Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Doctor Help, Plus:anyone From Eastern Pa?


kmps

Recommended Posts

kmps Newbie

I am new here.

My experience: I went to GI and had "too many symptoms to point to one specific dx" so he tested for Celiac (as well as other things) and I got EGD, etc. Test came back with light abnormalities which "may be beginning stage of Celiac" so he tells me, "you don't eat a lot of gluten already, right? So just don't eat any more and you will be be fine."

I was so dissapointed and let down. I THEN checked on line and found info stating that you should not be tested for biopsy if not eating gluten so I searched and found a Dr. about an hour away that has an interest in celiac, took the 1st available aptment for May 1st, and started to eat gluten again.

I feel very ill, sad, and I am having trouble focussing and spelling, retrieving information and things like that. I think my hair is starting to come out again and I feel so fat. I really don't wat to wait until May 1st! But, I know I should. My biggest fear is that I will go to this Dr. and he will tell me that I don't have Celiac! I think then I will need to be committed to the mental hospital!!!!!!

My other issue now, is that I think my kids might have it and I called a couple of pediatricians in my area that treat/dx celiac disease and they tell me that I need to go to a regular Dr. first to get basic info! Well, for some reason, I don't see why this is important! And especially since I didn't go that route for myself. What's the deal.

My daughter is 12 and she deffinitely has some food issues. SHe has been dx with all kids of learning disabilities. Her hair used to pull right out of her head (until I put her on isotonic supppliments) and she has always struck me as having some kind of vitimin difficiency. My question here , I guess, is #1 does anyone know a great GI for kids in eastern PA? I live in the Lehigh Valley area. #2 is -do I wait until I am dx or do I take my kid NOW?

ANy other suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Stephanie DH Newbie
I am new here.

My experience: I went to GI and had "too many symptoms to point to one specific dx" so he tested for Celiac (as well as other things) and I got EGD, etc. Test came back with light abnormalities which "may be beginning stage of Celiac" so he tells me, "you don't eat a lot of gluten already, right? So just don't eat any more and you will be be fine."

I was so dissapointed and let down. I THEN checked on line and found info stating that you should not be tested for biopsy if not eating gluten so I searched and found a Dr. about an hour away that has an interest in celiac, took the 1st available aptment for May 1st, and started to eat gluten again.

I feel very ill, sad, and I am having trouble focussing and spelling, retrieving information and things like that. I think my hair is starting to come out again and I feel so fat. I really don't wat to wait until May 1st! But, I know I should. My biggest fear is that I will go to this Dr. and he will tell me that I don't have Celiac! I think then I will need to be committed to the mental hospital!!!!!!

My other issue now, is that I think my kids might have it and I called a couple of pediatricians in my area that treat/dx celiac disease and they tell me that I need to go to a regular Dr. first to get basic info! Well, for some reason, I don't see why this is important! And especially since I didn't go that route for myself. What's the deal.

My daughter is 12 and she deffinitely has some food issues. SHe has been dx with all kids of learning disabilities. Her hair used to pull right out of her head (until I put her on isotonic supppliments) and she has always struck me as having some kind of vitimin difficiency. My question here , I guess, is #1 does anyone know a great GI for kids in eastern PA? I live in the Lehigh Valley area. #2 is -do I wait until I am dx or do I take my kid NOW?

ANy other suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

I live in Northern Bucks, right near the Lehigh line. Sorry I too am looking for a good Dr. I wouldn't wait to take her.

Do you mind sharing who your new Dr. is? Remember you could test negative for celiac and still have issues with it.

I have had issues for almost twenty years. All of my repeated tests have come back negative.

Even at my worst 9 years ago when I came down with chronic fatigue syndrome. My brain is probably the thing that bothers me the most. I feel totally disconnected all of the time. I am trying to go gluten free again, even though my doctors have repeatedly told me I do not have Celiac Disease. I am only a week in and am having a hard time. I can relate to your symptoms. I am feeling so bloated right now. I thought it would start going away once off the gluten, it actually feels worse now. It is all so confusing and overwhelming, especially when you have been dealing with symptoms for so long. I hope May comes quickly for you.

kmps Newbie
I live in Northern Bucks, right near the Lehigh line. Sorry I too am looking for a good Dr. I wouldn't wait to take her.

Do you mind sharing who your new Dr. is? Remember you could test negative for celiac and still have issues with it.

I have had issues for almost twenty years. All of my repeated tests have come back negative.

Even at my worst 9 years ago when I came down with chronic fatigue syndrome. My brain is probably the thing that bothers me the most. I feel totally disconnected all of the time. I am trying to go gluten free again, even though my doctors have repeatedly told me I do not have Celiac Disease. I am only a week in and am having a hard time. I can relate to your symptoms. I am feeling so bloated right now. I thought it would start going away once off the gluten, it actually feels worse now. It is all so confusing and overwhelming, especially when you have been dealing with symptoms for so long. I hope May comes quickly for you.

The new Dr I have an apointment with is Dr. Jaffe who has an office at U of Pen and another in Radnor, PA. I don't live that far from NYC and I would love to go to the Celiac center there at Columbia, but if I have to make several trips it would just be a strain on me and my family in many ways. I found that Dr. Jaffe had very good reviews.

They don't take kids though, so.... at least I think that's what they said.

When I was 90% gluten free on my own I still had symptoms as I do now except now that I eat whatever I feel very much worse. Bleh. I had my blood checked and I have very low Vit. D, B12 and I had no benificial flora in my intestines. Plus too much Ecoli and a nice big bacterial yeast infection. My GP gave me lots of suppliments, but i find it so hard to take everything all the time. I get so sick of all that water and pill taking.

Maybe you have another issue on top of the gluten thing. ?? If you don't feel well off of gluten. Are you sure you avoid all gluten?

  • 5 months later...
one more mile Contributor

I live in Oley/fleetwood, pa Near Reading but due to my health insurance have to go mostly to Leigh valley.

If you find a good doc let me Know I am looking for one also.

Are there any support groups that meet locally in our area?

Trust your guts when it comes to your kids. My kid was always very obese. We Tired elimination diets and found that she gets pains after eating milk and meat. She is doing so much better now but it took years to figure it out. The organic route helped but was not the whole story. Doctors just kept saying she needed to eat less. Well duh. But the kid always felt hungry. Giving her milk only increased her cravings to eat. Doctors told her that chest pains were growing pains. They were not, they were a milk allergy. Now when she is a clean vegan she is fine. But I can tell by just looking at her when she is not. But at 20 I can not rule what she eats.

My point is that as a parent you know when something is wrong, some times you have to just try everything you can think of before you hit the nail on the head. I was frustrated for years. But glad we finely figured it out. Good luck. I hope you have gotten some place with it.

some pills are not Gluten free I have been told. I have my drug store check for me now.

One more mile

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - knitty kitty replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      4

      Son's legs shaking

    2. - lizzie42 replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      4

      Son's legs shaking

    3. - Scott Adams replied to Russ H's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      1

      Anti-endomysial Antibody (EMA) Testing

    4. - knitty kitty replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      4

      Son's legs shaking

    5. - Scott Adams replied to Paulaannefthimiou's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      2

      Bob red mill gluten free oats

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,869
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    MaryannHall
    Newest Member
    MaryannHall
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
    • Scott Adams
      That is interesting, and it's the first time I heard about the umbilical cord beings used for that test. Thanks for sharing!
    • knitty kitty
      @lizzie42, You're being a good mom, seeking answers for your son.  Cheers! Subclinical thiamine deficiency commonly occurs with anemia.  An outright Thiamine deficiency can be precipitated by the consumption of a high carbohydrate meal.   Symptoms of Thiamine deficiency include feeling shakey or wobbly in the legs, muscle weakness or cramps, as well as aggression and irritability, confusion, mood swings and behavior changes.  Thiamine is essential to the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine which keep us calm and rational.   @Jsingh, histamine intolerance is also a symptom of Thiamine deficiency.  Thiamine is needed to prevent mast cells from releasing histamine at the slightest provocation as is seen in histamine intolerance.  Thiamine and the other B vitamins and Vitamin C are needed to clear histamine from the body.  Without sufficient thiamine and other B vitamins to clear it, the histamine builds up.  High histamine levels can change behavior, too.  High histamine levels are found in the brains of patients with schizophrenia.  Thiamine deficiency can also cause extreme hunger or conversely anorexia.   High carbohydrate meals can precipitate thiamine deficiency because additional thiamine is required to process carbohydrates for the body to use as fuel.  The more carbohydrates one eats daily, the more one needs additional thiamine above the RDA.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses. Keep in mind that gluten-free processed foods like cookies and such are not required to be fortified and enriched with vitamins and minerals like their gluten containing counterparts are.  Limit processed gluten-free foods.  They are often full of empty calories and unhealthy saturated fats and additives, and are high in histamine or histamine release triggers.  It's time you bought your own vitamins to supplement what is not being absorbed due to malabsorption of Celiac disease.  Benfotiamine is a form of Thiamine that has been shown to improve intestinal health as well as brain function. Do talk to your doctors and dieticians about supplementing with the essential vitamins and minerals while your children are growing up gluten free.  Serve nutritionally dense foods.  Meats and liver are great sources of B vitamins and minerals. Hope this helps!  Keep us posted on your progress!
    • Scott Adams
      Oats naturally contain a protein called avenin, which is similar to the gluten proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye. While avenin is generally considered safe for most people with celiac disease, some individuals, around 5-10% of celiacs, may also have sensitivity to avenin, leading to symptoms similar to gluten exposure. You may fall into this category, and eliminating them is the best way to figure this out. Some people substitute gluten-free quinoa flakes for oats if they want a hot cereal substitute. If you are interested in summaries of scientific publications on the topic of oats and celiac disease, we have an entire category dedicated to it which is here: https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/oats-and-celiac-disease-are-they-gluten-free/   
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.