Celiac Or Ibs

[KirstySF]

Hi there

Pleased to meet everyone. Just wanted to say hi! before telling my story.

I have been suffering from a severely bloated tummy for around two years now. The one that sticks around and makes you feel like youve gained 10 pounds overnite. At first I thought I was imagining it, could i have put on what feels like a huge ring round my belly and back??

At first I thought, it must be a probiotic thing....however I have been taking pro-biotics for many years and why would my intestinal flora suddenly take a turn for the worst.

So, the major bloat, if I think back first started when I started work in a deli in Los Angeles....I have lived in the States for around a year and had not eaten bread since arriving as I did not enjoy the variety of supermarket breads. To my delight, I started at the deli which sold french bread and my discovery of sourdough....I ate it pretty much every day. I also discovered Soy Lattes ( was never a coffee drinker before moving here from the UK)

I dont think my stomach has ever been right since.

I then moved to SF and forgive me, im trying to remember when my stomach pain was at its worst.

I had battered fish and chips (scottish style) with :unsure: lots of malt vinegar....deep fried goodness. A rare treat!

Again, my stomach inflated to the point of my clothes not fitting....and looking like i was pregnant.

My gyn put me on a strict yeast free diet for other reasons, I cut out coffee, sugars good and bad, i stopped eating bad carbs, changed pasta to the brown rice pasta and over a period of 3 months, I lost ten pounds and my stomach returned to its normal flat state (something i hadnt seen in 2 years and my pooing became regular and healthy (constipation has always been a problem for me and the uk doc always just fobbed me off with IBS) without any sort of tests.

So.....I was on the yeast free diet, everything was great, tummy better, felt great.....then i fell off my diet wagon by eating a box of regular mac-n-cheese on a rainy day and BAM!!! Stomach inflated almost instantly....

This was mid dec.....I eat a pretty healthy and wholesome diet anyway but after researching i came across celiac and its symptoms and thought this is ME.

I couldnt resist eating a piece of garlic nan 2 weeks ago....and the next day, I have never felt so ill.....run down, chronically fatigued.....no energy, nauseous.

I have made an appointment with a GI for March 1st. ( the earliest appt i could get

Im also trying to cut out gluten and wheat and see if it makes me feel better. I think I have done pretty well for the past 2 weeks not having what or gluten but I have been constipated for ten days now and my skin looks like a teenage boy going through puberty (this is normal?) I also have mucus downstairs? (shudder)

I guess what I am asking, does this sound like celiac to you?

Is there any remedy to stop the bloating, and why does it not go away?

Ive heard that following a gluten free diet is not good before taking the test, is this true?

What can I expect from my GI Visit, what should i ask?

Any help or advice would be awesome!!!

Thanks so much for listening to me.

Kind regards

KirstySF

[Jestgar]

Wow, lots of questions.

First: It very well could be Celiac, or some other food allergy.

Second: If it is related to food, when you stop eating what you're reacting to, hopefully your tummy bloat will go away.

Third: True, could cause false negatives. On the other hand, if you determine that gluten makes you feel bad, you can choose to follow the diet whether or not you have positive test results.

Someone else will have to cover the fourth question. I didn't need a GI's opinion to make my choice.

[darlindeb25]

I agree with Jestgar, totally. I had doctored for so long and had so many wrong answers, I didn't need a GI to say yes or no, I know.

[sunshinen]

Sounds exactly like celiac to me. And maybe a sensitivity to soy as well? Of course, this is not the only possibility, so it is best to see a doctor.

And yes, since the damage of celiac accrues over time, if you have not been eating gluten regularly for some time, a false negative is likely. If you have only eaten gluten a couple of times in the past few months, it is very unlikely that you will test positive.

Many doctors will tell you it can't be celiac because of (x). Many of those doctors are basing their opinion on very outdated facts and are wrong. This is why 97% of those with celiac disease don't know they have it. Doctors don't test for it. So unless their reasoning is that the results will not be accurate because you have not been eating enough gluten, insist on the tests.

If they don't think the tests will be accurate, rule out other possibilities for the symptoms, and listen to your body. If it doesn't like gluten, it doesn't like gluten, and it may not be worth eating enough gluten to try to get an accurate result on the tests.

[CarlaB]

Sounds like celiac or candida or both.

If you need a GI to verify what's wrong, you need to keep eating a LOT of gluten. There is already a chance of getting a false negative, you increase that chance by going gluten-free prior to testing.

Even if you get a negative result, I'd try the diet. Some of us (like me) are non-celiac gluten intolerant. That means we get the symptoms, but not the intestinal damage (most of time).

[CarlaB]

Mucus at the middle of the cycle is normal, if it's all the time, it's most likely candida or a bacterial infection ... you should have your gynecologist check it out.

[KirstySF]

Mucus at the middle of the cycle is normal, if it's all the time, it's most likely candida or a bacterial infection ... you should have your gynecologist check it out.

The mucus I was referring too was not gyny related.....in my stools (sniff)

[Felidae]

Sounds like celiac or gluten intolerance to me. Definitely keep eating gluten before you see the GI. You need to have an endoscopy and the GI needs to see if there is villi damage. However, keep in mind that many people have non-celiac gluten intolerance which won't neccessarily show any intestinal damage. So, if you get a negative test and you still feel ill try the gluten-free dietary change. This way you'll know if gluten is affecting you.

[happygirl]

You will need to continue to eat gluten if you want to have as accurate as testing as possible.

However, you could have a problem with gluten that won't show up on tests, so regardless of your Celiac results, it may be worth your while to embark on a strict gluten free diet for a more extended period of time.

When you go to the GI, mention that you would like to be tested for Celiac via the bloodwork. Here is the full panel. Insist that the WHOLE panel is run, as many doctors only run part of it. Print this out, and bring it with you. You don't want to hear "oh, I didn't run this test, go back to eating gluten" in a few weeks!

Open Original Shared Link (the rest of the website is very informative, as well, and its worth looking over)

Best of luck, and we are happy you have found this board. Regardless of your results, I hope that you find some answers and your health improves!

Laura

[KirstySF]

You will need to continue to eat gluten if you want to have as accurate as testing as possible.

However, you could have a problem with gluten that won't show up on tests, so regardless of your Celiac results, it may be worth your while to embark on a strict gluten free diet for a more extended period of time.

When you go to the GI, mention that you would like to be tested for Celiac via the bloodwork. Here is the full panel. Insist that the WHOLE panel is run, as many doctors only run part of it. Print this out, and bring it with you. You don't want to hear "oh, I didn't run this test, go back to eating gluten" in a few weeks!

Open Original Shared Link (the rest of the website is very informative, as well, and its worth looking over)

Best of luck, and we are happy you have found this board. Regardless of your results, I hope that you find some answers and your health improves!

Laura

[KirstySF]

Thanks so much everyone for your kind words and support....

Theres so much great info on this board....Im so glad Ive found it

KirstySF