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Any One Over 60 Living With Celiac

Guest bananababy

By Guest bananababy
in Introduce Yourself / Share Stuff

Recommended Posts

Welda Johnson Newbie
Welda Johnson
Posted

My name is Welda. I am 64 years old and have had Celiac symptoms since age 8. Mine manifested as severe Asthma, and at age 19, with two little babies, I was told that I would be bedridden by the age of 25 if I didn't take the scratch skin tests for allergies, and follow up with 3 years of shots. I did that, and still was so sick. By age 22 I had 3 babies, and was suffering terribly. I started eliminating foods--all grains, then all milk and dairy, then egg whites, yeast, casein, whey and modified food starch. Unfortunately, I would feel great when off those foods, and would think I could go back to eating them when I felt well. Wrong. Eventually in my fifties, I went for a colonoscopy and the nurse looked at my food intolerances and mentioned Celiac. I had heard that name before, and so I got on this website. It changed my life. I started stringently sticking to the Celiac diet, and have experienced a wonderful life change. I now eat mostly fruits and vegetables, and my weight has normalized. At five feet tall, I feel so much better now than I ever did before. I walk five miles almost every day, usually sleep great, and make sure that I eat every few hours to keep going strong. I thank God for the new direction my life has taken. I have an aunt in Texas who is 98 years young. Perhaps I'll live that long too. Every day gets better. Welda

  • 3 weeks later...
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PinkLady Newbie
PinkLady
Posted
has any one , lived with undiagnosed celiac for over 60yrs or their abouts and has now been diagnosed I would love to see on the boards about seniors living and coping with the disease this would help much thanks

Yes, I was diagnosed jjust a week ago for the first time and I am 61! It is kind of fun to try out all these gluten free products and restaurants! What part of

the country do you live in and how old are you?

Chizlib Newbie
Chizlib
Posted
Yes, I was diagnosed jjust a week ago for the first time and I am 61! It is kind of fun to try out all these gluten free products and restaurants! What part of

the country do you live in and how old are you?

I am 64 years old suffering with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia with a soupcon of Coeliac thrown in for good measure. I have only recently been diagnosed with Coeliac, and ridiculous as it may sound, previous to diagnosis my digestive system was well under my control, much more controlled than your average set of guts, with no symptoms of Coeliac. (OK !So I could fart {pardon me} for my country, but so can many people.)

I have a recto-vaginal fistula which for the last 28 years I have managed and controlled rigidly to the point of knowing what, and when to eat to prevent accidents, it had become second nature. Bearing in mind the female anatomy, there is no way you can stick a colostomy bag over that !!! So dietary control was/is of paramount importance.

Following endoscopy - it will NEVER catch on as a hobby - and diagnosis of Coeliac Disease I dutifully changed my diet to Gluten free. OH! MY GIDDY AUNT! (I dare not use the words I really want to use, I will be excommunicated from the message board/forum/ decent society and probably Life itself!! :o I don't know, quite literally whether I am coming or going, or more to the point WHEN! Do I sound ungrateful when I say I wish nobody had thought to investigate and find the coeliac problem? I am struggling at the moment, in fact I am on fluids only, and have to say that my guts are at peace for the first time since the biopsy and change of diet. Trouble is, having achieved peace and tranquility, I am reluctant to start n solid food again.

  • 3 months later...
Dan300 Newbie
Dan300
Posted

I just turned 61 , 2 weeks ago, and have had a skin problem (DH ?) for 25+ years, after 10 doctors, I had to do my own research and went Gluten free at the end of march. my lessions are healing (always took a while) and hadn't had any new break outs except for about 3 weeks ago when I had a six pack of Mikes Hard lemon aid ,Malted? (over 3 days ) and a large bag of candie ( bulls eyes, caramel cremes,,,,wheat flour) while driving back from Florida.......... broke out the next day !!! so I'm 99% sure I'm Gluten intolerant, this is after the doctors insisted that I didn't have Celiac disease . Went to a lecture by Dr Tom O'Bryan, he showed us a graph on what ages people where finially getting diagnosed ( average 5 doctors and 8 to10 years ) it showed that 25% finially got diagnosed at 60years and older.... he showed that Celiac ( official biopsi of the gut ) and Gluten intolerance are the same,,,,,,,,, just a matter of degrees and how long , and also that it can affect any organ in your body including your Brain (migraines , depression ect ) He also said that we still don't know all the DNA genes yet as a lot of people have this problem and don't have the gene trigger , I've also seen on the web reciently that "as much as 30% of the American population is Gluten sensitive" I was at a talk tuesday night at a Whole Food store, on gluten free cooking with also a certified dietitian nutritionist, as her family was from India she reminded us that 2/3 rds of the world is on a gluten free diet, some thing to think about..... I know the drug companies don't want to hear about a cure without drugs $$$$$$$ and I think that the doctors are only trained it treating problems with medications so thank you to forums and web sites like you and the intertnet we are learning on our own how the world works , no we're not doctors but knowledge is power Dan

nutralady2001 Newbie
nutralady2001
Posted

Yes I am 61 also

Was diagnosed over 2 years ago via biopsy and antibodies after nearly 50 years of being stuck with "other labels" the most persisent one being "IBS"

marfa62 Newbie
marfa62
Posted

senior, senior?? middle age, I just started living 2 years ago. I still can remember the time I took them all to Spain for the last family vacation. I spent the week in the bathroom or the bed, zoning out and sleeping when I wasn't angry.

Now I have a neat racing bicycle, cross country ski and after years of fighting muscle fatigue, am getting some serious exercise. I have always felt that this disease attacks my muscles. I cannot keep up with other people my age- or twenty years older! But every year is better. I have a disabled son ( a direct result of undiagnosied celiac and pregnacy) who is a joy, he is my partner in running around.

The tiredness has lessened. the fight is to exercise, then nap or do a low key day. But I am looking forward to being a hellion. M

has any one , lived with undiagnosed celiac for over 60yrs or their abouts and has now been diagnosed I would love to see on the boards about seniors living and coping with the disease this would help much thanks

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      By hjayne19 · Posted

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      @trents - THANK YOU, that is a really helpful and interesting post. I have had fairly extreme symptoms. Being a veteran hypochondriac I've been imagining all sorts and what you say makes me think I've probably been up to my usual catastrophizing!    That said, I foresee another colonoscopy appointment if things don't settle down soon., and if I have got diverticulosis I guess that is how they will find out. I've just checked some statistics and I had no idea until I googled the condition that such a large percentage of the UK population has diverticulosis, i.e. 50 per cent by the age of 50, and that diverticulitis itself - i.e.  inflammation of the diverticular - affects 5-25 per cent of the population.  Oddly enough I knew a young woman with it and she told me years ago that it felt like there was a baby's foot wedged into her stomach at times, just like when she was expecting a baby, and this is exactly how it feels to me at times (although I realise as a man you will not be familiar with this sensation!)   I also do have an umbilical hernia which I think plays me up. On your other earlier points - I have read elsewhere that sudden intake of fibre can cause a lot of discomfort.  It reminds me of the time I swapped a chocolate bar with a muesli bar with apricots in an effort to be healthy, and there was a stone in it which broke my tooth!  No pain no gain I suppose!  And re: new intolerances, that too is very likely.   I will start keeping a food diary and my husband has today bought me some peppermint tea, hopefully that might help disperse some of the bloating! Thank you.    
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      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @hjayne19! Because of the damage done to the villous lining of the small bowel by celiac disease's inflammatory process, absorption of nutrients from our diet is generally compromised and over time it is typical for those with celiac disease to develop nutritional deficiencies. Your low ferritin is evidence of that. We generally advise those who have been newly diagnosed to invest in some high quality and high potency gluten-free vitamin and mineral supplements to address this. We're talking about more than a multivitamin. We usually advise B-complex, D3 (5-10k IU daily), zinc, and magnesium glycinate. In particular, magnesium can be helpful for sleep issues and the glycinate form is important as it is assimilates much better than a lot of common forms you see on supermarket shelves which are formulated more for shelf-life than the are for assimilation. Has your ferritin rebounded yet? You may also need an iron supplement if you aren't on one already. Do you have Costco stores near you? Costco's Kirkland Signature brand and Nature Made brand of vitamins and supplements are good quality, economical choices and will be labeled gluten-free on the packaging if they are.
    • trents
      Healthy diet leading to terrible bloating

      By trents · Posted

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