Is This A Coincidence, Doctor?!

[Mballerina]

SO my doctors yell at me for going gluten free, well it tool 8 months of pain so they can deal with it.

They tell me that I can't have celiac disease because I have constipation and inconclusive serology, ha, even though I have all the symptoms.

Well, is it a coincidence that I have suffered for four years ( at the beginning, 14, I stopped growing and lost my period. I have been gluten free for two months and wow guess what, I grew 2cm and my period came back today for the first time in four years.

Sorry I needed to rant.

Thanks guys for your support all these months,

Magdalena Tywoniuk

[burdee]

I also had constipation (all my life) and amenorrhea (for 10 years), so my doctors never suspected celiac. I had many other celiac symptoms, including the infamous "IBS" stuff, but the constipation made me not consider celiac. Only after my abdominal pain became daily and excruciating, did I read a celiac article which listed constipation as one of the symptoms. Going gluten-free helped reduce many of my 'IBS' symptoms (bloating, pain and gas), but eliminating the dairy (after my dairy intolerance diagnosis) made me 'regular' for the first time in my life WITHOUT laxatives, fiber pills or other constipation remedies. I eat lotsa fruits and vegies and try to choose the higher fiber gluten-free grains, but avoiding dairy did more for regularity than anything else I tried. Unfortunately, it's too late to resolve the longterm amenorrhea--I'm postmenopausal now.

BURDEE

[tarnalberry]

magdalena, you might consider printing out the NIH's position paper that came out of their conference earlier this year which stated that constipation could be a symptom and cannot be used to rule out celiac disease.

[Mballerina]

i've read the nih report (as my doctors should) they tell me i am playing doctor and should not be reading 'internet junk'. i'm thinking of just paying for the enterolab test.

[tarnalberry]

i've read the nih report (as my doctors should) they tell me i am playing doctor and should not be reading 'internet junk'. i'm thinking of just paying for the enterolab test.

Wow! If the doctor new you were talking about the summary of the National Institute of Health's conference and he still called it "internet junk", I'd get a new doctor, as he clearly wouldn't care about progress in his field.

[wclemens]

Hi Magdalena,

I'm so glad you are feeling so much better. I've had Celiac symptoms since the age of 8, and that has been many, many years. I finally realized that doctors didn't seem to know what was going on with me, and started elimination diets of various kinds, concluding that all grains, milk, dairy, egg whites, and yeast were poison for me (this was after I finished all the allergy testing and years of shots ordered by doctors).

A year and a half ago I ordered a complete Enterolab test for my newborn grandson, because he couldn't tolerate any milk. He was diagnosed with Celiac and intolerance to all milk products. Next I ordered a test for all my family member for last Christmas. My sister also has Celiac, my brother doesn't, and the others haven't taken the test yet. I think that Enterolab is so wonderful for offering these tests in such a workable fashion, where you take a stool sample in the comfort of your own home, and once you send the sample off (UPS picks it up at your doorstep) Enterolab sends you the results by email. What could be easier than that?

Best wishes to you as you recover and find the hope and joy that go along with realizing that you have a whole new life awaiting you. I wish you well! Welda

[flagbabyds]

I would say the doctors don't know you as well as you know yourself. You know what makes you sick and you know what doesn't. You don't need a firm doctors diagnosis to be celiac. YOu just need to know that you get sick from gluten so you know to avoid it. IT is as simple as that

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Hi Magdalena,

i consider taking the enterolab test as well, because my blood tests were negativ and i haven't had the biopsy. Now i'm glutenfree and for the biopsy i would have to go back on gluten. That's why i chose the enterolab test. If your doctor reacts so stupid, i would go to another doctor. And why does he acuse you of playing doctor? Somebody has to do something and if he is uncapeable, then you have to take care of yourself. Don't let him talk stupid. My opinion is you do the right thing. I had also lots of pain every month. Now that i'm glutenfree i don't have pain anymore. I'd say, you know best what's good for your body.

Hope you get well soon, Stef

[plantime]

Yep, I had a doctor that told me all of the stuff I read is nonsense and untrue. Now I have a doctor that is glad I take responsibility for my health and research things. Amazing what changing doctors can do!