Am I Making It All Up?

[abc]

I finally went to the doctor last week to address digestive issues that have plagued me since the birth of my first child (s=who is now 3.5 years). Obviously, I have been able to live with them (or I would have gone in sooner), but lately, they seem to be getting worse. The most prevelant issue is the extraordinary gas I produce (I can't even be in the same room with me at times), and some bloating etc. I'm just lucky that I work part time and am in and out of the office, so no one (well, I don't think) really notices the problem (aside from my husband and mother). Usually, if it is particularly offensive, I at least have my 8 mos old nearby and can suggest that he has a dirty diaper. In the past month, I have been experiencing more cramping and some very loose stools. I've been attributing it to lactose intolerance - but the dr. did blood work for celiac and I am awaiting results. No one in my family has it (or at least has been diagnosed with it), but I do have family members with food intolerances.

As I read more about celiac, I'm becoming convinced I do indeed have the intolerance to gluten. I had infertility issues with my first pregnancy (unexplained) and my second child was born 6 weeks early (unexplained). In the past few years I have been able to eat a lot of food, without gaining weight and keeping quite low body fat (as remarked by the dr). However, I am active (a fitness instructor) and nursing - so a lot of this could be hormones? My husband is beginning to think I am crazy, and at times, I am too. I especially feel this way when I read other's symptoms on these pages that are much much more severe. two people that I know rather well have been diagnosed lately with celiac, and I wonder if I just am hearing so much more about it these days that I have self-diagnosed myself. I have put myself on a gluten-free/dairy free diet (for about 5 days now), but was replacing the dairy with a lot of soy, which I now understand can create some of the symptoms I've been having. I'm cutting soy out now - with hopes of figuring out if gluten is the culprit.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I am awaiting blood test results, but know they can be unreliable.

[CarlaB]

You say you are fitness instructor and a nurse. I would guess that you could have gluten intolerance and your testing might come out negative because you are probably more in touch with your body than many so noticed the changes before damage was done. In my opinion, dietary response will be your best gauge.

[Nantzie]

(Carla - I think she's saying that she's nursing as in breastfeeding.)

The really bad gas was one of the biggest reasons I kept searching for answers and eventually found out about celiac. I also had to use my kids as an excuse for my issues more than once. There was a point where I had no idea what I was going to do when they got potty trained. It got really bad for me. To the point where I couldn't even go anywhere.

My husband also thought I was nuts when I found out about celiac. He spent an hour and a half one night telling me that I was a hypochondriac and that I just wanted people to feel sorry for me. It was really bad. That was October. By Valentine's Day, he bought me a bag full of gluten free stuff from the health food section of the grocery store because he couldn't remember what chocolates were gluten-free. Now, almost a year later, our house is gluten-free, and if he cooks, he has me check the ingredients to make sure everything is gluten-free.

For some reason, it's really common for the people around us to freak out about this. I have no idea why. It just happens. I've written the above story dozens of times it seems. I think this is the third or fourth time this week alone. I've long since gotten over it. A bag of gluten-free baking mixes for Valentine's Day will do that to a girl... I retell it because sometimes you just have to know that there's hope for something like that.

Congratulations to you for standing up for your health. A lot of people would just eat antacids for the next 20 years. (Many of which have gluten btw.)

There are all sorts of people here. Some officially diagnosed, some who had negative tests but responded well to going gluten-free, some who just figured it out on their own and didn't go for a diagnosis. There are celiacs and there are gluten intolerant people. No matter where we fall on the diagnostic scale, we all seem to be dealing with the same condition. There are people who just have problems with gluten, and there are people who have problems with many foods. There are also people who suspected gluten and then found through really paying attention to what they were eating that it was something else causing their symptoms; dairy, soy, egg, etc. So wherever you end up in the mix of things, you're welcome here.

Nancy

[CarlaB]

(Carla - I think she's saying that she's nursing as in breastfeeding.)

LOL Still, dietary response will tell everything!

[Nooner]

LOL Still, dietary response will tell everything!

I agree, listen to your body. It will tell you what it wants. I had a negative blood test for celiac, but I know that gluten and a few other foods make me miserable. It takes time, but you will find what works for you.

~Li

[abc]

Thank you both for your responses - turns out my IgG is elevated so they are referrring me in for the biopsy. My gut (hah) is telling me I am indeed needing to be gluten free. For now, however, I'm eating it up to make sure my results come out.

Turns out it seems to in fact exist in my family, now that I;ve brought it up. Just, no one has been diagnosed - so perhaps I'm helping others too! (and my husband doesn't think I'm so crazy anymore:))

[Guhlia]

Glad to hear your husband is coming around. Sometimes that's the hardest part of the disease, getting others to understand and support you. Even if your biopsy shows no villous atrophy, I would still go gluten free. At least see how you feel. It may take a few weeks, sometimes even months, for you to start feeling better, so give it time.

[Ursa Major]

Just keep in mind that your symptoms could be related to dairy or soy as well. Or gluten, dairy AND soy. Once you've had your biopsy (and I hope that's really soon, so you can try the diet), you ought to go gluten-free, dairy free and soy free for a month, and then try one at a time (two weeks apart to notice delayed reactions) to see which of the three are the culprit. Really, most people with celiac disease can't tolerate dairy, either. And soy is certainly not the health food the food industry wants us to believe it is. Only fermented soy is okay, and even asians use it only as a condiment, no more than two or three tablespoons a day (or was it teaspoons? I don't remember).

I hope you figure it out and get better! But it looks like you're close, so there is definitely hope now.

[Kat-Kat]

I wonder what your husband would have done if you ate a bun and fell over with a grand mall seizure. think he would have thought somthing of it then.

My husband read everything I might touch before I see it. Celiacs is more than a stomach pain.