Not diagnosed nor tested. Could these symptoms be Celiac?

[mjp922]

Hello everyone! 

I have realized that I have some symptoms that I have been told might be linked to Celiac disease. I am unsure how long I have had all of these symptoms, partially because I was simply not paying attention until the thought crossed my mind. I have not, however, been tested, firstly because I do not want to incur medical bills as I was just recently in the ER for something else. But I know I probably should. 

The following are some of my symptoms and see if they sound familiar, or if anyone has experienced the same. Do you think I SHOULD be tested, based on these symptoms? I know that I could find a list online of symptoms, but I'd rather speak to real people who experience Celiac firsthand rather than just read a list of symptoms that people may or may not have. 

I'll preface this by stating that I am also lactose intolerant, and that gluten is in many items that I consume regularly. So it is difficult for me to differentiate what food items are causing which symptoms. I am also on a new medication for reducing hair loss, and I have no idea if any of these symptoms could be related to that, but I highly doubt it. 

1. I use the bathroom two, if not three, times a day for bathroom issues, and feel consistently nauseated, bloated, gassy. I wake up in the morning with a nauseated stomach, and have bathroom issues. Then, I feel the same way after eating lunch, and use the bathroom another two or three times over the course of the day. This has been the case for me for as long as I can remember, though my whole life other people have told me that the average person only defecates once every two or three days. My stomach is constantly in knots, and it does not take a large quantity of food to make me feel sick. I especially feel sick after dairy, cereal, chips/crackers, though I feel sick about one hour after most meals. My stools are very foul smelling as well, and I have frequent diarrhea, gas, bloating. These symptoms have been present for much of my life.

I also often feel as if my food is going to come back up and I feel as if I need to throw up, but it never happens. It is like I feel the food come back up but it then goes back down, and I never feel like I am actually GOING TO throw up. 

2. My breath, the aftertaste in my mouth, and the air coming out of my nose smells/tastes like smoke. This has not always been the case, but has begun recently. I don't mean cigarette smoke, but something akin to the smell of burning wood/campfire/Duraflame logs. This happens mostly after eating chips, cereal, fries, muffins, donuts, etc. I ate Cheerios today and this taste has been lingering in my mouth and on my breath. This is the symptom that in particular makes me concerned about Celiac, because I know someone with the disease whose sweat, breath, and general body odor has this same "smoky" smell if they consume certain foods, only theirs is very strong -- I have also read posts on this very forum that a minority of people experience this. I am the only one who can smell this on myself right now, thankfully, and it is not coming through my pores or sweat, just my breath. It is clearly from a digestion issue. I cannot think of what else might be causing this. 

3. General feeling of tiredness, restlessness, malaise, and exhaustion. I have a lack of energy altogether and find myself very tired and exhausted on a regular basis. This one I could assume is due to my medication, as it affects hormone levels, but that is only my guess. 

I am also considering that these symptoms could be due to lactose intolerance, poor diet, and just a general bad stomach and might not be Celiac, but is it worth it for me to get tested? 

If anyone has any information that is helpful I would greatly appreciate it. 

[cyclinglady]

3 hours ago, mjp922 said:

Hello everyone! 

I have realized that I have some symptoms that I have been told might be linked to Celiac disease. I am unsure how long I have had all of these symptoms, partially because I was simply not paying attention until the thought crossed my mind. I have not, however, been tested, firstly because I do not want to incur medical bills as I was just recently in the ER for something else. But I know I probably should. 

The following are some of my symptoms and see if they sound familiar, or if anyone has experienced the same. Do you think I SHOULD be tested, based on these symptoms? I know that I could find a list online of symptoms, but I'd rather speak to real people who experience Celiac firsthand rather than just read a list of symptoms that people may or may not have. 

I'll preface this by stating that I am also lactose intolerant, and that gluten is in many items that I consume regularly. So it is difficult for me to differentiate what food items are causing which symptoms. I am also on a new medication for reducing hair loss, and I have no idea if any of these symptoms could be related to that, but I highly doubt it. 

1. I use the bathroom two, if not three, times a day for bathroom issues, and feel consistently nauseated, bloated, gassy. I wake up in the morning with a nauseated stomach, and have bathroom issues. Then, I feel the same way after eating lunch, and use the bathroom another two or three times over the course of the day. This has been the case for me for as long as I can remember, though my whole life other people have told me that the average person only defecates once every two or three days. My stomach is constantly in knots, and it does not take a large quantity of food to make me feel sick. I especially feel sick after dairy, cereal, chips/crackers, though I feel sick about one hour after most meals. My stools are very foul smelling as well, and I have frequent diarrhea, gas, bloating. These symptoms have been present for much of my life.

I also often feel as if my food is going to come back up and I feel as if I need to throw up, but it never happens. It is like I feel the food come back up but it then goes back down, and I never feel like I am actually GOING TO throw up. 

2. My breath, the aftertaste in my mouth, and the air coming out of my nose smells/tastes like smoke. This has not always been the case, but has begun recently. I don't mean cigarette smoke, but something akin to the smell of burning wood/campfire/Duraflame logs. This happens mostly after eating chips, cereal, fries, muffins, donuts, etc. I ate Cheerios today and this taste has been lingering in my mouth and on my breath. This is the symptom that in particular makes me concerned about Celiac, because I know someone with the disease whose sweat, breath, and general body odor has this same "smoky" smell if they consume certain foods, only theirs is very strong -- I have also read posts on this very forum that a minority of people experience this. I am the only one who can smell this on myself right now, thankfully, and it is not coming through my pores or sweat, just my breath. It is clearly from a digestion issue. I cannot think of what else might be causing this. 

3. General feeling of tiredness, restlessness, malaise, and exhaustion. I have a lack of energy altogether and find myself very tired and exhausted on a regular basis. This one I could assume is due to my medication, as it affects hormone levels, but that is only my guess. 

I am also considering that these symptoms could be due to lactose intolerance, poor diet, and just a general bad stomach and might not be Celiac, but is it worth it for me to get tested? 

If anyone has any information that is helpful I would greatly appreciate it. 

Welcome!

Unfortunately, there are over 200 symptoms attributed to celiac disease and they often overlap with other illnesses.  The only way to know is to get tested.  Learn more here:

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[V123]

On 3/5/2018 at 9:44 PM, mjp922 said:

Hello everyone! 

I have realized that I have some symptoms that I have been told might be linked to Celiac disease. I am unsure how long I have had all of these symptoms, partially because I was simply not paying attention until the thought crossed my mind. I have not, however, been tested, firstly because I do not want to incur medical bills as I was just recently in the ER for something else. But I know I probably should. 

The following are some of my symptoms and see if they sound familiar, or if anyone has experienced the same. Do you think I SHOULD be tested, based on these symptoms? I know that I could find a list online of symptoms, but I'd rather speak to real people who experience Celiac firsthand rather than just read a list of symptoms that people may or may not have. 

I'll preface this by stating that I am also lactose intolerant, and that gluten is in many items that I consume regularly. So it is difficult for me to differentiate what food items are causing which symptoms. I am also on a new medication for reducing hair loss, and I have no idea if any of these symptoms could be related to that, but I highly doubt it. 

1. I use the bathroom two, if not three, times a day for bathroom issues, and feel consistently nauseated, bloated, gassy. I wake up in the morning with a nauseated stomach, and have bathroom issues. Then, I feel the same way after eating lunch, and use the bathroom another two or three times over the course of the day. This has been the case for me for as long as I can remember, though my whole life other people have told me that the average person only defecates once every two or three days. My stomach is constantly in knots, and it does not take a large quantity of food to make me feel sick. I especially feel sick after dairy, cereal, chips/crackers, though I feel sick about one hour after most meals. My stools are very foul smelling as well, and I have frequent diarrhea, gas, bloating. These symptoms have been present for much of my life.

I also often feel as if my food is going to come back up and I feel as if I need to throw up, but it never happens. It is like I feel the food come back up but it then goes back down, and I never feel like I am actually GOING TO throw up. 

2. My breath, the aftertaste in my mouth, and the air coming out of my nose smells/tastes like smoke. This has not always been the case, but has begun recently. I don't mean cigarette smoke, but something akin to the smell of burning wood/campfire/Duraflame logs. This happens mostly after eating chips, cereal, fries, muffins, donuts, etc. I ate Cheerios today and this taste has been lingering in my mouth and on my breath. This is the symptom that in particular makes me concerned about Celiac, because I know someone with the disease whose sweat, breath, and general body odor has this same "smoky" smell if they consume certain foods, only theirs is very strong -- I have also read posts on this very forum that a minority of people experience this. I am the only one who can smell this on myself right now, thankfully, and it is not coming through my pores or sweat, just my breath. It is clearly from a digestion issue. I cannot think of what else might be causing this. 

3. General feeling of tiredness, restlessness, malaise, and exhaustion. I have a lack of energy altogether and find myself very tired and exhausted on a regular basis. This one I could assume is due to my medication, as it affects hormone levels, but that is only my guess. 

I am also considering that these symptoms could be due to lactose intolerance, poor diet, and just a general bad stomach and might not be Celiac, but is it worth it for me to get tested? 

If anyone has any information that is helpful I would greatly appreciate it. 

Hi!

I have a lot of the same symptoms. I have had lactose intolerance when I was younger but “grew out of it.” I think this could also be contributing to my stomach issues because I don’t think I grew out of it. 

I have experienced pretty bad body odor, but not really breath odor. Mine isn’t smoky, as much as it is described as like stool. Who knows why this is. 

Mom currently on an elimination diet, because my endoscopy for celiac was negative. I’m already starting to feel better, but no body odor change yet. 

You should go to your general doctors for an appointment and tell them all of your symptoms. This way they can test for many issues rather than just visiting with a specialized doc and being told you are normal.