Hi! Newbie...

[Lynnie]

Hi everyone. This is my very first post here. I just joined this board and it's the very first Celiac Forum I found. Hope I picked a good one.

My name is Lynn. I am going to be 53 yrs old this month. I have been suffering for many many years with all kinds of chronic diseases. I am just starting to wonder if I may have Celiac Disease...

I thought I would just post this much at first and see if I get any responses.

I am hoping that maybe after discussing what I have been going thru for so many years with people from the board that know about Celiac, that maybe I will be able to figure this all out.

Hoping to be chatting with you all soon. Looking forward to meeting new people!

I will be checking back every so often to see how this goes.

Luv to you all...Lynnie

[gfreegirl0125]

Hi everyone. This is my very first post here. I just joined this board and it's the very first Celiac Forum I found. Hope I picked a good one.

My name is Lynn. I am going to be 53 yrs old this month. I have been suffering for many many years with all kinds of chronic diseases. I am just starting to wonder if I may have Celiac Disease...

I thought I would just post this much at first and see if I get any responses.

I am hoping that maybe after discussing what I have been going thru for so many years with people from the board that know about Celiac, that maybe I will be able to figure this all out.

Hoping to be chatting with you all soon. Looking forward to meeting new people!

I will be checking back every so often to see how this goes.

Luv to you all...Lynnie

Hi Lynnie - Welcome! What kind of symptoms have you been experiencing? Have you been to a doctor yet? Or through the testing for Celiac? I was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease - I also had been fighting for years with doctors for answers to why I felt the way that I did - All the doctors, specialists basically told me it was IBS-C but i knew it was bigger than that. I would be more than happy to provide any information I can and answer as many questions that you may have =)

[Lynnie]

Hi everyone. This is my very first post here. I just joined this board and it's the very first Celiac Forum I found. Hope I picked a good one.

My name is Lynn. I am going to be 53 yrs old this month. I have been suffering for many many years with all kinds of chronic diseases. I am just starting to wonder if I may have Celiac Disease...

I thought I would just post this much at first and see if I get any responses.

I am hoping that maybe after discussing what I have been going thru for so many years with people from the board that know about Celiac, that maybe I will be able to figure this all out.

Hoping to be chatting with you all soon. Looking forward to meeting new people!

I will be checking back every so often to see how this goes.

Luv to you all...Lynnie

[OptimisticMom42]

You have chosen a good one! Just reading through the "View New Posts" a couple times a week has provided me with a lot of information. I've been incredibly grateful for that information. I'm not freaking out about every ache and pain because I keep finding answers that work.

Take care

[Lynnie]

Here it is in a nutshell...

Psoriasis

Psoriatic Arthritis

Osteo Arthritis

Fibromyalgia

IBS

Connective Tissue Disorder

And there is a long longggg story to each one. Be proud of me that I have spare you all of the story.

All I know is...I hurt, I have for a long long time and I am getting worse every day.

[mamaw]

Hello & Welcome

ASk your doctor to run the celiac blood panel. If you have insurance you could do the DNA testing. Biospy is another choice.

There are more gluten intolerant people in the world than true celiac but the outcome is the same. gluten-free Diet!

You have many symptoms like me & others.Some do not care if they get the dx's in writing they only care about feeling better so it is a matter of choice if you chose to go through testing, some do , some don't. The gluten-free lifestyle is flourishing with other illness such as MS,Autism,Adhd, Migraines & m,any more. The gluten-free diet is a blessing to many.It does require will power & big lifestyle changes but for me it is all worth it.

If you plan on testing please stay on wheat products until all testing is completed. The test will not be accurate if you are not consuming wheat/gluten.

Where are you located? We can help find you a good support group....

For newbies it is always best to find a group or a person who has years of experience & keeps updated being gluten-free to be your shadow. There is tons of info floating around but all is not always correct.Not even medical professionals get it all correct. A person living daily & very updated is the one who will give the best information....

Please feel free to ask any question here.

blessings

mamaw

[Lynnie]

Hi guys! Thank you all so very very much for responding. I haven 't been online since I last wrote until just now, so I wanted to get back to you all.

Get prepared, and I hope you don't mind, but this is probably going to be long.

Here is my story...

When I was about 12 I started showing symptoms of Psoriasis. In the early years it would come and go. It was always mild to moderate. Now, I would say it it severe. It always made me wonder why at times it would go away. One of the questions I have always had in my mind. When I was in my 20's, I started going to The Mass. General Hospital, the dermotology clinic for UVB Light treatments for my skin. I was thrilled. My skin completely cleared up. After going there for treatments for a few years, I actually bought my own home unit and treated myself at home.

Let's move up to my early 30's. My birthday is coming up next week. I will be 53. I started working for the USPS in 1988. About a year later, I went to work one night and started noticing really bad pain in my feet. Then, in a matter of weeks, the pain spread from my feet through my whole body. I went to an arthritis Doctor. He initially did the Sed Rate test. My first test was at 57. When he gave me my results that day I remember he looked at me and said you are getting up there already. Then in a matter of weeks my Sed Rate went up to 90 where it stayed around for the next 3 years. Which is pretty bad. I was just about an invalid. All the while struggeling to go to work to support me and my son. I could barely walk. The pain was so excrutiating that I got severely depressed. I was seeing my doctor on a weekly basis, trying this medication out and that medication...none of which worked at all, only made me sick or made me feel really weird. This was the beginning of hell. I lived like this for 3 years. My doctor and I actually started talking about a wheelchair...I mean, that is how bad it was. Mind you, I was a single mother trying to raise my son, and I, like I said, was in my early 30's. So this was a very hard nut to swallow. My life looked very bleak at that point.

Then all of a sudden, after suffering for 3 years, I started feeling better. Every day and every week that went by, I was feeling better and better. My Sed Rate was going down. I asked my doctor what the heck was going on? He told me I was going into remission. Ohhhh, what a wonderful word...REMISSION. It was a blessing.

I started getting back to joining the human race. I even started dancing! I got involved with a huge group of people that danced. I took lessons...I met all kinds of really great people and my life was just wonderful!! And I was a pretty good dancer btw. Swing Dance, Country Dance, Waltz, Spanish Dance and yes, even Line Dancing. Nothing was off limits. I was just so thirlled to be out and walking, never mind dancing! These were probably the happiest days of my life. I truly appreciated life at that time.

One night, I was on my way home after taking some dance lessons and I was hit by a drunk driver. It was almost a head on collision. My car was totaled. My head hit the windshield. I was pretty banged up. I had a bad neck injury which I still suffer from to this day. I have Osteo Arthritis and Bone Spurs in my neck.

After that accident, little by little I started feeling pain again. I began seeing my Primary Care Physician. He told me my Psoriatic Artritis was acting up again and now I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia on top of that. As time went by, I was feeling poorly. I had to give up my dancing. That killed me. But, I had a pretty good 5 or 6 years there for a while. So now back to taking this med and that med...etc. and feeling miserable.

Oh and all the while, I had already been diagnosed years before this with Degenerative Disks in my lower back. Today...I can hardly bend. My back is pretty messed up.

Let's move up to the summer of 1999. I was in work one night, went to the ladies room and discovered I was just about to give birth to my Uterus!! Fun fun fun!! Went to my Gynecologist, only to discover that I needed surgery. My doctor gave me 3 options for surgery. One of which was hysterectomy, which I absolutely did not want. Another option was what my doctor called, "The Big One..." Which they would have to cut me open, exactly like a C Section cut, and push everything back up where it is supposed to be and sew everything together, and recovery time would have been 3 months in bed. Since I had a mortgage and bills, I opted for the third option which was Lasik Surgery. My doctor told me that they didn't have any long term studies for this, it was a fairly new procedure for my condition. It was one month recuperation time. So I opted for that. Had the surgery in November of 1999. Six months later, in work again, I discovered that yes...I was giving birth to my Uterus again!!

Back to the gynie, and now I have to have yet another surgery. "The Big One..." I had this surgery in February of 2001. It was a 9 1/2 hour surgery. And yes, bed for 3 months. Let me tell you...they literally redesigned my insides. Everything was falling out of me. My bladder needed to be repaired, my rectum, I had to have a rectocele...etc etc etc. That was when my Gynie informed me that I had "Connective Tissue Disorder" and this is why I had this problem.

Just want you all to know that I discovered recently that think that I need this surgery again! I am going to the Gynecologist next week, on the 24th for an exam. I am absolutely positive that everything has come undone and I need this surgery done all over again. Mind you, I am not working and I do not have any Health Insurance at this point. Yikes!

I am having a really hard time these days. My arthritis is pretty bad. Sometimes I cannot get out of bed. I have these really bad flare ups. I never know where a flare up is going to hit what part of my body and how long it is going to last. They seem to be lasting longer and longer these days. I am having flare ups now that last a year.

Now, you guys might be wondering why I have written all of this.

I did not discover Celiac Disease until about a year ago. I started looking it up on the internet to learn more about it.

Also, I have an Aunt, and while I was growing up, she was always sick. She was the sickley Aunt. She is just the sweetest and nicest person and everyone always felt bad for her. I remember back in the 90's, I found out that the doctors finally found out what was wrong with her. You see, all of the years that she was sick, they never knew what was wrong with her. After suffering for years, she was doing really really good with her health. My Aunt lives in Oklahoma. In the 90's. in that time period that I was in remission and feeling really good myself, I flew to Oklahoma to visit my family and I stayed at my Aunts house. I remember asking her about her health and what was going on? She told me that she had "Spru..." I had never heard of Spru before. I recently discovered that Spru is another word that they use for Celiac Disease. My Aunt, at that time, had a loaf of some kind of homemade bread. She told me is was some kind of Rice Bread. She told me that she could not eat anything made of wheat, or rye...etc.

So when I discovered Celiac Disease about a year ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks! My Aunt has Celiac Disease. And one of the things I have read about this disease is that it runs in families.

When I wrote up above about when I initially got hit with Psoriatic Arthritis, right about that very same time, guess what I had bought. A "Bread Machine!!!" Do you guys remember that in the 90's Bread Machines came out? I am a cook btw. Cooking is my passion. Of course I had to have one of those Bread Machines. I started making all kinds of bread and eating them! This was when I first got hit with Arthritis!

I have also been reading about Psoriasis. All my life I have heard that this runs in families also. My father had Psoriasis. But now I found out that there might be a connection with Psoriasis and Celiac Disease...If Celiac Disease runs in families and Psoriasis runs in families...well it might be one and the same!

I told about my car accident. After being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, I was on the internet trying to find out if there was something that causes this. I found out that they don't know what causes Fibromyalgia, but there are a few things that they suspect. One of the things that I read what that they have noticed that after someone has had a car accident, people will sometimes get Fibro...This is exactlty what happened to me.

Ok, so this post is really really long. I hope you guys don't mind. I am venting as I am writing this, but I also wanted to share my story, to see if any of you guys think that I might be right on track here.

I want you all to know that I have not been working for a while now. I moved from Massachusetts to Myrtle Beach, back in November of 2002. I met someone who I am with to this day who is from the south. We lived together up north for a year, and I decided to just up and quit my job and move south together because at that time I thought that the warmer climate would be good for my body and my arthritis. It didn't happen. I have gotten worse. I tried.

I have also applied for SSD. I was denied my first time, and I started my second case with them at the beginning of this year. I went to the Disability Doctor a couple of weeks ago. He was so nice to me. He told me that he was going to do everything in is power to try to help me get disability. His words were..."If you don't have working hands, and you don't have working feet, and you don't have a working back, how in the world could you possibley work? So, I have my fingers crossed...Well, the finger that work anyway!!! LOL

This is my very long story...What do you guys think?

[Lynnie]

Like my post wasn't long enuff, I just had to add something else.

I just wanted you guys to know that I am experimenting with something. For the past 4 or 5 days I have been trying so very very hard to eat a gluten free diet. I have not had any bread or pasta or anything for days now. I made a pot of my homemade Italian spaghetti sauce last night. I went to the store yesterday before I made it and bought a bag or corn flour. I made homemade Polenta and topped it off with Mozzorella Cheese and my sauce and Parmesan. It was absolutely delicous! If I can continue to find ways to eat like this, I really think that I could eat a gluten free diet.

All I know is, I am trying. I really just want to see that if I do eat gluten free, will I feel better?

What I am wondering is, if I do have Celiac Disease, and if I do eat a Gluten Free diet...how long will it take before I start noticing a difference? Will it be days? Or weeks or months?

I figure I have had a lifetime of eating Gluten...it might take a long time to see a difference...that is if I really do have Celiac Disease.

[nasalady]

Hi Lynnie,

Welcome to the board!

Your story sounds VERY familiar!!

As a child, I always had "digestive problems". Plus I developed two autoimmune diseases, namely asthma and psoriasis, before I even started high school. Then the doctor told me that my gastric woes were just "IBS".

Fast forward to my early 30s, when I'm diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis....another autoimmune disease.

I was grateful that at least none of these diseases were really life-threatening. I knew that two of my aunts had lupus, which I heard was a really bad autoimmune disease. And my dad had rheumatoid arthritis....boy was I glad I didn't have that one either!

Fast forward again to the age of 52 (summer 2008) - after suffering from horrible symptoms (vertigo, headaches, hand tremors, muscle cramps, agonizing back pain, blurry vision, bone-crushing fatigue, etc.) for months and months and having my primary care physician treat me like I was some kind of hypochondriac, I finally found out that I had fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, AND autoimmune hepatitis (my immune system is trying to kill my liver)!

I started making the rounds of all the doctors: hepatologist, rheumatologist, gastroenterologist, neurologist, you name it! Eventually I was diagnosed with celiac disease too....plus I've also managed to develop Sjogren's Syndrome.

That makes seven different autoimmune diseases for me plus fibro. I'm in a wheelchair now; it's the only way I can continue to work, unfortunately. I can't stand up long enough or walk far enough to do without it.

It doesn't stop with me, unfortunately. Just recently my youngest daughter was diagnosed with lupus, my second daughter with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and my eldest granddaughter with celiac disease.

However, I have to say that since starting the gluten free diet in November, just after my 53rd birthday, I do feel a lot better! My back pain is still with me, but the headaches and vertigo, hand tremors and blurry vision have either disappeared or have lessened considerably. I'm not as tired as I was, either.

I still have hope that my other fibromyalgia symptoms, such as the back pain, will eventually get better too.

Please believe that you will get better on this diet if gluten is at the root of your problems! And the best way to find that out is to go gluten free for a while then try eating gluten again. Your body's reaction to that will tell you a lot! However, if you want to be tested and biopsied for celiac disease, you have to eat a lot of gluten for at least 2 or 3 months beforehand.

Also, please read the information found on the following website; it explains the latest research into how celiac disease is linked to other autoimmune diseases:

Open Original Shared Link

Best of luck with everything!

Take care,

JoAnn

[mamaw]

Hi

You could be part of my family!Many of the same issues & illness with family members....

How long will it take on a gluten-free diet to feel better. That is a question I'm sure many would like to have an answer too as well. Some people get instant results while others plug away a this for a year or two...I know this isn't the answer you would have wished for. Also many havve problems with dairy as well as gluten. Dairy is also broken down at the tips of the villi.

Your struggles have not been easy . I tell myself everyday you didn't get this way overnight & you will not heal over night. It is a long hard journey claiming ones health back.....

I know you stated no insurance at present but is there a clinic free or low pay that you could get some allergy testing to see if there are other foods that are causing you problems ie: nightshade vegetables, Vit C & so on. Oddly enough many people have problems with vit& mins. Since the immune system & intestinal tract is so depleted they just can't handle things that supposely are used to make us well.

Plus once you have one autoimmune disorder it seems more & more crop up. The body is trying to depend from wha tit thinks is invaders. I have about five autoimmune disorders at present. The last one makes being gluten-free a cake walk!

Also I had severe foot & ankle pain for two years, couldn't walk for the second time in my life. I found it was medication. The doctors said no way but I stopped two drugs & after three months I was able to walk short distances & six months I had no pain. I still have some neuropathy but nothing like before. And by 3 in the afternoon I'm usually wiped out for a couple of hours.

I did get my disability about six years ago, keep fighting it. I honestly didn't have a problem because at that time the docs dx'd me with ALS.Since that is a death sentence it went through quickly. Most of the time it takes several denials before being approved. ALso it depends on what the medical doctors wrote on the reports. Sometimes they don't give a full report & causes the claimant delays & denials. That is where I was employed ........

I wish I had magic words to help you along but from your post I see you are strong & a fighter so keep up the battle.

blessings

mamaw

[Lynnie]

Hi guys! Wow...I am just soooo in shock reading these posts! I truly feel not alone here. All these years that have gone by with all of my pain and suffering, I never knew anyone else that was suffering the way I was. I mean, I was in my early 30's when I got hit with Psoriatic Arthritis. And like I wrote, I have had Psoriasis since I was 12. None of my friends, while I was growing up had any issues it seemed. Always felt alone with all of this. A battle I have been fighting for so many years all by myself. It's a very lonely world when you have these kinds of health issues. It's just so nice to come to a place where there are other people that have gone through very similar experiences like I have. Thank you all so much for being here.

Someone here asked me about dairy. I was always a huge milk drinker and loved it. But I would say about 8 years ago I gave it up. When I started have IBS problems I noticed that when I drank milk I would have the flare ups. Doesn't seem to be affected by other kinds of dairy, I mainly notice it with the milk.

Let me ask you guys this. Here is my Disability confusion. I only discovered that I might have Celiac Disease recently. But, before this, and after moving south in 2002, my health issues got worse, I was seeing a doctor here, I am still seeing him, and he agreed that I should apply for Disability and that he would back me up.

So, I applied and they took forever and ever. Over 4 years. In the meantime I have been living all of these years with my partner and she has been paying ALL of the bills. Talk about a guilty conscience. But yet, there is nothing I can do...just wait. They initially denied me, as I expected, and I put in my Appeal. While I have been waiting to hear back about my Appeal I found a new lawyer, since the one I had at first totally screwed me. The new lawyer told me that while I am waiting to hear back on my Appeal I should start a new case. Which I did at the beginning of this year.

Now, when I went to their Disability Doctor on the first case, the doctor was such a jerk. I was with him no longer than 5 minutes. He barely spoke to me, didn't examine me. Made me lay down on a table and lifted one leg up. Looked down my throat...and that was just about it. I was just shocked. He was mean to me...I tried to talk to him about my health issues but he just would not go there. Then I was denied. And in my paperwork explaining why they denied me, they seemed to put major importance on what their Disability Doctor said. Which was all a bunch of lies.

I got my second Disability case going...Just about two weeks ago I went to the second Disability Doctor. This was a different doctor and a whole different experience. I was with this guy for about an hour. We talked, he asked me questions, he wrote things down, he examined me from head to toe. Very thorough and I was happy about this. Also, it was a really good time for me to go to the doctor because I was having some really bad flare ups that were clearly visible. I have been limping on my left foot since last August. My heel is swollen and on the inside side of my foot, right above my arch, it is totally swelled up and red and purple. Excruciating. Sometimes when I wake up I am not even able to put one ounce of weight on it. My hands...I have fingers that are so swollen right now that they look like sausages. All red and purple. Very inflammed. He could see all of this. I also showed him all of the damage on my hands and feet from the leftover effects of old flare ups. Whenever a flare up gets better, it always leaves that part of my body deformed or mishapen in some way.

Ok so, after he examined me, this doctor looked at me and said this...these are his exact words..."I deal with Disability cases all of the time. I see people who should not get Disbability, get it...and I see people who Should get Disability, not get it. I just want to tell you Lynn, that I am going to do everything in my power to try to help you get Disability. You are definitely one of the people the should get it. But, it's up to Disability to make their decision."

OMG! I was in shock! He was on my side! I was so much in shock that I started crying right in front of this doctor. I couldn't believe that he was going to help me.

So now, in the meantime, I am discovering Celiac Disease and think that I might have it. I know that I could get tested for it, but now I am afraid to. If at this point, I found out that I had Celiac Disease, would that make me NOT eligible for disability? I finally have a doctor that is on my side, and I am afraid I would mess this up if I go and get tested. I am really confused about this. Even if I do find out I have Celiac Disease, from all of the suffering I have gone through all of these years, I truly do need to get Disability because my body has been ravaged by my diseases.

I'm scare and I really don't know what to do. Does anyone know about these kinds of things? Ohhh I hope so.

[GottaSki]

Hello Lynnie! ~ I'm still a newbie, a much better informed newbie...about 3 months gluten-free.

I read your posts...so very happy that you found a doc that will listen...that is the key!!!! You can read my old posts to see the long road to diagnosis I went through...there is a lot of shared frustration with the medical community here.

Anyway, generally it is better to get a diagnosis before removing gluten. BUT there is the option of going gluten-free to see if your health improves. I was diagnosed but we are having a hard time getting a diagnosis for my children. I have one 18 month old grandson whom has improved remarkably on a gluten-free diet and a 15 year old son with health that has improved in the short time he has been gluten-free (we decided as a family to have him stop eating gluten to hopefully repair a damaged gastro system...and worry about a diagnosis if he ever needs to have one).

Good Luck and Welcome!

-Lisa

[Lynnie]

My big worry right now is, if I get tested to see if I have Celiac, and it turns out that I do, will it effect my eligibility for Disability? They have these guidelines that they go by I guess. I don't know if Celiac falls under one of their guidelines for being eligible...?

I can't walk very good at this point of my life, I am in constant pain with my back and my neck...I get flare ups constantly...

I have been working and taking care of myself since I was 12 yrs old. I used to get working papers in the summers and I worked at the public library so that I could buy myself school clothes for the upcoming school year.

I had my son very young. I didn't sit back and collect welfare and live off of the fat of the land, I worked and supported us. I was always a very independent person.

I worked my whole life, paid my taxes...and now, I need help.

I hate it, but I do.

Life is so strange. You just never know how it's going to play out. I figured that right about now, I would be looking forward to my retirement coming in the very soon upcoming years.

Things sure didn't go that way, that is for sure.

The old saying, "If you have your Health, you are a Rich man..." Boy, do I understand those words now.

Oh well...let me get off of my pity pot now... LOL!! Sowwy.

[Lynnie]

I hope you guys don't mind but I thought I would bump this post up. I am really wondering if anyone here knows how Celiac Disease plays out with Disability?

Like I wrote, I have already started my disability case before I discovered Celiac. My body at this point is just broken down with all of the years of arthritis flare ups and whatever. No turning back. But, if I do find out right now, in the middle of my disability case, that I have Celiac Disease, would that make me not elibible for Disability? I am so scared about this...

Hoping someone knows.

[nasalady]

I hope you guys don't mind but I thought I would bump this post up. I am really wondering if anyone here knows how Celiac Disease plays out with Disability?

Like I wrote, I have already started my disability case before I discovered Celiac. My body at this point is just broken down with all of the years of arthritis flare ups and whatever. No turning back. But, if I do find out right now, in the middle of my disability case, that I have Celiac Disease, would that make me not elibible for Disability? I am so scared about this...

Hoping someone knows.

I cannot imagine a case in which knowing that you have celiac disease would cause problems with disability. If anything, it only means that you have even more physical problems than you reported in your original application! In other words, you're *sicker*, not better off....isn't that right?

Lynnie, why are you worried about this? Do you know something that I don't about disability? I mean, I'm certainly no expert, and I've waited for a while to see if someone else would answer you, but clearly no one is planning to do so. It would be nice for someone actually on disability to speak up here.....?

[Lynnie]

I guess I am so worried because I have been dealing with health problems for almost 20 years and it has ravaged my body. If I do have Celiac Disease, I think I am afraid that it's not a criteria to be eligible for disability. They might turn around and deny me and think that all I have to do is change my diet. I wouldn't mind, but I have deformed fingers and deformed toes now that will never look or work the same again. I have excruciating pain that I am dealing with in my lower back. Whether all of these years it was caused by celiac or not, it is definitely completely messed up now.

Do you see now why I am worried? Plus, there is my neck...that is another story.

It's just scarey. I have worked my whole life and now, I need help. It's a scarey thing.

[nasalady]

I guess I am so worried because I have been dealing with health problems for almost 20 years and it has ravaged my body. If I do have Celiac Disease, I think I am afraid that it's not a criteria to be eligible for disability. They might turn around and deny me and think that all I have to do is change my diet. I wouldn't mind, but I have deformed fingers and deformed toes now that will never look or work the same again. I have excruciating pain that I am dealing with in my lower back. Whether all of these years it was caused by celiac or not, it is definitely completely messed up now.

Do you see now why I am worried? Plus, there is my neck...that is another story.

It's just scarey. I have worked my whole life and now, I need help. It's a scarey thing.

Lynnie, I have both celiac disease AND rheumatoid arthritis. Apparently, so do you! Having celiac disease does not make the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis go away! Is that what you've been worried about? That if you have celiac disease, you can't have arthritis too?

I have asthma, psoriasis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's Syndrome, celiac disease and autoimmune hepatitis. I also have fibromyalgia. They are all separate and distinct illnesses, although there have been times when I've wondered whether the headache I had was due to celiac (if I'd been glutened) or to the fibro.

Yes, it's true that some of these other things *might* go into remission on a gluten free diet, but it is not at all certain that they will. And if they do, it can literally take years. And the odds are that the disability people are not going to make any connection in their minds between celiac and the gluten free diet and RA!

I'm sorry that you've been scared about this....I seriously doubt that you have anything to worry about! Please discuss this with your doctor; I'm sure he/she will back me up on this!

Good luck!

JoAnn

[mamaw]

disability is determined by all ills not just part of a problem. The total picture is studied. I'm fairly sure that all your ills are not from celiac. As I said it usually takes a couple of denials before getting approved.... And you will not know what the doctor actually wrote on his report they can tell you anything........getting disability is not always easy if it were then everyone would want it & of course many try. That is why the procedure of disabilty is very time consuming.