Could it be celiac?

[Sarahf538]

Hi everyone! I am new here! I am a 23 y/o female and I’ve been struggling with alternating constipation and diarrhea for years. I had lab testing done last year and it showed low iron levels. I’ve been feeling bloated, nauseous, tired, and tingling occasionally in my hands and fingers. I have a history of reflux and ulcers from a prior endoscopy 8-9 years ago. I have no family history but wondering if I could still have celiac? I’m scheduling a endo/colonoscopy to be sure. I also took a food sensitivity test last august and I had a higher than normal reaction to gluten, wheat, barley, and rye. Any advice would be appreciated!!  

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Sarahf538.

First, by "food sensitivity test" do you mean you had food allergy testing done? Celiac disease is not an allergy but an autoimmune disorder and so it is connected to an entirely different immune system pathway than are food allergies.

All the symptoms you describe are common to either celiac disease and/or gluten sensitivity. Celiac disease does damage to the villi lining the small bowel. This is the area of the intestine where the nutrients from our food are absorbed into the body. Gluten sensitivity produces many of the same symptoms as does celiac disease but does not damage the small bowel lining. With celiac disease, the ingestion of gluten triggers an autoimmune response in the small bowel that produces inflammation. Over time, this inflammation severely damages the villi and so reduces our ability to absorb nutrients from our food.

Have you had a celiac antibody blood test done yet. Usually, the edoscopy/biopsy of the small bowel, when done, comes after the blood antibody test.

[Sarahf538]

1 minute ago, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, Sarahf538.

First, by "food sensitivity test" do you mean you had food allergy testing done? Celiac disease is not an allergy but an autoimmune disorder and so it is connected to an entirely different immune system pathway than are food allergies.

All the symptoms you describe are common to either celiac disease and/or gluten sensitivity. Celiac disease does damage to the villi lining the small bowel. This is the area of the intestine where the nutrients from our food are absorbed into the body. Gluten sensitivity produces many of the same symptoms as does celiac disease but does not damage the small bowel lining. With celiac disease, the ingestion of gluten triggers an autoimmune response in the small bowel that produces inflammation. Over time, this inflammation severely damages the villi and so reduces our ability to absorb nutrients from our food.

Have you had a celiac antibody blood test done yet. Usually, the edoscopy/biopsy of the small bowel, when done, comes after the blood antibody test.

Hi! Thanks for the welcome! And no it was not official allergy testing but a food intolerance test through a blood sample. I just thought I would include that because it seemed odd that I just happened to have a higher than normal response to all of those along with symptoms I am having. And no I have not had an antibody test. I spoke with a gastroenterologist and he suggested to go straight to the endo/colonoscopy because he wanted to look and see what was causing my problems. He did not mention a blood test.

[trents]

If the endoscopy/biopsy shows no villi damage then you could still very well have non celiac gluten sensitivity. That's the value of the antibody blood test. Both celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity will give positive test results. And the antidote is the same for both conditions. Total avoidance of gluten for life.