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[baby.alpaca]

Hello,

I'm very happy to have found this forum.

I'm a 30 y.o. male. My issues begin about two years back. I was under a lot of work stress at this time and living in areas where food options where limited. I suddenly found my body was getting sick daily. I attributed this to the food I was consuming at the time, small towns where ingredients weren't the best and hygiene wasn't the ideal. I was getting diarrhea with heavy gas daily. At first I tried taking over the counter medicine, but this didn't help much. I started limiting my diet to only fruit, toasted bread and tuna yet I was still getting sick daily. Eventually I ended up going to the town doctor who said I had colitis and that it was caused by stress. 
I remember she gave me some medication and I eventually ended up quitting that work gig because the stress was too much. When I got back home to the city my health improved but there were still some small issues (not as noticeable as before but still there). 
A few months later I had an anal abscess which came very close to extending to other organs and damaged my sphincter about 40% (I only mention this because I've read that celiac disease can sometimes be triggered by surgery). This wasn't my first anal surgery, as I had already had an anal fissure about a year prior. 
Once the anal abscess healed I had another surgery to help correct my sphincter but the result wasn't what we expected. I ended up doing hyperbaric chamber to help my wound heal. 
This entire process caused me a great deal of stress. Due to the damage to my sphincter I had a small level of gas incontinence which caused even more stress.
The diarrhea and gas problems where still very present. I was depressed and didn't understand why I was getting sick daily. My proctologist told me to visit a gastroenterologist he recommended. He said before we continue working on my sphincter we have to find out what is causing these issues. The gastro. had me do some some test on a sample of my excrement. When she saw the results she said everything looked ok except for the level of mucus. She said I should have a colonoscopy. I did, and they took a biopsy. Results showed that the small fibers that absorb the nutrients where damaged and almost completely gone and that there was some type of colitis present (I forget the name). She then said I had to have blood tests because this might be celiac disease. She said it wasn't chrons or cancer.
I just had the tests done two days ago and results will be ready until the 22nd of this month.

Now, I've written all this just to ask.... since I've already had the blood tests (I made sure to consume gluten daily prior to my blood tests) and I've already had the colonoscopy and biopsy. Do you think I'd be okay if I started a gluten free diet from now? 

From what I gather from my doctor, based on the colonoscopy and biopsy results she's pretty sure it could be celiac disease but she just needs the blood tests to confirm.

Thank you for your time!

 

[GFinDC]

Hi,

You need to be eating gluten daily for 8 to 12 weeks before the blood tests.  And be eating  gluten for 2 weeks before the endoscopy.  If this didn't happen, your test results may not be valid.

I suggest you cut down eating gluten to a minimal amount for now,  Don't stop entirely until the Dr, appointment and test verification.  You'll need to decide if you are going to follow the gluten-free diet regardless of the test results.  I suggest you decide to go gluten-free for 1 year and see how it affects your health regardless of test results.  Our bodies are pretty good about letting us know what they don't like if we listen.

[trents]

Welcome to he forum, baby.alpaca!

I'm a little confused by your post. Doctors don't use a colonoscopy to diagnose celiac disease. They use an "endoscopy." A colonoscopy examines the lower intestinal track below the area that is directly affected by celiac disease. Celiac disease directly affects the small bowel, the area just below the stomach. It damages the mucosa of the small bowel which is where the nutrients in our food are absorbed. Specifically, it blunts the "villi," the small, finger like projections of the mucosal lining that provide the abundant surface area for nutrient absorption. Celiac disease is classified as an autoimmune disease and one that is triggered by the ingestion of the gluten found in wheat, barely, rye and (for about 10% of celiacs) oats. 

A colonoscopy cannot reach up far enough to examine and biopsy the small bowel so they run the scope down through the mouth, throat, stomach and into the small bowel. So my question is, has your doctor scheduled an endoscopy for you yet? If so, you should continue eating the equivalent of 1-2 slices of wheat bread per day until the scoping is done. If your gastro has already done the blood tests specific for celiac disease, and they are positive, he (or she) may or may not want to do an endoscopy. If you can gut it out (excuse the pun), I would continue to consume some gluten until you find out whether or not your doctor wants an endoscopy done. You can cut back on gluten but continue to eat 1 or 2 slices of wheat bread worth of gluten daily to prevent healing of the mucosa. On the other hand, if the blood tests are positive for celiac disease you may opt to forego the endoscopy/biopsy of the small bowel and just assume you have celiac disease. 

Historically, the endoscopy/biopsy of the small bowel has been the gold standard for confirming celiac disease but there is a recent tendency for doctors to forego it if the blood tests are strongly positive. 

Having said all that, other bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis are experienced by celiacs in higher numbers than with the general population. In fact, there is a higher incidence of many autoimmune diseases in the celiac population than in the general population.