Follow Up Appointment

[Glutina]

Hello again everyone! I hope your gluten free lives are going well

I just wanted to update on the follow-up appointeny I had with my doc, as it was a bit surprising to me. Quick overview:

So...I was tested by a G.I. specialist in January for Celiac via bloodwork. (He immediately asked if I had ever been tested for it and about my family history and so on...he said I basically had all the symptoms.) I was thrilled that he took the time to think of what might be causing all my "washroom" and fatigue issues, and my general sense of feeling "off", not to mention the excruciatingly painful "attacks" I would get in my gut after eating certain things, more specifically soy sauce and imitation crab meat and bread. (All big gluten nono's!) So, he also set me up to have an ultrasound to rule out anything more severe with any organs or intestinal abnormalities, etc.

In the follow up appointment I had last friday, he confirmed that my celiac blood work was negative, but at the higher end of normal for something (ack---forget exactly what ) but not high enough to read celiac. He also said it was not the specific celiac-gluten antibody but something else that showed a high reactivity...? Anyhoo---the ultrasound was normal, thank goodness! I also told him that I had tried going gluten free after our first appointment when he mentioned possible celiac because I did not want to deal with my symptoms another day! He asked how it was going and I said GREAT! I asked him about the possiblilty of a false negative and he said that yes, those are quite possible, but here's where he surprised me: he said that since I am feeling better going gluten free, whether or not I have celiac, he owuld give the same advice to follow a gluten free diet. He also said that if I WANT the biopsy, he'll do it, but he left it up to me. Up to me! Wow!!! He also said something else that I had never thought of....that going gluten-free could be helping me to avoid other intolerances which ultimately leads to the same path: a normal, symptom-free life! He also said that going gluten free will complicate any further testing, and so he is also leaving that up to me!!! He said that since gluten free is working for me, I need to stick with it no matter if I have celiac (unlikely), gluten sensitivity or even wheat sensitivity. It is so nice to know that if I have any further concerns or if symptoms start up again that he has told me to come back and get further testing if I feel I need it.

I just thought I would share a positive GI specialist story with you all...and to remember that the diagnosis is ultimately the same for celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. AND, more importantly, that your health is in YOUR hands and not to stop at one doctor's opinion (or lack of one as I have also experienced with other misinformed doctors).

Your friend in this gluten free life,

-Glutina

[ravenwoodglass]

It sounds like you have a great doctor who is more concerned with the health of his patient than a lot of them are. Congrats. I think the home page here has a place for celiac savvy doctors to be listed, you may want to add him to the list.

[Glutina]

I agree that I am lucky in finding him as a specialist! I will add him to the list of "good ones"

-Glutina