More Testing...

[Phedre]

After all the mess with my bloodwork (which was found to be "inconclusive" by one doctor and "normal" by another), I was referred to a GI specialist and we have been working together since then. After looking at my blood panel information and discussing my symptoms with me, he suggested a gastic emptying study to see how my stomach was processing food... That was last Friday and turned out to be completely normal. At that point, he said that he would like to do an endoscopy and colonoscopy to see what else was going on since my symptoms hadn't changed...

The procedures were this morning and while the prep was awful ugh, the procedures really weren't bad... In recovery (while I was still somewhat out of it) he explained that he found signs of gastritis which he thinks is largely caused by stress because I have a "stressful job." I also have a hiatal hernia but he said that the colonoscopy looked normal. They did do a biopsy though I'm not sure when I will hear the results as my doc is going out of the country for 3 weeks.

He prescribed some Nexium for the the gastritis and I'm assuming I will see him sometime after he gets back from his trip to discuss my progress. Since I've finally had the biopsy, I've decided to go gluten free and see how things go - at this point, it can't hurt and as I've said before, if I improve on the diet, that's proof enough for me even if my bloodwork and biopsy don't confirm.

So that's my update... I'll be back to post more once I've had some progress with the diet and see how it effects things. It'll be a great time to try out all of the wonderful recipes I've been reading about here!

Thanks everyone...

[ravenwoodglass]

I am glad you are going to try the diet. Gastritis is a common finding for us. My GI was really not pleased when I went back after mine and gave him back all his pricey samples and told him I used pepto bismal, once. He looked at me like I was nuts but as soon as I went on the diet the stomach pain ended. Note that I am not telling you not to take the script, that is your decision and your doctors, I am simply relating my personal experience with a clueless GI doctor. He let me suffer D for 15 years and told me I had IBS, after I was gluten-free and went back to tell him how I was doing on all his drugs he wasn't really happy when I told him I wasn't taking any of them and how much success I had with the diet. Not because he was unhappy with my recovery but because he never even thought of celiac.

I hope the diet works for you, I know for me it was a long, painful, expensive road to diagnosis. Mostly because I don't show up in blood work. In fact the reason I post here is because I don't want others like me to end up like I was. I'm not alone there, there are quite a few of us here.

[Phedre]

I am glad you are going to try the diet. Gastritis is a common finding for us. My GI was really not pleased when I went back after mine and gave him back all his pricey samples and told him I used pepto bismal, once. He looked at me like I was nuts but as soon as I went on the diet the stomach pain ended. Note that I am not telling you not to take the script, that is your decision and your doctors, I am simply relating my personal experience with a clueless GI doctor. He let me suffer D for 15 years and told me I had IBS, after I was gluten-free and went back to tell him how I was doing on all his drugs he wasn't really happy when I told him I wasn't taking any of them and how much success I had with the diet. Not because he was unhappy with my recovery but because he never even thought of celiac.

I hope the diet works for you, I know for me it was a long, painful, expensive road to diagnosis. Mostly because I don't show up in blood work. In fact the reason I post here is because I don't want others like me to end up like I was. I'm not alone there, there are quite a few of us here.

Thank you - I'm encouraged by your story mostly because it sounds so similar to mine. When I heard "gastritis" my brain (although fuzzy from the sedation) went "aha, inflammation!" and connected that with celiac while my doctor connected it with stress. I hate to say bad things about my doc as he is the first person to ever take me seriously and not just brush me off with "it's IBS, get over it" but I was disappointed when he said he didn't think that was a possibility after everything he saw.

I'd already decided to go on the diet, I basically was just waiting for my biopsy first - now I can get started I'm going shopping today and although I will miss gluten, I'm optimistic and excited. I'm still going to try the meds for at least a few weeks to see if that helps any also but after that we'll see.

Thanks again for sharing your diagnosis process and commenting - it is nice to see others sharing their stories and trying to encourage those of us who have had less than stellar luck with doctors.

[igd]

I watched a very informative show on UCTV the other night about Celiac disease that may help you and anyone else with questions. Two physicians and a nutrionist spoke for a total of 86 minutes and it was excellent! Here is the link. wasOpen Original Shared Link Good luck!