Could It Be Gluten Intolerance Or Celiacs?

[adm07]

Hi!

Ok so lately I have been doing a ton of research, including on gluten intolerance. I was reading articles on how recurrent ear infections in kids can be due to wheat allergy. When I was little I used to have a ton of ear infections. The skin inside my ears is also dry. Then I read that women that are gluten intolerant can have amenorrhea, which is what I have. Here's the thing though. If I did have gluten intolerance as a child wouldn't I have suffered from more symptoms children have (like delayed growth, maybe GI issues, delayed menstruation, etc.)? I don't suffer from GI issues nor non GI issues (except the irregular periods). My theory was that because my estrogen levels were so low, it triggered my hypothyroid problem, which happens to a lot of menopausal women. But then I read that wheat causes hormonal imbalances too. Oh, also there is no history of Celiac's/gluten intolerance in my family.

I am worrying myself sick always trying to find out what's wrong with me. I could hardly sleep last night. U until three months ago all I thought I had was PCOS and then I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's (which isn't surprising because my aunt and dad both have it.) I want to take the entero labs to see if I am gluten intolerant but I'm just a poor college student and I can't afford it. Could I just ask my doctor to see if I have the genes for gluten intolerance or Celiac's? Any insight?

[GFinDC]

The gene tests won't tell you if you have celiac disease. Lots of people have the genes but don't develop active celiac disease. My guess is the docs haven't really figured out the exact gene combinations that cause it.

[Carolynsb3]

Hi!

Ok so lately I have been doing a ton of research, including on gluten intolerance. I was reading articles on how recurrent ear infections in kids can be due to wheat allergy. When I was little I used to have a ton of ear infections. The skin inside my ears is also dry. Then I read that women that are gluten intolerant can have amenorrhea, which is what I have. Here's the thing though. If I did have gluten intolerance as a child wouldn't I have suffered from more symptoms children have (like delayed growth, maybe GI issues, delayed menstruation, etc.)? I don't suffer from GI issues nor non GI issues (except the irregular periods). My theory was that because my estrogen levels were so low, it triggered my hypothyroid problem, which happens to a lot of menopausal women. But then I read that wheat causes hormonal imbalances too. Oh, also there is no history of Celiac's/gluten intolerance in my family.

I am worrying myself sick always trying to find out what's wrong with me. I could hardly sleep last night. U until three months ago all I thought I had was PCOS and then I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's (which isn't surprising because my aunt and dad both have it.) I want to take the entero labs to see if I am gluten intolerant but I'm just a poor college student and I can't afford it. Could I just ask my doctor to see if I have the genes for gluten intolerance or Celiac's? Any insight?

[Carolynsb3]

I just read a very interesting article on Hashimoto's and celiac being linked.

Open Original Shared Link

[Piggydot21]

Hi!

Ok so lately I have been doing a ton of research, including on gluten intolerance. I was reading articles on how recurrent ear infections in kids can be due to wheat allergy. When I was little I used to have a ton of ear infections. The skin inside my ears is also dry. Then I read that women that are gluten intolerant can have amenorrhea, which is what I have. Here's the thing though. If I did have gluten intolerance as a child wouldn't I have suffered from more symptoms children have (like delayed growth, maybe GI issues, delayed menstruation, etc.)? I don't suffer from GI issues nor non GI issues (except the irregular periods). My theory was that because my estrogen levels were so low, it triggered my hypothyroid problem, which happens to a lot of menopausal women. But then I read that wheat causes hormonal imbalances too. Oh, also there is no history of Celiac's/gluten intolerance in my family.

I am worrying myself sick always trying to find out what's wrong with me. I could hardly sleep last night. U until three months ago all I thought I had was PCOS and then I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's (which isn't surprising because my aunt and dad both have it.) I want to take the entero labs to see if I am gluten intolerant but I'm just a poor college student and I can't afford it. Could I just ask my doctor to see if I have the genes for gluten intolerance or Celiac's? Any insight?

Well the reason you may not have had any symptoms when you were a kid could be that you didn't trigger the gene for it, or you just didn't show any symptoms. Some people with Celiac disease don't show symptoms at all, and they may never show them. When I was young I never showed symptoms to have a gluten sensitivity. I actually just started having symptoms when I was around 19 years old. I tried everything to figure out what was wrong with me. So I went to a natural-pathic doctor who told me to take a spit test. It told me that I was allergic to gluten, but couldn't tell me if I had Celiac disease.

So then I took the blood test for it, but it came up negative. However, blood test aren't always correct. They can give a false negative. My doctor told me to take the Gluten Sensitivity Stool and Gene Panel Complete test on enterolabs. I think it was well worth it, but it's really expensive. You can also just take the gene test.

The gene test will tell you if you have the genes for Celiac disease, but it wont tell you if you actually have it. If you have the genes then you are more susceptible to getting Celiac disease because it can be triggered by a traumatic event.

However, if you really want to know if you have it or not you can take the Gluten Sensitivity Stool Panel Complete. But it is also expensive. The gluten sensitivity stool test looks for the antibodies produced by your body against gluten, the tissue transglutaminase test determines if gluten has caused an autoimmune reaction in your body that can attack and damage the intestine and other tissues of the body, the malabsorption test assesses whether your intestine is malabsorbing dietary nutrients because of damage, even slightly so, by gluten (or perhaps other factors).

You can ask your doctor to do a blood test, but like I said they aren't always reliable. If you really don't want to spend money on a test you can try staying off gluten and see how you feel in a month. If your symptoms go away, or you feel better then you may be allergic to it, or have Celiac disease. The only known cure is to stay off gluten completely.

I hope this helps