Self-diagnosed, Looking For Help Understanding..

[Guest nomad411]

Hi,

I've pretty much "had" to self-diagnose, after years and years of doctors not finding anything wrong with me..

I now believe that I have celiac, and have had issues from birth. Or possibly was lactose intolerant to begin with and it has brought on all these other troubles.

Basically, after about 3 years of strict diet and supplement experimentation, I feel mostly better (though probably malnourished), but react more strongly to the wrong foods when ingested. For me, the wrong foods are Gluten, Dairy, Corn and Sugar. Probably some other things too that I don't notice as much, like Soy..

One day soon I hope to sit down with a naturopath and see if someone can help me figure out once and for all what my problems are..

My question for today really is this: Most people here who get gluten-ed complain of diahrrea. For me it's constipation, and slow poisoning from it as far as I can tell.. Is that also a Celiac response?

What I hate the most is that I get so mentally affected when I get the wrong food in. Anxiety, panic, etc.. If I eat gluten longterm (As I did in the spring by mistake eating spelt bread for a month), I get very "schizophrenic?", I hear whispering, get very paranoid and estranged from reality, plus constipation and bloody stools.

I'm kinda tired, not even sure I make sense at this point so I'll stop there..

I'd really appreciate comments and/or suggestions based on what i said above.

Thanks a lot

G

[Ann1231]

Hi, I'm sorry you are going thru this.

I am one of the overweight, constipated, bloody stools celiac people. I also have bouts of depression and anxiety. I don't have any schizophrenic episodes but it stands to reason that if your whole body is out of whack, your emotions and mental state would be affected. What's your blood sugar like? Hypoglycemia can really mess with your mind too.

I can not have dairy, gluten, sugar, or any starchy foods. Basically I'm on a lean meat and vegetable way of life. It has changed everything about my life. I don't have all the anxieties, depression, constipation, blood sugar dives like I used to. I am on zoloft right now because of depression but that's because of a very difficult year of death and illnesses and a few other events that happened all at once.

You really should see a dr., naturapath, homeopath or qualified medical person to sort out your symptoms and make sure it's celiac and not something else. This is very treatable and you don't have to be in misery.

Take care,

Ann

[chuikov]

Nomad,

For me the symptoms are painful and urgent poops. Constipation is something that I still have difficulty imagining.

Maybe the opposite symptoms happen, but not in my experience.

[Bonnie]

Nomad,

I also have huge problems with constipation. Have had my whole life. It makes my body toxic which causes liver problems etc. I too have had bloody stools.

I have only been gluten-free for 9 months and although I feel so much better the constipation hasn't changed at all.

I have tried every remedy and laxative I can get my hands on over the years. At the moment I use a herbal remedy - 7 tablets a day - so that I can have one BM a day. This keeps my toxicity levels way down. I used to go a month without a single movement and I was getting so ill - I can't explain to you how much better I feel going regularly, even if I have to take something every day to be able to!

I, like you, have many food intolerances - sugar being one.

I have had serious bouts of depression and really bad anxiety attacks but since going gluten-free these symptoms have disappeared.

You sound as if you are at the end of your tether. I really think you need to see someone to help you sort out your diet. I am a firm believer in you are what you eat. Perhaps you will need medication for the nervous system problems but I think sorting our your diet may negate that.

Good luck - I really hope you start feeling better soon. Let us know how you get on.

Yvonne

[Guest nomad411]

Thank you all for caring and the suggestions..

It was very late when I was writing and I was a bit under the weather. I'm not doing that bad, but yes, I DO need to sit with a doctor and a naturopath and see where I go from here.

Thanks again

Gerard

[kristing]

like you, i had to 'self-diagnose'. i was having seizures about this time last year, and after being tested for brain tumors and epilepsy, i did some reasearch and found celiac disease. even though i thought this was what was wrong with me, no doctor agreed. i began following the diet on my own, then this summer i finally made my own appointment with a gastroenterologist and specifically asked for a celiac disease test. first came a blood test, then a biopsy of my intestine. this test will show for sure whether you have celiac disease or not. if you've been following the diet for a long time, you would need to 'load up' on gluten before your test, but at least you'd know for sure. this is a pretty big lifestyle change for you to not know for sure what's going on. again, i have to stress that you need to specifically ask for the celiac disease test, because most doctors don't know as much about it as they should. as far as the constipation and other things, i have not had those symptoms, but the voices you're hearing and other problems, my sister was going through about the same time i was having my seizures. she was diagnosed with anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc etc before i told her to get tested for celiac disease. she did, tested positive like me, and got off her medication and hasn't had any problems since. also, as far as the medicine, make sure THAT is gluten free too! many medicines are either made with gluten or dusted with flour. also, if you have soy problems, that could explain why you're still having problems since most gluten free food is made with soy.

i hope you get to a doctor soon and get tested for these problems so you know for sure. celiac disease is a manageable disease with the right help.

[StrongerToday]

I'm one of the ones who went to the dr. thinking I needed something major done (gallbladder?) and his first statement was "these sound like food intolerences". What? Wou want me to stop eating gluten and diary foods??? Wouldn't gallbladder sugery be easier? It was hard (still is some days) and I was doing great until the holidays. Then things started piling on me (work stress, daughter was ill, holidays) and I stopped sleeping well, didn't want to leave the house, and was afraid of a lot of foods.

My dr. just started me on an anti-depressent (which I've just recently been posting about). The first one made me incredibly queasy, fatigued, aggitated and gave me a migraine so now I'm trying a new one today (and we're starting out at a very low dose). I'm also trying to get in with a therapist that was recommended to me.

Just knowing that I"m doing something about this is making me feel better already - I can't wait to actually be in the middle of my recovery.

This is a lot to take on, and then you have all the physical symptoms and changes happening too. It's ok to ask for help, please do!