Possible Or Practical To Get Doctor

[David]

Hi Everyone:

So here

[dtgirl]

Hi Everyone:

So here

[David]

Hi:

Thank you so much for your prompt response. Isn

[dtgirl]

Hi:

Thank you so much for your prompt response. Isn

[chatycady]

My eperience has been to figure out the food intolerances on your own. My sister has been to tons for Drs and alternative medical practicioners. They all have a theory on what foods are her problems and they all want to sell her supplements for a large fee. All the supplements caused her more distress. She's finally given up and following an alternative diet that is working and like her I follow the specific carbohydrate diet. It has worked for me - and you don't need health insurance to do it.

[pele]

Hi David

The sister you talk about sounds just like me. Funny.

My experience has been that doctors do take me seriously when I tell them I am extremely gluten intolerant and I have been told by a GI that I probably have celiac although I was not tested. So I think they are getting better educated.

As far as your lingering symptoms, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is your most likely culprit. Here's a link to an article to get you started and you can read it for free without a doctor's prescription:

https://www.celiac.com/articles/21768/1/Res...ease/Page1.html

Other likely causes: lactose intolerance or lack of digestive enzymes

Good luck!

[David]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. As always, I am very gratified by the quality responses I get here. Yes, am very much weighing what my expectations of seeing a doctor for my

[mushroom]

David, it is a winding road we embark on when we realize we have either gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Most of us cannot obtain the help we need from our doctors, and we have to do it ourselves. Once we have the celiac part under control, the next part is what else needs attention? As mentioned above, candida is a probable candidate and needs eliminating. Read up on it and find out how to do this. If you don't have candida, are you lactose intolerant? You can test this easily by drinking milk and eating ice cream, and see your response. If you are lactose intolerant, you will have to find out if you are also casein intolerant by eating cheese and yogurt and butter. This elimination works for lots of us because the lactose in these products has mostly been predigested.

Other common intolerances that show up after gluten is eliminated are soy, corn, eggs. You can test all these things in the same way, by elimination.

If you don't want to take the time and are willing to try a quicker method, you can eliminate all but the basic foods--generally chicken, fish, rice, cooked vegetables,and fruits, and then add in one potential allergen every three to four days. Most intolerances can be found this way without any testing or doctor visits and excessive costs. If none of the above works, then it is time to think about further testing.

The next step is blood tests to determine nutritional deficiencies which need to be supplemented. The most common deficiences are Vitamin D (leading to osteoporosis), B12, folate (folic acid), zinc, magnesium, calcium. Unfortunately you do have to have a doctor's order for these tests so you will need to convince a physician to order these for you based on your self-diagnosis. You will have to work out how to tell your story convincingly.

This is the path I too. You will see by my signature I have been lactose intolerant (maybe not any longer), soy intolerant, caffeine free, and have recently (not in my sig.) developed a citrus intolerance. All self-diagnosed.

I have also been doctor diagnosed as deficient in D, B12 and folate, and have been diagnosed as having osteoporosis due to a compression fracture in my spine. I have found that once you have done your own work on this issue and can address the subject coherently in an informed kind of way, most doctors will listen to you and work with you. But you must first start with the basics and lay the foundation.

Good luck with your passage on the winding road

[mushroom]

David, it is a winding road we embark on when we realize we have either gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Most of us cannot obtain the help we need from our doctors, and we have to do it ourselves. Once we have the celiac part under control, the next part is what else needs attention? As mentioned above, candida is a probable candidate and needs eliminating. Read up on it and find out how to do this. If you don't have candida, are you lactose intolerant? You can test this easily by drinking milk and eating ice cream, and see your response. If you are lactose intolerant, you will have to find out if you are also casein intolerant by eating cheese and yogurt and butter. This elimination works for lots of us because the lactose in these products has mostly been predigested.

Other common intolerances that show up after gluten is eliminated are soy, corn, eggs. You can test all these things in the same way, by elimination.

If you don't want to take the time and are willing to try a quicker method, you can eliminate all but the basic foods--generally chicken, fish, rice, cooked vegetables,and fruits, and then add in one potential allergen every three to four days. Most intolerances can be found this way without any testing or doctor visits and excessive costs. If none of the above works, then it is time to think about further testing.

The next step is blood tests to determine nutritional deficiencies which need to be supplemented. The most common deficiences are Vitamin D (leading to osteoporosis), B12, folate (folic acid), zinc, magnesium, calcium. Unfortunately you do have to have a doctor's order for these tests so you will need to convince a physician to order these for you based on your self-diagnosis. You will have to work out how to tell your story convincingly.

This is the path I took. You will see by my signature I have been lactose intolerant (maybe not any longer), soy intolerant, caffeine free, and have recently (not in my sig.) developed a citrus intolerance. All self-diagnosed.

I have also been doctor diagnosed as deficient in D, B12 and folate, and have been diagnosed as having osteoporosis due to a compression fracture in my spine. I have found that once you have done your own work on this issue and can address the subject coherently in an informed kind of way, most doctors will listen to you and work with you. But you must first start with the basics and lay the foundation.

Good luck with your passage on the winding road

[pele]

Pele: I skimmed the article quickly, and will research it more tomorrow, but in the meantime article didn

[David]

Eat fermented or cultured foods like yogurt, kimchi, kombucha, or sauerkraut or take probiotic pills to replenish good intestinal flora......

Pele:

I am going to research this more in a few hours, so this will be one of my last

[dtgirl]

Pele:

I am going to research this more in a few hours, so this will be one of my last

[still tiredofdoctors]

I have been a member of the forum for five years, but had to "re-name" myself in order to be able to log in! Some bizarre computer glitch . . . .

In that time, I have had encounters with the absolute WORST excuses for physicians you could possibly imagine. I was misdiagnosed with five different illnesses that almost cost me my life during that time. Which leads me to . . .

If leading a gluten-free lifestyle (not just "not eating gluten" - there's a big difference!) helps you, makes you feel better, and alleviates your symptoms, I think it's not worth the time, effort or money to have someone say, "Oh, yes, you have Celiac" or "This is in your head, you are not Celiac".

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease - like Rheumatoid Arthritis. It has been proven that Gluten Intolerance is more than likely the precursor to the autoimmune "shift". Whether you actually have the ANTIBODIES - meaning that you have seroconverted to the autoimmune disease, or you are INTOLERANT -- that doesn't matter.

You know your body much better than any physician ever will. If living a gluten-free lifestyle vastly improves your quality of life, stick with it!

[dilettantesteph]

You might consider that you may not have completely eliminated all sources of gluten yet. That happened to me. I had one more food intolerance to oats, but other than that it was just gluten that I didn't know about that I had to eliminate. I kept finding more for months. I still find it occasionally after almost 2 years. Some of us are more sensitive to gluten than others. What some can eat without symptoms, others can't. Initially before much healing has occurred, GI issues reappear very quickly with trace gluten. Good luck to you.

[AliB]

Many people are lactose intolerant and Celiacs are no exception to that - the damage limits the amount of lactase that is made in the gut.

Good, well-fermented yogurt usually is tolerated because some of the lactose is pre-digested by the probiotic bacteria. Most commercially-made yogurt is cultured for around 6 -8 hours, which is ok, but a longer fermentation is preferable. Some of the commercially-made yogurts are disguised rubbish - full of sugar and goodness knows what, so you are better off using either good plain probiotic bought yogurt or making it yourself.

The Specific Carb Diet recommends 24-hour fermented yogurt that you make yourself. The longer fermentation not only gives you a much higher concentration of bacteria, but it also digests most, if not all of the lactose. Some make it with goat's milk and others even with coconut milk or other 'milks'.

Another option if you don't want to go down the yogurt route is to take some good probios like Kirkman's, etc.

The benefit of an elimination diet like the SCD or Failsafe, is that by eliminating foods that can help to keep the damage cycle going, like processed carbs, grains, sugars and starches and concentrating on wholesome natural foods it can help the gut, and the body, to heal. It can take time, but then the damage didn't occur overnight!

Like Pele and Chaty, I too have been following the SCD and am a lot better for it. Yes, I discovered I was gluten intolerant but I have issues with all carbs and sugars not just gluten. It certainly was the biggest factor, but not the only one by any means.

As I have been healing, quite a few of my intolerances have improved - but not gluten, and knowing what I now know about the stuff I wouldn't want to eat it even if I wasn't intolerant! In fact, knowing what I now know about a lot of the stuff that we presume to be 'food', makes me want to give it a very wide berth. It has damaged me and the further I keep away from it the better.

[David]

Hello All:

First, let me say again how truly gratified I am by all of the responses so far. Before posting this, I was so frustrated because I was stumped

[AliB]

Celiac can by its very nature be difficult to pick up - apparently only 1% of sufferers are ever diagnosed. Even if you are Celiac the tests can sometimes come back negative (false negatives) and it usually takes a biopsy to determine the diagnosis. Problem is that Doctors generally won't recommend a biopsy unless you have a positive blood result!

In order to have the possibility of being able to test positive you would have had to have been consuming gluten for at least three months to give your body time to build up the antibodies again. The problem with that of course is that if your gluten reactions are really bad that is one place you really don't want to go..........

As your gut obviously is still damaged, a sensitive Doctor may be happy to send you for a biopsy but whether it would be diagnosed as Celiac is another matter.

You are in a bit of a cleft stick.

Personally I feel as a lot do that if you react to the stuff then you shouldn't have it - diagnosis or not.

When you read about what has been done to the gluten grains, and what they do to it during the processing of it, it makes you realise that it is no little wonder that so many are suffering with gut, and gut-related health issues.

[David]

You are in a bit of a cleft stick.

I have never heard that expression before, I like it....

At any rate, I think I will at the very least fill out the paperwork to see how much money I will be on the hook for if I do go for treatment on this. If it is not a large amount, there is no harm in seeing a doctor, whether or not it will get me the results I am looking for.

If my out-out-of-pocket expense is a lot (at least considering my current budget), I have a more difficult decision.

But either way, I will have an advantage knowing that whenever I have a question, I can ask it here and get a lot of informed answers.

Thanks again.

David

[Michi8]

Pele:

I am going to research this more in a few hours, so this will be one of my last

[Nancym]

I know about the elimination diet, but honestly I am so frustrated with "guessing" about my allergy, that I am seriously contemplating going to a hospital (or doctors office, if such a place exists) that will accept a payment based on a "sliding scale" on what I can afford. If at all possible, I want someone to tell me what food(s) I am allergic to, what food products they are commonly found in, etc. Basically I want some direction.

You'd probably end up not getting help unless you went to one of the few doctors that even acknowledge that people have food intolerances. Seriously, only ever heard of a few that do via their blogs. And you know what, one of the tools they use is elimination diets to figure it out. There are tests, like ELISA, but some controversy about how accurate they are.

I'd say the best test out there would be Enterolab's, but I'm not sure they test for soy yet.

You might look for Dr Scott Lewey online. He's written a lot and seems to practice remotely too. He recognizes that food intolerances are a huge problem for many people.

Now if you have a food allergy, that's something else entirely and the medical establishment can probably help you with that with testing.

[David]

Hi everyone:

Again, I am so thankful for all of the responses here

[Michi8]

P.S. When I was writing my "food journal," I noticed my margarine had "soy" listed in the ingredients three times

[pele]

At any rate, I think I will at the very least fill out the paperwork to see how much money I will be on the hook for if I do go for treatment on this. If it is not a large amount, there is no harm in seeing a doctor, whether or not it will get me the results I am looking for.

Whoa--treatment? The only treatment for celiac is a gluten-free diet. You do not need a doctor's permission or prescription for that.

I am going to get very opinionated before you go to the doc. Don't waste your time and money. You responded to a gluten-free diet, therefore you know you are gluten intolerant and shouldn't eat it. All of those statistics that claim only 3% of celiacs know they have it do not count the thousands of us who figured it out for yourselves.

Maybe your lab dollars would be better spent on nutritional bloodwork--check your vitamin and mineral levels.

Anyway, do let us know how your appointment turns out.

[mushroom]

I would second Pele. The chances of a positive biopsy (50/50 at best in normal situations) are drestically reduced if you have not been eating gluten for 7 months. You normally need at least two months of continuous gluten consumption to get a true response. And the only treatment for gluten intolerance, which it seems you have, is gluten elimination. There is no magic pill, unfortunately.

[David]

Whoa--treatment? The only treatment for celiac is a gluten-free diet. You do not need a doctor's permission or prescription for that.

Sorry, bad word choice on the word