Dizzy, lightheaded, faint feeling

[tooth-whisperer]

Hi all,

I'm back on the big G, week 3 since I was off for a week just as a test, and all my symptoms have visited me like the Ghost of Christmas Past - first mild shooting chest pains and reflux, then head/neck/back aches, AM nausuea, upset stomach from dairy, light brown/sand color... well, you know.  One thing I haven't been struggling with is the dizzy and lightheaded feeling I was getting a couple months ago - until today.  About 5pm, I was at work standing and talking to a coworker and BAM, it felt like all the blood rushed out of my head, I was dizzy and felt like I could faint.  Usually the feeling would pass after 15-20 minutes, but tonight it's been sticking with me.  The 2 times I've had blood tests my iron has come back normal, although I'm not entirely convinced that it couldn't be the culprit, or maybe just low blood sugar as I didn't have much to eat today aside from some gluten-free toast and a couple baked goodies my dental assistant brought me.  Sweetheart that she is, she made them both gluten-free even though I'm not official yet.  

It's so hard to know what's causing this, twice I've had the feeling after drinking a porter beer, usually a couple hours after.  But the many other times I had it, including today, there's no common denominator that I can remember.  Either there's a common ingredient I'm reacting to, or my system is just out of whack from gluten damage and not eating enough today.  I haven't had an abnormally large amount of gluten lately, in fact yesterday I had a normal amount and today not much at all (but being sure to have some each day so my test results are accurate).  Anyone else get this feeling?  It's awful, I feel like I'm about to pass out and die, though the feeling always passes eventually.  If I can focus on something else, it goes to the back of my mind until I'm idle again.  Blah.

I have my first GI appointment on Christmas Eve, hoping I can get blood tests run at least by New Year's.  The week I was off gluten, I felt so good - stomach didn't hurt anymore, even if I ate cheese or had a little dairy, no body aches, my you-know-what returned to normal shades for the first time in months.  Hopefully it wasn't just a coincidence.  Took a few days for the symptoms to kick in when I started eating gluten again, and I sometimes still have days here and there that I feel almost normal.  Which is equal parts good, and makes me feel like I'm going insane.  

[squirmingitch]

Common, common, common, common. What you're going through is all too common. Remember, you MUST be eating gluten every day until ALL testing is complete including an endoscopy.

I know it sucks.

{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}} and hang in there.