Health History

[Yoekie]

The more I'm reading about celiac, the more things pop up that I didn't know could be related. So I decided to make a sort of medical history. I'm going to a GI on friday, to get a second opinion and ask if I should be checked for celiac. Would it be a good idea to tell him all this?

early childhood: eczema, asthma, dust allergy (grew out of all of this)

at 14: food poisoning -> never been GI-symptomfree since + underweight

18: colonoscopy showed no abnormalities -> IBS?

around that age I got a lot of hypos, got off sugar for a while

21: chronic throatache and irritated gums

tried real hard to gain weight but when I did dust allergy came back?!

22: low immunity (had the flue despite vaccination), athlete's foot, allergy for medication (neomacrolids)

now 23: blood test because of fatigue shows low iron/anemia + gluten/lactose/egg intolerance

+ one of my sisters was glutenintolerant as a baby, had candida, now has cfs and fibro, has a lot of bowl trouble and hypos as well

Any theories of you guys on my symptoms are equally welcome!!!

my GI-symptoms are pretty vague: mild obstipation (but D since glutenfree) and severe bloating

I cannot eat certain dishes like spaghetti/lasagna without being real sick afterwards

tomatoes always give trouble (I think it's the acidity, have it with some fruits too)

when I eat a little more than I'm used to, I'm terribly bloated and wake up with a white swollen tongue

I don't know if there's any relation there but when the first 5 years after the foodpoisoning, I was so nauseated everyday that my tastebuds could only cope with tasteless food wich is ... carbs! I survived on bread/patotoes and rice (the GI at that time encouraged me to, because this would give me energy). I ate sugar and dairy as well but almost no meat, vegs and fruit. I know it sounds really unhealthy but it was the only way to make it to the next day. I could hardly drink water, so imagine what a torture eating was... Anyway... it really strikes me now that I have an intolerance for gluten/diary... is my unbalanced diet taking revenge? But I did it out of utter GI-symptoms-despair!!!

[Mother of Jibril]

I've also been amazed at how many things from my childhood suddenly have an explanation

I don't know what country you live in, but in the US you only get about five minutes per doctor's appointment... not enough time to go through your medical history. It's best just to be direct and ask for the celiac panel. It's easy (a blood test) and not very expensive. If that turns up negative and you still want an endoscopy, then you might get/need to explain more.

[curiousgeorge]

I too thoguht it was the tomatos. After pizza my mouth would be raw. Must be the tomatos. Never liked pasta because I'd be starving an hour later. Something to do with the tomatos. Had allergy testing, fine with tomatos. It seems a lot of us blame tomatos LOL when its the wheat.

[lizard00]

I am SOO glad you are getting a second opinion!

I would definitely take the list. That way you don't forget anything. Be sure to tell the doc that your sister had/has a problem with gluten, as celiac is hereditary. (Sounds like she still has a problem w/gluten)

I've had experiences with two GI docs. The first gave me a lot of time, and let me talk, but didn't really listen. The next one gave me a lot of time and actually listened. I actually got somewhere with him. So, make the doctor listen. It's your body, not theirs.

[Yoekie]

thanks for your encouragements! To be honest, I'm quite nervous! This is the second time I'm going to a GI, luckily the same. I always end up telling way less than I prepared to (but I'm really shy too), so I guess that's why I end up making pages full of preparations

Yoekie