My First Appointment W/gi Went Well!

[natalunia]

My GP referred me to this gastroenterologist that he felt would be good to diagnose me, and it turns out he was right.

Dr. Stagg read all my medical and family medical history in advance to get familiar, asked me some more questions, and listened to me explain my reactions to eating things like cake, beer, etc. When I got through talking he said, "We'll run a celiac panel, since it really does sound like you do have celiac disease. In the meantime, I want to go ahead and check you out for colitis, etc."

I went and had my blood drawn right after that and should know the results by early next week. Now I am super anxious waiting to hear if I have positive bloodwork or not. I have decided to go on a gluten-free diet regardless of the results though. He told me I can go ahead and start actively avoiding gluten now that I've had the blood tests.

Dr. Stagg seemed to feel the bloodwork would confirm my suspicions, but that even if they don't, he thinks the endoscopy is not really necessary since I had improvement on the 2 week induction phase of the south beach diet. I guess he is one of those docs who think response to a gluten-free diet is a true indication. He did feel the colonoscopy was necessary due to my family history of some colon cancers/polyps.

[ravenwoodglass]

My GP referred me to this gastroenterologist that he felt would be good to diagnose me, and it turns out he was right.

Dr. Stagg read all my medical and family medical history in advance to get familiar, asked me some more questions, and listened to me explain my reactions to eating things like cake, beer, etc. When I got through talking he said, "We'll run a celiac panel, since it really does sound like you do have celiac disease. In the meantime, I want to go ahead and check you out for colitis, etc."

I went and had my blood drawn right after that and should know the results by early next week. Now I am super anxious waiting to hear if I have positive bloodwork or not. I have decided to go on a gluten-free diet regardless of the results though. He told me I can go ahead and start actively avoiding gluten now that I've had the blood tests.

Dr. Stagg seemed to feel the bloodwork would confirm my suspicions, but that even if they don't, he thinks the endoscopy is not really necessary since I had improvement on the 2 week induction phase of the south beach diet. I guess he is one of those docs who think response to a gluten-free diet is a true indication. He did feel the colonoscopy was necessary due to my family history of some colon cancers/polyps.

Congrats on finding a good doctor, they are hard to come by. I am also glad to hear your going to do the diet no matter what the tests say. That really is the true test and your lucky to find a doctor that agrees.

[floridanative]

Wow - you are so lucky to have such a competent doctor. And he's right about the diet being the ultimate and definitive tests, regardless of the blood test results since the current blood test for Celiac misses between 10-20% of actively sick patients. Good luck getting better. Each week brings something new to me that is a positive response to the diet and I'm so thankful I was dianosed fairly quickly compared to most you'll meet here.