Another Newbie... Wondering!

[Guest misselphaba]

Hi all, have been having a look through the forums and everyone seems so friendly so I just wanted to seek your advice!

I'm 22 years old and i'm wondering if I am a celiac! It's something that has been on my mind for a while becuase my uncle, aunt and first cousin are all celiacs. My symptoms started about 3 years ago - I began to lose weight even though I was eating properly and eating lots of rubbish too (have a very sweet tooth!), so anyway the weight loss has pretty much continued since then and no matter how much I eat, I can't seem to put on any weight. Im 5"3 and around 125 pounds which I know isn't very low but is enough to have my mom on my back!

For the gross details, I usually get D at least once a week, usually more often and the smell is often unbearable, also I think it's a lot paler than it used to be before all this started. I sometimes feel completely nauseous after eating, especially if I'm eating in a restaurant. Leading on from that I find myself becoming very anxious about eating out, so much so that I would begin to feel nauseous even before the food comes to the table. This was never a problem before - I used to love going out for dinner with friends, now I avoid it at all costs... I quite often get an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach after eating bread/pizza, I've given up pasta completely. I find that I feel uncomfortably full sometimes after dinner even though I may have eaten the same amount as at any other time. I was on holidays for three weeks during the summer and it just happened that I had very little if any gluten for 2 of the weeks as we were doing a lot of travelling. When we came back from the travelling I had some toast and immediately I felt that something was different. The other day I had a slice of brown wholemeal bread for the first time in ages (not avoiding it just didnt have any for ages) and I was so gassy that night, it was uncomfortable. As well as that I have quite a slim figure but sometimes going to bed I'll notice that I have a big bloated belly which is unusual for me.

Now this isn't something that I think about all day every day - sometimes I eat pizza, have a sandwich and don't notice feeling any different...

I think I will probably go to the doctor sometime next week (I've been putting it off for ages!) , but I would love to hear some of your opinions as well.

Thanks,

Miss Elphaba

[GFinDC]

Hi,

You could have celiac, or something else. Your doctor can draw a little blood and have it sent to a lab for the celiac test panel. It's important to keep eating gluten prior to the blood draw though. If you are already on a low gluten or no gluten diet when the blood is drawn the tests are more likely to be inaccurate. Usually what I see recommended here seems to be 4 to 6 weeks on gluten every day for a valid test. A good test is to do the gluten-free diet strictly for a couple months. Then challenge yourself with gluten and note the reaction if any.