Could I Have Celiac Symptoms

[kasia]

Hi there, this is my first post on the forum so hello to everyone.

About 7 weeks ago, I had a stomach virus that cleared some days later (diarrhoea & sickness), but came back a week later with a vengance after I had eaten a great big plate of shellfish for my anniversary, so I put it down to my stomach still being sensitive.

Since then however I have had diarrhoea every morning to varying degrees. I have had lots of nausea & have vomited undigested food on 4 occasions. Also (sorry TMI) I often see my undigested breakfast in my 3rd bowel movement of the day. Not surprisingly I have lost 11lbs & feel extremely weak. I get horrible bloating & flatulence & lots of burping every evening, but seem to get only a little amount of pain. My appetite is useless - I eat less than my 2 year old daughter.

My GP insists it is IBS & has given me no advice apart from eating small meals & an anti nausea medication (motillium). At my insistence I am seeing a gastroenterologist via a private health care comapny, & she has performed a gastroscopy which showed my stomach to be healthy, but indicated that I may have an absorption problem (smooth duodenum?). Unfortunately I do not have an appointment with the gastroenterologist for 2 weeks & am at a loss as to what to do now as I feel awful (tremendous fatigue)

Do you think this is a symptom of being a celiac? Last night I ate pasta & was fine, but this morning I had a raging thirst which I could not satisfy & ended up vomiting all of the juice that I had drunk.

If so do you have any recommendations for controlling diarrhoea, increasing my appetite, & what tests should I be asking my consultant to do? I have not yet even had a blood test & wonder if I could be anemic because of the large weight loss. I guess I could also be diabetic?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the moan!

Kate

[kasia]

Oops - sorry my son was messing with play dough & I messed up.

Just wanted to say that have just read Chris E's post & his symptoms are quite like mine, so sorry for the duplidate & I hope you feel better soon Chris.

Kate

[aikiducky]

Not that I'm a doctor, but a smooth duodenum sounds really really suspicious. What exactly did the doctor mean by that? Because flattened vili almost certainly means celiac, no further testing necessary, go gluten free ASAP. Only you should check with your doctor to hear what exactly it is they saw.

Unless it turns out they indeed saw celiac damage, in which cease you just need to start learning about the diet, you should have your doctor run bloodwork for celiac. I hope someone here can post the exact tests they should do. Also, did they take biopsies during your gastroscopy, otherwise they could do an endoscopy and take biopsies to see what state your small intestine is in.

Last but not least, trying a gluten free diet doesn't require a prescription, you can choose what you put in your mouth. It's worth it to see if it helps. But you shouldn't go gluten free before having the tests, because it can give you a false negative test result if you're already gluten free.

I didn't have a positive test result because I went gluten free first and had testing after that. But I feel so much better that I refuse to ever eat gluten again, even for an official diagnosis.

Hope this helps, and hope you'll get some answers soon. I'm sure others will also chime in with advice and opinions.

Pauliina

[kasia]

Hi Paulina,

Thank you so much for your reply - it really has made me feel a bit better (I am at the stage where I feel so had I've convinced myself that I have something very sinister!)

The doctor did do biopsies which should be back when I see her in 2 weeks, but no-one has yet suggested any blood tests. Is the duoedenum part of the small intestine (biology was a long long time ago)?

Looking back my symptoms may be worse when I have gluten (I must look up what's in it!). Also my niece is gluten intolerant & I do have sores on the roof of my my mouth.

Thank you once again

Kate

[Nantzie]

Hate to mention it but glad you happened to say something. Play Dough has wheat in it. If I remember right it pretty much IS wheat...

Welcome to the world of hidden gluten.

Nancy

[LKelly8]

Hi Kasia, I always thought a "smooth" duodenum was normal and "scalloping" was abnormal but I guess there are all kinds of signs they can see in there! I found this abstract from the Journal of Digestive Diseases and Sciences. I wonder if "loss of Kerkring's fold" is what she meant by smooth?

"Abstract:

Duodenoscopy in celiac disease has identified several markers of the disease. Our aim was to evaluate, in a prospective study, the usefulness of the different endoscopic features in 100 consecutive cases referred to endoscopy for intestinal biopsy.

Histological examination of duodenal samples showed severe villous atrophy (grade III/IV) in 36 patients. Of these patients, 34 had endoscopic markers suggestive of celiac disease. These were reduction in number or loss of Kerkring's folds (in 27), mosaic pattern (14), scalloped folds (12), and visibility of the underlying blood vessels (5). Endoscopic visualization of these markers had a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 92%, and a positive predictive value of 84%. Reduction in number, or loss of, Kerkring's folds was the most sensitive (76%) and specific (98%) single endoscopic change indicating celiac disease.

Duodenoscopy permitted diagnosis in three of four asymptomatic patients in a group of 24 first-degree relatives of celiac disease patients. We conclude that endoscopy of distal duodenum is a sensitive and specific indicator of celiac disease."

The "severe villous atrophy (grade III/IV)" Refers to the Marsh scale, it measures the severity of the villi loss. (One being the least, etc.)

[kasia]

Hi everyone

Thank you for all your replies. After feeling like I was going to die this weekend (always was a drama queen), I started to eliminate gluten in my diet on Saturday, & now (on Tuesday) I feel remarkably better.

I've had a solid stool for the 1st time in about 6 weeks & it was a normalish colour. The nausea is getting better & I seem to be regaining a small appetite. Oh & I put on a lb, after losing 12! I'm still absolutely shattered, but for the first time in weeks there is a light at the end of the tunnel.... so many thanks. (I had my biopsy & bolod tests taken last week, so should be OK to be gluten free, & even if they both come back negative, you'll have to drag me back to pasta kicking & screaming!).

Nancy - I also have a 4 year old & 2.5year old, so will watch out for the play dough!

Take Care

Kate

[Nantzie]

I'm so glad you're feeling better! It's amazing isn't it?

Nancy

[Sissy]

Hi everyone, I'm Sissy, a newbie. Please don't take this wrong, but I am so happy to see so many of you here. I have had symptoms for several years and just did not know what it was. My aunt is a diagnosed Celiac, I knew this and it just did not occur to me. One day a few weeks ago after about 2 weeks into a particulary vicious edisode it hit me like a ton of bricks that maybe I had Celiacs... I went to the computer immediately and reseached everything I could, then I went on a gluten free diet and felt better within a few days...until I ate some candy corn that I thought seemed safe from the label and the bathroom race was on again. I live in a rural area of Oklahoma so did my homework before I went to the doctor armed with tons of internet research expecting ignorance or resistance from her...what a relief, she was very informed on Celiacs and has several other Celiac patients...I am waiting for my blood work to come back. I am still feeling weak and tired and have some other syptoms as well. I am so happy to have found this board. Sissy

[chewymom]

Kate,

You may already be pretty sure it is celiac, based on dietary response and the replies here. But here's another thought to consider. I once had giardia, and its onset was really similar to what you desribed. Anyway, just something else to consider! I hope you find a definitive answer soon!