Blunted Villi

[nate78]

I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago. the report said I had blunted villi. No other abnormalities. blood test neg. Took it twice. Doctor said don't worry about it. Lots of things can cause blunted villi. He sees that often and it is no big deal. I am not sickly for the most part. But I often feel run down depressed. I talked to my pediatrician who diagnosed me with celiac at age 5. He said that is true lots of things cause blunted villi no big deal. He is glad I don't have celiac. He said he only suspected it years ago. I wanted some confirmation, I hate the diet. I should have went to a real celiac doctor.Now I have spent thousands of dollars, and know nothing. Perhaps I am just depressed Bi-polar or whatever else. I wish there was a real test for celiac. I don't trust doctors and tests.

[Ursa Major]

Nate, right now I am feeling awfully angry! How is it possible for doctors to be so ignorant. If you were diagnosed with celiac disease at age five then YOU HAVE CELIAC DISEASE. You don't outgrow it, ever. Blood tests often yield false negatives, they are not very reliable.

You have blunted villi because you have celiac disease, that's it, no question about it. If you have blunted villi it is always a big deal. Because your villi are essential for the absorption of essential nutrients. It is very likely that you are deficient in several nutrients, including vitamins D, B vitamins, iron (ferritin), calcium, magnesium, vitamin K and others as a result.

Also, the tips of your villi are supposed to produce the enzyme lactase. Without it you can't digest dairy products. Meaning that you really shouldn't be eating/drinking any dairy until your villi have regenerated.

A dairy intolerance can cause depression. A lack of vitamin D or magnesium can cause depression. Being malnourished in general will make you feel fatigued and depressed.

You had a positive biopsy, that gives you a firm diagnosis of celiac disease. Please do yourself a favour and immediately go back to a strict gluten-free diet! Just forget about those ignorant doctors, they don't know what they are talking about.

[NoGluGirl]

I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago. the report said I had blunted villi. No other abnormalities. blood test neg. Took it twice. Doctor said don't worry about it. Lots of things can cause blunted villi. He sees that often and it is no big deal. I am not sickly for the most part. But I often feel run down depressed. I talked to my pediatrician who diagnosed me with celiac at age 5. He said that is true lots of things cause blunted villi no big deal. He is glad I don't have celiac. He said he only suspected it years ago. I wanted some confirmation, I hate the diet. I should have went to a real celiac doctor.Now I have spent thousands of dollars, and know nothing. Perhaps I am just depressed Bi-polar or whatever else. I wish there was a real test for celiac. I don't trust doctors and tests.

Dear nate78,

I had negative blood work but it was wrong! Don't let that idiot doctor tell you that! They told me I was just nuts! Then they doped me up on all these pills! I just got sicker and sicker. My gallbladder went bad and it had to be taken out at 20 years of age. I am 24 now. My holistic physician said she has had a handful of patients have negative blood work but were Celiac, and I am one of them. The diet does not have to be gross! Check out some tasty stuff we can have:

Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles Cereal

Dora The Explorer Cinnamon Stars Cereal

Kraft Marshmallows

Hershey's Cocoa Powder

Miracle Whip and Kraft Mayo

Heinz Ketchup

Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce

Kraft French Dressing (Fat-Free is safe too!)

Kraft Thousand Island Dressing (Fat-Free is safe)

Hormel Chili

Hormel Beef Tamales

Hormel Beef Au Jus

Hormel Pork Au Jus

Hormel Pepperoni

Hormel Spam

Hormel Turkey Spam (oven roasted or smoked)

Dinty Moore Beef Stew

Jif Peanut Butter (all varieties, including Smooth Sensations)

Nutella

Welch's grape jelly

Coca - Cola, Coke Classic, Diet Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke

Buddig Lunchmeats

Pace Picante Sauce

Lay's Stax Potato Chips

Durkee ground cayenne pepper

Durkee ground cinnamon

Durkee ground ginger

Durkee ground cloves

Emeril's Essence - Asian, Italian, Southwest

Mrs. Dash - all products

Durkee vanilla extract

Thai Kitchen original Pad Thai

Classico Red Sauces (my favorite is sweet tomato basil)

Hormel Vienna Sausages

Libby Vienna Sausages

Armour Vienna Sausages (only the original)

Plumrose bacon

Ore Ida French Fries

Ore Ida Tator Tots

Del Monte canned fruits and vegetables

Act II popcorn

Birdseye Steam Fresh Vegetables

Comstock Pie Filling

All Lea & Perrins products

Numerous Wal-Mart brand products are safe and labeled gluten-free, like their Great Value brand:

GV pie fillings

GV canned veggies and fruit

GV soy milk

GV soy sauce

GV frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Holland House Cooking Sherry (found in Wal-Mart near the vinegar)

Kraft Minute Rice

LaChoy Soy Sauce

LaChoy Sweet Sour Sauce

Bush's Original Baked Beans

Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[ravenwoodglass]

You have celiac, you do not out grow it. In addition undiagnsoed celiac is a definate cause of depression. Some of us suffer it for years as our brain becomes more and more impacted. Eventually it will impact not only your mood but your abitity to think clearly and eventually the pathways that control movement. This can occur long before damage to your intestine makes life unbearable. Please get back on the diet and toss out that doctor.

At least 20% of the celiacs that are severely impacted neurologically do not show up on blood work. Please become gluten free.

[Guhlia]

Where's Jerry??? He would have some great insight for you.

[rumbles]

Hormel meat Au Jus has cross contamination issues. I got sick from it multiple times (I tried it a few times, even though there wasn't anything else in my diet that would cause a reaction, - just to be sure that that was what I was reacting to), - I called Hormel, who told me I couldn't possibly get cross contaminated because they wash their equipment twice between running gluten and gluten free products . . .

(I normally prepare all foods from scratch, but figured that I'd try the Hormel au jus products since they were suppose to be gluten free. After reacting, my husband tried them, - he's gluten intolerant, but isn't near as sensitive as I am . . . he reacted also.)

[ravenwoodglass]

Hormel meat Au Jus has cross contamination issues. I got sick from it multiple times (I tried it a few times, even though there wasn't anything else in my diet that would cause a reaction, - just to be sure that that was what I was reacting to), - I called Hormel, who told me I couldn't possibly get cross contaminated because they wash their equipment twice between running gluten and gluten free products . . .

(I normally prepare all foods from scratch, but figured that I'd try the Hormel au jus products since they were suppose to be gluten free. After reacting, my husband tried them, - he's gluten intolerant, but isn't near as sensitive as I am . . . he reacted also.)

This has happened to me also. This is why I never post lists of mainstream products, formations change and many mainstream products are so CC'd that they can not be tolerated. I have learned that the only way to be safe is to call about any new thing I consume and then add it when I have nothing else suspect. I have had too many times when I trusted others findings only to have my body tell me otherwise. There are many differing levels for reactions and what others tolerate as far a CC goes others may not. These Hormel items were one of those things.

[JEM123]

I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago. the report said I had blunted villi. No other abnormalities. blood test neg. Took it twice. Doctor said don't worry about it. Lots of things can cause blunted villi. He sees that often and it is no big deal. I am not sickly for the most part. But I often feel run down depressed. I talked to my pediatrician who diagnosed me with celiac at age 5. He said that is true lots of things cause blunted villi no big deal. He is glad I don't have celiac. He said he only suspected it years ago. I wanted some confirmation, I hate the diet. I should have went to a real celiac doctor.Now I have spent thousands of dollars, and know nothing. Perhaps I am just depressed Bi-polar or whatever else. I wish there was a real test for celiac. I don't trust doctors and tests.

Hi,

I had the same diagnosis you had "blunted villi". My first round of blood tests came out negative for celiac disease. My GI doc was not happy with blood tests and had me retake them. This time he sent them to Prometheus Labs in California. There are less than a handful of labs in the U.S. that can give you accurate results when it comes to celiac disease. My results came back positive. Were you gluten free when you went had your bloodwork done? This will throw off the results for sure.

Also, blunted villi is always a problem! If the villi are blunted you are not absorbing vitamins and minerals properly. Long term, this will cause havoc on your body and you may suffer from other diseases associated with celiac disease. One of them being intestinal lymphoma. I would advise you to get a copy of your medical records and visit a GI doctor that is educated in celiac disease. Get the right bloodwork and proper tests. This is your life. We all hate being on a restricted diet but the alternative is not great. Not following a gluten-free diet can open up a huge can of worms later on.

My internist also thought my symptoms were mentally related "depression". When he even mentioned that, I told him that I took offense to what he said. I have been his patient for over 25 yrs. and he knows I don't run to him for every little ache and pain. Depression is part of celiac disease and a strict, I mean strict gluten-free diet can alleviate those symptoms.

Take care of yourself. Let us know what happens.

[pooter]

I'm just as angry as Ursa Major at your idiot Dr.s... If you were diagnosed with Celiac at five, you never ever ever outgrow it. If you have blunted villi you absolutely have Celiac, as the blunted villi are what the "experts" look at as the gold standard of diagnosis for Celiac. Your depression/bi-polar issues are most certainly linked to Celiac, especially if you were thinking you were "cured" and eating a gluten filled diet. I know depression intimately. Getting gluten out of my diet is the only thing that helped my depression. My Dr.s would send me to psychiatrists and the psychiatrists would just send me back to the Dr.s...

Do yourself a big gigantic favor and accept that your diagnosis of Celiac at age 5 was correct and that blunted villi means that you absolutely have Celiac and are going to DIE a horribly painful death from complications that will continue to crop up if you don't stick to the gluten free diet. If you don't kill yourself first. I'm just lucky my suicide attempts failed. By the time I was diagnosed I literally WAS dying.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear JerseyGirl and ravenwoodglass,

Thanks for the warning on the cc with Hormel Beef Au Jus! I have had a similar situation with Tostitos. They are not made on dedicated lines either I found out. It is so not worth the risk! It sucks that so many things are unsafe. I am just glad there is this forum so we can warn others before they get sick from it.

Dear Jem123,

I had my blood work done at Prometheus several years ago. They came back negative. I was just diagnosed as Celiac recently. I wonder sometimes if they got me mixed up with someone else's results. It is scary some of the things you hear about labs screwing up. Either way, the diet is worth following due to long-term complications. I get a severe violent gastric reaction, so temptation is practically non-existent for me.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl