Should I See A Doctor? Possible Celiac Disease

[tmikuckis]

Hello,

I'm a 17 year old male and I have a lot of random health problems that I think may be connected to Celiac's disease. None of my symptoms are to bad, or unbearable; and I've seen the doctor for some of them individually (with no solutions). So I'm just going to throw out any possible things I think could be related to Celiac's disease; and any advice / responses would be appreciated!

1-at my last physical exam, my doctor told I weighed a few pounds less, even though I had grown a little bit(since last year). He said this was worrisome, especially if I lost any more weight. I think its important to say that I eat a lot, and I eat good nutritious food. I don't really eat much junkfood except for a little desert after dinner, but I've always eaten healthy stuff so I don't know why my weight would be going down...

2-My digestion has never seemed to be perfect. Sometimes lots of gas / sometimes its hard to go to the bathroom / sometimes I have these random stomach aches. (definately could be normal just trying to throw every possible symptom out there).

3-I'm about three inches shorter than my two brothers. Since I was small my dad would always measure me and mark my height in a closet just for fun. I thought I had finished growing beacause every time my dad measured me over the course of the last year I hadn't grown at all. I just came back from a one month long trip to Lithuania and when I got back I discovered I had grown atleast half an inch in that one month! (my diet was much different while I was there...). One year without growth in California, one month in Lithuania and I grow half an inch; just doesn't seem normal...

4-Maybe I just want to blame my lack of working out on some disease, but my muscles seem to be pretty undeveloped for my age. In addition to my skinny arms, my stomach has always seemed to be a little bloated. I'm not fat, but my stomach does seem to puff out a little more than regular.

5-About 9 months ago I started to get a lot of "brain fogginess", and my grades dropped a little in school for one semester. I eventually found that working out in the morning cleared up my head (After running or jumprope, I would feel my head thumping really hard for like a minute and my head would seem to clear up. This also went away while I was on my trip to Lithuania and has come back within the last week of being back home.)

6-Within the last year I've also become very forgetfull and have developed very bad memory.

-With this I've also had some random nervousness / anxiety at times (not bad at all and only occasional)

7-My immune system seems to be really weak. When school started this last year I seemed to get sick almost every month for like four months in a row.

8-I've had tons of swollen lymph nodes for probably a year and 3 months now. A ton of them are swollen in my groin area, also under my jaw, and one or two the back of my head (but no pain). My doctor couldn't explain this, he said it was probably from sickness (Even though the swollen lymph nodes never seem to go away when I'm not sick...)

9-Acne. I have a ton around my mouth area, and its been like that for a few years. I was reading on an acne forum about people who learned that they had celiac's disease, and when they stopped eating gluten their acne went away (This is how I learned about Celiac's disease)

10-Foot pain. This probably has nothing to do with it but I thought I'd throw it in. Probably for the last 6 or 7 years I've had foot pain. I have custom orthodics, but I'm always getting inflammation in my heel or other parts of the foot.

11- Finally, I had stopped drinking milk / eating a lot of dairy for a month or two. When I got back home I ate a lot of ice cream and milk chocolate for the first time in a long time. I developed severe diarrhea for 3/4 days, and the doctor told me it was probably stomach flu (it probably is, but I read that Lactose intolerance is frequently a side effect of celiac disease, so thought i'd just throw it out there). Also, I ate some pancakes this morning with a huge dallop of whipped cream on top, and my stomach seems fine (except for a lot of gas).

Wow, that ended up being a lot of stuff! Although none of these symptoms are severe, it would be nice if it would all go away from something as simple as not eating gluten. I can definately live with all these things, but if anyone has some advice / an opinion on whether i should be tested for celiac's disease; it would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[ang1e0251]

Some of these could be realated to celiac disease, just as you thought. It wouldn't hurt to get blood panel drawn by your dr for celiac disease. That would be a start. Did you not eat gluten on your trip? You mentioned dairy but not gluten.

Keep eating normally until you get tested or the tests will be thrown off.

[tmikuckis]

Some of these could be realated to celiac disease, just as you thought. It wouldn't hurt to get blood panel drawn by your dr for celiac disease. That would be a start. Did you not eat gluten on your trip? You mentioned dairy but not gluten.

Keep eating normally until you get tested or the tests will be thrown off.

I continued eating gluten... but i didn't eat much, if any wheat (all the bread i ate was rye). Maybe wheat intolerance has symptoms similar to mine? Is wheat intolerance tested for with the same blood tests? Also, if I get these blood tests done, will they tell me if i'm intolerant to other foods (such as dairy)?

thanks again (especially for reading and replying to such a long post!)

[ang1e0251]

There are three different conditions a person can experience with wheat. You can have celiac disease in which your body creates antibodies that attack and damage parts of your body when you ingest gluten; wheat, rye, & barley. You could be gluten intolerant where you still react to gluten but theorectically do not damage your internal organs (there is debate about this). Or you could have an allergy to wheat which is a histamine reaction to wheat but doesn't necesarily cause an allergy to barley or rye.

If you have celiac disease, you should have reacted to the rye also. It doesn't mean you don't have it but it is puzzling. You should have the test to see where you stand. For gluten intolerance, there is no test. In other words, you could have the various tests for celiac disease and come out negative but still be gluten intolerant. At that point you just have to try the gluten-free diet to see if you have a positive dietary response. As for a wheat allergy, that would be testing with an allergist. It's a skin prick test and that could reveal other sensitivities as well.

I think you would benefit from testing but remember to keep eating gluten so your test has the best chance of being accurate.

[Serversymptoms]

Hello,

I'm a 17 year old male and I have a lot of random health problems that I think may be connected to Celiac's disease. None of my symptoms are to bad, or unbearable; and I've seen the doctor for some of them individually (with no solutions). So I'm just going to throw out any possible things I think could be related to Celiac's disease; and any advice / responses would be appreciated!

1-at my last physical exam, my doctor told I weighed a few pounds less, even though I had grown a little bit(since last year). He said this was worrisome, especially if I lost any more weight. I think its important to say that I eat a lot, and I eat good nutritious food. I don't really eat much junkfood except for a little desert after dinner, but I've always eaten healthy stuff so I don't know why my weight would be going down...

2-My digestion has never seemed to be perfect. Sometimes lots of gas / sometimes its hard to go to the bathroom / sometimes I have these random stomach aches. (definately could be normal just trying to throw every possible symptom out there).

3-I'm about three inches shorter than my two brothers. Since I was small my dad would always measure me and mark my height in a closet just for fun. I thought I had finished growing beacause every time my dad measured me over the course of the last year I hadn't grown at all. I just came back from a one month long trip to Lithuania and when I got back I discovered I had grown atleast half an inch in that one month! (my diet was much different while I was there...). One year without growth in California, one month in Lithuania and I grow half an inch; just doesn't seem normal...

4-Maybe I just want to blame my lack of working out on some disease, but my muscles seem to be pretty undeveloped for my age. In addition to my skinny arms, my stomach has always seemed to be a little bloated. I'm not fat, but my stomach does seem to puff out a little more than regular.

5-About 9 months ago I started to get a lot of "brain fogginess", and my grades dropped a little in school for one semester. I eventually found that working out in the morning cleared up my head (After running or jumprope, I would feel my head thumping really hard for like a minute and my head would seem to clear up. This also went away while I was on my trip to Lithuania and has come back within the last week of being back home.)

6-Within the last year I've also become very forgetfull and have developed very bad memory.

-With this I've also had some random nervousness / anxiety at times (not bad at all and only occasional)

7-My immune system seems to be really weak. When school started this last year I seemed to get sick almost every month for like four months in a row.

8-I've had tons of swollen lymph nodes for probably a year and 3 months now. A ton of them are swollen in my groin area, also under my jaw, and one or two the back of my head (but no pain). My doctor couldn't explain this, he said it was probably from sickness (Even though the swollen lymph nodes never seem to go away when I'm not sick...)

9-Acne. I have a ton around my mouth area, and its been like that for a few years. I was reading on an acne forum about people who learned that they had celiac's disease, and when they stopped eating gluten their acne went away (This is how I learned about Celiac's disease)

10-Foot pain. This probably has nothing to do with it but I thought I'd throw it in. Probably for the last 6 or 7 years I've had foot pain. I have custom orthodics, but I'm always getting inflammation in my heel or other parts of the foot.

11- Finally, I had stopped drinking milk / eating a lot of dairy for a month or two. When I got back home I ate a lot of ice cream and milk chocolate for the first time in a long time. I developed severe diarrhea for 3/4 days, and the doctor told me it was probably stomach flu (it probably is, but I read that Lactose intolerance is frequently a side effect of celiac disease, so thought i'd just throw it out there). Also, I ate some pancakes this morning with a huge dallop of whipped cream on top, and my stomach seems fine (except for a lot of gas).

Wow, that ended up being a lot of stuff! Although none of these symptoms are severe, it would be nice if it would all go away from something as simple as not eating gluten. I can definately live with all these things, but if anyone has some advice / an opinion on whether i should be tested for celiac's disease; it would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

I'm also 17 years old. I have some symptoms related to you ( such as swollen lymph node on back of head and acne.... bad case of clog pores), and others ( some were very server until I removed gluten). I think you could possibly be gluten intolerance, if your doctors don't come around on time ( since school is starting back, I doubt you would want to return sick) you can try the diet for a few weeks. The lump on my head doesn't really change shape often ( really enlarged when I consumed a bagel... eventually will explain the reason), though I think I did have swollen lymph nodes on my back ( didn't really notice it was) but it has now gone away. I was told by my doctor once ( or twice) that I was underweight, though since removing gluten it actually looks like I lost weight ( considering my face bloating is going down, along with stomach) but I gain a few pounds. To make a long story short ( I mean really short... much complications I've had with doctors and family) I was also able to conclude that I'm yeast intolerance, from there my rash and other symptoms really is starting to vanish. I did more research, did a candida spit test and was able to conclude I also have candida. I question on whether me being celiac ( or gluten intolerance) gave rise to candida... or something else resulted to all of this.

[Left computer and now forgot what else I was going to type]

Well my other health concerns along with being gluten and yeast intolerance, and candida are: thyroid, pre-diabetes, malnutrition