Diagnosis In Progress

[freeda]

Hi everybody. Here's where I stand.

History:

IBS (w/dairy trigger among others)

elevated ANA's (RA, lupus, and sjogren's ruled out, no cause found)

anxiety and depression (dx'd as non-classic bipolar)

Diagnosis progress:

6/29/09, doc okay with the idea of celiac disease, blood drawn for testing - should hear back within a couple of weeks?

Now that I've got my blood drawn, I'm ready to stop eating this dang poison. I feel like crap because I was gluten loading before my test. I have spent SOOOOOO much time in the potty I could have read War and Peace in there.

So far I've changed to gluten-free makeup, and tried the gluten-free menu at Outback. I bought some rice pasta to try, and had that tonite (ick). And figured out what "gas station crap" I can eat. Yay, Skittles says gluten-free right on the bag!!

I already told my sisters and my mom to think about getting screened. Mom has GI problems and depression, and one sister has GI problems. Warned all about latency, etc.

I really appreciate all I've learned on this site. Thank you all for being open about your journeys! It's a great help!!!!!!

[ravenwoodglass]

Welcome, you do sound like you are one of the 'family'. One word of caution though- if you are going to have an endo in the diagnostic process you have to keep eating gluten until that is done. Also there is a fairly high risk of a false negative both with blood testing and biopsy so no matter what the results of those you should give the diet a good strict try after all your testing is done. If you are not going to agree to an endo then go ahead and give the diet a good strict try and you may have the answer before you get your test results back. You will want to avoid dairy also for a while when you start the diet as the same area that is impacted by celiac is responsible for producing the enzyme we need to digest dairy. Most of us can add dairy back in after we heal.

I hope you get some relief soon.

[curlyfries]

I bought some rice pasta to try, and had that tonite (ick). !!!!!!

yeah.....I wasn't too keen on the rice pasta either.......don't remember what brand it was. For spaghetti, I like to use corn pasta. MUCH better, IMO, but I'm sure there are those who will disagree. However, for lasagna I do like Tinkyada rice pasta.

[freeda]

yeah.....I wasn't too keen on the rice pasta either.......don't remember what brand it was. For spaghetti, I like to use corn pasta. MUCH better, IMO, but I'm sure there are those who will disagree. However, for lasagna I do like Tinkyada rice pasta.

Thanks for the tip, I will look for that!

[freeda]

Welcome, you do sound like you are one of the 'family'. One word of caution though- if you are going to have an endo in the diagnostic process you have to keep eating gluten until that is done. Also there is a fairly high risk of a false negative both with blood testing and biopsy so no matter what the results of those you should give the diet a good strict try after all your testing is done. If you are not going to agree to an endo then go ahead and give the diet a good strict try and you may have the answer before you get your test results back. You will want to avoid dairy also for a while when you start the diet as the same area that is impacted by celiac is responsible for producing the enzyme we need to digest dairy. Most of us can add dairy back in after we heal.

I hope you get some relief soon.

Thanks for your reply. I haven't got a referral for a GI doc yet, just a dietician. Should the GI be my next step, whether or not the blood test is positive?

I haven't eaten dairy but maybe a few times a year for a few years, so that's no problem.

[ang1e0251]

If your bloodwork comes back positive, your dr will probably recommend a GI. If you want that, keep eating gluten. If you don't, do like she said and start the diet right away. I also agree that Tinkyada is the best pasta!

[freeda]

If your bloodwork comes back positive, your dr will probably recommend a GI. If you want that, keep eating gluten. If you don't, do like she said and start the diet right away. I also agree that Tinkyada is the best pasta!

Okay, sounds good. I had pancakes for lunch. I'm just trying to be in the mindset of tasting the "last" of everything. Saying goodbye to it. lol