Newly Diagnosed Coeliac ? Perth Au

[livliv78]

Hi There

 

Today I was told that I have celiac disease..

 

It has been a long six months of persistant symptoms.  Waking up one day and having the worst indigestion, pressure in chest and back, lots of burping and a constant lump in my throat.  I saw the GP and logically they thought it was GORD (as I have suffered before) and started me on Pariet.   I should say that I had just had a baby six weeks prior to this all starting and had been on Nexium during pregnancy but that suddenly stopped working..

 

Medication did not work, thought I was going crazy..

 

Started seeing a chiropractor.  Some days it improved but always symptoms just not at such a severe level..

 

Eventually said to GP I want to have an endoscopy.  He was a little reluctant as I had had one a few years previous (due to very similar symptoms) and everything looked okay.. (no biopsies were taken then)..

 

Also due to desperation and encouragement from chiropractor I started a gluten free diet..

 

Two weeks into gluten-free diet I had the gastroscopy with biopsies and results came back chronic inflammation but non specific and could be caused by coeliac, helicobacter, ulcer or medication..

 

So suggested for gene test for celiac disease and helicobacter..

 

Gene test came back positive, helicobacter negative..

 

So GP said I have celiac disease.  I asked if I would have to go back on gluten as I know I should not have started the gluten-free diet prior to biopsy and blood test to be retested but he suggested that with the combination of chronic inflammation and presence of alleles for celiac disease that I have it and to continue as I am..

 

I have been on a gluten-free diet for about 8 weeks now and do have a lot more good days recently then I have in the last six months..I know it can take a long time to improve..

 

Would those out there diagnosed with celiac disease be happy with the diagnosis the way it has come about?

 

Any advice would be appreciated..sorry for such a long winded post!

 

Thanks xx

 

 

 

 

[LauraTX]

Welcome to the forum!  Many of us had long crappy roads to diagnosis and are very happy with the fact that we have answers now.  It takes time to heal up after going gluten-free, but stay strict with it and over time you will notice some changes.  I think you got lucky only having been gluten-free for two weeks, that wasn't enough time for your small intestines to heal up so you got a solid diagnosis.

 

Feel free to read through the forum, and keep in mind a lot of product information is going to be for the US product, but there are a few Australians around here that can help you out.  Also, if you want to make a signature that says you are in Australia, people can gear their advice towards that once they see it.  Cheers!

[Saz]

hi. Welcome to the forum. As you might have seen we have a aus/nz thread. There is not as many of us as there used to be but will.try to help you where we can. As previous poster mIentioed, product ingredients can be very different.depending on country they were made in so always mention you are in aus (alternatively post in au/nz thread). A good example is m&ms. The ones made in au are not gluten-free but.some from countries such as usa are.

A little tip: try to focus on all the things you csn eat rather than those you can.t. It might seem hard right now but it willl help.

Also, try to distingush between things you don't like and things that don't taste good due to lack of gluten. For example I really don't like coconut biscuits. this is regardless of the gluten content. Not explaining very well but I'm trying to say is if you ne er liked chocolate cake, then don't think of it as a thing you can't have or that the gluten-free version is not the same.

[weluvgators]

Hi! We live in Perth. Let me know if you have any specific questions. The Coeliac society was very friendly and helpful when we first moved here, and they have a lot of great resources. We have similar celiac diagnostic issues and are happy with how we have progressed. We certainly had more than our fair share of trials and continued searching for a "something else" for our issues which got an additional wheat allergy diagnosis on top of the known celiac issues. We continue gluten free and continued looking for other issues as long as we were having symptomatic problems. One of the best things for our health has been moving to Australia. I hope you start feeling better soon.

[weluvgators]

I am curious if you had a full coeliac blood panel test and what the results were. I would have the full coeliac panel done with checks on some common deficiencies, like iron.