Doctor said I'm allergic to gluten

[Tamie-Girl]

Greetings everyone from Baltimore,

To make a very long story short, I got sick back in mid-October and for some reason never felt 100%.  Fast-forward to now and got results today that I'm allergic to gluten.  I am 54 years old and post-menopausal.  I haven't spoken with the doctor yet, but believe I don't have Celiac Disease, I'm just never that sick.  The doctor thought I had reflux, but I wasn't sure if that was correct, and maybe I do have some GERD issue going on as well.  So, my question is can a gluten allergy coincide with GERD?  My symptoms mostly have been, after eating, coughing and constant throat clearing.  But sometimes I have chest congestion, and then when I open my mouth to take a really deep breath it feels like my throat is constricting..like I need an inhaler to open my throat.

Any insight really appreciated.

Tamie

[GFinDC]

Hi Tamie,

Celiac disease is really hard to diagnose by symptoms unless they are the classic symptoms of GI distress, short stature, or DH rash.  But some people have no symptoms at all (silent celiac), while others have joint pain, nerve damage , hair loss or a host of other non-GI related symptoms.  So your symptoms could line up with celiac disease, because celiac disease symptoms are so varied.

There is a condition called esonophillic esophagitis that might line up with your symptoms also.  Some of us win the jackpot and get more than one condition!

One thing your doctor should have told you is to keep eating gluten until all celiac testing is completed.  Celiac testing usually includes a blood test for gliaden antibodies, and then an endoscopy to get biopsy samples of the small intestine lining.

By the way, if you click on green circle to the right of your thread title, you can follow the thread and get an email once a day of replies.  Very handy!

[TexasJen]

I was 42 when I was diagnosed with celiac. My symptoms were 6months of restless leg syndrome and 2-3 weeks of palpitations (both of these were related to low iron and anemia). I also had arthritis in my hands. I had gastroparesis (slowing down of the GI tract) which manifested as very minor heartburn on occasion.  This was related to the celiac. I didn't even know I had this until my scope showed precancerous condition called Barrett's esophagus. All of the symptoms (except the arthritis) have gone away with a gluten-free diet. SO, your heartburn could be a symptom of celiac OR it could just be regular old heartburn.  Make sure you do or do not have celiac before going on- don't assume you don't. That's what I did and thank goodness I had a pushy GI doc who insisted I get tested. Otherwise, I"m pretty sure it would have been years before I figured it out since I don't have classic symptoms.