I Think I Have Gluten Intolerance...what Do You Think?

[Sugabump]

I've been lurking here for a while. I'm a 30 year old female. About a two years ago I suddenly developed alopecia areata. I've always had beautiful thick hair so it was really devastating. At the same time I developed this strange painful scalp acne. I didn't seek any treatment because I have not had health insurance for some time, since I have been a full-time student for the past few years. I did a bit of research and figured that there was nothing I could do about it......So about a year later, I started developing stomach problems. I'm 120 pounds and my stomach had always been flat as a board, then one day I wake up looking like I was about 2 months pregnant. I couldn't figure it out. Around this time my stomach became very noisy making growling sounds to the point that I held my stomach 50% of the day trying to calm it down. Then came the unpredicatable constipation. I just assumed that I had IBS. So I've been basically dealing with this for a few years.

The final straw came when a few months ago I was sitting in my school computer lab, which is totally quiet and my stomache made this explosive sound. This sound was not like a growl or anything I had ever heard. Talk about embarrasing. This is when I officially got worried. When I got home later I started searching on the net to see if I could find anyone else with these symptoms. I described the explosion in my stomach and found another girl who had experience the same thing. THe strange part was this girl had also described strange sores on her scalp. The doctor online had advised her to check into gluten intolerance. I had never heard of it so I did an immediate search and I was amazed.....When I thought about it.....pretty much all my favorite foods included gluten. I use to eat pasta and baked goods like it was going out of style. So told myself that I was going to try to go gluten free and see if I noticed any changes. It was hard at first because most people I know had never heard of this disease and kept offering me food, when I tried to explain to them I was on a gluten-free diet they looked at me like I was crazy.

Okay so....a few months later and I'm still basically gluten-free. I've had a few slip ups. My stomach is flat again and it is totally quiet. I barely have any gas at all. It's such a relief to be able to sit in class without holding my stomach worried about what sound it will make next!! Also I have less bald patches on my scalp and the scalp acne has gone away.

So I haven't been officially diagnosed, but I belive that this is totally what I have? I even tested it. Last week I ate three slices of pizza hut pizza and my stomach was bloated for a few days...and this week I have a whole bunch of sores on my scalp..... I tried to explain this to my friends and family but they still think I'm a little nuts..lol.....Did you have this problem at first??

Wish I had health insurance so I could find out for sure....

[CarlaB]

If you feel better gluten-free, no one needs to know more than that! Just say that gluten makes you feel bad ... all someone who is lactose intolerant has to say is that they're lactose intolerant, that dairy makes them feel bad! It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.

Your dietary response is clinical proof! I'm glad you feel better.

[gfpaperdoll]

Dietary trial is the true diagnosis of gluten intolerance. You might contact a support group in your area. Always good to find out about local restaurants & shopping places... not counting the understanding people you will meet there.

If you want to save up your money for testing you can check out Enterolab.com

I think they can detect a gluten problem up to one year after gluten free. Any other testing would be negative on a gluten free diet, so once gluten free & feeling better it is best to just stay that way.

The gene test at enterolab.com is a good one to get, I think a recent poster said it was something like $159.00 or somewhere in that range.

you should have seen the look another customer gave me today at the deli counter when I wanted to see the label on a Boars Head meat to make sure it said gluten free!! I just thought her ignorance a little amusing, I bet she went home & googled it !!!! Sometimes the less information our friends have the better off we are.