Awaiting Diagnosis

[dotinaz]

I had endoscopy and colonoscopy on Wednesday and was diagnosed with Barrets esophogas and hiatal hernia and they did a biopsy to check for celiac disease. I don't have terrible digestive symptoms. Just bad heartburn, bloating and upset stomach. I am anemic and have TERRIBLE aches and pains in my shoulders and legs. I'm almost hoping for a positive diagnosis, hoping that cutting out gluten will relieve me of all my pain. Am I crazy?? Does the diet keep the disease from progressing? Should I continue to eat gluten products in case they want a blood test also? Thanks for your help

[jabberwife]

I'm sorry to hear that you've had these diagnoses! My heart goes out to you while you wait on these results. I too am awaiting the results of my celiac tests, hoping that the gluten-free diet will make me feel better in the long run.

If you do have celiac, cutting out all gluten will keep it from progressing. I'm not sure about the effects of celiac on your other diagnoses, but I imagine that if the doctors thought enough that it might be linked (way to go doctors!) that perhaps the gluten free diet will help there as well.

If you are going to have a blood test, eating gluten will give it a better chance of being positive. However, the blood test is not all that accurate--you might try looking into enterolab.com and ordering the test from them. You can do it in your own home, and it's kinda pricey, but it might be worth it, even if your colonoscopy comes back negative, you could still have a gluten intolerance that is causing these symptoms. This test does not require you to continue to eat gluten. Check it out. This is what I'm waiting on right now!

Good luck. And stay posting on this site--some of these folks have eased my mind in the last few weeks!