First Visit With Doctor Next Week

[My3B's]

I am going to the doctor next week to ask to be tested for Celiac Disease. I have been complaining about fatigue and joint pain for many years. Diagnosed as hypothyroid and have been on thyroid replacement for 6 years. I had problems with infertility, pervious IBS symptoms which have returned and worsened, migraines which haver also returned and worsened, depression, mood swings and irritabiltiy and now take an antidepressive med (have been assuming I am perimenopausal.) I am prediabetic and suffer from asthma and any time I need to go on steroids my sugars go through the roof. I have terrible gas and every couple days have crampy loose stools and have had a couple accidents because I suddenly had to go and did not make it to the bathroom. How embarrasing and I am only 40. In the past I have been left feeling like I am a hypchondriac and many symptoms have been chocked up to I am a working mom who works the night shift. I have gained alot of weight and generally feel miserable.

Interestingly enough I am heading down this road not for my symptoms but for my kids. My youngest has symptoms of add/adhd and is having some trouble in kindegarten. I was reaearching diet alternatives to dealing with add and came upon gluten free and gluten/casein free diets as a treatment.. He is only showing the emotional symptoms but his sister is 7 1/2 and she has had slow growth and has been seen by a pediatric endicronologist and has been tested with growth hormone challenges etc but still remains a very slow grower. She also has occasional emotional issues (referred to as her drama queen days) and she has intermittent abd. cramps and diarrhea which has been diagnosed as toddler diarrhea.....umm she's almost 8.....also she and I both have that bumpy acne type skin condition that some people describe on the back of their arms. I remember when she started with it last year I was thinking "She's only 6, she should not have my bad skin already!" anyway given the totality of the situation I am suspicious of Celiac disease.

Thanks to this forum I feel confident I can request the right tests be done for accurate diagnosis and I am pushing for the official diagnosis because with the kids it will be very important to get the official diagnosis in terms of services and legal issues regarding school lunches etc. Another thing I learned from this forum. That is why I am going first to hopefully make it easier for the kids to be diagnosed.

So although I am not hoping for Celiac disease I am kinda looking forward to an actual diagnosis that points to something other than I am crazy. I think in the end even if Celiac disease is not the problem I am going to try a gluten free diet for at least me and my son with the add. Of course not until all the testing is done completely, another thing I have learned from this forum.

SO thanks to everyone here, I feel I have learned a great deal to get started down this road.

Alicia and the 3 B's

[ravenwoodglass]

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So although I am not hoping for Celiac disease I am kinda looking forward to an actual diagnosis that points to something other than I am crazy. I think in the end even if Celiac disease is not the problem I am going to try a gluten free diet for at least me and my son with the add. Of course not until all the testing is done completely, another thing I have learned from this forum.

SO thanks to everyone here, I feel I have learned a great deal to get started down this road.

Alicia and the 3 B's

Tests are not always accurate on young people and there are even false negatives with testing adults. Your plan to try the diet after testing is a good one but I would just do it with all of them. It is not going to hurt kids that don't need to be gluten-free to be so for a bit and it will help a lot with stress levels if you don't have to cook one meal for one child and another for the other 2. Almost anything that has gluten can be made gluten-free and you would help avoid sibling 'issues' that way. It sounds like your DD needs it just as much as your DS.