Common symptoms

[Hendo6]

Hello all,

I am a 20 year old female and I've been experiencing GI symptoms for a long time now. I was bleeding when I was going poop and it first started 2 years ago. At first th3 GI doctor brushed me off and said it was constipation and your tearing the lining just take some laxitives and you'll be fine. A long time went by and I didn't have any bleeding but then a year and a half later I did but there was ALOT more blood in the toilet  (like your on your period). I went back to the doctor and they told me to go see the GI doctor once again. they're doing a colonscopy on Friday because they think it's internal hemmorids (I know I do not have external ones and internal ones don't bleed that bad most of the time) or polyps. I all the sudden started having these symptoms

-bloating

-as long as I can remember going to the bathroom 2-3 times a week

-one day I had extreme nauseasa 

-soars on my lip

-dry mouth

-distended stomach (one day it was so bad it was almost hard)

-for a long time now I've had numbness in just my pinky toe

-headaches

-really bad stomach aches after every time I ate

-I had mucus buildup in my throat (felt like it was just stuck there)

-iron deficiency anemia 

-extreamly tired all the time

-irritablitly 

-symptoms of ADD/or ADHD (not diagnosed)

-foggy memorie 

-same day that my stomach distended that bad and when I was very nauseous I was extremely shaky (almost out of control) and dizzy 

-possible polyps/ possibly internal hemmorids

-bleeding RARELY when I go to the bathroom

-gas

-I've weighted 118lb since middle school until about a year ago I started getting to 125lb

-weird "rash" not blistering or itchy but it's on my face and arms and it's super red and it just radiates heat.

I just never thought that I could have a gluten problem and I'm just trying to figure out from people who have this if I'm almost "text book" symptoms for this (I do know it is different for everyone though) I'm going though with the colonoscopy no matter what but after that should I make a doctors appointment to get blood tested? I also started eating gluten free and I do feel like my normal self again but I have cheated and ate a donut that was not gluten free and I got a little bloated but that was about it.

 

[GFinDC]

Hi Hendo,

Welcome to the forum!

You do need to keep eating gluten (wheat, rye, barley) until the testing is complete.  The first testing step is usually blood antibodies testing, and later an endoscopy (not colonoscopy).  The endoscopy is to take biopsy samples of the small intestine for microscopic review.

The blood tests are for IgA and IgG antibodies to gliaden, a protein in wheat.

Your symptoms do sound like they could be from celiac disease.  I had some bleeding also but it was mostly related to a dairy reaction.  The ongoing irritation of the gut lining can result in reactions to many different foods.  Sometimes those reactions are temporary but sometimes not.