Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Could I Have It?

Guest Moose

By Guest Moose
in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms

Recommended Posts

Guest Moose
Guest Moose
Posted

Hey everyone! I'm Moose. I'm a 15-year-old girl and my parents were talking about celiac disease today- they think I might have it.

For a very long time, I would get random "stomach aches" with intense, sharp pains in my lower abdomen accompanied by diarrhea and occasionally vomiting. I thought it was simply lactose-intolerance, but even when I try not to eat any dairy and I take Lactaid whenever I do, I still get the occasional stomach ache and frequently feel kind of gassy.

I'm anemic, usually very tired and weak, and almost always have dark circles under my eyes. In the winter I suffer from mild depression, and for a while I thought I might have seasonal-affective-disorder. My periods are always irregular and very, very frequent.

I'm 5'1, I have been for the past year or two, and my weight seems to shift around from 97-108 pounds.

Anyway, I guess my question is, do you think it could be celiac disease? Should I try eliminating gluten from my diet and see what happens or just go straight to getting tested?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


AndreaB Contributor
AndreaB
Posted

Welcome Moose! :D

I would ask your parents to take you in to have a celiac blood panel done. That is very important. It is up to you and your parents whether you would want to go through with the biopsy. Another way to go would be enterolab. They do stool tests....check them out Open Original Shared Link.

You sound like you could have celiac/gluten intolerance. You could also just go gluten free if you or your parents don't need anything on paper with numbers and what your genes are. Enterolab would tell you all that.

Do not go gluten free if you plan on getting tested, with the exception of enterolab.

You would need to check personal care products also.

Matilda Enthusiast
Matilda
Posted

...

Guest Moose
Guest Moose
Posted

Thanks Andrea!

Stool tests, what fun! ;)

My mom said she was going to call my doctor. It's possible, though I haven't mentioned the thought to my mom yet, that I was already tested for celiac, but I don't know. I had a blood test done and my doctor just described it as tests for more severe problems that could be causing my stomach ache, other than IBS or lactose intolerance. Sooo, I should make sure I wasn't already tested. XD

If not, I'll probably get the blood test done.

mouse Enthusiast
mouse
Posted

I would not worry about whether you had a prior blood test. You can have a false negative on the test, but never a false positive. I do know that if Celiac is in a family and the blood tests come back negative, that they say you should still be retested every two years. So, just go for the test and do not worry about any prior testing. Just make sure that they do the full Celiac panel which consists of 5 tests. Also keep consuming gluten until then. If you just quit for a short time, you can scew the results.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. cristiana
      - cristiana replied to Colleen H's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      16

      Ibuprofen

      Ferritin levels. And see what your hemoglobin looks like too, that will tell you if you are anemic? You can have 'low normal' levels that will not be flagged by blood tests. I had 'low normal' levels, my lab reading was. c12, just over what was considered normal, but I had small benign lesion on my tongue, and sometimes a sore mouth, and a consultant maxillofacial...
    2. Mari
      - Mari replied to KathyR37's topic in Coping with Celiac Disease
      5

      New here

      Hi Katht - I sympathize with your struggles in following a gluten-free diet and lifestyle. I found out that I had Celiac Disease a few months before I turned 70. I just turned 89 and it has taken me almost 20 years to attain a fairly normal intestinal function. I also lost a lot of weight, down to 100 lb. down from about 140 lb. What Trents wrote you was...
    3. Colleen H
      - Colleen H replied to Colleen H's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      16

      Ibuprofen

      Yes thyroid was tested.. negative Iron ...I'm. Not sure ... Would that fall under red blood count? If so I was ok Thank you for the detailed response..☺️
    4. Colleen H
      - Colleen H posted a topic in Coping with Celiac Disease
      0

      Methylprednisone treatment for inflammation?

      Hi all !! Did anyone ever get prescribed methylprednisone steroids for inflammation of stomach and intestines? Did it work ?? Thank you !!
    5. cristiana
      - cristiana replied to Colleen H's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      16

      Ibuprofen

      Hi Colleen Are you supplementing B12/having injections? I have learned recently that sometimes when you start addressing a B12 deficiency, it can temporarily make your symptoms worse. But it is important not to stop the treatment. Regarding your problems with anxiety, again that is another symptom of a B12 deficiency. I didn't know...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,879
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Peta Dunn
    Newest Member
    Peta Dunn
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • cristiana
      Ibuprofen

      By cristiana · Posted

      Ferritin levels.  And see what your hemoglobin looks like too, that will tell you if you are anemic?  You can have 'low normal' levels that will not be flagged by blood tests.  I had 'low normal' levels, my lab reading was. c12, just over what was considered normal, but I had small benign lesion on my tongue, and sometimes a sore mouth, and a consultant maxillofacial ordered an iron infusion for me as he felt my levels were too low and if he  raised them to 40, it would help.   Because you are not feeling 100% it might be worth looking at your levels, then discussing with your doctor if they are low normal.  But I stress, don't supplement iron without your levels being monitored, too much is dangerous.
    • Mari
      New here

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Katht -  I sympathize with your struggles in following a gluten-free diet and lifestyle. I found out that I had Celiac Disease a few months before I turned 70. I just turned 89 and it has taken me almost 20 years to attain a fairly normal intestinal  function. I also lost a lot of weight, down to 100 lb. down from about 140 lb. What Trents wrote you was very true for me. I am still elimination foods from my diet. One person suggested you keep a food diary and that is a good idea but it is probably best just to do an elimination diet. There are several ne and maybe one for celiacs. I used one for a while and started with plain rice and zucchini and then added back other foods to see if I reacted or not. That helped a great deal but what I did not realise that it would only very small amounts of some foods to cause inflammation in my intestine. Within the last few years I have stopped eating any trace amounts of hot peppers, corn and soy(mostly in supplements) and nuts, (the corn in Tylenol was giving me stomach aches and the nuts were causing foot pains). Starting an elimination diet with white rice is better than brown rice that has some natural toxins. In addition it is very important to drink sufficient plain water. You can find out how much to drink for your height and weight online. I do have difficulty drinking 48 ounces of water but just recently have found an electrolyte supplement that helps me stay well hydrated, Adding the water and electrolytes may reduce muscle cramps and gag spams you wrote about. . Also buy some anti-gluten enzyme capsules to take with meals. I use GliadinX advertised here. These are a lot of things to do at one time as they reflect my 20 years of experience. I hope you do what you can manage to do over time. Good luck and take care.
    • Colleen H
      Ibuprofen

      By Colleen H · Posted

      Yes thyroid was tested.. negative  Iron ...I'm. Not sure ... Would that fall under red blood count?  If so I was ok  Thank you for the detailed response..☺️
    • Colleen H
      Methylprednisone treatment for inflammation?

      By Colleen H · Posted

      Hi all !! Did anyone ever get prescribed methylprednisone steroids for inflammation of stomach and intestines?  Did it work ??  Thank you !! 
    • cristiana
      Ibuprofen

      By cristiana · Posted

      Hi Colleen Are you supplementing B12/having injections? I have learned recently that sometimes when you start addressing a B12 deficiency, it can temporarily make your symptoms worse.  But it is important not to stop the treatment.  Regarding your problems with anxiety, again that is another symptom of a B12 deficiency.   I didn't know what anxiety was until it hit me like a train several months before gastrointestinal issues began, so I can certainly relate.   Two books which helped me hugely were At Last A Life by Paul David (there is a website you can look up) and The Depression Cure: The Six-Step Programme to Beat Depression Without Drugs by Dr Steve Llardi.  Although his book is aimed at people who have depression, following the principals he sets out was so helpful in lessening my anxiety.  Llardi suggests we need to focus on getting enough: - physical exercise - omega-3 fatty acids - natural sunlight exposure - restorative sleep - social connectedness - meaningful, engaging activity   ... and we should feel a lot better. That is not to stay you must stop taking medication for depression or anxiety if you have been prescribed it, but adopting the changes Dr Llardi sets out in the book should really help. Can I just ask two more questions:  1) you say that you are B12 deficient, did they test your iron levels too?  If not, you really ought to be checked for deficiency and, 2) did they check your thyroid function, as an overactive thyroid can be cause rapid heartbeat and a lot of coeliacs have thyroid issues? Cristiana        
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.