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Follow My Doctor's Advice?

zuros

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zuros Newbie
zuros
Posted

Hi :) This is my first post the these boards....

A little about my my history and current situation: I had lactose intolerance as a kid (my dad had it really bad) but once I got to high school I seemed to outgrow it. About a year ago I started to have some mild intestinal issues-- most of which I thought were related to stress. (I moved to New York recently, a big change for a suburban midwestern girl.) I would have weeks of feeling really gassy/bloated... general bowel discomfort... and I've had a lot of issues with feeling kind of worn out and run down.

In late January this year I had my wisdom teeth removed, and was put on some strong antibiotics to treat an infection caused by one of the teeth. About two weeks after taking the drugs I started developing severe lower GI problems. After a round of blood/bowel tests (which showed high white blood cell count and low iron), my doctor (general practitioner) decided it was bacterial and put me on a week of flagyl (another antibiotic). My symptoms improved within a few days, and after stopping the meds I was happy and healthy for another three weeks..... but then my symptoms started coming back.

I went back and after asking me lots and lots of questions, she said it sounds like I might have Celiac and the severe symptoms could have been triggered by all the stress/meds I've been on. I don't know of anyone in my family who has it-- unless my dad did and was simply unaware, or attributed his problems only to dairy. My mom has a mild gluten intollerance-- she cut it out of her diet for two months and saw symptoms improve... now she eats gluten foods but only a few times a week, and she's been okay. She hasn't been tested, however. My grandmother (mom's mom) has colitis, which the doctors say is stress related. (She and I both tend to internalize everything :)

Now, my question!

I had my blood taken this morning, and I have an appointment with a GI specialist (first visit) in a week and a half. My general practitioner told me that I should stop eating gluten until we get the blood work back, but based on what I have read online it seems like I should keep eating gluten until after ALL the testing is done (biopsy included). What advice do you guys have? I will get my blood results back later this week, and if they are positive I am sure I will need to work out the biopsy with my GI doc.

Thank you for the help/advice :)

- Stephanie

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dilettantesteph Collaborator
dilettantesteph
Posted

It is best to continue eating gluten until you have the biopsy done. That is unless you are so sick that you can't stand it. If you quit gluten you can get a false negative.

Stephanie

whitball Explorer
whitball
Posted

I concur. Keep eating the gluten until all of the testing is completed.

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      By trents · Posted

      Lot's of folks would trade places with you with regard to the unintentional weight loss. Seriously, though, I would be concerned about vitamin and mineral depletion due to malabsorption in the small bowel. One thing you can do now to address that which will not jeopardize the accuracy of further testing for celiac disease would be to start taking some high potency vitamin and mineral supplements. Make sure they are all gluten free if you will continue to use them - after diagnosis, that is. Wheat starch is sometimes used as a filler in pills. A multivitamin may not be potent enough. So, I would go for a B-complex, magnesium glycinate (the form of magnesium is important for good absorption and to prevent a laxative effect), zinc picolinate, and D3 (around 5000IU daily). These are supplements we routinely recommend on this forum to newly diagnosed celiacs and in view of your dramatic weight loss it would likely be appropriate for you as well. It often takes around 2 years for the villous lining of the small bowel to fully heal after going gluten free and until then, nutrient absorption will be compromised. The small bowel is the section of the intestines where all of our nutrition is taken up. Keep us posted.
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      By terrymouse · Posted

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