New Here ---- Wondering About Testing...kinda Long.

[ck2mum]

Hello

For the past 3 years I have had very mild abdominal & pelvic aching. I have 3 usual areas where the aches occur, all on the left side of my body, starting right next to my belly button, then sort of around where my ovary is and then further down, near the bottom of my pelvis - and sometimes in my lower back too. I have been to the doctor countless times, had an ultrasound a few years ago (no probs with my ovaries) and have been told that i may have either IBS or endometriosis. I really didn't think I had IBS as I figured the symptoms would be much worse.

For the past 8 weeks I have been on Weightwatchers. Simply because of the points involved, I have not been eating much bread and to my amazement I have barely had any wind at all. I would often suffer from wind a few times a week - sometimes it would give me a bad tummy ache. Since starting the diet I have had bad wind just twice - I do a food journal so i was able to look back and see that I'd eaten Shredded Wheat for breakfast that day. The 2nd time I had it was after I went to a movie and I'd eaten popcorn. I've also known for a few years that I can't eat ryvita crackers - not even one - or I get terrible wind. About 4 months ago I bought a box of Raisin Bran in an attempt to eat more fibre (suggested by my doctor) and the wind I had afterward was unbearable. I haven't omitted gluten from my diet, I still occasionally eat pasta and a bit of couscous and I often eat melba toast (though not amounting in weight to even one slice of bread i would think) and I eat 1.5 oz. of Cheerios nearly every morning.

I went back today for a follow-up app't for my aches and told the doctor about my discovery and he thinks I have neither endometriosis or IBS but that my pains are more likely caused by a food intolerence. I asked him if I should be tested and he said not to bother, just continue avoiding the foods I found trigger the wind and has asked me to keep a pain/menstrual cycle diary.

So...I am now wondering if I have a gluten intolerance - and don't really know where to go from here. Doctor doesn't want to see me for another 6 months (he's a gynaecologist). Any suggestions?

[happygirl]

You have some choices:

Go gluten free on your own and not get tested.

Don't go gluten free yet, and find a doctor knowledgable about Celiac that will run the bloodwork for you. You can go to your primary care provider and ask for the bloodwork to be run. You must continue eating gluten for testing to be accurate for Celiac. The tests you need to request are:

Anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) both IgA and IgG

Anti-endomysial antibodies (EMA) - IgA

Anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTG) - IgA

Total IgA level.