Could This Be Celiac

[sickboy]

Hi there,

I'm a 32 year old male. I've been constantly sick now for just over 2 years and I wondered if this sounds like it could be celiac. My symptoms are:

Constant Fatigue - leading to anxiety as I have the feeling that I'm about to faint.

Feeling light headed and dizzy - almost feeling detached from reality

Very painful and sensitive teeth - although got all clear from dentist

Seem to catch any bug that goes round and takes me ages to recover

Pale sickly complexion with dark rings round eyes

Weight loss (160lbs -> 120lbs)

Explosive unformed BMs every day - usually once a day but sometimes more which cause a layer of film on the surface of the water.

No abdominal pains and no immediate effect after eating any food.

I was hospitalised last month for a viral infection, and while there they ran a host of tests including those for celiac. My IgA gliadin antibody count was very high, but endomysial and reticulin counts were negative. In addition - they found my calcium and other nutritent levels to be low and I had a very high C-Reactive Protein level (apparently indicating inflammation). I had a colonoscopy/endoscopy performed with several biopsies taken of both. Initial observations were normal but I'm still waiting on the biopsy results.

I went gluten free from the day I had the procedures done, but then got gastroenteritis which lasted 10 days. It's now 3 weeks since I went Gluten Free and I believe I'm starting to feeling a little bit better. My teeth no longer hurt, I seem to have a bit more energy and am feeling less light headed and anxious. I still have the explosive BMs though and despite an increased appetite I've yet to put on any much needed weight. Because of the improvements so far, I am going to persevere with the gluten-free diet regardless of the biopsy results but I was wondering if these symptoms sound familiar to people that have been diagnosed?

Many thanks

[Matilda]

..

[Jenn2005]

Hi. My husband is 33 years old and he has been sick since June. He has many of the same symptoms as you with 44 lb. weight loss to date. His main symptoms are the fatigue, nausea, bloating, and burping. His blood work was negative but he had a positive biopsy. He started the gluten-free diet after that and was starting to notice some improvement in his energy & nausea at about the 7th week and the doctors had him do a gluten challenge to redo the biopsy and now we are waiting for the results. Read the old post when you have time to browse you will learn more on this site from people who deal with this everyday than from the doctors.

Hope you feel better soon.

Jennifer

[Rachel--24]

So I'll just say, yes, definitely, this all sounds very familiar. (Or rather for me, all of it except the tooth thing, and I bet someone's had that too).

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My teeth used to hurt..my whole jaw hurt as well. I had TMJ and for some reason my teeth would hurt alot. It wasnt my most bothersome symptom but it must have been related cuz it all went away after the diet.

[alanalynch]

Constant Fatigue - leading to anxiety as I have the feeling that I'm about to faint.

Feeling light headed and dizzy - almost feeling detached from reality

Very painful and sensitive teeth - although got all clear from dentist

Seem to catch any bug that goes round and takes me ages to recover

Pale sickly complexion with dark rings round eyes

Weight loss (160lbs -> 120lbs)

Explosive unformed BMs every day - usually once a day but sometimes more which cause a layer of film on the surface of the water.

No abdominal pains and no immediate effect after eating any food.

I have had every single one of these symptoms, especially the anxiety, and like you I am new to this forum. I got a positive result for gluten sensitivity via blood tests but I ended up getting my final results through Enterolab as I had pretty much had a gutful (literally) of doctors by then. I even have the teeth thing, which has just resulted in yet another root canal!! As for the pale face, dark eyes, yep, I have endless photos of me just like that before I went gluten-free. It turned out my lack of B12 was causing me to look like that. I am thinking of throwing them away now that I feel better, but I guess they are a good reminder. (I still cheat occasionally with the diet so they are there to remind why I must stay on it!) This forum looks to be what is going to get me through this, and hopefully it will help you too.

[sickboy]

Many thanks for all your replies, they really are appreciated - this forum site does indeed seem a godsend.

The main reason for posting was that my doctor said although my gliadin Iga count was very high, the fact that my other antibody counts were normal ruled out Celiac. He also said that if it was celiac disease I'd be better within a couple of days of going gluten-free. Although I'm starting to feel better now (only after 3 weeks) I still don't feel "normal" and still have many of the symptoms - I guess I was hoping for an instant miraculous recovery! If gluten is indeed the culprit how often in general does it take somebody to get well once they've gone gluten-free?

Reading other posts from this site however seems to confirm my belief that I at least have a gluten intolerance. Everything seems to point to it - I'm even from Irish descent and I've recently found that one of my grandparents suffered from undiagnosed intestinal pains and general sickness for years before he passed away.

Thanks again for your input.

[Carriefaith]

He also said that if it was celiac disease I'd be better within a couple of days of going gluten-free.

Most people report here on the board that it takes longer than a few days... more like a few months! I was starting to feel better after about 6 months on the diet and I was starting to feel almost 100% better after about 1 year.

If your IGA count was really high, chances are you have celiac. Your symptoms are very celiac-like

[Rachel--24]

He also said that if it was celiac disease I'd be better within a couple of days of going gluten-free.

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A couple days??

I don't know about that...I've been on the diet 8 weeks and I'm not "normal" yet. I do feel better but everyone tells me this didn't happen to me overnight and its not gonna go away overnight either. It will take some time to heal...I dont know what your doctor is talking about...if that were true what are any of us doing here. We shoulda been better immediately after diagnosis!

[nettiebeads]

After being sick for two years, it will take time to heal. Just as the damage was done over time, the healing will be done over time. Nope, no miraculous healings from going gluten-free. Sorry. But be sure you are completely gluten-free - no wheat, barley oats or rye, no cross-contamination, and no triggers in bath/beauty products. And FWIW, to me your symptoms sound like the classic celiac disease symptoms. I never had any formal tests, just the diet challenge which caused huge improvements in my health. Hope you keep on getting better!

[sickboy]

Thanks. I don't have that much faith in doctors at the moment to be honest - I was also told to try going gluten free prior to my having the biopsies (I waited until after having found out on the Internet that this can affect the results).

Still - at least he was willing to do the tests I suppose - my previous doctor refused to do anything except offer me prozac.

[Guest nini]

a couple of days? these dr.s must be nuts. I swear! I have no confidence in most dr.s anymore. I lucked out with the dr. I have, but my daughter's gi. doc. sucked. I think I really started feeling better about 6 months into it. 2 1/2 years later and I'm still not 100%, but doing much better than before dx.