Weight Loss Surgery, Questions About Celiac Disease

[Whimsy]

I am 44 years old. As a child, I was always overweight. I had a bumpy red rash on my arms. (chicken skin) I have always had a redish face. As an adult I developed rosecia (spelling) It spans my nose and cheeks, and I have acne with it. I was born with only one kidney. At my hysterectomy they found uterine abnormalities as well. They also found cysts on my ovaries. One ovary was malformed. In high school I developed explosive diarrhea and my weight dropped significantly I was underweight. I have always suffered from chronic fatigue to the point that I just didn't want to get out of bed. I recall having this as young as 13 years old. I have always had anxiety related issues. Medications / therapy do not seem to help. I have always had extremely fine hair, now I have lost a significant amount of it and wear a wig. I have fragile fingernails, and am very fair skinned.

I have one child who is no w23. During the pregnancy I gained 100 pounds...weight was a real issue for me as over the years I grew to 322 pounds. I had Type II diabetes, Had to have gallbladder surgery, hysterectomy, ulnar nerve surgery, experienced massive ear infections that required hospitalization, celulitus developed that required IV therapy experienced explosive bouts of diarrhea. Where ever I went, I had to know where the bathroom was because the bowel urges were so extreme. All was attributed to my being morbidly obese. I had extremely high triglycerides. Even though I was morbildy obese, a review of my labs show that I had low/low normal protein levels, low creatine levels. High HCT, etc..

Eight years ago I underwent Weight Loss Surgery, Gastric Bypass to be specific. Shortly after surgery I had horrible

vomiting and couldn't keep things down. I lost 187 pounds. I experienced chronic pancreatits, my explosive diarrhea turned into even worse constipation where I only had a bowel movement two to three times a month. I developed bowel obstructions that required hospitalization, nutritional deficiencies, ulcers in my gastric pouch that then proceeded to develop fistulas to my small intestine. My original surgery was done incorrectly, and a corrective surgery was done. The original surgeon had created a blind limb of the small intestine. Some of the food I ate would go down the correct gastric bypass loop, while other food would go down the blind limb and rot. The only way out for this food was to throw up. The fistula was removed.

I had the corrective surgery twenty months ago. The new surgeon has been awesome. The throwing up is significantly less, although it still occurs about once a week. I had attributed the pancreatitis to the first surgery. However, I still have chronic pancreatits..it is very painful. My surgeon does not think the pancreatitis is caused by the surgery. During the past twenty months, I have had a bout of thrush, further hair loss, my skin has gotten really bad. I have sores around my mouth. Labs show my B12 is 444, normal range. My white counts at one point dropped to 1.6 but then returned to normal. My protein is low normal, high normal hct, high CL, creatine remains low normal and sometimes falls below normal. Magnesium is low normal. I have abdominal pain, and a burning sensation in my lower abdomen and chest region.

My weight is somewhat stable but I really have to work at not gaining. I am an avid road cyclist. I ride my bike in 100 + mile marathons. The exercise does make me feel better despite still suffering from chronic fatigue and other aliments. I have bradycardia my heart rate can drop as low as 44. This has been contributed to my exercise.

My son is now morbidly obese, has the chicken skin on his arms, red face, fatigue. Explosive diarrhea. He is very active but continues to be obese. He has considered doing the gastric bypass, or Lap band.

I am concerned that what ever weirdness I have I have passed on to him. My grandson, who my son has full custody of is 18 months old. He is lactose intolerant. I am as well as my son. The baby has times when he vomits for no apparent reason. I have always felt like something was just not right with me.

Now I worry that whatever is not right with me is also not right with my son and grandson.

My surgeon agrees, but has no idea what it might be. Recently I ran across celiac disease. I discovered that renal abnormalities, uterine abnormalities, rosecia, ulcers, fistulas, pancreatits, chronic fatigue, bowel problems, anxiety,

depression, nerve problems, diabetes, are all symptoms of the diesease.

My surgeon agreed it was worth exploring and I had labs done yesterday. It is going to take about a week to get the results back.

Should I come back positive for Celiac disease, the worst thing I could have ever done to myself is Weight Loss Surgery. The already inflamed small intestine would just become more aggravated with either of these surgeries. I would highly recommend against Weight Loss Surgery for anyone with celiac disease because of the potential of further ulcers and fistulas. Just not fun stuff. Take it from one who has had ulcers and fistulas.

I don't have the lab results yet...based on what I have told...what do others think of the potential of my having the disease. If I do have it, believe it or not I would celebrate!!! It would give me an answer and treatment for a life long hell. Then I would have to look at my son and grandson.

I would really like some input. Will my symptoms improve over time if I have celiac disease and follow the diet?

Looking forward to hearing from someone.

Whimsy

[mindwiped]

Because of all your complications from the weight loss surgery, nobody can promise anything good or ill if you do go gluten-free. If you do have celiac's and the blood work and biopsy come back positive, please do try. There are many people on the board who will say how much it's helped. My dh has gone from a 29 inch waist and always ill (IBS, possible Chron's [sp?] disease) to a healthy 36 inch waist and the only time he has trouble is when we get hit by an accidental gluten. I know how much it's helped him, and the diet tends to be very healthy and easy to maintain once you learn it.

If you do test positive, PLEASE, have your DS and grandbaby checked too. Celiac's does run in families.

Good Luck, and I really hope you get something figured out!

[daphniela]

Since going gluten free, my acne has been slowly clearing up. I have had really bad acne since I was 14. I used to get migraines almost daily. I used to get mouth sores all over my mouth so bad that it hurt to eat. I had those since I was at least 5 maybe younger. I had my gallbladder removed at 17 and suffered from diarrhea. I have had bowel issues all my life. Bowel movements would occur once a week. I am now normal. really bad gas, now is gone unless I eat beans of course.

[strawberrynin]

I'm just starting a gluten free diet (about four weeks). I'm not sure if I'm celiac, or if I would ever know because I don't plan on doing a Gluten Challenge.

I had gastric bypass in 2002. I have had multiple issues with stenosis, ulcers, malnutrition...additionally reproductive issues up the wazoo. About two weeks after the surgery I became extremely tired and depressed. I've been diagnosed anemic for most of my life, but now it is terrible where they (Dr's) consider giving me transfusions to get my hemoglobin up. While I have been able to lose and keep off over a hundred pounds, I initially lost 150. I don't feel that Gastric bypass is as bad as everyone implores, but I wish I had been able to have the Lap Band instead.

My reading thus far indicates that the gastric bypass may be a trigger for Celiac. Where I had little issue before, now I would be highly susceptible. I do wonder if it can even CAUSE it due to the restriction of the intestinal tract length. I'm not a doctor, and I've found no studies.

What really matters about the gluten-free diet is how I feel. I have more energy. I can easily find the energy to get out and walk or bike. Less issues with gastric distress and gas. The accidental (or intentional) gluten means that my next day will be tired and gassy. I won't want to do much. I do find it expensive and difficult to maintain the diet, but I'm learning. Kind of like grilled corn tortillas are a great substitute for bread. If you learn your triggers and what works for your diet, then it will be a blessing no matter.

[Watercolor]

Please let us know your results.

Make sure to stay on the gluten until after the biopsy.

The pancreatitis is probably due to your high triglycerides.

Try to eat fat free until it clears up. That often helps.

Me, I had IBS diarrhea alternating with constipation, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, depression, obesity, allergic rhinitis, asthma, hypertension, gastric reflux, type II diabetes, low ferritin levels and high white count levels. All of these have improved since going gluten-free. Except the diabetes, it got worse because I was eating more sugar than usual. So now I'm doing gluten-free and sugar-free. I've never felt better in my life. Hang in there.

[Rebecca's mom]

Just out of curiosity, what made you look at Celiac Disease in the first place? I do hope that you are able to find some answers to your questions, but even if your test results come back negative, you might want to give a GFD a try. I don't know if the WLS will affect your test results or not - it might be something to ask your GI and/or PCP. At the very least, encourage your son to have both himself and his son tested for celiac disease - it could save them both many years of physical suffering! Your son will likely find that he is able to lose some (if not most) of the excess weight that he is carrying around.

Please let us know what you find out!

[elliwyatt]

Oh my goodness! You have certainly had so many health issues. I would be most concerned about the malabsorption problem.

My mother has been overweight all her life, increasing to obese over time, like many Americans. Finally in her late 60s she had a gastric bypass. Within a year she was diagnosed with Celiac, a big surprise -sorta. Her brother had had severe Celiac over the years and was severely underweight all his life. His diagnosis in the 1980s saved his life.

With my mother things are much more complicated. She has always had a horrible diet -all sugar and fat with bouts of gorging (which she never would admit to). While the bypass shrank her stomach and appetite, she didn't change what she ate, just added vitamins. She still had horrible cravings which she was unable to address. Over the years she also had anemia problems too.

When she was diagnosed with Celiac, she removed gluten from her diet very successfully. She was rigorous and diligent. BUT she failed to address the dietary nutrition problem. She stopped sugars and went to substitutes, reduced fat (somewhat) but didn't increase her intake of much of anything else nutritious.

She developed an ulcer near the bypass (which is not unknown) and developed severe anemia as a result.She had a horrible time taking anything in and the combination of bypass and celiac with ulcer has made absorbing nutrition very very difficult. She's been hospitalized and is now on a feeding tube (jejunum).

While this is very depressing, I'm most struck by her diet. If you are obese and thinking of gastric bypass be very careful about changing your eating habits first. Not just quantity but quality. My mother was able to eliminate gluten rather well, but she didn't really improve her food "quality".

Sorry for the "downer" but as bypasses become more popular, what you eat "positively" becomes critical. Adding that to the challenges of removing gluten and Wow! it's really hard to thrive...It can be done but will require a wholesale lifestyle change- even more than removing gluten.

[elliwyatt]

Oops I just realized that my previous post may have sounded too harsh. I just wanted to point out that removing gluten may solve some/many problems but that a diet needs to improve qualitatively as welll.

I truly believe it can be done but will require a lot of work, even to the point of ruthlessness.

Good luck!