Could I Have Celiac?

[dannydowner]

After reading about the symptoms of celiac, I'm becoming more convinced that I could have it.

- daily D/C

- extreme bloating immediately after eating (always had a potbelly)

- nausea after eating

- occasional pale stool (not white, but lighter than normal)

- fatigue/feeling weak

- muscle aches

- mouth sores (only the past 2 weeks)

- swollen neck glands (is this a celiac symptom?)

- chills/feeling colder than normal

- general malaise

- occasional lightheadedness, tingling sensations in hand, feet

- unexplainable depression/irritable

- increased allergies (sneezing, watery eyes, etc.)

Always had digestive problems as a kid (mostly D and indigestion). Sudden appendicitis as a young teen (father had appendicitis as a teen too). Besides that, relatively healthy until...

...It all started 2 years ago. After eating McDonald's one day, had extreme C, skinny stools. Needed daily metamucil for months. Ever since, always had either C or D.

Went from 200+ lbs to 170lbs relatively easy. (thought it was effects of dieting to lose weight, but it seemed too easy)

For the past couple months, started getting fatigue, nausea, muscles aches. Recently caught bronchitis (I heard that celiac can be triggered by something like that?) I heard about celiac about 2 weeks ago, and tried a gluten-free diet with immediate results (maybe placebo effect?). Symptoms are back, but I haven't been perfect with the gluten-free diet. None of my family members, as far I know, have it.

Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated. I'm 20 years old, but I definitely don't feel young and healthy.

[skymgirl]

Hi there. Some of your symptoms certainly sound like they could be Celiac related, but at the same time Celiac symptoms can be similar to IBD (Crohn's, colitis), so it's a very good idea to visit a doctor and get checked out thoroughly. Depending on the relationship you have with your regular doctor (GP) you can talk to him or her and ask them to run blood work to give them an idea of what might be going on (they can run a Celiac panel, check your vitamin levels, and also check for additional intolerances, like casein.) as a first step. If they don't seem to know much about Celiac you'll be better off getting a referral or finding a GI doc who is a specialist in Celiac/digestive disorders. Each doctor's approach can be different - most will start with blood work and may follow that with an endoscopy, others will go with blood work and the gluten-free diet as diagnosis. Make sure you're comfortable with the doctor - it's important that you feel your symptoms are being taken seriously and the doctor is knowledgable.

I would recommend that you start off with a doctor's visit to try and help you feel better and diagnose what's going on. Stay on your usual diet now, because limiting your gluten intake can alter your test results. Since the tests may not always be conclusive towards Celiac, if you've been through testing (that is negative for Celiac) and you're still feeling awful, you could always go ahead and try the diet to see how your symptoms do when you're off gluten.

Hope you're on the road to feeling well soon - it can be frustrating when you've had symptoms for a long time that you're trying to make sense of. This site is a great place to have your questions answered and find information. Good luck!

[Faith-at-Large]

I have most if not all of those same symptoms; however, I have tested negative for Celiac Disease. But I do have the genes for it. My Grandmother had it, and my son now has it.

It is important to be tested. And if the diet does help, it seems that there are people who are gluten sensitive even without having celiac disease.