Do I Have Celiac Symptoms

[boobybabs]

I have been having problems for about 4 months....went on a trip - had a buffet dinner - stepped outside and was immediately hot, heart rate increased, stomach felt weird....laided down for while, but continued to be fevered and stomach achy for couple of hours...went to emergency - EKG and blood - think they were looking for heart and gallbladder...all tests came back fine.....for the remainer of vacation had stomach issues - usually occurred after food consumed...bland eating for about week...one day ate normal...had the same symptoms as initial attack.....fevered and stomach achy for about 6 - 7 hours.....went to regular doctor had blood work done for thyroid, liver, heart, cholestrol, diabetes...all tests came back fine....recently had bloodwork done for stomach bateria and pancreas....came back fine....I have an upper GI x-ray scheduled in a couple of weeks...for the last 3 months longest went without some type of stomach issue was 10 days....symptoms have included....stomach ache...not a sharp pain, but a dull ache....between belly button and boobs....stomach gnawing and tightness in the same area...I ate chili for two days and on the second night got sick to stomach....have had episodes of cramps and diarrhea....once cramps were very sharp other times just mild cramps...lately my face has been feeling hot after eating some things....like a tootsie roll sucker I had today....I was taking pepto, gavison...but nothing seemed to fix - was becoming freaked out, and found myself constantly crying.....and I am not normally a cryer.....about four weeks ago, doctor gave me a prescription for Zantax 150 - two pills a day for 6 weeks....I have been taking these for a month now and have been feeling pretty good,,,,,,unfortunately, I have also modified my diet to be as relatively gluten and lactose free as possible....eating chicken, white rice, baked pototoes, vegetables and fruit,,,,,,two weeks ago, I had one piece of pizza and a yogurt and about 1- 2 hours after eating, got a hot flash and stomach kind of gnawing for about 1- 2 hours - if I have a little piece of dessert also stomach gnawing.....I am thinking that if I have been on two Zantax pills a day, a small piece of pizza should not bother my stomach? After Upper GI x-ray with hook up with doctor....maybe ask her to test for food intolerance? Unfortunately, I have also read that you need to have lots of gluten to test positive.....not sure if I want to put myself through that again....DO these symptoms sound familiar to anyone....any help would be appreciated.

[ShayFL]

My first thought was that something in that buffet irritated your stomach (bacteria, virus, toxin, etc.). Continue with your testing. It is true that if you go off gluten even for a few weeks it can make the tests inaccurate. If you dont want to eat gluten to find out, stick to your bland diet and see if you dont improve after a few more weeks.

Also you might add some things to help heal the irritated gut like PepZin GI, aloe juice (George's is mild), marshmellow, slippery elm bark and probiotics (acidophilus caps that are dairy free).

If you want accurate Celiac testing, you will need to consume gluten daily in regular amounts.

[boobybabs]

My first thought was that something in that buffet irritated your stomach (bacteria, virus, toxin, etc.). Continue with your testing. It is true that if you go off gluten even for a few weeks it can make the tests inaccurate. If you dont want to eat gluten to find out, stick to your bland diet and see if you dont improve after a few more weeks.

Also you might add some things to help heal the irritated gut like PepZin GI, aloe juice (George's is mild), marshmellow, slippery elm bark and probiotics (acidophilus caps that are dairy free).

If you want accurate Celiac testing, you will need to consume gluten daily in regular amounts.

Thanks for the response....I too wondered about some type of food poisoning after the buffet incident..so maybe those first two spells are unrelated to the symptoms that followed...According to all the internet sites that I have reviewed - you need to consume gluten for a while before the test, or it will definitely test negative.....I am just trying to narrow down my specific problem (with the health care system in such dire straits, I thought it could not hurt to be as informed as possib) and I have done extensive research online dealing with all health issues that relate to stomach problems.....IBS, ulcers, food intolerance, acid reflex (GERDS), and the list goes on......but, the same ones keep coming up in my research....the reasons that I think that it might be a gluten or lactose - I did not have bread for a few weeks and one day I had 3 thin pieces of french bread...and for the rest of the night my stomach was bloated and uncomfortable...went out for lunch another day and had a couple of ff and hot turkey sandwich.....almost immediately had to go to the bathroom and stomach upset for about two hours afterward - ate rice with pieces of chicken and corn for a few weeks...but, had lots of soya sauce on it every time....later learned that soya sauce not good.....I believe that I will eventually get into some type of elimination diet - adding some gluten - like bread a little bit at a time to see the response -

[Lakota John]

Here is my experience:

Gluten intolerance runs in the family.... at around 35 I began noticing that I was l becoming lactose intolerant. At the same time I began noticing that perfume, aftershave, and smoke was beginning to bother me as well. When I turned 40 I went 10 days without gluten - this was to see if I felt better when gluten-free. On the 10th day I ate a large slice of fresh wheat bread with my dinner and within 5 min I had an intense hot flash that for the rest of the meal. Unfortunately I was at a fancy restaurant at the time. All I wanted to do was go home! That evening I slept without covers and was uncomfortably hot all night - sleeping was difficult as I was too hot to sleep well. The next day I noticed that I felt unusually warm throughout much of morning.

I am not strictly gluten free but have cut back on wheat/bread/pasta. During spring and fall allergy seasons I try to go gluten free as I loose my vitality, focus, and tend to suffer.

I have never attempted duplicate my 10 day gluten-free experiment but may do so soon as I have noticed that I am getting frequent cold hands and knees and more often-than-not have low-body temperature (97.8

[Mother of Jibril]

Quick note for Lakota John...

Low body temperature is a common symptom of hypothyroidism. Have you had your thyroid checked? A normal TSH should be between 0.1 and 3.0. Gluten intolerance and hypothyroidism often cluster together.

[ShayFL]

Mother is right......low temp could indicate thyroid. It can also be a sign of low adrenal function.

The new TSH ranges according to the AACE is from .3 - 3. And even those arent always diagnostic. I was severely hypo thyroid at 2.8. Right now my TSH is .08 and I am perfectly fine with NO hyper symptoms at all. With Hashi's you want to fully suppress the TSH to get rid of the antibodies.

According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists

(AACE), 1 in 10 Americans - more than the number of Americans with

diabetes and cancer combined - suffer from thyroid disease, yet as

many as half remain undiagnosed. In order to counteract this lack of

awareness and educate the public about the prevalence of thyroid

disease, diagnosis, and treatment, in January, AACE continued its

annual thyroid awareness campaign. The 2003 campaign, Hiding in Plain

Sight: Thyroid Undercover, launched as part of the January 2003

Thyroid Awareness Month.

According to the AACE, until November 2002, doctors had relied on a

normal TSH level ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 to diagnose and treat

patients with a thyroid disorder who tested outside the boundaries of

that range. The new guidelines narrow the range for acceptable thyroid

function, and AACE is now encouraging doctors to consider treatment

for patients who test outside the boundaries of a narrower margin

based on a target TSH level of 0.3 to 3.04. AACE believes the new

range will result in proper diagnosis for millions of Americans who

suffer from a mild thyroid disorder, but have gone untreated until

now. AACE estimates that the new guidelines double the number of

people who have abnormal thyroid function, bringing the total to 27

million.