Could you help me out?

[Bluepumkin]

So this is going to be kind of long, and i totally understand if you guys don't want to read it. I'm not sure whether I'm being paranoid, or I really might have celiac. 

To start from the very beginning, I took accutane (roaccutane) about a year and a half ago for one whole year (only 20 mg a day which is a small dosage), at first I did experience its annoying symptoms such as back pain and dry eyes and bloody nose. 5 months in, I decided to become vegan.

 it's been almost a year since I turned vegan, meaning no dairy, no eggs, and no meat or poultry or fish for me. Now I did this at first because its health benefits seemed too surreal, along with my growing love and respect for animals. I was 16 then. (I though it might naturally protect my skin from acne if it tried to come back after the treatment)
 

So I followed all the good advice, eat plentiful, don't restrict calories, try to eat from various food groups (legumes,grains,vegetables,fruits), and so on. 

At first, I was feeling great, I was getting lighter (I was already thin, but I felt physically lighter and more energetic), my mood slightly improved, and I naturally stopped craving junk food. 

Two months ago, though, I decided to get my blood tested. ( I have done so before in order to take accutane, but never checked my vitamin levels or anything like that)

Results came back as following: 

I had b12 deficiency (my levels were 139 whereas the minimum rage was a little bit more than 210 If I remember correctly)

I had Iron deficiency (most likely), my ferritin levels were really low, mine were 5 whereas the minimum was about 12

my calcium levels were normal

my protein levels were normal

* I didn't get my zinc, magnesium, or vitamin D levels checked out (didn't think they were important)

So my parents freaked out, and so did I

I thought it can't be my vegan diet, since I was eating tons of legumes and spinach daily. (I never used to eat vegetables or leafy greens in big quantities before). And I was taking B complex, which said it had the recommended daily amount of b12. (might I mention that my mom is b12 deficient and also Iron deficient, but her levels were higher than mine for both) 

I was confused as hell.

Then I did my research, and I tried to get in as much Iron as I could ( I even started taking a supplement).

Two weeks after I had my blood tested, my nails started getting weird; small vertical ridges started showing on all of my fingernails ( which I hadn't had before), and then week after week, weirder things started to happen: horizontal bumps started to show, and my nail tips started to curved downward slightly. I was freaking out, because I had almost perfectly healthy nails before, and none of that had ever happened to me! Weird part is, they're still growing at a normal rate, but they still have bumps and ridges. 

And then I started noticing changes in my stools (excuse the gross stuff), I was going to the bathroom more often, every morning I would have to go the bathroom maybe 3 or 4 times, and my stools were very loose ( still are ). A couple of times a week, they would be very pale in color, and other times they would contain small dots of red (maybe blood), sometimes they would be green. 

My hair also started to fall out more often that it used to. 

So two or three weeks ago, I had my blood tested for celiac, because I felt like it was the only explanation for my problem. I only had one test done though, only the IgA. Turns out it was negative. Then I read somewhere on this forum that sometimes the amount of IgA serum in the blood might be small, and so the test might not be accurate. I'm not sure what to do, my parents don't believe me when I tell them, and when I do complain about my symptoms, they blame me for being a vegan. 

Could you guys give me some advice please? Do you think it might be Celiac? And has any one experienced similar symptoms after taking Accutane or becoming vegan? 

 

 

 

[LookingforAnswers15]

Hi Bluepumpkin, 

I would recommend talking with your doctor about doing a complete celiac panel. Unfortunately, I do not have time now to look for it, but it is cited many times on this forum, so you should be able to easily find it.

I have never been vegan but it is possible that your vitamin levels are lower from it. Since you have not tested your vitamin levels prior to going vegan it is hard to know if their low values are just from being vegan. 

Hair loss can be caused by B12 levels and iron deficiency.

Pale stool is found in people with Celiac disease. However, it does not have to mean that you have Celiac disease. It only happened to you a couple of times and it can be caused by food that you ate that day. Seek additional testing to find out what causes these lower vitamin levels and to hopefully rule out celiac. Good luck.

[CherylS]

Bluepumpkin,

I suggest you talk to your pediatrician.  I'm a nurse at a children's hospital and at your age most doctors treat their patients like adults.  It sounds like you need a GI consult.

Good luck!