Pre-diianosis

[Leiana]

well went to my first gastro appt and told him my symptons and he said that it is kinda strange that someone my age would now be celiac or gluten sensitive etc etc. told him that i always had these symptons all my life and knew i had colitis and diverticulous (SP). so now he wants to do the endoscope to look for other things and to see if i am celiac. :o : am i too old to be celiac????? or maybe he is looking for something else. i just never was able to get the help i needed back in the day!!!!!!!!!! and now i found out about celiac and the problem with wheat and the other foods i cant have which i already knew. it was like a light went on and said that is it. these are the foods that make me sick. too old?????????? huh :lol: ?

[kenlove]

Never had any problems at all until I woke up on january about 4 years ago at age 54. It took them 6 months to figure it out as they didnt want to do the endoscope until it became apparent that was the trouble. MIght be good to get done now.

I did read somewhere on the forum that 20% get diagnosed around age 60!

good luck

well went to my first gastro appt and told him my symptons and he said that it is kinda strange that someone my age would now be celiac or gluten sensitive etc etc. told him that i always had these symptons all my life and knew i had colitis and diverticulous (SP). so now he wants to do the endoscope to look for other things and to see if i am celiac. :o : am i too old to be celiac????? or maybe he is looking for something else. i just never was able to get the help i needed back in the day!!!!!!!!!! and now i found out about celiac and the problem with wheat and the other foods i cant have which i already knew. it was like a light went on and said that is it. these are the foods that make me sick. too old?????????? huh :lol: ?

[gfb1]

well went to my first gastro appt and told him my symptons and he said that it is kinda strange that someone my age would now be celiac or gluten sensitive etc etc. told him that i always had these symptons all my life and knew i had colitis and diverticulous (SP). so now he wants to do the endoscope to look for other things and to see if i am celiac. :o : am i too old to be celiac????? or maybe he is looking for something else. i just never was able to get the help i needed back in the day!!!!!!!!!! and now i found out about celiac and the problem with wheat and the other foods i cant have which i already knew. it was like a light went on and said that is it. these are the foods that make me sick. too old?????????? huh :lol: ?

you'll probably get lots of stories... but, my father-in-law was diagnosed at 73. he was a meat&potatoes-guy, and may have had 2 slices of bread per week til his wife passed (his age 64). then he started eating sandwiches every day (sometimes 2x/day) and discovered pretzels....

people have varying tolerances to intestinal discomfort and a range of responses to gluten -- which depend, in part, on individual biology but (imho - more importantly) both frequency and amount of consumption of dietary gluten.

[ranger]

I'm 63 and new to this! I guess you're never too old to.............LOL

Susan

[mushroom]

I self-diagnosed at 67 after no one could figure it out for me. Heavy gluten eater, one could say gluten addict.

[jerseyangel]

I was not diagnosed until age 49. Had GI issues for years, but it all turned severe after a bout of flu in 2004. It still took a year of being ill every day to the point where I had to quit my job to get it figured out.

[nutralady2001]

Diagnosed 2 years ago at age 59............ but had had problems most of my life, I'm guessing I have had Coeliac Disease since I was about 12 although my late mother (she died before I was diagnosed) told me I had problems even earlier than that, even as a baby I had a swollen distended stomach......ding,ding anyone ?

I also suspect my mother was an undiagnosed Coeliac ( had to get the gene from one of my parents and Mum's side is the auto-immune one , Dad died many years ago in 1966 at age 51)

[BigDogz]

I self-diagnosed recently at the age of 41. Started having intestinal problems very suddenly at the age of 20 when I was chowing down almost every night on my comfort foods of subs or pizzas during my father's terminal illness. I did the best I could to live for the next 21 years with the symptoms that every doctor had termed "irritable bowel syndrome" but knew they were wrong as my symptoms continued to worsen over the years...something that isn't supposed to happen with IBS.

Argued with my doc about Celiac. Said it "couldn't be that because you're gaining weight, not losing it". In spite of him, I went gluten-free for a month and ALL of my symptoms disappeared and I was able to add back in foods that I hadn't been able to eat in years because they had previously given me troubles...things like dairy and raw vegetables.

I did a 12-day gluten challenge to prove my point and thought I'd die before it was over. Severe diarrhea, stomach cramps, terrible gas, arthritic pains, swelling in my hands and legs, pins and needles sensations in my hands and feet, extreme abdominal bloating (I looked like I was 7 or 8 months pregnant) and unbelievable weight gain (I actually gained 4.6 lbs. in just 12 days!!!).

I've been back to a gluten-free diet for a week now and the symptoms are slowly retreating again. Doc still sort of wants to scoff but I really don't care. Being gluten-free makes me feel better and that's all I care about!

Good luck to you! In my opinion, going gluten-free hasn't been restrictive like most people think...it's been LIBERATING!!!