Trying To Figure This Out...

[jnifred]

I am new to this so forgive me if I ramble. My grandmother has had chronic issues with her bowels for as long as I can remember, she has been tested and retested but she goes to an F.P who is also a D.O. and I have NOT been impressed, half the time she sees the Nurse and never even gets the doc. SO anyway, my mom also has issues with loose bowels and since my 4th child I have noticed more and more issues as well. My younger sister had an episode last year in which she had severe D for several months, lost a ton of weight and had her Dr. completely baffled, she had just returned from Mexico and so they tested her for all sorts of critters but found nothing. Eventually that all cleared up.

We all have "gassy" episodes, and somewhat loose stool. Sometimes worse than at others, like a "flare-up" if you will.

I also have some sort of Rhuematoid Arthritis going on since "96, mostly better now with the help of Enbrel and etc, but still some minor aches and etc. Mom and I both have some Sjogrens (sp??), hers worse than mine. She also has severe reflux. Grandma has had gallbladder problems, and several other things listed in the "symptoms" of celiacs. My mom, sister and I all ahve sensitive dry skin and my sister and I especially get dry patches like a psoriasis or eczema. My mom has been diagnosed with roseaca also. we are all also senstive to milk products, sometimes more than at other times though, even though I still consume a lot of dairy.

And one more thing, my fraternal grandfather was 100% Swede, paternal grandpa at least 50% scotch/irish, and both grandmothers call themselves Heinz 57's, a mix of lots of backgorunds but they include the same as the grandpa's.

SO, what is the likelyhood of alllllll of us having this???? Is it ridiculous to even think we all have it. I feel kind of weird thinking that we could all have this, I mean what are the odds??? But so many things fit, I am really starting to wonder. I am trying to push my grandma into calling her Dr. NOW, she has been so sick lately that we are all really worried about her and I am wondering if I should call my rhuematologist??? Any thoughts and /or feedback would be most welcome.

BTW...Hi, Angi, if you're around......

[jnifred]

A few more things.....my oldest son (12yo) has recently been getting "hives" just out of the blue. Could this somehow be related???? He does get gassy after eating breakfast, which for him a lot of times is 2-3 bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios or bagels. I am so freaking out right now......sorry, I'm looking at every little thing and scrutinizing it as this. aaarrrrrgggggg!!!!

[Rachel--24]

Well it definately sounds like it could be celiac. Its genetic so it wouldnt be unusual if more than one person in your family has it. One way to find out though...get tested.

[jnifred]

So it wouldn't be unusual for all of us to have it??????? My brother would be the only one left and who knows with him as he is the typical male and wouldn't go to the Dr. if he was half dead.

It jsut seems so strange that all of our "problems" could be so easily fixed if we all ahve this, by adjusting our diet.

Would I talk to my rhuematologist about this???? Can he order the blood tests and etc??? Or do I need to go to a GI doc for testing????

[nettiebeads]

So it wouldn't be unusual for all of us to have it???????  My brother would be the only one left and who knows with him as he is the typical male and wouldn't go to the Dr. if he was half dead. 

It jsut seems so strange that all of  our "problems" could be so easily fixed if we all ahve this, by adjusting our diet.

Would I talk to my rhuematologist about this????  Can he order the blood tests and etc???  Or do I need to go to a GI doc for testing????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you have a good relationship with your RA Dr., I'd start there. If he won't order the tests, have him give re: a GI And from all of your symptoms and heritage, celiac disease would be a likely candidate. If your dr's don't think that celiac disease can do all this, have him/her go the NIH digestive issues - very informative. There is a lot of things that are not really understood about autoimmune disorders. Why they happen in the first place, for one. And it has been discovered that if one member has one AI, then others disorders may piggyback on the first one. And celiac disease and RA combined is rather common. So are diabetes and problems with thyroid, and Sjorgens syndrom. And first degree relatives will usually have a high incident of having the same problems. But then there's me, (mother 100% Swede, Father german, scotch) and the only one on both sides of the family with celiac disease. Go figure.

[jenvan]

ck out these two links... an initial blood test would be an easy way to rule it out quickly: Go here to see more symptoms: Open Original Shared Link

Go here to see how one gets tested: Open Original Shared Link

[jnifred]

now that you say thyroid, my sister had some thyroid issues a few years ago, but they removed some nodes or etc and she is fine now, but they did say she'd have to watch things.

I do know that auto immune things can be crazy to diagnose, my blood tests have always come back normal, even though I've had obvious swelling and etc of certain joints. Thankfully my first rhuematologist was fresh out of residency and asked me all the right questions. There were things that I didn't even realize was part of RA, that once he started treating me got better. I was originally told I had Ankylosing spondylitis, then the symptoms changed a bit after I went off the Enbrel and had baby #4, my new Rhuem Dr. says I could have some psioriatic arthritis now, he doesn't like the AS diagnosis from my earlier doc. WHATEVER. So I just tell people I have RA, it all means the same thing and is treated the same too.

I know that once you have an AI disease the symptoms can fluctuate within that heading and you can show signs of this or that and etc. I just had no idea about Celiac being related. I have done a lot of research about RA and I don't remember this ever catching my eye. I'm amazed that none of my Grandma's docs have even thought about this. She does have diverticulitis and IBS and etc,and still has the worst cramps and etc. The woman can "go" 6-7 times a day and she hurts so bad. Like I said earlier though, I have not been impressed with her doc at all, I think he is a quack, one of those that give docs a bad name type.

I am going to call my RA doc this morning and see what he says. He will at least send me in the right direction. He knows me pretty well so I know he won't just poo-poo me.

I am still just kinda shocked at how many of the symptoms my family and I have for this. Thank goodness my mom couldn't sleep one night last week and turned on the Discovery channel!!!! Thanks for listening.....