On Again Off Again Cd?

[lopo7883]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site and celiac disease in general... I've had hypothyroid for about the last fourish-fiveish years, and finally found a doctor that has decided to up my dosage in compliance with new standards...I'm starting to feel better slowly... But I feel like something is missing. I've been losing hair since I was about 16, right after I got over an eating disorder that lasted about a year? I still ate, but definitely put my body under major stress... I've had stomach problems since i was a child on and off, but after this my mother and father basically insisted that I had given myself IBS.

I'm 22 and just finished up college. In college we drink a lot of beer... and I've noticed that after I drink beer I get majorly stomach sick, not like pukey sick, and not like sick like other kids would get... Like I would go to the library on a sunday and have to ruuuuun as fast as i could home to avoid getting sick there. I like drinking beer, so I never experimented with drinking other things to see if the reaction changed... but now I'm sort of wondering if the gluten in the beer had anything to do with it. Unrelated to alcohol... on and off during school I would go through bouts of stomach problems- serious problems, and not from eating too much fried food or chocolate or anything- from eating normal things, like sandwiches and cookies and pasta. I sometimes get very bloated after I eat but always just thought everyone did?

When I was 17 I went to Europe on the on the plane ride back was horrrrrribly ill. I was sick for 3 months straight with the runs, I couldn't eat anything at all- and my mom just kept giving me crackers and bread. I lost 20 pounds. I took parasite tests but nothing came back positive... It was about the same time I started thyroid medication. It went away when I went to school but randomly I guess I still have the same problems.

My doc is sending me a blood test to have done to see if I have celiac disease, because she says that thyroid and celiac disease are pretty common together. My ferritin levels keep getting lower despite prescribed supplementation. My B12 was very low a month ago until I started serious vitamins... But, I dont think my body is absorbing the iron, because I haven't noticed any of the usual side effects or consequences on my, um, bathroom issues. But my blood counts are all normal...

Anyway, to cut off this increasingly growing post... Is it possible to have on again off again stomach problems related to celiac disease? Can hair loss be related to celiac disease? Am I just being paranoid? Would thyroid medications have any effect on the symptoms?

Thanks for your help- and so sorry for the long post! I'm just busy searching for answers...

[KaitiUSA]

If you are celiac and thyroid meds are not gluten free then that can affect it.

You may have on and off symptoms with celiac...some people never get symptoms and symptoms vary so much from person to person. Even though symptoms may come and go the damage will still be done when gluten is consumed so you will not have on and off again celiac. Celiac will not go away.

Also, yes the hair loss can be associated with celiac.

Thyroid problems are very common with celiacs..I have Graves Disease.

Celiac sounds like a definite possibility.

[kevsmom]

I first went to a Gastroenterologist about 5 years ago because I had diarrhea for about 3 months. He did a colonoscopy, but didn't find anything wrong. The diarrhea went away. A couple of years later, I had another 3 month bout with diarrhea. He did another colonoscopy, and still nothing.

This year, it happened again, but it was much worse. At the same time the diarrhea was happening, I developed bruises all over my body. It looked like someone beat the XXXX out of me. My General Practitioner sent me to a Hematologist. I was severly anemic, my platelet count was way out of wack and my blood was not clotting.

The Gastroenterologist tested me for celiac disease and the results were EXTREMELY high. Each time I went to the Gastroenterologist, we reviewed my family history. My father was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis 25 - 30 years ago and had a iliostomy. He very well could have had celiac disease, they probably didn't do much in the way of testing back then. My brother has celiac disease.

I don't know why a lighthbulb didn't go off in my doctor's head. I guess I could have insisted on a test, but I really didn't want to know.

Anyway, back to your original question...It is possible to have on again, off again symptoms - I did. I suggest that you get the blood test done.

Cindy

[lopo7883]

I also about three months ago started getting really weird cystic acne in random places on my face... Can this be connected? No matter what I do, it never seems to go away. Can this be another manifestation of celiac disease? I never broke out before, and I'm on bcp which is supposed to make it even more unlikely, but this isn't like little zits... It's like a whopper right iin the middle of my cheek that never quite comes to the surface and hurts like a and my doc says she finds it super extremely unlikely for it to be related to reproductive hormones.

I get weird bruises on my legs, super dark circles under my eyes, exhaustion, stomach issues, bloating after I eat, and other fun symptoms of celiac disease... I always blamed it on IBSish stuff or a stress related ulcer or maybe even mild lactose intolerance?

Anyways- besides wondering if the skin issue could also be related, I am also wondering, is ferritin an accurate gauge or iron? Mine keeps getting lower and lower, from a 33 to a 34 to a 26?!? despite taking heavy duty prescription iron pills... My CBC seems normal- my values are all mid range- nothing out of whack. I'm getting tested for celiac disease asap... but in the meantime, am I being paranoid?

[KaitiUSA]

am I being paranoid?

You are most definitely NOT being paranoid. You definitely sound like celiac is a definite possibility. If you have celiac the reason why levels are getting lower is because the pills are probably going right through you and not absorbing properly. Have you had vitamin and mineral levels checked?

[lopo7883]

I had a full thyroid panel (Thank god my doc is awesome!) Ferritin, B12, CBC Panel with differential platelets and a Comp metabolic panel. Are those helpful?

Nothing seems abnormal everything is pretty much mid range or at least within normal range...