Endoscopy Question

[Bman23]

Hello all. I'm trying to figure some things out. I had an endoscopy a few years ago. The doctor wasn't looking for celiac. I didn't even know about celiac back then; I'm just now learning.

So anyway, he did it because I had(and still have) CFS, and because I also had a lot of gastrointestinal issues. The results came back pretty much normal, but the doctor said something about the duodenum being irritated(not sure if that's the word he used, it was a while ago. Maybe it was inflamed.).

So I'm wondering if that can be a suggestion of celiac, even though the doctor wasn't looking for it?

also, I had a biopsy and that came out normal, but I think it was from the esophagus.

My doctor eventually did test for celiac. Not sure what test he used; it was a blood test, I know that much and it was negative. But after reading all the stories on here I'm starting to wonder.

So does anyone think that could be a hint toward something? I've been experimenting with the celiac diet for a couple weeks now and some days I think I'm doing better, but others I don't see any results.

Thanks.

[nikky]

Hmm... that does sound ominous doesnt it... inflamation/irritation of the intestines can be an early sign of coeliac..

The biopsy of your oesophogus was probably too high in your digestive tract to detect damage .. biopsies work best if they are taken from several places incase of patchy coeliac..

Also coeliac can have 'dormant' phases sometimes.. so it could be that when the biopsy was taken the coeliac wasnt actually causing a lot of damage...that would also affect the bloodtests

Bloodtests arent always 100% reliable.. and mistakes are easily made thats why a lot of physicans wont diagnose just on a positive blood test.. which can make life hard for a lot of people...

If you want re-testing then you could always use something like entrolab if you dont want to go back to the doctor but of course you would have to go back on gluten for that

As for being gluten free now.. its great your feeling some improvement sometimes .. its not unusual to still have bad days, it takes time for your body to heal itself.. and some people find that they need to remove dairy and/or soy for a short amount of time to help their body get back to normal..

good luck i hope this helps a little.. and remember whatever you decide there will always be people here for you every step of the way

[Bman23]

thanks. That's pretty much what I was wondering: if celiac causes visible damage or irritation to the small intestine.

regarding blood tests, I'm thinking of getting copies of my medical records and then comparing them to what I've seen on here and learning more about them.

I'm actually hoping it's Celia. Sure it would be hard to follow the diet, but it would be so worth it to feel better again.

Not getting my hopes up or anything, but I'm just here to learn what I can.

ETA...

this link that I just found. It may help other searching this forum. It's pictures from an Endoscopy in Celiac Disease.

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