Possible Celiac, me and my 3 year old

[Breezy1]

Hi! This is my first time posting here. So I'll start with a bit of my history and then my child's as well. 

I don't remember a lot about my childhood but I do remember feeling sick a lot of the time, and having low energy. My dad just thought I was lazy and faking it to get out of school, so I never had any tests done. When I was 10 I got my period, and they've always been very painful and irregular. And I've always had a hard time waking up in the morning, as a teenager I was impossible to wake up and missed a lot of school because I was too tired and couldn't wake. 

After having my first child almost 4 years ago my symptoms started getting worse. Always bloated, abdominal pain, excessively tired(even still, it doesn't matter how much sleep I get, I feel exhausted all the time.) I'm always either constipated or complete opposite. I was overweight before i first got pregnant, then gained 50 pounds during pregnancy. After having my baby the weight just came off. I lost 90 pounds in maybe 5-6 months, plus was having all these horrible symptoms. I was happy with my weight but thought I should see a doctor. At the time I didn't know what celiac was. The doctor had my thyroid checked which was normal. Checked my iron levels which were a bit low and told me to eat a low fat diet to ease my symptoms. That did not help and I didn't go back to the doctor ( I have bad anxiety and it was hard for me to go in, in the first place) awhile later I got pregnant again. Gained most of the weight back during that pregnancy. And had some heart problems during the pregnancy as well. I was told I had atrial tachycardia and they found no cause of it. I had to be put on medication until after my baby was born. Now here I am, my youngest is almost 2. My symptoms are worse than ever and I can't lose weight even though I track my calorie intake and how much I burn and am eating the right amount to lose. Both my children's births were traumatic experiences as well. And I read somewhere that can trigger celiac or something? NoT sure if that's true or not. 

My oldest is almost 4. The last few months she's been complaining of her tummy hurting. She tells me at least once a day. She says its worse after eating. And she hardly eats. She use to have a pretty good apetite but now she says she's hungry has a couple bites and says my tummy is feeling very full. I also find that her tummy looks bloated. And she's tired a lot. Yesterday she had a pale coloured poop. And she often like me, goes back and forth from constipated or diarrhea, not watery just very soft. I brought her in to the doctor yesterday and she is being tested for a number of things, including celiac. 

Has anyone experienced symptoms like mine? Or have a child who had symptoms like my child's? Before diagnosis. 

Thank you for reading!

[Ennis-TX]

The exhaustion, weight issue, constipation, anxiety, tired all the time yep so familiar. I used to sleep most they day, my dad had to carry me out of bed and threw me on the couch to wake me growing up and gave me a hot towel to wash my face. Even energy drinks helped very little. Got older it got worse, I could randomly doze off while driving if I did not chug energy drinks all day. Constipation was like 4-11 days of not going.....yeah it got that bad.

I would suggest you get yourself tested. You have to be eating gluten for the testing, at least a half slice of bread a day for 12 weeks prior. The blood test is quite simple and they normally follow up with a endoscope and biopsy.

Now to address some of your issues, many of the issues are made worse my nutrient malabsorption. Common ones are all B-vitamins, magnesium, iron, vitamin D. etc. I have some suggestions for some standards that many of use use. Liquid Health makes a liquid form you take for the B-vitamins I swear by using both Stress & Energy formula and the Neurological Support formula 1 tbsp each 3 times a day. This works wonders with stress, anxiety, brain fog, and energy levels.   Next is the constipation This can be addressed by increasing magnesium. If you have constipation I suggest the citrate form Natural Vitality calm makes one you mix in a drink. You need to start off very small in the dose at about 1/4tsp and ramp it over over 1-2 weeks to the full dose. If even the smallest dose proves too rough for you gut we suggest going over to Doctors Best form of this it is much easier on the gut but will not help so much with the constipation.

[Breezy1]

1 hour ago, Ennis_TX said:

The exhaustion, weight issue, constipation, anxiety, tired all the time yep so familiar. I used to sleep most they day, my dad had to carry me out of bed and threw me on the couch to wake me growing up and gave me a hot towel to wash my face. Even energy drinks helped very little. Got older it got worse, I could randomly doze off while driving if I did not chug energy drinks all day. Constipation was like 4-11 days of not going.....yeah it got that bad.

I would suggest you get yourself tested. You have to be eating gluten for the testing, at least a half slice of bread a day for 12 weeks prior. The blood test is quite simple and they normally follow up with a endoscope and biopsy.

Now to address some of your issues, many of the issues are made worse my nutrient malabsorption. Common ones are all B-vitamins, magnesium, iron, vitamin D. etc. I have some suggestions for some standards that many of use use. Liquid Health makes a liquid form you take for the B-vitamins I swear by using both Stress & Energy formula and the Neurological Support formula 1 tbsp each 3 times a day. This works wonders with stress, anxiety, brain fog, and energy levels.   Next is the constipation This can be addressed by increasing magnesium. If you have constipation I suggest the citrate form Natural Vitality calm makes one you mix in a drink. You need to start off very small in the dose at about 1/4tsp and ramp it over over 1-2 weeks to the full dose. If even the smallest dose proves too rough for you gut we suggest going over to Doctors Best form of this it is much easier on the gut but will not help so much with the constipation.

Thank you for your reply! I definitely will be working up the courage to get tested. It's so hard to get past my anxiety, but I know I need to especially if one of my kids is already showing symptoms!

Thank you so much for the advice! I will be looking into it

[cyclinglady]

Symptoms can overlap between so many illnesses.  The only way to know if you have celiac disease is to get tested.  Be sure to keep gluten in your diet until ALL testing is complete.

Open Original Shared Link

I wish you well!  

[Breezy1]

Thank you! I plan on going to my doctor on my next day off. 

I was talking to my mother today about my childhood. And from what I've read over the last day or two it sounds like I had symptoms back then too, but none of the doctors I went to thought to check for celiac. My mother told me I suffered from frequent headaches as a child, and stomach aches. She said sometimes my stomach ache was so bad I'd have to go to the hospital. The doctors thought I had an ulcer at one point, but I didn't. I had to get prescription strength ratidine for a few weeks. This was when I was around 9/10 years old. I also never thought about it until now but when I was a toddler and up until about 10 years old I was always very tall for my age. At about 10 my growth slowed down significantly, all my friends became taller than me. And I am now 25 and am the same height I was at 14/15. So I stopped growing at 14/15. I read that can be related to celiac? Does anyone know if that's true?

Thanks for listening! And thanks in advance if anyone has any information about the growth thing.

[Jmg]

Hi and welcome

25 minutes ago, Breezy1 said:

I read that can be related to celiac? Does anyone know if that's true?

Yes it can Open Original Shared Link.

It can also cause anxiety as well. So you have every incentive to get the blood test. You may want to note down a few key bullet points before you go to the doctors so you can make a good case for a test. Stay on gluten up to and after the test takes place. If its positive you will be referred to another doctor and there will be another test which will only be accurate if you stay eating gluten.

I know no-one likes to be told they have a disease, but I really hope you've found your answer because if so, not only will you be improving your daughters health you could soon see a big improvement in your own

Good luck!

[Breezy1]

9 minutes ago, Jmg said:

Hi and welcome

Yes it can Open Original Shared Link.

It can also cause anxiety as well. So you have every incentive to get the blood test. You may want to note down a few key bullet points before you go to the doctors so you can make a good case for a test. Stay on gluten up to and after the test takes place. If its positive you will be referred to another doctor and there will be another test which will only be accurate if you stay eating gluten.

I know no-one likes to be told they have a disease, but I really hope you've found your answer because if so, not only will you be improving your daughters health you could soon see a big improvement in your own

Good luck!

Thank you! Bullet points is a great idea, I always forget everything when I go to the doctor because of the anxiety. I have so many other symptoms too that I didn't think of before after reading a list of symptoms online. Maybe the doctors will finally diagnose me and stop calling me a medical mystery, like they've called me all my life! 

[Jmg]

Just now, Breezy1 said:

Maybe the doctors will finally diagnose me and stop calling me a medical mystery, like they've called me all my life! 

I tested negative, but still found gluten was a cause of  a lot of problems for me. Finding out was like solving a dozen medical mystery's all at once!

There's an enormous list of gluten mediated symptoms here: Open Original Shared Link

Write a short list:

• Childhood issues
• tachycardia
• Growth 
• Weight

Etc, and mention your child's failure to thrive. That should be ample for the test, if not, get a new doctor. 

Do the testing. Post the results here, there's lots of great people with a lot of hard won knowledge who will help you understand  them.

If, and only once all tests are complete, results are negative then trial the gluten free diet anyway. Some of us don't trigger the tests but still have a problem with gluten. This is currently called Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity or NCGS for short.