer if there is one in your stomach. My reflux and stomach pain resolved and I was able to go off Nexium when I went gluten-free. I am back on a PPI now after my scope b/c I did have esophagitis and active reflux during the scope. But I don't have the painful symptoms any longer.

 

Good luck with your appt on Thursday.  It might not be a bad idea to ask and see a GI doc as well. They can coordinate with your surgeon. Surgeons don't always know the best ways to fix problems that aren't necessarily surgical, kwim?

[Mom-of-Two]

I was diagnosed at 33, I believe mine was triggered by an open abdominal surgery in which I spent 8 days hosipitalized with sepsis after a burst appendix. I've also had 2 pregnancies, I feel that all contributed.

I would see a GI and get further testing, no question!

[Tiredsean]

Don't worry about the endoscopy either I had one and was out if it with the drugs they gave me it went by fast

[nvsmom]

Good luck with the scope. Try to ensure they take at least 6 samples for a biposy, 8 or more is better. Hopefully that won't miss patchy damage.

 

I read somewhere that the average time to diagnosis for a celiac is 8 years.... Most people i've heard about seem to  fall into one of two groups: 1. Symptoms come on fast and hard and they are diagnosed in months to a couple of years, or 2. Symptoms build and build over time until we figure it out for ourselves in adulthood.   I was in the second group and discovered my diagnosis in my late 30's too....