Hi!

[Melanie77]

hi.

my name is melanie, and this is my first post.

my mother in law actually handed me a magazine article about celiac, and said it could be what is wrong with me. so i have been reading, and she just may be right.

it's so weird to read all of the symptoms and say "wow - this is starting to make sense..."

i am calling tomorrow for an appt with my husband's uncle, he's a gastroenterologist. i should have seen him years ago, but my dr diagnosed me with ibs a few years back.

lately i have been having horrific abdominal pain, but also some gyn issues, so i have been through laparoscopic surgery with my ob-gyn and found out i have adenomyosis, which is like endometriosis, but inside the uterus.

so i thought that was where all my pain was coming from.

but that didn't explain the bouts of upset stomach and terrible terrible gas pain.

i think it's weird what we can get used to when we suffer with it for years ...

so after i read the article, in woman's day, i think, i had another one of my go 'rounds. the cramps woke me up ay 3:15, and i was in the bathroom until 4:45AM. i could hardly breathe, was dizzy and nauseous, pretty much thought i was dying.

not cool.

so i don't want to hope that i have this disease, but gee, it's about time i found out what is wrong with me, and i really have gotten lots of useful information from this board already.

so, thank y'all, and i'll be here reading .... and hopefully will see the dr tomorrow, i mean today, as i can't sleep ...

[debmidge]

Melanie

Hi & welcome to board. When gastro symptoms are present, IBS is a common misdiagnosis. There's nothing like an antigen specific blood test so that's probably what Dr. Uncle will do first (or at least should do - my husband has been to many gastros who didn't know their you know what from their elbows).

The antigen specific blood panel is known as a celiac panel. Quest Diagnostics, a blood test center, even talks about it on their website! They at least know what it is.

This is what the blood test looks for:

Anti-gliaden antibody (IgA and IgG)

Anti-reticulin antibody (ARA)

Anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG)

Anti-endomysial antibody (EmA)

I got this from the Celiac Sprue Association publication "Living A Full Life" and the pamphlet mentions that these tests measure the immune system's response to gluten. And never start gluten free before these tests or before a small intestine biopsy.

Sometimes a person is just wheat intolerant or has a wheat alergy and the same symptoms as celiac are present. But let's at least rule in or out celiac disease. Even if you Dr. Uncle has no conclusive findings you may at least get symptom relief on a gluten free diet. That can happen too.

One of our board members, Nini, has a "newbie" packet and I'd recommend searching her out to access it over her site.

Best wishes, Deb

[Corkdarrr]

Welcome to the board!

And let us know how your doctor's appointment goes.

[mtdawber]

WELCOME!

I'm pretty new as well. This is a great place to learn lots!

I was diagnosed IBS years ago... turns out that wasn't it.....LOL

[Jestgar]

Hi Melanie! Welcome and good luck with your foray into the world of Celiac. Lots of people here have a wide variety of information and pretty much everyone is friendly. If you have ANY questions, just ask.

[Melanie77]

well, i called my husband's aunt that works in the office, and she said i may need to be referred. so, i called my gp and i have an appt there tomorrow at 3:15.

i will let y'all know what goes down.

[Viola 1]

Welcome to the forum, we'll certainly be interested to hear how it goes. Good luck with everything.

[Melanie77]

just wanted to let y'all know i have an appt with the gastro on thursday.

[Viola 1]

just wanted to let y'all know i have an appt with the gastro on thursday.

That's great! I hope you get all the answers you need. Not knowing is the hardest part, once you know you can get on with life and deal with it.

[dlp252]

Melanie - I some how missed your post when you first posted, so just wanted to say welcome! Hope your appointment goes well and that you get some long awaited answers!

[Guhlia]

Welcome to the board! I'm glad you were able to get in with your GI so quickly.