Recently Diagnosed T1 Diabetes: Digestive Problems

[m19peters]

A brief synopsis of my symptoms currently are:

Gas (especially bad during the morning/night)

Bloating

Greasy/Wet, sometimes floating stools (1 to 2 a day)

Anxiety

Rough vertical lines in fingernails

Pain in upper left abdomen that comes and goes in very short spurts (1

out of 10 on pain scale)

Frequent indigestion

My story...

A year ago I had what I think was a mild pancreatitis attack that sent

me to the ER.

I'll put this in a list to make it easier to read...

October 06 - What I think was a mild pancreatitis attack a year ago

(lipase not too high, 340, in ER but the pain had somewhat subsided

when I went

the hospital, pain lasted about 6-7 hours, was a 5 out of 10 on pain

scale, with

pain I had nausea and diarrhea, ER released me with a strained rib

muscle)

November 06 - Saw Gastro and diagnosed with GERD just from describing

symptoms,

had CT scan negative, stool studies showed nothing, upper GI endoscopy

negative

January 07 - Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes due to two high fasting

blood sugars (180)

March 07 - another CT scan negative, upper GI endoscopy negative

March 07 - Diagnosis of type 1 diabetes due to GAD antibody positive

test, celiac blood panel negative, A1C of 7.9

May 07 - Gallbladder utrasound negative

July 07 - MRCP negative

September 07 - endoscopic ulrasound negative... checked gallbladder

and pancreas

NOTES: during a 4-5 month period with unknown type 1 diabetes I went

from 215lbs to 175lbs.

215 was heavy for my 5'9 frame...I am now back up to 188lbs...

enzyme tests throughout the past year have had fequent lipase

elevations (usually in low 300's)...

amylase has always been fine as has my liver enzymes. In March I

started with just 5 units of Lantus... I now am up to 20 units and

take Novalog for meals on a 20 carb/1 unit scale

My blood sugars are fairly regulated with diet, exercise, ...

my last A1C was 5.9... I can seem to have weeks of normal digestion

and then have weeks

of abnormal digestion without any known cause. I've tried cutting out

trigger foods

like tomatoe sauce, alcohol, caffeine, etc... tried fasting for a

day... nothing seems to help.

Can these symptoms above be just IBS? Greasy/wet stools? Celiac

disease,

I was tested with a blood test; could this be missed through that

test?

Would it be possible to rule out malabsorption? Concerns about my

fingernails and stools? Pancreatic Insufficiency?

I've never had a colonoscopy; should this be next step?

While I understand from reading and going through what I have, that it

is very hard to diagnose

certain digestive problems... I would really appreciate any thoughts

that anyone has to my

current situation. And I cannot ignore that these problems started a

year ago

the day that I had a pancreatitis attack and later found I have LADA

(type 1.5 or

type 1, however you want to classify) diabetes.

Thanks

[m19peters]

I'm a 26 year old male.. forgot to mention that.

I'm working on finding out the specific test that I was given for celiac... during my upper endoscopy I know they took a scrape of my stomach or small bowel I believe and got it tested for something. Could this be for celiac?? Also I've had my blood drawn numerous times, so I might just have been tested that way. Again I am looking into this.

I don't know at this point if thats what I have... I might be one of the tweeners or it might just be in my head. At this point there is just too many variables... Is it IBS, Celiac, diabetes... all of these unkowns make me very stressed and its quite possible that I am doing this to myself at this point. I've learned this past year its amazing what stress can do to the body. Just yesterday I could feel the stress coming in... and it was one of my worst days in awhile. Gas, three trips to the bathroom, exessive urination... I lost 4lbs in a day. Tough to destress though with all of these thoughts in my head that something is very wrong with me. From the day I felt that pain a year ago I cannot get it out of my head that I don't have cancer or something else... its tough to trust these doctors who look at you as another mental case... I've had every test in the book that I know of to try and get my mind at ease but my symptoms just won't go away... thanks for listening.

[elye]

Hi, m19, and welcome!

Well, the most recent reliable statistics tell us that one in eight type one diabetics have trouble with gluten (celiac or intolerance). My guess is that it's even higher than that. So, you're diabetic and you've got some classic symptoms of celiac disease. Couple that with the fact that yes, there can absolutely be false negatives with the celiac blood panel, and even with the biopsy. The only truly accurate diagnostic tool for this illness is dietary response. I suggest you try the gluten-free diet. Nothing to lose, and SO much to gain. An added bonus could very well be better control of your blood sugars. I am a tightly controlled type one, and the gluten-free diet has helped me to stay tighter. It can be reaaly tough at first to have to deal with two restrictive diets, but they really do go together. Good luck, and again, welcome to this great place where there's lots of advice and support available!

[Nancym]

Well, obsessing on your health issues is just going to make you feel worse. You need to divert yourself a bit. Definitely read up all you can (the Internet is good, but don't get mislead by schlocky/quacky web sites). A support group like this is good. But you need to relax and not obsess. My nephew does the same thing.

My suggestion for you is look into how a Paleo Diet might help you.

[m19peters]

Thanks Emily and Nancy for the replies...

I think I am going to try Gluten free but I just don't even know where to start... So I look at the back of the ingredients for wheat, barley, and oats... is that it? If it doesn't have those then I can eat it? I mean does all pizza have gluten in it?? I guess I just need to research some more... The Paleo diet, isn't that aka the Caveman diet?? that should make things simple to follow.

I think the obsessing is part of my generation... I want to know what I have wrong with me and I want to know now. ;-) I was doing fine... and plop hear comes diabetes... ok figured that out... but whats with these digestive problems...

Besides that I know I've got some obsessive compulsive in me... this situation brought out the worst in that. I use to just obsess about hockey, lifting, video games, work, wife, kids, etc... now I obsess about whats wrong with me day in and day out.

[elye]

This excellent website has all kinds of info on what's gluten-free and what isn't. You also have to worry about cross-contamination and personal care products (yes, some shampoos, soaps and toothpastes have gluten in them...). Eating like a caveman is very wise for anyone, and particularly for diabetics and celiacs, as gluten and sucrose are loaded into most processed foods, something you don't touch when you're eating like a caveman did. Not easy in our society to stay away from everything packaged, processed and/or refined, but I must say I now eat very little that isn't a fruit, vegetable, meat, nut or seed. Just set aside an hour (or two!) to peruse this site, and another while to start taking it in. There's a LOT to digest, and it's a steep learning curve, but I can promise you that it gets much easier.