Maybe I'm Anti-gluten, Too?

[ladybugpumpkin]

Hey everyone. I think that I may either have celiac disease or am gluten-intolerant. It all started back in 2002. I was in my sophomore year of college and started getting diarhea all the time. I would literally be running for the bathroom 15-20 minutes after eating. I thought that it might be what I was eating so I backed off the greasy/fatty typical college diet. This didn't really help.

In the summer of 2003, I had to be rushed to the ER for stomach cramps only to find out that I had lots of gall stones. My gall bladder was removed one month later. The surgery was laporoscopic, so no big incision....for a while. Three days after my surgery, I was rushed back to the ER because of a burning sensation all over my body and an inability to eat. The ER doctor determined that my abdominal cavity was full of a fluid and I went straight into surgery for an emergency exploratory. Upon cutting me open, they discovered I was full of bile because my common bile duct had been lacerated in the laporoscopic procedure. Because of this, I had 2 bouts of pancreatitis in the hospital.

So, they cleaned me up and placed a "bile bag" coming out of me. I was in the hospital for roughly 6 weeks, then released to go home, but had to continue to empty my "bile bag" twice a day. After going home, I was rushed back to the hospital yet again with vomiting and jaundice. The common bile duct that they had attempted to repair had strictured itself causing everything to back up into my liver. I was hospitalized again and then transfered to a Bilary specialist. He placed stints in my bile duct through a procedure known as an ERCP (similar to endoscopy). I had 5 more ERCP's to remove the stints and replace them with larger ones as my bile duct was slowly re-opened.

With that said, here are all of my symptoms. I take oral contraceptives to control my crazy unpredictable periods. I have chronic diarhea (usually immediately after eating). The diarhea is usually very yellow (like urine) and full of mucus. (Sorry for the gross factor!!!) The diahrea is not linked to any one food either. I have had diarhea from a cereal bar before!!! I am short (5'2") and weigh 195lbs. I feel hungry ALL the time! I have suffered from depression and anxiety though I'm doing better now. I am of Irish descent (reddish hair and very pale skin). I get canker sores on the inside of my mouth all the time. I have acid reflux for which I take Protonix. I also have very dry rough skin.

I have been tested for IBS and even took Levsinex (?) but with no improvement. Another doctor told me to go on a high fiber diet. I can't tell you how many Metamucil crackers I've eaten, also with no improvement. So, I was kind of tired of being sick all the time. When I was visiting my gyno this week, I was telling her about it. All I told her was that I have really bad diarhea all the time and that I take 2 immodium before every meal to help. (Thank goodness for SAMS club!!!!) She first asked about IBS, and when I told her that I had already taken medicine for that, she said "sounds like celiac disease to me."

So, at her request, I bought some gluten-free foods last night. I found one in the organic section of the grocery that was a 5 layer mexican dip. I decided to try that last night. The reason being, that mexican food usually does a number on me. Well, much to my surprise, I didn't even have so much as a stomach cramp. My question is, what do you guys think? Do I probably have celiac disease? A gluten intolerance? Or is it just complications of my history and the 8 surgeries I've had since 2003?

I have an appointment with a GI specialist in October. I'm just trying this gluten-free diet for now, but will resume eating regular foods in about a week. I know that to be tested for it, I am supposed to have it in my system.

[queenofhearts]

Your symptoms do sound like Celiac, though it's hard to say for sure without a trial. Here's a link to Nini's Newbie kit (you scroll down on the page) which will help alert you to some of the pitfalls, & give you some ideas for safe foods.

Open Original Shared Link

Welcome to the gluten-free world! I hope you'll find it's the path to feeling 100% better.

Leah

p.s. There is a company called Enterolab that can test when on a gluten-free diet, you might want to look into that if you're achieving great relief on the diet.

[oceangirl]

Your symptoms do sound like Celiac, though it's hard to say for sure without a trial. Here's a link to Nini's Newbie kit (you scroll down on the page) which will help alert you to some of the pitfalls, & give you some ideas for safe foods.

Open Original Shared Link

Welcome to the gluten-free world! I hope you'll find it's the path to feeling 100% better.

Leah

p.s. There is a company called Enterolab that can test when on a gluten-free diet, you might want to look into that if you're achieving great relief on the diet.

Your symptoms do sound familiar, but probably a good idea to rule out other things. Remember, especially when first gluten-free, it is better to stick with WHOLE foods- meat, fish, chicken, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds. Trying to replace old foods with gluten-free, is, I think, trickier. Cook things yourself, make more than you need for one meal so you'll have left-overs and enjoy just plain, wholesome foods right now. That's my suggestion after 5 months mostly gluten-free but still struggling with some symptoms. (dramatic improvement, however) good luck to you and welcome to the board.

lisa