Various symptoms - should I get tested?

[rachaelbaci]

Hi all!

I'd love your thoughts on this. I'm a 25 year old female and I've had a few different symptoms so I'm considering getting tested, but I have no family members with celiac or anything like that. I'm not sure if this actually looks like these could mean it or not!

1. I've had these little bumps on my elbows, knuckles, and knees on and off for 5 years. They're like small blisters filled with clear liquid and are super itchy. Anti-itch cream and lotions don't do anything for them, they just sometimes disappear after a while. Wondering if it's dermatitis herpetiformis?
2. I've been diagnosed with anxiety/panic attacks and depression and have been on and off medication for 4 years
3. I had Mono and a Vitamin D deficiency 8 years ago and I haven't been checked for it since then...no idea if I'm still deficient or not, but I am definitely still always tired. I frequently feel sluggish physically, which is different from the mental sluggishness of my depression.
4. I've had stomach/digestion issues for yearssss now and I've been unable to find any actual food allergies. My entire abdomen will feel incredibly bloated for 2 or 3 days at a time, but I'll also just get my stomach bloated frequently after I eat. My stomach also hurts a lot and I'm always paranoid I have appendicitis, but it never turns out to be that and goes away after a bit. I've tried being gluten free/diary free before but I wasn't incredibly strict about it and it seemed to help some? But not always. I'll often feel gross and nauseous in the morning if I eat right before going to bed.
5. I also saw somewhere that sometimes vitiligo can be a symptom (although it's not listed on most sources) and I do have some on my face

I feel like there are more things too, but they've slipped my mind at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[cyclinglady]

Welcome.  
 

Sure, get tested.  I am the first one in my family to be diagnosed with celiac disease.  Make sure you are consuming or have been consuming gluten daily for 6 to 12 weeks or the tests will be invalid.  Here are the tests:
 

https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/screening-and-diagnosis/screening/

[Scott Adams]

Your symptoms certainly sound consistent with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), which is the skin condition associated with celiac disease. @cyclinglady is right, you should request that your doctor give you a blood panel for celiac disease. You also may want to go to a dermatologist to be test for DH if that's possible. Either condition would be treated with a gluten-free diet after all tests are finished.

[rachaelbaci]

Thank you both so much for the response! @cyclinglady @Scott Adams I think I'll go in and get tested, hopefully this would provide some answers for everything finally...

I've tried in the past to have a DR look at the bumps on my hands/elbows, but by the time I actually get into the dr office the bumps have disappeared again since they always come and go. I've just recently started to try and take photos to document them when they're around.

I've also just recently moved to a new location and am looking for a doctor here. I'm very interested in naturopathic/holistic treatment in general, but I'm not sure if they would be able to administer the types of test typically needed to diagnose Celiac. Do you recommend seeing a MD over an ND?

 

[Scott Adams]

I don't have an opinion on and MD vs ND, but I also just got an email from imaware, who does at home celiac blood testing kits, and they are offering $20 off through the end of today for celiac disease screening kits: https://imaware.health. So $79 for a screening, which would almost beat my co-pay for such tests.

[rachaelbaci]

1 hour ago, Scott Adams said:

I don't have an opinion on and MD vs ND, but I also just got an email from imaware, who does at home celiac blood testing kits, and they are offering $20 off through the end of today for celiac disease screening kits: https://imaware.health. So $79 for a screening, which would almost beat my co-pay for such tests.

Awesome, good to know! Thank you so much!

[Juanvw]

Hey,

I would definitely suggest getting tested as it’s better to rule it out if anything however you symptoms seem consistent with similar things I have had previously.