"the Trigger"

[Guest ~jules~]

I have read that celiac can pop up after some sort of life trigger. This makes alot of sense to me, considering the stress I was going through when all this started. We had just bought our first house, I had just returned back to work full time for the first time in 4 years, I was going through a 2 year court battle with my ex, and having my own marital problems. Thank god it was only celiac, and I'm not in a nut-house. All that was going on at the same time, and thats when I started getting sick and drastically dropping pounds. I'm just finding all these little puzzle pieces that are all starting to fit into place lately, did anyone else have these realizations after being diagnosed?

[Guhlia]

I fell ill shortly after my daughter was born. She was born through c-section, two weeks late. She fell ill shortly after birth. When she got sick, I got sick too.

[Nantzie]

I've had some symptoms ever since I could remember, like sleep problems, memory problems and difficulty concentrating.

I've had digestive problems ever since I had mono at age 17.

The symptoms that basically had me house-bound have been just since having kids. 30-second warning D since I had my daughter, and then chronic pain since about three months into my pregnancy with my son.

From my experience, it has been a stair-step effect, with an upsurge of symptoms followed by my adjusting my life to compensate, up until there was no compensating that could fix it. After I had my daughter and had really bad D, I just didn't go anywhere where there wasn't a bathroom readily available. After I got pregnant with my son, the pain and D were so bad that my life, and their lives, were so dramatically effected that I ended up, out of desperation, searching on the internet, and finding out about celiac.

Nancy

[Matilda]

..

[Guest nini]

I've been ill all my life, but I would say that I got progressively worse after mono at age 25 (I think)... so I would say that the mono kicked it into full gear.

[pixiegirl]

Childbirth... without any doubt. I was fine until after having my daughter and it started up almost immediately then.... however it too another 11 years to find out what was wrong.

(its all her fault!)

Susan

[ravenwoodglass]

My symptoms started around 5 when I was impaled. They excaberated when I was 10 and had surgeries on both legs for club feet and other skeletal abnormalities. Then again at 11 when I attempted suicide. Symptoms stayed the same with severe neuro impairment, minor GI troubles and bone pain until after my DS was born after 10 years of trying to get pregnant. This was when they first tested for lyme. After my DD was born was when things got really, really bad and daily D (IBS!!) became a part of my life. 10 years after that I had salmonella (thanks Long John Silvers) this was thought to be a virus for over 2 weeks and lost 20% of my body weight. At that point my IBS turned IBD and the joint destruction became fast and obvious. I was diagnosed 5 years after that. Total time from first to symptoms to diagnosis for me was 40 years. From first severe GI symptoms to diagnosis was 15 years.

[beaglemania]

I was just diagnosed when I was 12. I kept on having to use the bathroom a lot, and my parents were wondering what was wrong with me. They took me to a lot of doctors, and finally they figured out I was spilling calcium in my urine. Then they found out I had osteoporosis!! My mom found this great Children's Hospital Bone Clinic in Columbus, Ohio. We went there and some doctor just happened to test me for Celiac. I tested positive. We had more tests when we went back home, tested positive again, had theendoscopy done (that's the name, right) anyways doctor said for sure it was Celiac. I've been following my Celiac diet and I'm taking this drug call pymidrinate (can't spell name!!) once a month through an I.V that lasts 4 hours. I've been taking it close to 11months now, in October we go back to the doctor to get a bone can done. After 6 months we went back to get a bone scan, I've gone from Osteoporosis to Osteopinais (spelling??) anyways my doctor was sooo surprised at the results!! And then she was totally saying it was b/c of my Celiac diet, even though in the beginning she was sure I didn't have it. So maybe next time she'll test her patients for Celiac Disease. So anyways, next month I go for another bone scan, I really hope its in normal range!!!! If it is, my parents will let me ride horses again!! Right now my spine is weak, they don't want it to get jostled by a horse. And, my paretns don't like horses. Afraid I'll get thrown off one, my mom had a bad experience with a horse.

[penguin]

Mono at age 18

[Ashley]

Flu in December of 2004, that's what triggered mine.

-Ash

[Lymetoo]

Very strange that many of us had "Mono" ... I had it at age 17, but don't recall digestive problems at that time.

I found out I was "allergic" to wheat at age 24. Tested for celiac at age 30..negative biopsy....avoided wheat beginning at age 24, by the way.

The rest of the history is recorded in my signature.

[CarlaB]

Sick as long as I can remember.

[jerseyangel]

Stomach issues, easy fatigue, and lightheadedness as a child. Fine from teens until I had a C-section with 2nd child, Sept.84.

From then on, sick with no answers.

March 04--Had surgery that kicked this into high gear--symptoms much worse than they'd ever been. Still not properly diagnosed until June 05.

[dionnek]

unexplainable dizzyness and passing out since age 12, then night sweats/hot flashes/muscle cramps/frequent urination started about age 25, then the frequent D started after birth of my child 2 years ago, so I think the birth is what really kicked it off.

[Guest ~jules~]

I really have no clue here, but I figured what the heck its worth a shot....Does anyone know if bladder problems have anything to do with celiac? I've noticed alot of you have been sick since childhood, the only thing I remember is always being very thin, constant bladder infections since childhood, and depression. Hmmm I wonder, I tend to think too much, can ya tell....

[melie]

Childbirth, 9 years ago. Diagnosed with Hashimotos 5 months after my daughter was born, but didn't clue into the celiac until this summer, diagnosed in June.

The day before I gave birth, I started vomiting and had extremely elevated white blood cell count, but the source of the 'infection' was never found. Had my baby the next day, all was fine, but I think that is where it all began for me.

[2kids4me]

Prior to onset of symptoms (that I saw in hindsight) daughter had bacterial pneumonia, symptoms

became more severe and neurological symptoms developed after KD.

Son had symptoms develop (but not recognized by mom til much later ) after severe tonsillitis.

Additional symptoms developed after diabetes diagnosed.

[jesscarmel]

I always had a "sensitive stomach" but i went away to work at about 18 at a sleepover camp and a few kids got really sick from bad meat. im a vegetarian but i also got really sick, lost alot of weight and couldnt eat much...very sick for months got a diagnosis of ibs of course. this lasted for a few years of ibs meds and then i saw a homeopath who put me on a wheat free diet, not the same as gluten free but worked and i did it for a year then was relatively okay for five years. then this january i got engaged and my fiancee went to europe for work for ten days a week after we got engaged. i am scared to be alone in teh apartment and i geuss i was really stressed. while he was away i got acute pancreatitis which i know think was caused from undiagnosed celiac.....thats my story!

and i have bladder issues too or did at least. this past year i had my bladder stretched b/c i t was too small!

Jess

[Guest ~jules~]

I always had a "sensitive stomach" but i went away to work at about 18 at a sleepover camp and a few kids got really sick from bad meat. im a vegetarian but i also got really sick, lost alot of weight and couldnt eat much...very sick for months got a diagnosis of ibs of course. this lasted for a few years of ibs meds and then i saw a homeopath who put me on a wheat free diet, not the same as gluten free but worked and i did it for a year then was relatively okay for five years. then this january i got engaged and my fiancee went to europe for work for ten days a week after we got engaged. i am scared to be alone in teh apartment and i geuss i was really stressed. while he was away i got acute pancreatitis which i know think was caused from undiagnosed celiac.....thats my story!

and i have bladder issues too or did at least. this past year i had my bladder stretched b/c i t was too small!

Jess

Stretched? wow, I've never heard of that....So what bladder issues did you have, I've had frequent infections since childhood. The severity of them varies, as a child they were really bad, now they are just annoying and last just a few days.

[nikki182]

I'm part of the mono club too! I'm pretty sure that's what triggered it. That and I'm sure the stress of having to go to work and school while being sick with mono didn't help...

My mom and aunt both had pregnancy as their trigger. For my mom, it was the birth of my brother, so she can't blame me! Hehe

[num1habsfan]

If I think back, my Celiac started when I was around the age of 11 or 12?? (I know my sister was still very small, and I'm almost 8 years older than her) .. I used to get cramps so bad after christmas meals that I had to lie down because I couldnt move or breathe .. eventually the cramps grew during all of my highschool years ..

What actually "triggered" my Celiac tho (as in, made it REALLY bad and obvious that something serious was wrong) was drinking a glass of Clamato juice (I was 18 1/2)..

~lisa~

[jesscarmel]

Stretched? wow, I've never heard of that....So what bladder issues did you have, I've had frequent infections since childhood. The severity of them varies, as a child they were really bad, now they are just annoying and last just a few days.

well i had to pee ALOT and sometimes it really burned so it was sort of like having a uti alot but no infection. they thought maybe it was intersticial cystitis but then just said it was "hypersensitive bladder". they did a cystoscopy which showed i was fine but while they were in there they stretched the bladder. after it was very painful and the burnign was worse for weeks but not its been much better.

[kari]

my symptoms started as i was going though a breakup with my boyfriend of three years and was failing out of college due to severe depression (which i know recognize was one of my main symptoms of celiac).

my diagnosis came two weeks before my brother died of cancer.

i've heard that celiac symptoms in adults can come up in times of severe stress and i would fully agree with that.

[jkmunchkin]

To much partying.

I'm pretty sure my celiac developed during my late teens/early 20's when I was partying A LOT. I think I wore my body out, and my lifestyle was just so fast for my body to handle.

[up-late]

My first child. I'd had symptoms before but more a grinding in the background, nothing I could put my finger on. After I had my first child nearly 17 years ago my symptoms got so bad I was sure I was dying I deteriorated that quickly, the drs could explain it.