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Do I Have Celiac Disease?

lg3

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lg3 Newbie
lg3
Posted

Hello :)

I am new to this site and would really like some advice from anyone who can help me or anybody who has or has had any similar symptoms to those I am experiencing.

In October last year, I visited my doctors. My main problems were bloating, constipation, water infections and I had also lost a fair amount of weight. The doctor asked me if there were any foods that I thought triggered these symptoms, and at that stage I could probably have narrowed it down to bread and maybe pasta. She recommended I eliminated the foods I thought were causing the symptoms and revisit her in two weeks.

I did just that and after two weeks, I felt slightly better, for eliminating bread. However, I still did not feel entirely well and so my doctor scheduled me for a blood test about a week later, which I went for and anxiously waited for the results which took about two weeks to arrive.

These were tests for celiac dieses and came back negative, although very slightly. But will a test for celiac disease be 100% accurate on somebody who has not been eating gluten for approx. 3-4 weeks?

Nevertheless since, I have had periods of eliminating gluten from my diet have felt completely 100% better. Yet everytime I seem to slack all of my symptoms return and I feel completely let down by myself. But why does this happen if I have been told by my doctor and a specialist that it was not celiac disease but irritable bowel syndrome??? I would also like to say that the only thing that I have never had again is bread.

So… what is wrong with me????? I am so confused and I just want to get on with my life and eat the things I can and steer clear from the things I can’t!!!

Can anybody give me any advice?

(... and thank you in advance!!! :) )

Also, I am ALWAYS tierd even though i get at least 8 hours every night and lately get alot of dizziness/head rushes when i stand up after sitting down for a while.

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AndreaB Contributor
AndreaB
Posted

It definately sounds like you are gluten sensitive. I was tested through enterolab and would recommend that if you want some numbers that prove you are gluten sensitive. If you don't then just go totally gluten free and leave it at that. You also need to check personal care products, as well as any meds you may be taking.

If you want to check out enterolab Open Original Shared Link

Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted

Just so you know--"Irritable Bowel Syndrome" is how doctors classify a list of symptoms that they don't know what to call. Amazing coincidence--that list of symptoms is pretty much identical to those of celiac...

As far as test results are concerned--do you care what the label is for YOUR symptoms? Because it sounds pretty much like you have already identified gluten as the trigger. Whether you call it celiac, gluten sensitivity, or turditis, the answer is the same--the only way to avoid your discomfort is to avoid gluten.

If you do just a little bit of research, you will find that celiac disease (which is what happens if you ignore gluten sensitivity for too long) is linked with MANY autoimmune disorders. There are many people on this board who know more than I do all about those--hopefully, they'll post here, but if they don't, please do a search on this board. What a lot of people here have been through health-wise (or lack thereof) is just chilling, and all because their doctors either didn't have a clue about celiac, or were reluctant to tell them to go off gluten (like it's really that hard?).

Good luck, and please keep us all posted!

CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted

If bread and pasta make you sick, you are more than likely gluten-intolerant. If your blood tests came out fine, that only means that your disease has not progressed to the point where it shows up in the blood, but the Enterolab tests are more sensitive. With dietary response you know you have a problem already, but if you want to see a number to know it's not all in your head, you could try the Enterolab test. The problem with the current conventional testing is that it requires to disease to be pretty well progressed before it will pick it up. That's why so many go so long feeling so ill!

If it is gluten and you're still sick, you probably just haven't gotten all of it out of your diet yet. Check literally everything!!

Guest nini
Guest nini
Posted

sounds like you are def. gluten intolerant. In my humble opinion you don't need to go any further than that... just go 100% gluten immediately including all medicines and personal care products. Yes a low gluten diet could have affected your test results, but honestly the positive dietary response you have exhibited is more than sufficient to determine that gluten is the trigger

capecodda Rookie
capecodda
Posted
Hello :)

I am new to this site and would really like some advice from anyone who can help me or anybody who has or has had any similar symptoms to those I am experiencing.

In October last year, I visited my doctors. My main problems were bloating, constipation, water infections and I had also lost a fair amount of weight. The doctor asked me if there were any foods that I thought triggered these symptoms, and at that stage I could probably have narrowed it down to bread and maybe pasta. She recommended I eliminated the foods I thought were causing the symptoms and revisit her in two weeks.

I did just that and after two weeks, I felt slightly better, for eliminating bread. However, I still did not feel entirely well and so my doctor scheduled me for a blood test about a week later, which I went for and anxiously waited for the results which took about two weeks to arrive.

These were tests for celiac dieses and came back negative, although very slightly. But will a test for celiac disease be 100% accurate on somebody who has not been eating gluten for approx. 3-4 weeks?

Nevertheless since, I have had periods of eliminating gluten from my diet have felt completely 100% better. Yet everytime I seem to slack all of my symptoms return and I feel completely let down by myself. But why does this happen if I have been told by my doctor and a specialist that it was not celiac disease but irritable bowel syndrome??? I would also like to say that the only thing that I have never had again is bread.

So… what is wrong with me????? I am so confused and I just want to get on with my life and eat the things I can and steer clear from the things I can’t!!!

Can anybody give me any advice?

(... and thank you in advance!!! :) )

Also, I am ALWAYS tierd even though i get at least 8 hours every night and lately get alot of dizziness/head rushes when i stand up after sitting down for a while.

Hi! I am fairly new here too and like you, 8 years ago they said I had IBS. I struggled trying to juggle what foods worked and what didn't having no idea what gluten intolerance was. I lost so much weight in 3 weeks and became so dehydrated that I had secondary emergency problems happen. When someone said to me... "Just eat potatos..rice..maybe tapioca for a few days." I stopped everything else and did just that. I was eating farina for breakfast thinking it was gentle before the potato/rice diet... I felt the changes immediatiely when I only ate potatos. Since the Drs told me I was not celiac (they didn't even test me for it and poo poo'd the idea.) I figured I wasn't, but sure enough the whole thing happened again recently. Both times, I have been under immense stress. This time, I have an ulcer to boot! But sure enough, after a bowl of multi grain oatmeal (barley, rye, wheat) which rendered me weak, unable to process much talking, jammed up digestion, you name it, I ended up at urgent care. Back on gluten free and the symptoms ceased immediately. Took a few days to toally settle the digestive system and have things "come out" normal..but there is definitely something to the gluten intolerance/ celiac thing ..whatever. I am sure learning a lot here. I do wonder though if these symptoms become permanant or are only sporadic with trauma, stress..etc.

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    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

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      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
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