What do you think?

[Rachaelob93]

Hi, I'm new here and a little unsure what to say so I'll just go ahead. 

For 22 years I've been eating yummy bread and breaded chicken strips and every other gluten containing food under the sun! I have often but not always suffered from what I call a "food baby" after eating, I thought I was just very full and sometimes after eating out I'd have to sit for half an hour before I could move because I felt so full, even if I didn't eat so much.

I've recently had some stresses in my life, my mum was diagnosed with cancer, I am in the final year of my degree and my boyfriend decided he wanted a military career and we travelled from the UK to Canada in order for him to have an operation. Whilst we were there he turned 21 and so we went to New York to celebrate, after a 13 hour train journey we reached the hotel where we were on the 30th floor, it was late so we ordered pizza and within half an hour of eating a slice my appetite had vanished and I went very dizzy and lightheaded and started to feel like I would be sick and faint, we thought it could be motion sickness due to being on the 30th floor and possibly exhaustion from the journey, I was also feeling very anxious and panicky throughout. The next day we were moved down to the 4th floor and that seemed to help, however the day after that we went to planet Hollywood for dinner (burger and fries) where my appetite failed me and I got very dizzy, not wanting to spoil the night I kept quiet thinking it might pass. We then went on to the theatre to watch a show, where I got worse, thought I was going to be sick, cramped up temperature was up and down and I was shaking, my heart rate was very high. In the end an ambulance was called and I was taken into hospital where they could not understand what was going on, eventually we put it down to an allergy to the ibuprofen in America, though I have never had an issue with the ibuprofen in the UK.  Since then I have been unwell on and off and quite suddenly I began to feel sick after eating every meal, I get severe nausea, stomach cramps and bloating and my concentration completely goes, I'll be lightheaded and very irritable with bad gas coming in tiny gurgling burps (I can't burp properly ?). I also have quite bad bowel movements which can either be loose or completely constipated and sometimes it's almost normal but covered in a clear slime. (Not nice I know, sorry!) 

On Christmas eve I ate some cheese and got a few little cramps, on Christmas day I spent the day in bed feeling dizzy and sick and bloated and generally unwell, I put it down to the cheese, however it was a family buffet with lots of opportunity for gluten contamination and I have been avoiding gluten since my blood test 2 weeks ago.

I've had a blood test for coeliac and am still awaiting the results, I am also considering lactose intolerance as I apparently had that as a baby. I feel totally fed up not knowing what's doing this to me, my mum and dad seem rather in denial and roll their eyes or dismiss me when I mention research that I have done and my ideas on what could be causing me to feel this way, they have however been buying me gluten free foods. 

So I was wondering what you think? You are obviously a lot more knowledgeable on coeliac and gluten intolerance than me and I'd really appreciate any advice or help you can give me. I feel quite alone knowing that nobody in my family other than a second cousin who we rarely see can understand how I'm feeling (if it is coeliac) and I feel like I want to talk about it, but I can tell people are getting bored or just don't want to hear it or consider it as a possibility.

Sorry for the long rant! I hope you've all had a good Christmas ?

 

[CherylS]

Hi and welcome.

You definitely have a lot going on.  Hopefully you get the results of your tests soon and  you'll be able to go from there.  If your celiac panel is positive, will they do a biopsy to confirm?  If so, you will have to eat gluten until the biopsy is complete.

I'm no expert, but I believe people with celiac can have problems with lactose as well since their intestines are damaged.

Someone will come along who knows more than me, I just wanted to say hi so you didn't feel like nobody was reading your post.

[Rachaelob93]

Thank you!  And yes I believe the swelling and damage to the villi in the intestines limits the absorption of lactose which is why I'm also considering that as a possibility. 

Hopefully I will get my results on Tuesday, I won't be going ahead with any more tests as I can't handle how I feel when I'm eating gluten, it's affecting my degree so I have decided regardless of the results to do a food diary to help me identify if gluten really is the problem.

[cyclinglady]

Many celiacs have a "temporary" intolerance to lactose that can resolve with healing provided that you are not one of the many people who naturally become lactose intolerant due to aging or genetics.

Read this celiac.com link for diet tips, cross contamination, etc.:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/the-gluten-free-diet-101-a-beginners-guide-to-going-gluten-free-r1640/

Stick to whole, easy-to-digest foods for a while.  Damaged guts have a hard time digesting anything! 

 Welcome to the forum!

[Jessica77]

My daughter had a lot of the same symptoms you are having. She had her blood tested and it came back positive for Celiacs disease. She had a biopsy to confirm. I think that is the normal procedure to diagnose. I will tell you she was failing pretty much all her classes and was always tired and felt sick. She has been gluten free for over 6 months and this past nine weeks was one grade away from the A/B honor roll. So there is hope you will feel better and have better luck with your degree. Going gluten free at first was really hard and she shed many tears in the grocery store aisle. But it gets easier and your will find foods you really enjoy. Good luck!