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Husband's celiac getting worse!!

mom0511x2

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mom0511x2 Newbie
mom0511x2
Posted

My husband (59) was diagnosed with moderate to severe celiac about 2 years ago after years of stomach issues, diagnosed both by blood as well as biopsy.  He is completely adherent with his diet, although there have been a few minor exposures while we were learning!  But now, after these past few years he has started to feel worse, his panel for celiac is again, high, high, high, in addition to now having a high HGB A1c and TSH.   I am at a total loss as to how to help him beyond the diet he has been on for two years. We are waiting to get an appt with a nutritionist since his dietary issues are becoming very complicated!   If anyone has any suggestions I would be very appreciative!!!

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

There is a thing called refractory Celiac.  But it seems to be very rare.  Before they diagnose with that, they do an extremely strict gluten-free diet.  Often that takes care of the issue and the person will heal enough to go back to a "normal gluten-free diet".  Have they re-biopsied to see if he actually has damage?

Here is a good explanation:

Open Original Shared Link

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Sorry you folks are going through this. Do read the Newbie 101 thread at the top of the Coping section to make sure you are not missing anything that needs to be done to keep him safe. Unfortunately being gluten free involves much more than just picking gluten free foodss. We have to be careful of how food is prepared, have our loved ones brush their teeth before kissing if they eat gluten, check all meds and supplements to be sure they are gluten free and make sure we have our own toasters as just a few examples.

I am going to keep my fingers crossed for you both that gluten is simply sneaking in somewhere and that it is not refractory.

Welcome and I hope he is feeing much better soon.

etbtbfs Rookie
etbtbfs
Posted

You should avoid all highly-processed foods, as well as foods beside gluten that commonly provoke allergy (dairy, soy, possibly shellfish, there are others).   Once you are sure he is gluten-free, then: support his thyroid.  It is essential that he get enough T3+T4 because thyroid hormone is essential for digestion.  Put him on a comprehensive supplement program that includes probiotics.  Give him a good digestion support formula, such as "Complete Digestion".  Check all nutrition levels, esp. items like B12 and ferritin.  Make sure his total blood protein is checked, and if it is low, put him on free essential amino acids.

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

Here is an interesting study.  It supports what Karen mentioned about hidden gluten:

Open Original Shared Link

Please make sure all supplements, including probiotics are gluten free.  I would choose only gluten-free certified versions until he has improved.  

 

 

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      @Jmartes71, I understand your frustration and anger.  I've been in a similar situation where no doctor took me seriously, accused me of making things up, and eventually sent me home to suffer alone.   My doctors did not recognize nutritional deficiencies.  Doctors are trained in medical learning institutions that are funded by pharmaceutical companies.  They are taught which medications cover up which symptoms.  Doctors are required to take twenty  hours of nutritional education in seven years of medical training.  (They can earn nine hours in Nutrition by taking a three day weekend seminar.)  They are taught nutritional deficiencies are passe' and don't happen in our well fed Western society any more.  In Celiac Disease, the autoimmune response and inflammation affects the absorption of ALL the essential vitamins and minerals.  Correcting nutritional deficiencies caused by malabsorption is essential!  I begged my doctor to check my Vitamin D level, which he did only after making sure my insurance would cover it.  When my Vitamin D came back extremely low, my doctor was very surprised, but refused to test for further nutritional deficiencies because he "couldn't make money prescribing vitamins.". I believe it was beyond his knowledge, so he blamed me for making stuff up, and stormed out of the exam room.  I had studied Nutrition before earning a degree in Microbiology.  I switched because I was curious what vitamins from our food were doing in our bodies.  Vitamins are substances that our bodies cannot manufacture, so we must ingest them every day.  Without them, our bodies cannot manufacture life sustaining enzymes and we sicken and die.   At home alone, I could feel myself dying.  It's an unnerving feeling, to say the least, and, so, with nothing left to lose, I relied in my education in nutrition.  My symptoms of Thiamine deficiency were the worst, so I began taking high dose Thiamine.  I had health improvement within an hour.  It was magical.  I continued taking high dose thiamine with a B Complex, magnesium. and other essential nutrients.  The health improvements continued for months.  High doses of thiamine are required to correct a thiamine deficiency because thiamine affects every cell and mitochondria in our bodies.    A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function.  The cerebellum of the brain is most affected.  The cerebellum controls things we don't have to consciously have to think about, like digestion, balance, breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, hormone regulation, and many more.  Thiamine is absorbed from the digestive tract and sent to the most important organs like the brain and the heart.  This leaves the digestive tract depleted of Thiamine and symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi, a thiamine deficiency localized in the digestive system, begin to appear.  Symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi include anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, headaches, Gerd, acid reflux, gas, slow stomach emptying, gastroparesis, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation, incontinence, abdominal pain, IBS,  SIBO, POTS, high blood pressure, heart rate changes like tachycardia, difficulty swallowing, Barrett's Esophagus, peripheral neuropathy, and more. Doctors are only taught about thiamine deficiency in alcoholism and look for the classic triad of symptoms (changes in gait, mental function, and nystagmus) but fail to realize that gastrointestinal symptoms can precede these symptoms by months.  All three classic triad of symptoms only appear in fifteen percent of patients, with most patients being diagnosed with thiamine deficiency post mortem.  I had all three but swore I didn't drink, so I was dismissed as "crazy" and sent home to die basically.   Yes, I understand how frustrating no answers from doctors can be.  I took OTC Thiamine Hydrochloride, and later thiamine in the forms TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) and Benfotiamine to correct my thiamine deficiency.  I also took magnesium, needed by thiamine to make those life sustaining enzymes.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins, so the other B vitamins must be supplemented as well.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   A doctor can administer high dose thiamine by IV along with the other B vitamins.  Again, Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine should be given if only to rule Gastrointestinal Beriberi out as a cause of your symptoms.  If no improvement, no harm is done. Share the following link with your doctors.  Section Three is especially informative.  They need to be expand their knowledge about Thiamine and nutrition in Celiac Disease.  Ask for an Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test for thiamine deficiency.  This test is more reliable than a blood test. Thiamine, gastrointestinal beriberi and acetylcholine signaling.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12014454/ Best wishes!
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      I didn’t know there were different types of CT. I’m not sure which I had. It just said CT scan with contrast. 
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