Just Need To Vent

[bscarter46]

It has been two weeks since I had my blood work done and I called the GI's office Wednesday and she still hasn't called me back to let me know what they are or mean. I am getting very frustrated and depressed. I feel like I will never find out what is wrong and will always suffer. My appointment to follow up with her isn't until May 25th! I cannot and will not wait that long to find out if I actually have a disease or not. My opinion is if you can't be courteous enough to give a patient a call back about theirs results then do not tell them they may have a disease they will have for the rest of their lives! Its crazy and stressful for us. I guess I vented enough for now. Thanks for anyone that listens and hope your day is going great!

[bscarter46]

I called the doctor back and she said all of my labs were fine other than the anemia. I know better. Both gliadins where positive. She said no IBD on colonoscopy, no food allergy, just anemia and that I am fine. I know better. I think I may start the diet on my own and see for myself. I am so upset right now all I can do is cry. I'm right back to where I started, sick and no idea why. I can't afford to lose anymore weight. I am already underweight and depressed. I eat all the time, love food so something is going on. I have no idea what ingredients or things to avoid on the diet so any help right now would be appreciated.

[gf4life]

Beverly,

I am so sorry that you are suffering so much and not able to get a definative answer to your problems. With both gliadin antibodies positive they should have given you a biopsy. They may still want to do that. You could request one, if you want it. It can be frustrating to have to wait so long for a follow-up appointment. It is as if some doctors just doesn't understand the extent of our suffering. If they were ill with symptoms like ours would they want to wait 6 weeks to see the doctor?! I don't think so.

Have you checked into Open Original Shared Link ? There tests are more sensitive than the blood tests and can pick up gluten intolerance in it's early stages. But they are not widely accepted by most doctors. Some do accept them though.

You could start the diet now, but it will affect the biopsy if you choose to have it later. If you plan to try to get the doctor to do a biopsy, then you should wait to start the diet. If you would like to just do the diet and forget the "official" diagnosis, then many of us here can help you get started.

God bless,

Mariann

[j9n]

I know exactly what you are going through! I am going through the same thing. I was so very sick this week and not only could I not talk to the doctor I could not even talk to a nurse. After 3 days of trying I called my primary care doctor and had them run interference for me. They could not tell me about celiac since it wasn't mentioned in the report so I have to wait for my appointment. At least my primary listened to me and helped me adjust my medication. I dont understand how a person can be suffering and they just expect us to wait. We still have lives and jobs and family we need to take care of.

[Guest gillian502]

Sounds like you need an endoscopy, and really with positive antibodies your dr. should have suggested that as your next step. I would either change drs. and request that, or demand that from this one. It's too important to allow them to ignore it. Blood work seems to say very little about a person's health at times, because it always depends on exactly what the dr. was testing. My blood from my GI doc came back with terrible results, showing I wasn't recovering from this disease as I should be. Then, blood work that my orthopedist had taken checking other parts of my health came back so good he said I had the blood work "of an Olympic athlete." The difference can be huge depending on what was checked. Don't feel alone in this, remember, many have suffered like this and still came out of it ok in the end, so just hang in there and keep being proactive about your care.

[bscarter46]

Thank you all so much for your replies. My husband took my test results to a doctor he works with(he works in medical records in a hospital) and the doctor said the IgA level was negative and that the ranges beside of it wasn't the right ones to go by but the ones to the IGG. My IGG was positive 33 and my IgA just has <20 so it is negative. The doctor said I may have had something for a while from both pregnancies and am now its going into remission and it could be nothing but simply pregnancy, that it can cause all kinds of weird things. Also he said I should request to have the test to determine exactly what may be causing my anemia. I've had it for years and never knew I could do that but he said they only do it if you request it. He said I may just not be absorbing iron. I am surprised the GI didn't even mention IBS. I always thought that if everything came back negative then that was their usual diagnosis. I still don't know what is wrong but I'm feeling better. Again thanks for all of your help!

[Stephanie]

Hello All,

I am new to the group and the whole Celiac life. Beverly, I had testing a few weeks ago, I also had some parts came back negative, but my IGG was positive at 68. My Dr. says that indicates Celiac. I've started the diet, but it has been so hard and frustrating for me.

Stephanie