Your Thoughts On My Symptoms Please

[MrsStinky]

Hi! I have been reading about celiac and the posts on this board for a while but this is my first post. I apologize for the long post but I have been having digestive issues on and off for a few years now, and wanted to run my history and symptoms by "the experts":

My mother has a wheat allergy, though she says she is fine with barley and rye. She says she has been tested for celiac several times, and "thinks" she had a biopsy done, and each time was negative. My oldest brother has issues with dairy and wheat, and limits both, but neither are totally eliminated from his diet.

As a child I was dairy intolerant, more specifically to milk and ice cream. It would cause an upset stomach and throwing up. Throughout my life I have had unidentified aches (not cramps or charley horses) in my legs, that frequently keep me up at night or off my feet in the day.

I had very regular BM's throughout life until Dec 2005. I got a case of food poisoning and it took several weeks for my digestive track to work at all, and then it didnt seem to work the way it had before. I became very bloated, constipated and somewhat gassy in the months following. I had always weighed about 115-120, and in this time my weight went up to 123-127. At the time I was also taking Lexapro for depression. I went to see a gastro in May 2006. She did a blood test for Celiac and when the results came back negative so she put me on a cocktail of metamucil, miralax and zelnorm.

I remained on the these until August 2006. I was training in preparation for a marathon and after running a 16 mile run, I came back, had a normal BM, and then everything worked normally for the next year. I quit taking my cocktail of supplements/drugs. My weight returned to 115-120.

Fast forward to August 2007, I went on my honeymoon to French Polynesia. Every morning we ate fresh baquettes and croissants and every night had the most wonderful ice cream for dessert. I became constipated by the third or fourth day of the trip.

The constipation has remained since August, plus I am very bloated and terribly gassy. The gas begins after lunch and I offend myself with the stench. My weight is back up to 123-128 despite not much of a change in diet, and exercising more. My poor husband affectionately calls me "stinky" (thus my user name), he is sweet but it doesnt make a newlywed feel too sexy when mystomach looks like I am 5 months pregnant. I sit in my office everyday hoping no one comes in so they do not smell me! I do have BM's but mostly ribbons and rabbit turds, and never feel fully evacuated. When I am pushing during a BM it sometimes feels like my insides (intestines/stomach maybe) are tender/sore feeling.

I went to see a dietician to see if my diet contained enough fiber. I was definately getting enough fiber from varied sources, and drinking enough water. She had me do a couple weeks dairy free. I didnt notice a difference digestion wise during this time, but did find out soy products give me terrible stomach aches. Also when I returned to consuming dairy, the first time/only time I tried drinking real cow's milk my stomach blew up like a balloon, and I felt yucky all afternoon.

I then tried a week wheat free and had diahrea one day for the first time in years without a laxative, and some semi-normal bowel movements other days, as well as a decrease in the gas. My constant hunger and "need" to eat every 2-3 hours diminished.

The dietician suggested seeing the gasto again to try to get a diagnosis of a wheat allergy or intolerance.

So what do you all think? Does it sound like celiac type symptoms or just some bad constipation??

[jerseyangel]

It's a possibility....based on everything you've said, I would make an appt with a GI and tell him/her you want the Celiac Panel run. (blood test)

It's important they do the complete panel--

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

Total Serum IgA

It's also vitally important for you to keep eating gluten right up to the test--to even go "gluten-lite" will skew the results. The gas is an indication that you are eating something that you are very intolerant to--this happens to many of us pre-diagnosis. Good luck