A Few Newbie Questions

[munchkinette]

Hi, I'm totally new. This is my first post, so forgive me if a lot of this is redundant.

OK, so I've been anemic off and on for the last 3 years or so. I've had some random problems in the past. In the last 2-3 months I've been really tired, so I started taking my iron supplements again. In the last month I've been REALLY tired. Nothing after a few months of iron.

In the last month my acne has been insanely bad- worse than ever in my life. I've also had to use my albuterol inhaler for the first time in a few years. So two weeks ago I went to the doctor. She did some tests and the only one that came back low was ferritin. That was 2 days ago so I haven't been able to talk to her. While looking around on the internet I discovered that iron absorption problems can be related to celiac disease.

I doubt I have anything as severe as celiac, but I decided to cut out gluten for a while. So far it has been a week. I've probably had some gluten from oats and processed food, but no wheat at all. I feel fantastic already, so I'm going to keep doing this for a couple more weeks until I can see my doctor again. I have some questions though:

1. Does anyone know how ferritin works? It seems that it is the protein that absorbs iron, but how does that relate to gluten? Is ferritin actually on the small intestines? My other iron. b12, folate, etc levels are fine.

2. What are "pure oats"? I keep seeing stuff about contaminated oats but I haven't seen one thing about which brands are less likely to be contaminated with wheat. I usually eat McCann's Irish Oatmeal, and I don't think they make any other products.

3. How common is acne for gluten intolerant people? I don't have problems like DH or rashes on my entire body- it's just severe acne on my face, and it's only been this bad for the last couple of months. It has been a lot worse in the past few years, however.

4. What drugs have people been able to discontinue since discovering a gluten intolerance? I've needed Ritalin (for ADD) for the past few years. It seems like I've needed a lot of drugs in the last few years for random things including depression and allergies, but most of those things are on the list of things that might be attributed to gluten intolerance.

Thanks in advance!

[munchkinette]

So my doctor ordered a "Celiac Panel" of bloodtests. She said to eat wheat again for a week and I don't have to fast before the test.

What bloodtests would be in a "Celiac Panel"? Normally my tests are linked to descriptions, but I can't find any information about this.

[IronedOut]

Hi - First, welcome to the board. Glad you found it. Everyone here is very helpful and supportive.

This is a link to another thread that lists the full panel.

Open Original Shared Link

I had considerable irons issues which relate to the damage in the intestine. Damaged villi do not absorb well.

The oats issue is still a hot topic. The contamination seems to come not only from processing plants but actual harvesting as well. Some folks can handle them and some can't. It seems to be an individual thing. As are most of the choices and reactions among the many of us.

There is a whole pharamcy's worth of drugs listed here that people have stopped (and started) as a result of starting the gluten free diet. Try browsing through the pre and post diagnosis listings. You'll find it all.

I know I gave some pretty vague answers but I didn't want you to think we hadn't noticed you. Most folks post through the evening and overnight. Keep checking back and I'm sure you'll find plenty of additional information.

[floridanative]

Hi, I'm totally new. This is my first post, so forgive me if a lot of this is redundant.

1. Does anyone know how ferritin works? It seems that it is the protein that absorbs iron, but how does that relate to gluten? Is ferritin actually on the small intestines? My other iron. b12, folate, etc levels are fine.

Thanks in advance!

Hi and welcome! You may have noticed I can only help you with one question but it's a start right?!

My main symptom is anemia so I am familiar with ferritin. As it was explained to me by three different docs, it is the level of your iron stores. So for instance when I started taking iron, the doc checked my iron level again after six weeks but she forgot to check the ferritin level. She said you're fine now go off the iron and oops I started being really lethargic again pretty soon after that. So then another doc checked several things and called me back in to say my anemia was still present among other things like my tTg antibody indicated a problem. My iron stores (ferritin) are still too low but the doc says to check again after six months on the diet. Good luck to you!

[munchkinette]

Thanks! I know some of these answers are already somewhere on the forum, but this is all so overwhelming. I've already lost some weight in the past 10 days, but it's partly because it's such an ordeal to read every single label or because I'm so freakin' sick of corn.