Possibly Celiac

[AzSharouk]

My first post . I am going to the doctor Friday for my first discussion about my digestive/bloating/health problems as an adult. Ive had problems pretty consistently since 8/9 years old but always had doctors that didnt listen to me because I am seriously overweight. Havent had insurance in ages, but now I do fortunately.

I am not good about discussing things with doctors: they sort of steamroll over with me. Any suggestions on how I should approach this discussion. I have nearly all the symptoms, except weight loss and proven vitamin deficiencies (I supplement up the wazoo). I dont want to get trapped into thinking this is what I have and miss something else, but I also want to have a strong case for pursuing this. btw, my symptoms: extreme bloating (I can go up 2 clothes sizes in an afternoon!), abdominal pain, severe gas, c/d, hot/cold feelings, fatigue, foot/leg/hand numbness, muscle aches, mouth sores, tooth enamel loss/massive cavities, uncertain food sensitivities, lack of menstural cycle, allergic reactions and rashes to common products.

I think this fits celiac/gluten-intolerance pretty well but are there other things I should be looking at? Any suggestions would me appreciated! I want to be prepared with lots of questions and requests. Thanks

[Jestgar]

You can always try the "I've been hearing a lot about this and I want to rule it out before doing more invasive tests" then ask for the whole Celiac panel.

[gfp]

You can additionally ask to have someone accompany you and make sure your not streamrolled....

ITs much easier for a MD to steamroll one person than when you have someone to back you up...

Remember its close to 1:100 people have it... so don't get fobbed off with "but its so rare" or "I don't think you have it" like Jestgar says either this or something else is wrong and this can be diagnosed with a simple blood test.

If the MD insists then ask what all the symptoms are... can he test for why you have .... (insert your list)...

Make sure you get a full panel and you need to be eating gluten for a month or so before hand to make sure...

[Phyllis28]

Write down you list of questions and concerns. I find this works well in making sure I sure I communicate everything I intend to.

[rsm]

I'll chime in, I just saw my GP yesterday. I told him I was trying the gluten free diet, gave him my family history and my daughters success story, his reply was "I'm impressed". He told me to keep on the diet and come talk to him in 3 months just to see how everything is going. He said he had sent several people for a Celiac biopsy in the last 20 years and they all came back negative. He also said he was sure there was a lot more of it out there than we realize.

I do have a question, I started gluten free 2 weeks ago, I felt great after the first 4 or 5 days but have really felt crappy for the last 3 days. As far as I know there has been no gluten, I even put the dairy away. Is this normal, do you go up and down for awhile?

[Guest Karabear20]

I'll chime in, I just saw my GP yesterday. I told him I was trying the gluten free diet, gave him my family history and my daughters success story, his reply was "I'm impressed". He told me to keep on the diet and come talk to him in 3 months just to see how everything is going. He said he had sent several people for a Celiac biopsy in the last 20 years and they all came back negative. He also said he was sure there was a lot more of it out there than we realize.

I do have a question, I started gluten free 2 weeks ago, I felt great after the first 4 or 5 days but have really felt crappy for the last 3 days. As far as I know there has been no gluten, I even put the dairy away. Is this normal, do you go up and down for awhile?

You know I was wondering the same thing because I felt better for a while, but then I felt worse...and now its getting better again. I am hoping that its just the process of my body going through such a change. I went from constant D to C and now im all gassy because im so empty and have been only eating fruit and meat because thats all i could keep down or that i wanted to eat in the past two days.