Advise Needed.

[rudimentary]

Hey , i hope everyone is doing fine here. Since the last five years i have been going through various health issues and i would like to listen to your advise about what you make of my symptoms as i suspect that i have celiac disease. I would briefly list the timeline of my symptology.

 

1. It first started with a sudden weight gain some 6 years back. I gained like 40 lbs with in two months.

 

2. Symptoms like IBS devolped as i gained weight. I had frequent diarrhea with mucus and i started to get bloated.

 

3. Anxiety and stress devolped after a few months and i started fearing that i might have some serious disease deep down. Started getting black stools and through upper endoscopy was diagnosed with erosive gastritis. Started taking PPI,s etc for gastritis but that never healed completely.

 

4. IBS like symptoms continued meanwhile and almost every gastro that i visited diagnosed me with IBS-D. Along with IBS like symptoms i devolped post nasal drip.

 

5. Hair started turning grey and brittle , lost the shine.

 

6. I strongly started noticing that i get diarrhea only when i eat gluten and i almost never get diarrhea when i shift to rice or some other gluten free diet.

 

7. Some two years back , i came down with a distinct flu like illness which included wheezing , alot of phlegm, chronic cough , itchy eyes and ears with a sore throat. I got bumps on my fingers for days and the skin on the pores of my fingers got hardened. The Doc told me that it was some kinda allergy.

 

8. The same 'flu like illness' two times again and the last time i got it was some four months ago. This time i got extreme fatigue with it and extreme gas with it. I noticed that my stool volume increased alot and i lost some 10 lbs during a few weeks.

 

9. Got pain in the shoulders and armpits and neck which goes on till now. Have off and on a swollen lymph node in the neck since years and it goes down with in a few days.

 

10. Brain fog , anxiety after meals and panic attacks have been with me since the last 6 years.

 

11. Went gluten free almost two weeks back and started feeling better but accidentally ate some gluten a few days back and came down with diarrhea and fatigue.

 

12. I also feel that i am lactose intolerant as i get excessice mucus in the nasal cavities when i consume dairy products and sometime i get diarrhea soon after taking dairy.

 

What do you make of it?

[nvsmom]

Some of those symptoms are common celiac disease or non-celiac gluten intolerance (NCGI) symptoms (IBS, bloating, D, anxiety, hair problems, lactose intolerance, fatigue) so I think you might as well get tested.  I tend to get flu-like symptoms when I'm having an autoimmune flare-up (probably not linked to celiac disease except for the fact that celiac disease is an autoimmune problem too) so it is possible that your illness was autoimmune related... Or it could just be a prolonged illness or allergy. It's really hard to to say - and I'm not a doctor.  

 

If you ask to be tested, try to get as many of these tests done as possible: 

• tTG IgA and tTG IgG
• DGP IgA and DGP IgG
• EMA IgA
• total serum IgA (a control test)
• AGA IgA and AGA IgG (older, less reliable tests that are not used as frequently now)

Do not stop eating gluten until testing is done.

[cyclinglady]

Welcome!  Here's some more information regarding celiac disease symptoms and testing requirements from the University of Chicago's celiac website:

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

Keep eating gluten until all testing is complete!  

 

Take care!

[rudimentary]

Thanks for the responses. For me its all new so i am trying to learn as much as possible from the experiences of people who are suffering from celiac disease. Though i have been having these IBS-D symptoms for like 6 years but that flu like illness came some 3 years back. It was a mix of flu , fatigue , itchy eyes and ears , sore throat , phlegm and cough. Along with this i got bumps on my fingers. These symptoms continued for like two weeks and the vanished away but reappeared after an , exactly the same symptoms. I had them like four times in the last 3 years. Are these symptoms related to celiac flare up? Along with it i am having ocassional fatigue for a few hours and sometimes i suffer from extreme sleepiness. I have been having black specks in stool as well and when the first flu like illness came , i had very pale (whittish) stools. I am suffering from eczema as well and would get rashes and bumps on my upper arm. The thing which convinces me the most is that i get diarrhea after  eating gluten and no diarrhea when i stay gluten free. Plus , anyone experienced shoulder/armpit/chest pain with celiac disease?

[nvsmom]

Are the bumps quite itchy?  Celiac disease can sometimes manifest as a skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis. This link has some info: Open Original Shared Link  A biopsy taken from beside the rash can also diagnose celiac disease.

 

Celiac can cause pain in a few ways. I am familiar with the arthritis aspect of it. Shoulder/ armpit/ chest pain sounds worrisome though. I would mention that to your doctor when you go.

 

My celiac disease did flare-up and down while I was eating gluten. Some weeks were better than others, some months were worse than others and some years were quite good.  I did find that as I was getting older, the good periods were shrinking and became the minority of my life.    But yes, the symptoms are not static and will vary over time in many people.

 

Best wishes.

[rudimentary]

Are the bumps quite itchy?  Celiac disease can sometimes manifest as a skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis. This link has some info: Open Original Shared Link  A biopsy taken from beside the rash can also diagnose celiac disease.

 

Celiac can cause pain in a few ways. I am familiar with the arthritis aspect of it. Shoulder/ armpit/ chest pain sounds worrisome though. I would mention that to your doctor when you go.

 

My celiac disease did flare-up and down while I was eating gluten. Some weeks were better than others, some months were worse than others and some years were quite good.  I did find that as I was getting older, the good periods were shrinking and became the minority of my life.    But yes, the symptoms are not static and will vary over time in many people.

 

Best wishes.

Thanks for explaining that. I have read a bit dermatitis Herpetiformis and i am not sure that i have it. I remember that when i got ill with the first flu like illness , months later i devolped extremly painful rashes on my face that went away after a few days. I go get itchy bumps on my buttocks and non-itchy bumps on my upper arms. The bumps that i had on my fingers were not itchy or painful as well but they were big and weird. I get shoulder pains that seem related to the bones and joints there. The pain seems centered on the color bone and it creeps under the armpit as well. The tendons of armpits that border the chest are really sore right now.

 

Along with that i have GERD most of the times. Post nasal drip is a constant symptom as well. The thing which convinces me the most about celiac disease is that i almost always get diarrhea after eating gluten and once i elimenate gluten i hardly get any diarrhea. I forgot to mention that i have had fatty kinda stools as well. I would be going for the test soon but i want to gather as much information as possible before that.

 

Regards.

[rudimentary]

I have another question as well. I hope i am not getting on the nerves of the kind hearted members here. If a person stays gluten free for sometime and then starts consuming gluten , will she face a more agresive reaction?

[kareng]

I have another question as well. I hope i am not getting on the nerves of the kind hearted members here. If a person stays gluten free for sometime and then starts consuming gluten , will she face a more agresive reaction?

 

 

Maybe.

 

How's that for a definite answer?     Some people get worse reactions, some get less worse.  How's that for some bad grammar? 

 

Some people find that , as time has passed without any glutening, a tiny accidental bit might not be too bad.  Some people find it gets worse.  I don't know why that happens.  Everyone is different.

 

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

 

How long does it take to recover after being exposed to gluten?

Our patients have reported that it can take a few hours to a few months. It partly depends on the amount of gluten consumed. Each patient’s reaction is different due to biological variance.

[rudimentary]

Maybe.

 

How's that for a definite answer?     Some people get worse reactions, some get less worse.  How's that for some bad grammar? 

 

Some people find that , as time has passed without any glutening, a tiny accidental bit might not be too bad.  Some people find it gets worse.  I don't know why that happens.  Everyone is different.

 

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

 

How long does it take to recover after being exposed to gluten?

Our patients have reported that it can take a few hours to a few months. It partly depends on the amount of gluten consumed. Each patient’s reaction is different due to biological variance.

thanks for the information. I have been gluten free for like 2 weeks and i accidentally consumed a bit of gluten a few days back. I came down with extreme fatigue after  few hours. The fatigue persisted for almost 12 hours. How about this that i get Diarrhea whenever i consume gluten and don't get diarrhea whenever i am gluten free?

[rudimentary]

Another weird symptom that i have noticed is that i get black specks in the stool while i consume gluten and those black specks are not there when i am gluten free.

[mommida]

You definitely have described Celiac symptoms, vitamin deficiency symptoms, and an assault on your immune system.

 

Have you ever been tested for Lyme disease?  (we have had a few posters here that went on to be diagnosed with Lyme after many Celiac symptoms)  Un explained enlarged lymph nodes needs to be looked into. 

[rudimentary]

You definitely have described Celiac symptoms, vitamin deficiency symptoms, and an assault on your immune system.

 

Have you ever been tested for Lyme disease?  (we have had a few posters here that went on to be diagnosed with Lyme after many Celiac symptoms)  Un explained enlarged lymph nodes needs to be looked into. 

No , i have not been tested for Lyme disease. My lymph nodes have never been larger than 1 cm but they have been palpable. They go down on themselves after a few days but i shall consider testing for Lyme disease along with Celiac disease.

[rudimentary]

If i make a list of my symptoms and see the members diagnosed with celiac can ro-relate with these symptoms.

 

1.IBS-D with muscus in the stool

2.Erosive gastritis that won't heal

3.GERD

4.Blaoting

4.Diarrhea and black specks in the stool after consuming gluten

5.Underarm/shoulder pain

6.Fatigue and extreme sleepiness (occasionally)

7.Anxiety , stress , lack of concentration

8.Numbness and tingling in hands and feet

9.Getting exhausted very easily.

10.excessive sweating

11.No deep or relaxing sleep. Off and on nightmares.

12.Diarrhea after eating gluten and no diarrhea after being gluten free.

[nvsmom]

There are over 300 symptoms of celiac. You have quite a few of the more common ones. I do think you should be tested.

 

I have a young cousin that was diagnosed with celiac disease and his only symptoms were ADD and some cognitive/concentration issues.... That was all.

 

With a list like that, most doctors would test you.  Good luck.

[rudimentary]

There are over 300 symptoms of celiac. You have quite a few of the more common ones. I do think you should be tested.

 

I have a young cousin that was diagnosed with celiac disease and his only symptoms were ADD and some cognitive/concentration issues.... That was all.

 

With a list like that, most doctors would test you.  Good luck.

Thanks for the informantion.

 

Yesterday i consumed gluten to see how it goes. First i got increased heartbeat after the gluten meal and then i got sever itching on my hands and i feet. After closely looking at the itchy places i found that there were red little blisters which were a kinda little dots of peeled off skin beneath which the red portion is visible. Does it sound like DH? The itching was more centered around the ankle joint.

[nvsmom]

Show your doctor the rash. He'll be able to tell you more than us.

Best wishes.