I Have A Great Doctor - But Im Not Sure?

[Poppets]

Hi Everyone,

Im a 28 year girl in England and i have been unwell now for around 6 weeks. Ive been to the doctor 3 or 4 times now and i finally went back today and saw a different doctor who is sending me for the Coeliac blood test tomorrow to see if this is the problem with me. I wrote out a long list of symptoms ive had and as he read through the list he started smiling and nodding and said "well Miss Collins - i think you may have Coeliac Disease and im getting you a blood test tomorrow to find out!" I almost cried i was so happy that someone was finally listening to me - but im not sure that i have Coeliac? I went to College with a lady who has it and her symptoms were way more serious than me and if she ate any gluten she became very very ill.

Ive been cutting wheat out of my diet and dairy and im not any better than i was when i was eating it! I didnt realise though that Gluten can be in more than just wheat so i may have been eating it and not realising it!

My symptoms are extreme bloating and pain in my abdomen, the longer the day goes on the larger my stomach gets. By the end of the day i feel gassy and the pain goes around my back. I feel exhausted all the time even after 12 hours sleep and im havin a little trouble going to the toilet.

The doctor has given me some fibre drinks to help 'move' things on - he seemed to really know what he was talking about but i just dont believe him! - What do you all think?

[kbtoyssni]

I think your doctor is a keeper! People have varying degrees of symptoms so it's not at all unusual for the lady you know with celiac to have worse symptoms than you. You may be less symptomatic, you may have had celiac for less time and there fore have done less damage to your body, or you may have symptoms that you don't realize are symptoms until you go gluten-free.

If you just go wheat-free, you probably won't feel completely better. You will have been consuming some gluten.

The other thing to note is that blood tests aren't accurate once your go gluten-free. You've been "gluten-lite" with not eating wheat so I would be surprised if you got a positive blood test. Your body won't be producing as many antibodies to gluten now that you're eating a smaller amount so the blood test won't detect the high amount that you need for a positive. Don't worry about it, though. I would try the gluten-free diet and see how you feel. If you feel better, you've found your answer!

Welcome!

[Poppets]

Hi!

Thank you for your reply - its all a bit baffling isnt it in this limbo stage. I had cut wheat out a week ago or so and when that didnt work i reintroduced it and then cut out dairy to see if that made a difference so ive been eating wheat s normal for over a week since i cut it out for a week - will that still make a difference? My blood test is 11.30am - if i ate loads of whet in the morning will that help?