New With Questions

[angxmas]

Hi, I'm new here and new to all of this. I haven't had any tests at all for celiac or gluten sensitivity. I'm working on gathering info from EnteroLab to try to figure out what tests I should order. I'm wondering if any of you can give me any advice. I also want to give you a rundown of symptoms and see if I'm on the right track. Both for myself and my dd.

I have had trouble with bloating and flatulence for a few years now. In the last few months it seems it has gotten worse. Seems as though everytime I eat I'm bloated and just feel generally yucky. The last couple of days I've stayed away from gluten and seem to be feeling some better. Not so much of the "fullness" feeling I have so much of the time. I don't have problems with D so much as C. I've had problems with C since my first pg and she will be 9 in May. So, I'm not sure if that was the beginning of this illness or what. I also have FMS. So, I have achiness every day. I get headaches that shoot from the back corner to my eye at times. It's not all the time but seems that some days I will have them off and on all day and other days I don't have them at all. I haven't correlated them with any type of food yet. But I also didn't know to correlate them with gluten until recently. I don't think I have had any of the headaches in the last couple of days, though, and I have had no gluten. So, maybe that's part of it?

Now, my dd. She was very colicy as a baby. She (and I) also had problems with thrush. She did eventually get over it. I, on the other hand, didn't until she was weaned. She told me recently that her tummy always hurts and she is constantly gassy. We have tried eliminating lactose and that doesn't seem to be the problem. She has dark circles under her eyes and seems to be tired alot. She's only 5 so these aren't normal symptoms for children her age. She is a very happy little girl and pleasant to be around. But she's not as healthy as her brother and sister are. She also still has toilet issues. She was next to impossible to potty train. She is trained now. But she still has accidents. Seems as though she just doesn't realize she needs to go at times. Does that have anything to do with gluten??

Sorry, I feel as though I am rambling. Just trying to figure this all out. I want my stomach to be straightened out so that I can go somewhere without worry about feeling ill. And, more so, I want my little girl to be healthy. So, what tests would be recommended from EnteroLab? And is it necessary to go through a dr at all for any type of testing. I don't have ins on myself. So, I need to do as little as possible. If more is required for my dd, though, I will gladly do it.

TIA for all your help! Just from lurking the last few weeks I can see how helpful and kind you all are!

Angela

[Guest nini]

Hi there and welcome!

I don't know much about Enterolab other than most insurance won't cover it and you'll have to pay out of pocket for your tests. I do know that most everyone that has gone through them has been pleased.

My personal experience was going through the medical community and getting a definitive answer for me that way, but my opinion now is that if you try the diet and it works for you and your symptoms go away, then POSITIVE DIETARY RESPONSE is THE most valid diagnostic tool. Blood tests and biopsies can only confirm it if positive, they cannot ever rule it out if negative due to many different factors.

If you are on a budget and trying to do this on your own IF YOU WILL BE OK WITH SELF DIAGNOSIS if you do have positive results from the gluten free diet, then go ahead and try the diet for you and your daughter. Some people need some piece of paper to validate a dx, but I think we are too accustomed to giving Dr.s too much power in our lives and we don't listen to our bodies enough.

If you want to go ahead and try the diet, and give it a good six months before you decide if it's working... keep a log of symptoms and when you notice things either improving or not, right them down in the log. Track your meals in a food diary and keep track of any reactions to anything.

If you would like, I have a newbie survival kit, a collection of files that I have collected over the past 3 years, menus, meal options, food lists, school supplies etc... just e-mail me at nisla@comcast.net and in the subject put "request newbie survival kit"

[DonnaD]

My girls were both colicky babies. I used to want to throw them out of the window, they used to yell from 6-11pm every night.... I felt like the worst mother ever.

After my tiny 11yo biopsied celiac disease in November I did Enterolab myself as I had given conventional medicine 40 + years without much luck. The rest is history!

Donna

[CMCM]

Hi, I'm new here and new to all of this. I haven't had any tests at all for celiac or gluten sensitivity. I'm working on gathering info from EnteroLab to try to figure out what tests I should order. I'm wondering if any of you can give me any advice. I also want to give you a rundown of symptoms and see if I'm on the right track. Both for myself and my dd.

I have had trouble with bloating and flatulence for a few years now. In the last few months it seems it has gotten worse. Seems as though everytime I eat I'm bloated and just feel generally yucky. The last couple of days I've stayed away from gluten and seem to be feeling some better. Not so much of the "fullness" feeling I have so much of the time. I don't have problems with D so much as C. I've had problems with C since my first pg and she will be 9 in May. So, I'm not sure if that was the beginning of this illness or what. I also have FMS. So, I have achiness every day. I get headaches that shoot from the back corner to my eye at times. It's not all the time but seems that some days I will have them off and on all day and other days I don't have them at all. I haven't correlated them with any type of food yet. But I also didn't know to correlate them with gluten until recently. I don't think I have had any of the headaches in the last couple of days, though, and I have had no gluten. So, maybe that's part of it?

Now, my dd. She was very colicy as a baby. She (and I) also had problems with thrush. She did eventually get over it. I, on the other hand, didn't until she was weaned. She told me recently that her tummy always hurts and she is constantly gassy. We have tried eliminating lactose and that doesn't seem to be the problem. She has dark circles under her eyes and seems to be tired alot. She's only 5 so these aren't normal symptoms for children her age. She is a very happy little girl and pleasant to be around. But she's not as healthy as her brother and sister are. She also still has toilet issues. She was next to impossible to potty train. She is trained now. But she still has accidents. Seems as though she just doesn't realize she needs to go at times. Does that have anything to do with gluten??

Sorry, I feel as though I am rambling. Just trying to figure this all out. I want my stomach to be straightened out so that I can go somewhere without worry about feeling ill. And, more so, I want my little girl to be healthy. So, what tests would be recommended from EnteroLab? And is it necessary to go through a dr at all for any type of testing. I don't have ins on myself. So, I need to do as little as possible. If more is required for my dd, though, I will gladly do it.

TIA for all your help! Just from lurking the last few weeks I can see how helpful and kind you all are!

Angela

As a baby I was much like your daughter. My mom couldn't breast feed, I couldn't drink cow's milk, I had terrible colic for months, and finally I was able to drink goat's milk. So my whole life I always knew dairy was an issue, but I actually didn't consider the celiac thing as a reason for my digestive problems. My mom was diagnosed celiac back in 1969, but I was never skinny so I didn't consider that for myself. After finding out about Enterolab and reading about all the tests, I decided rather than doing it piecemeal and more expensively, the best thing was the full gluten panel, which included the casein sensitivity test as a bonus, and also the gene test. This full panel covers most of what you'd want to know. The gene test will show if there's a predisposition to celiac/gluten sensitivity at the very least, but if you found out you had the genes, you'd then want to get other tests, so my rationale was just do it all at once, which is much cheaper than buying the various tests bit by bit. The price now is about $369 I think, but it's well worth it. That includes shipping the kit to you, and then when you send it back you just call DHL and it's all prepaid and they come to your house to pick it up and overnight it to Enterolab. It's best to arrange things so you can have the sample picked up on a Monday or Tuesday. I called DHL the night before I wanted the pick-up, and they can tell you within just a couple of hours time frame when they'll come for it.