Changes In Bm's Once gluten-free

[angelschick]

One of the main reasons I contemplated celiac as a possibility for me was the fact that despite a pretty high fat diet, my cholesterol is REALLY low and nobody seems to know why. This is gross but - when I had BM's - they ALWAYS floated, didn't matter if they were solid or not. I am on day 5 now gluten-free and I had a sinker today :-) I am wondering if this is a possible positive reinforcement? I seem to read that fatty stools will float. Anyone know??

Thanks!!

[Lisa]

Yup, sinkers are good.

Have you had any testing?

[angelschick]

Yup, sinkers are good.

Have you had any testing?

The only test the Doc ran was the EMA and it was negative. I was tired of fighting with Doctors and had so many things that pointed to celiac I figured trying the diet wasn't gonna kill me. I have Hashimotos, insanely LOW cholesterol, bloating, gas, belly pain, unpleasant BM's and joint pain. It has only been 5 days and I swear I feel different. I have had only two rough nights pain wise, no bloating, gas or belly pain and normal BM's. I am cautiously optimistic so far. I plan to get the genetic testing done soon even though I realize that in and of itself isn't a diagnosis - I assume if I have a positive response to the diet and the gene - I have my answer.

[nutrifoodie]

I assume if I have a positive response to the diet and the gene - I have my answer.

I've always assumed that too.. but is it true?

[ShayFL]

That seems reasonable to me too.

[sbj]

I've always assumed that too.. but is it true?

Gosh, I hate to be a negative-nancy but I sure wouldn't assume that you have celiac just because the diet helped to resolve some issues and you have the genetic capability! Having the genetic capability really means very little - up to 1 out of 3 persons have the capability but only 1 in 100 develop celiac disease. I think it's best used to rule out celiac, not rule it in.

And a positive response to the diet does not necessarily mean that you were able to self-diagnose yourself accurately. The gluten-free diet helps to resolve many digestion issues even if you don't have celiac. But this (1) might be temporary and (2) you might still have other digestion issues. Besides celiac disease or gluten intolerance there are many, many other conditions that can cause the symptoms you describe. Some of these are very serious indeed. It's not a bad idea to have an endoscopy or colonoscopy when you are suffering greatly with issues in the gut. In my opinion, it is merely prudent to do so. You wouldn't want to miss something like ulcers or tumors because you momentarily felt better and decided not to do a thorough checkup.

Also, the blood tests and biopsy results can be used for baseline analysis if something else comes up, and you can re-do these tests in a year or two to see how well you are doing at the diet and see if your gut is improving.

Please consider that if you are correct with your self-diagnosis you should do a little bit more than just follow the gluten-free diet. If you are diagnosed with celiac you shoud run a complete blood count, check for anemia, check for nutritional and vitamin deficiencies, and check your bone density. Don't simply follow the diet and leave it at that! I just found out that I have low bone density and need to start taking large quanitites of vitmin D and calcium. If I had only followed the diet I would not know this and could have been putting myself at an increased risk of osteoporosis!

I say instead of arguing with your doctors about what you have you bring them a list of your symptoms, you bring them a list of celiac symptoms, you bring them Peter Green's book and tell them why you think it applies to you, you write your HMO and tell them why you want the celiac blood panel, and then you demand it! There are very few doctors who are going to risk a malpractice lawsuit because they refused to get you a cheap blood test.

I guess I am saying be careful with your assumptions and be extra-cautious with your health. You may be looking at more than just a simple change of diet. There may be more going on than celiac and it might be something worse. If it is celiac you need to do more than just change your diet. I really suggest you go to the library and read up on celiac - there are very few medical books that are going to suggest that if you feel better on the diet and test positive for genes that all you need do is diet. I disagree that feeling better on the diet and testing positive for genetic capability means you have celiac. I think that could be dangerous depending on how you proceed.