Is Anyone Here Not Actually Diagnosed?

[kalanfan]

Hi im new and i was wondering if anyone here hasnt actually been diagnosed with celiacs.....ive been dealing with various stomach issues for as long as i can remember and ive tried so many things...ive been poked and proded,had all different meds thrown at me, ive tried eliminating dairy numerous times and went down to a basic plain diet with no flavour what so ever. At the end of all that i have the IBS diagnosis and im not happy with it. So i started to go gluten free a couple days ago. Even thought ive had a blood test that came back negative and ive also had an ultrasound and a colonoscopy that showed nothing(except a biopsy during the colonoscopy that came back that it was mildly inflamed but my gastro doctor said it was nothing). So this is where i am now.....my dad read that you can be gluten sensitive without having celiacs...so im going gluten free. Its been like 3 days and im already frustruated.....like why do they need to put wheat in SOY SAUCE!!! give me one good reason!!! so yeah thats my long explanation of my original question...lol

[rinne]

I have had the blood test but it came back negative and I am waiting to have the scope but since early May I have been gluten free, other than accidental glutenings, so I am not expecting a positive diagnosis. I have a lifetime of digestion issues, my sister is a Celiac and I am getting better on a gluten free diet. That is good enough for me. I also fit the typical Celiac crisis at this time with an unexplained weight loss of 35 pounds in four months and since going gluten free my weight seems to have stabilized.

There is gluten free soy sauce but yah, they put wheat in everything.

Welcome to the forum, it is a great place with lots of wonderful people who are very well informed.

[kalanfan]

im actually hoping to loss weight going gluten-free....i seem to eat a lot less now that there are less options...it also makes good for cutting out carbs.......

[CarlaB]

like why do they need to put wheat in SOY SAUCE!!! give me one good reason!!!

Maybe processing the wheat for the sauce is cheaper???? Wheat free soy sauce is good, and the bonus is, it's SOY!! What I don't understand is why they don't call the other "wheat sauce" since wheat usually comes before soy on the label!

My testing came back negative, but I had been gluten-free for some time. I went to Enterolab and came back as gluten intolerant. So, technically I'm not diagnosed celiac. I have very severe symptoms, wasting, diarrhea, sharp stomach pain, joint pain, blisters on my scalp, bruising easily, low thyroid, off and on anemia, etc. My only diagnosis though, is gluten intolerance because by the time I was tested my intestines looked fine. Or maybe they never had the damage, but I wouldn't understand how that could be based on my symptoms!

So, yes, there are some here not diagnosed celiac.

[lonewolf]

The closest thing to a diagnosis I have is an ELISA test done 10 years ago that showed a high reaction to wheat and gluten (among other foods). By the time I learned about Celiac Disease I had been wheat-free, with very little gluten, for so long that no test could possibly show anything. I did have a gene test done, which shows that I DON'T have either of the 2 main Celiac genes. I don't know what I "have", but I guess it doesn't matter since my health has improved a TON since going wheat-free and taken another huge leap forward going completely gluten-free. I never had the "classic" celiac symptoms like weight loss (darn!), but I have a lot of the other symptoms (thyroid issues, diagnosed with IBS, skin problems, dental enamel defects, etc.) that a lot of diagnosed Celiacs have. I don't think I'll ever really figure it out, but I'll never knowingly eat gluten again.

[AndreaB]

My family went through enterolab and didn't have any symptoms. Just going off of my allergy tests. 3 out of 4 of us that were tested came back with an active gluten intolerance and we found out that we each have 2 genes that either predispose to celiac or predispose to gluten sensitivity.

[ianm]

No diagnosis for me and don't need one. It is so obvious that gluten is a problem for me.

[ArtGirl]

I haven't been officially diagnosed. Ten years ago a food sensitivity test showed positive to gluten. I've just sent a sample off to Enterolab and should know something for certain in a few weeks. However, I'm not sure I really want an official diagnosis if it will be perceived by insurance companies as a pre-existing condition. I haven't had health insurance for over ten years so haven't relied on medical doctors for much of anything. I don't see my changing this now that I have health insurance (just got it). I'm not even sure I'll mention it to the doctor when I do finally get around to making an appointment.

[ErraticBinxie]

I have never been diagnosed. But my mom was when I was little and I felt better without gluten. So I have been gluten-free most of my life. But it sucks because my doctor refuses to believe that celiac even exists. So I will go through my life without it on my medical records. Oh well.

[rinne]

I'm sorry, I just realized that this was the teenagers only section, I am definitely not a teenager. So embarrassed, backing out the door.....please excuse.

[Corkdarrr]

My bloodwork came back negative yesterday, which was to be expected since I'd been off gluten for a few weeks prior to the test. Plus when I asked my doctor - don't I need to be actively eating gluten before this test? - he said no.

I was found to be gluten sensitive about six or seven years ago and I cut back and felt better (no debilitating pain). I've been hypothyroid for 12 years and suspect that I'm borderline anemic. I've had stomach issues for as long as I can remember and now the daily migraines have kicked in.

I don't know how much of this is related to gluten, but I know that I feel better when I'm actively avoiding it. I'm anxious to see how much more I will improve by continuing a gluten-free diet. I doubt I'll ever get a diagnosis - from what I understand there has to be significant damage or severe symptoms for a test to come back positive. Either way, I'm not going to go out and eat a dozen bagels and chase it down with a six pack just because I've not been officially diagnosed!

You're definately not alone and I'm glad you found this website - it has been a GREAT source of information and support for me so far!

[wolfie]

I have not been officialy diagnosed with Celiac, but with gluten sensitivity. I went gluten-free before I saw the GI, who wanted to do an endoscopy, but was feeling so good that I decided not to go back to eating gluten as the end result was the same ~ a gluten-free diet. I did have positive bloodwork and a positive dietary response and that is good enough for me. My son was just diagnosed with Celiac, so it is probably very likely that I do have Celiac. I was diagnosed with IBS years ago and have pretty much felt like crap most of the 8 years or so. I think I just got used to feeling bad and accepted that as "normal".

[wozzy]

I wasn't actually diagnosed. My dad has it and my sister has it. I got a blood test that came back negative (I think, or else the doc didn't know how to read it...they said I'm really allergic to dust). I also wasn't eating much gluten at the time.

I didn't get anything else. I went to my dad's GI once, and he just told me to keep a food diary. I did that for a few days and felt like I was going to die, so I just stopped eating gluten. I felt better, though, and I get sick when I eat gluten...so I don't really need much more of a diagnosis than that.

[rachael128]

Hi.

I have only been gluten free for about 2 months but my mom has been gluten free for a couple of years, and i recently decided to go gluten free with her after being diagnosed with gluten sensitivity.

There's a lot of rly good gluten free food out there, there's Amy's pizza ( though if your off diary you can't have this), Whole Foods Sandwhich bread, and the Gluten Free Pantry mixes, i even found a gluten, dairy, yeast free Falafel mix by Orgran (which i had today and is rly good).

Good luck with the gluten free diet, and dont worry it gets easier.

[katrinamaria]

hey!

i don't have an "official celiac diagnosis" either. i pretty much self diagnosed after alot of research and trial & error. i talked to my dr. and she said that that was most likely what it is (or at least a gluten intolerance) and she said that since i don't have the "offical diagnosis" she can't put it in my "official records" which is ok i guess cause she said that helps in in the long run for insurance purposes but we know its there. so i wouldn't worry about it. if you makes you feel better, who cares what anyone else says!!

kms

[LonelyWolf307]

I'm a self-diagnosed celiac too, I've had so many probes and tests done, and I'm sick of the idiot doctors prodding at me. I had never even heard of Celiac disease until they sent me to a gastroenterologist and they did a blood test for it, which came up negative, but when I went to study it a lot of the symptoms were remarkably similar to what I was experiencing. Going gluten free and having my symptoms improved was enough confirmation for me. Stupid doctors...

[Speedy]

I Was Diagnosed when i was about 13 months old and that was about 18 years ago, i had all types of tests done, like thousands of blood tests, they put a camera down my mouth to get a peice of my esophogus (or how ever you spell it) and some other ones. They did more tests on me then they usually do to people cause i could of been born with some other disease which i totally cannot remember the name but i can describe it. Its where my lungs would give out more than likely by the time im 10, i would be on an oxygen tank my entire life. But i can think of the name.

[Confused in Iowa]

Hi im new and i was wondering if anyone here hasnt actually been diagnosed with celiacs.....ive been dealing with various stomach issues for as long as i can remember and ive tried so many things...ive been poked and proded,had all different meds thrown at me, ive tried eliminating dairy numerous times and went down to a basic plain diet with no flavour what so ever. At the end of all that i have the IBS diagnosis and im not happy with it. So i started to go gluten free a couple days ago. Even thought ive had a blood test that came back negative and ive also had an ultrasound and a colonoscopy that showed nothing(except a biopsy during the colonoscopy that came back that it was mildly inflamed but my gastro doctor said it was nothing). So this is where i am now.....my dad read that you can be gluten sensitive without having celiacs...so im going gluten free. Its been like 3 days and im already frustruated.....like why do they need to put wheat in SOY SAUCE!!! give me one good reason!!! so yeah thats my long explanation of my original question...lol

I agree on the wheat in soy sauce - my son is 11 and his favorite BBQ restaurant, who has fries that would be ok for him to eat cuz they are fried in a seperate fryer, but they put soy sauce on their ribs and of course they use Kikoman's which has wheat - so i've read on the bottle anyway! ugh! anyway, my son doesn't have any complications from celiacs..in fact we wouldn't even know he has the disease except he's also type 1 diabetic and has a yearly blood screening which came up positive for celiacs. so then we had the scope into the small intestine and that showed some "inflammation"..but the dr. said it was confirmed celiacs...so maybe your dr. should take a 2nd look or you should see another dr. It's frustrating..but good luck to you!!!!

[Ricco]

Hey guys

I'm actually shocked that some people had to self-diagnose, and the docters didn't know for sure.

I got sick when I was 9, and after a couple visits at the docter I had to go to the hospital.

In the hospital I had a blood test, and a Biopt both positive for Celiac.

After reading this, I think I'm very lucky with the diagnose process.

(The Netherlands)