New Member Introduction

[armyguy221]

Hello everyone.

My name is Chris and I just signed up for the forum. It’s a little late at night for me right now but I wanted to take the time to introduce myself. I’m actually very new to using a forum and I’m not quite sure about how much I should disclose about myself online. However, with that said, I’m looking forward to meeting new people and discussing issues with fellow Celiacs.

For starters, I was diagnosed in 2007 and have been on a gluten-free diet since. Currently, I am in my last semester of college and plan to graduate in May.

As I’m sure we all have been before, my journey to being diagnosed was a little too long for my liking and has caused me to feel some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. With that said, however, I consider myself extremely lucky and thankful that I do not have something much worse.

We found out that the gene is linked to my father’s side of the family, as one of my distant cousins also has Celiac disease.

Not to get too personal right off the bat, but I don’t mind sharing that even after being diagnosed, while feeling leaps and bounds better prior to being diagnosed, there have been periods throughout my life afterwards where I still get similar symptoms from time to time, though certainly not to the degree like before. Mostly just cramps before having to use the washroom and along with that some anxiety/sense of panic. I’ve found that to be the hardest thing to learn how to deal with properly and continues to be a bit of a struggle for me.

Currently, I’m undergoing some additional testing to rule out other possible conditions. I will be more than happy to update you all once I get the results back.

I’ve always been curious to ask other Celiac disease suffers if they still deal with any anxiety or stress about their disease, specifically when it comes time for the daily constitutional. I’ve always been pretty neurotic about my washroom habits and still deal with some pain right before a BM. I’ve always wondered if other Celiacs deal with the same thing and had any advice on how to control yourself and not panic when the pain/anxiety sets in.

Hopefully this wasn’t too long an introduction. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I am really looking forward to contributing and chatting with you all. Best of luck. See you all soon.

Chris.

[cyclinglady]

8 hours ago, armyguy221 said:

Hello everyone.

 

My name is Chris and I just signed up for the forum. It’s a little late at night for me right now but I wanted to take the time to introduce myself. I’m actually very new to using a forum and I’m not quite sure about how much I should disclose about myself online. However, with that said, I’m looking forward to meeting new people and discussing issues with fellow Celiacs.

 

For starters, I was diagnosed in 2007 and have been on a gluten-free diet since. Currently, I am in my last semester of college and plan to graduate in May.

 

As I’m sure we all have been before, my journey to being diagnosed was a little too long for my liking and has caused me to feel some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. With that said, however, I consider myself extremely lucky and thankful that I do not have something much worse.

 

We found out that the gene is linked to my father’s side of the family, as one of my distant cousins also has Celiac disease.

 

Not to get too personal right off the bat, but I don’t mind sharing that even after being diagnosed, while feeling leaps and bounds better prior to being diagnosed, there have been periods throughout my life afterwards where I still get similar symptoms from time to time, though certainly not to the degree like before. Mostly just cramps before having to use the washroom and along with that some anxiety/sense of panic. I’ve found that to be the hardest thing to learn how to deal with properly and continues to be a bit of a struggle for me.

 

Currently, I’m undergoing some additional testing to rule out other possible conditions. I will be more than happy to update you all once I get the results back.

 

I’ve always been curious to ask other Celiac disease suffers if they still deal with any anxiety or stress about their disease, specifically when it comes time for the daily constitutional. I’ve always been pretty neurotic about my washroom habits and still deal with some pain right before a BM. I’ve always wondered if other Celiacs deal with the same thing and had any advice on how to control yourself and not panic when the pain/anxiety sets in.

 

Hopefully this wasn’t too long an introduction. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I am really looking forward to contributing and chatting with you all. Best of luck. See you all soon.

 

Chris.

 

Welcome Chris!  

I can assure you that anxiety is common with celiac disease.  However, you would think that you would have improved by now.  So, that makes me think that either your celiac disease is active or it is something else.  It is good that you are getting the latter checked out.  You can have more than one autoimmune disorder.  Be sure to have your doctor check for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.   When was the last time your celiac antibodies were checked out or had a follow-up endoscopy?  It can be hard at school to avoid gluten.  

Controling anxiety?  For me, excercising helps a lot or simple controlled breathing.  

[armyguy221]

Hi cyclinglady.

Thank you so much for responding back to me. You have no idea how comforting it is to know that there is someone else with Celiac that can confirm that anxiety sometimes comes with the territory with the disease.

As to being tested, that was something I was a little hesitant to disclose but with your response you seem like a very understanding person, so I don’t mind sharing a little more.

I’m currently being tested for IBD. I had an endo/colono about a month ago and the scoping was normal. The biopsies revealed possible signs of inflammation and unfortunately, I do have a possible genetically linked family history of IBD in addition to Celiac. My father was never confirmed as having IBD, but he struggled with stomach issues his whole life. I had a Prometheus IBD genetic panel and it said I do in fact have markers for IBD, though it may not necessarily be active. Once I know of my results I’ll be sure to update.

Again, thank you so much for the reply. I’ve never considered talking on a forum about my disease or even finding a support group to talk with fellow Celiacs, but it feels really cool to be able to talk to someone about it. I look forward to becoming a regularly contributing member to this forum.

Take care. Talk to you soon.

Chris.

[cyclinglady]

Your endoscopy revealed healed villi?  Did the biopsy just show inflammation which could just be attributed to active or healing celiac disease (maybe a gluten exposure?) or was that rule out?  I have been gluten free for five years and I have  had three celiac flare-ups.  Unfortunately, I have never identified the source.  Twice it was probably attributed to traveling, and the last I have no idea since I did not eat out for a year and avoided grains.     I did trial the Fasano diet for a few months last fall, but found that my symptoms were due to chronic autoimmune gastritis and active celiac disease was ruled out (endoscopy/biopsies 1/2018 showed healthy villi).  

If IBD is being considered, talk to your GI about a pill camera.  I could have sworn my niece had celiac disease, but a pill camera revealed Crohn’s.   The damage was beyond the reach of both scopes.  

This forum is great.  Nice to have support!  

[armyguy221]

Yes, my endoscopy revealed healed villi. I believe the doctor did say the inflammation could be due to active celiac disease (possible accidental exposure). I told him I had an experience last summer where I was sick for several weeks with no apparent reason why. I had a blood test yesterday for the IBD screening and am awaiting the results. I am actually going to have a pill camera procedure in the next coming month in addition to the tests already mentioned. Thank you for your insight. I'll be sure to let you know what my doctor says when I see him next.