Which Type Of Dr. To Turn To Now?

[flatulencefighter]

I will attempt to be brief, but I have a tendency to ramble. (sorry ) I have recently been to an allergist for terrible sinus problems, and testing for a panel of food allergens was "entirely negative". I am not sure of the scope of the food allergen test, but I could probably get a copy from the physician's office. Well, twice now in the past year I have had "attacks" of bloating gas. The kind that is trapped in the lower GI and just sits there, with little relief throughout the day. This latest incident has been ongoing now for approximately 3 weeks. I have few, if any other symptoms, but I did some searching and came across celiac disease. When the first trapped gas episode occured last year, my Internal Med. doc prescribed Nexium, pepcid, other anti-acids. Well, the gas went away after a month or so, but has returned. I did not alter my diet at all after the symtoms went away. I just ate fewer foods the first time, but still had plenty of gluten laden foods. My guess is there is a food component here, but hey, since I am not a gastroenterologist, I am using the information here and other areas to do some police work myself. I figure an informed patient makes a good Doctor. I started a gluten free diet earlier this week, but after reading more, I noticed that if I am tested for celiac disease my current gluten free diet could muck up the testing. I have had a somewhat "sensitive" stomach over the past few years, but nothing that was somewhat persistent like the latest bout of trapped gas. Should I go straight to a gastroenterologist and skip the Interal Med. physician? I am wondering if my extreme sinus problems have connection to this problem, but back to the negative food allergens from my allergist! Again, my symptoms are mainly trapped, persistent gas, some constipation, and occasional indigestion( if I eat too late in the evening). I am in Atlanta, and was wondering if someone could give me a recommendation for a physician that would attempt to cut to the chase here. I come from a medical family, and from my personal experience, when I have mentioned gluten free diets, frowns and dismissive comments are the most I get. Sorry, I had to vent that. Thanks for any help that comes my way.

[ravenwoodglass]

I will attempt to be brief, but I have a tendency to ramble. (sorry ) I have recently been to an allergist for terrible sinus problems, and testing for a panel of food allergens was "entirely negative". I am not sure of the scope of the food allergen test, but I could probably get a copy from the physician's office. Well, twice now in the past year I have had "attacks" of bloating gas. The kind that is trapped in the lower GI and just sits there, with little relief throughout the day. This latest incident has been ongoing now for approximately 3 weeks. I have few, if any other symptoms, but I did some searching and came across celiac disease. When the first trapped gas episode occured last year, my Internal Med. doc prescribed Nexium, pepcid, other anti-acids. Well, the gas went away after a month or so, but has returned. I did not alter my diet at all after the symtoms went away. I just ate fewer foods the first time, but still had plenty of gluten laden foods. My guess is there is a food component here, but hey, since I am not a gastroenterologist, I am using the information here and other areas to do some police work myself. I figure an informed patient makes a good Doctor. I started a gluten free diet earlier this week, but after reading more, I noticed that if I am tested for celiac disease my current gluten free diet could muck up the testing. I have had a somewhat "sensitive" stomach over the past few years, but nothing that was somewhat persistent like the latest bout of trapped gas. Should I go straight to a gastroenterologist and skip the Interal Med. physician? I am wondering if my extreme sinus problems have connection to this problem, but back to the negative food allergens from my allergist! Again, my symptoms are mainly trapped, persistent gas, some constipation, and occasional indigestion( if I eat too late in the evening). I am in Atlanta, and was wondering if someone could give me a recommendation for a physician that would attempt to cut to the chase here. I come from a medical family, and from my personal experience, when I have mentioned gluten free diets, frowns and dismissive comments are the most I get. Sorry, I had to vent that. Thanks for any help that comes my way.

Your regular doctor can order the celiac panel but many of us show a false negative on the tests, also many doctors will not tell us if the tests results are a low positive. As odd as it sounds they want us to be very, very sick before diagnosis. Call your doctor Monday and ask for a lab slip, get your blood drawn and then I would reccommend just trying the diet for a month or two and see how you feel. Many more savvy doctors are starting to trust the dietary response as diagnostic, many still don't. The celiac reaction also is not an allergy and won't show up as such with the food allergy testing. It is an intolerance and causes a delayed reaction. After you have been gluten-free for a month or so add gluten containing foods back in and watch for a reaction 1 to 5 days later.

[nettiebeads]

I agree with raven. I was dx'd by diet challenge alone. Hey, it's your body and if it functions better on a gluten-free diet, then great. So what if you get looks from family and others. It's not their body and they don't have to live with the pain that you're going through. I just got over a bout of trapped gas and boy, can I relate. My major symptom used to be D, but now it's constipation that I have to address with diet and OTC daily.

Keep us posted!

Annette

[Judyin Philly]

MY CHIRO AND INTERNIST...CHIRO KNOWS MORE ABOUT CELIAC AND MY BODY THAN ALL MY 6 MEDICAL SPECIALISTS BUT TOGETHER..MY INTERNIST IS THE HUB OF MY MEDICAL WHEEL. WILL GIVE ME ANY TEST AND GOOD AT CALMING MY 'FEARS' AND SINCERELY CARES ABOUT ME FINDING ANSWERS. BEEN WITH INTERNIST FOR 25 YEARS AND CHIRO FOR 10.

JUDY IN PHILLY

[flatulencefighter]

Thanks to all for the encouraging words! I will stick with my gluten free diet for the next 3-4 weeks and see if I can come to some sort of answer. In the mean time, I will continue to do as much research as possible. Thanks again This is a really neat site!