Down

[Karrin]

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease via blood work back in June, felt great for awhile, but am now back to how I felt before - if not worse. On top of celiac disease I've tested positive for RA. I also have endometriosis, reynaulds, and my rheumatologist and I are on the hunt - possibly for lupus. I've been feeling really overwhelmed. I stick to the diet and it doesn't seem to be doing me any good. I'm tired of being tired and sick of being sick. Recently my hair has begun falling out in nice handfuls and my stool is yellow/brown and the food doesn't seem to be digested. The gnawing feeling in my stomach is back and I'm nauseous all day. I'm also getting migraines and a bit of head fuzz (which I blame more on my total fatigue - I can barely make it to the shower most days). I've never had migraines before, the head fuzz yes, but never headaches! I generally get constipated when I get glutened. I've also noticed everything tends to get worse about the time I ovulate and around my period. I'm really at a loss as to what's going on. I've been so careful.

I was wondering if maybe it could be ulcers left over from the disease? I indulged in two cups of coffee back in September and had one (alcohol) drink (at a gluten free restuarant) and that's when my digestive symptoms seemed to return (I'd been feeling tired previously). I got pretty ill from both, a lot of nausea and back pain. I'm grasping at straws. I begin predizone Monday and if that doesn't help me I might lose my mind.

Has anyone else had ulcers? Or perhaps something similar? Anything!

My husband and I desperately want to get pregnant, but I had a miscarriage in July after years of nothing and I know it is because something is still wrong with me.

[haleym]

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease via blood work back in June, felt great for awhile, but am now back to how I felt before - if not worse. On top of celiac disease I've tested positive for RA. I also have endometriosis, reynaulds, and my rheumatologist and I are on the hunt - possibly for lupus. I've been feeling really overwhelmed. I stick to the diet and it doesn't seem to be doing me any good. I'm tired of being tired and sick of being sick. Recently my hair has begun falling out in nice handfuls and my stool is yellow/brown and the food doesn't seem to be digested. The gnawing feeling in my stomach is back and I'm nauseous all day. I'm also getting migraines and a bit of head fuzz (which I blame more on my total fatigue - I can barely make it to the shower most days). I've never had migraines before, the head fuzz yes, but never headaches! I generally get constipated when I get glutened. I've also noticed everything tends to get worse about the time I ovulate and around my period. I'm really at a loss as to what's going on. I've been so careful.

I was wondering if maybe it could be ulcers left over from the disease? I indulged in two cups of coffee back in September and had one (alcohol) drink (at a gluten free restuarant) and that's when my digestive symptoms seemed to return (I'd been feeling tired previously). I got pretty ill from both, a lot of nausea and back pain. I'm grasping at straws. I begin predizone Monday and if that doesn't help me I might lose my mind.

Has anyone else had ulcers? Or perhaps something similar? Anything!

My husband and I desperately want to get pregnant, but I had a miscarriage in July after years of nothing and I know it is because something is still wrong with me.

Wow that sounds like a bummer. Im sorry to hear about your recent bout of sickness! I wish I had more to say that would be helpful but... MAN, that bites!

A lot of people can sometimes develop other food sensitivities. In my experience, my thyroid is out of whack and until I got that under control, I was very tired, sick feeling, cold all the time. They also say that hair can start falling out and digestion can get funny again as well. If you can, I would get your thyroid function checked. It's an autoimmune thing, and is more common in those of us with gluten intolerances and other autoimmune issues. Good luck!

[srthomas21]

Sorry you are having so many issues. Some things to check for...have you had your ferritin levels checked? Celiac can cause all sorts of malabsorbtion issues and my ferritin levels were really low and it was causing all sorts of weird issues. Especially fatigue and it can cause hair loss.

Your ferritin levels should be around 70 even though the normal range goes all way down to 20. Mine was at 7 and at that level I really felt bad. I was not anemic either, all my other bloods were good so you need to check for ferritn and not just the normal stuff.

You should be on a good gluten free vitamin. (I take the Gluten Free version of Bio-35.)

You also need to really be on a good dose of probiotics I have tried several and I have found PB8 to be the best but you might have to try a few until you find one your body likes. I'm also adding in Culturelle as well. Probiotics can make a huge difference.

I also had H Pylori pretty bad and that was messing up my digestive track even more.

My doctor told me that something like 70 percent of the immune system resides in the gut and if you don't heal your gut you get all sorts of other symptoms and problems.

It can take a long time for things to heal up but you can do things (like probiotics) to help speed it up. I take 4 capsules of PB8 daily and it has really helped. I also completely cut out soda from my diet and it has helped as well.

You could also try digestive enzymes as well to help the food digest better.

There is also a good possibility that you may have some type of intestinal yeast overgrowth like candida. You could try adding in Candex for a few weeks to see if that helps. Yeast overgrowth can cause all kinds of weird symptoms and problems and getting rid of it is just part of healing your gut. If you have been on any antibiotics in the past it wipes out both good and bad bacteria.

Hope that helps.

[CarbQueen]

My mood is just starting to normalize. It was annoying how my mood would fluctuate wildly. Some days I felt like I had roid rage or bipolar disorder.

In May '09 I was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity which quickly progressed to intolerance because I was having difficulty maintaining my diet over the summer. It was torture watching friends party and enjoy food and drinks I had to abstain from.

At the end of the season I finally caved in to my cravings and over indulged at a large gathering. It happened during the time I had to stop the gluten-free diet to be tested to GI. The onset of arthritis and other autoimmune symptoms was so fast and severe, I thought I would die. Within days I returned to my gluten-free diet.

It has been 3 months since that incident, and I am grateful to abstain from gluten products. Now, I view gluten products like toxic chemicals

All the arthritis and autoimmune symptoms are gone. I'm in remission, and carefully monitoring my diet again.

Hope you feel well soon.

[Karrin]

Wow that sounds like a bummer. Im sorry to hear about your recent bout of sickness! I wish I had more to say that would be helpful but... MAN, that bites!

A lot of people can sometimes develop other food sensitivities. In my experience, my thyroid is out of whack and until I got that under control, I was very tired, sick feeling, cold all the time. They also say that hair can start falling out and digestion can get funny again as well. If you can, I would get your thyroid function checked. It's an autoimmune thing, and is more common in those of us with gluten intolerances and other autoimmune issues. Good luck!

Thanks. I'm feeling a lot better today. I started the predizone yesterday morning. I woke up feeling wretched, pale yellow skin, rash, achy joints, sick to my stomach etc, etc, but around 4pm it was like someone had flipped a switch. I had energy and a clear head! I can hardly believe it worked so fast. I'm feeling great today too. I'm optimistically pessimistic (hah) that it is the medicine. I've had sudden recoveries like this before and a day, week, month later I'm worse than ever again.

I've had my thyroid checked a few times - I can't recall when the last was though. I've had so many tests taken I can't recall half of them. It was always normal.

[Karrin]

My mood is just starting to normalize. It was annoying how my mood would fluctuate wildly. Some days I felt like I had roid rage or bipolar disorder.

In May '09 I was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity which quickly progressed to intolerance because I was having difficulty maintaining my diet over the summer. It was torture watching friends party and enjoy food and drinks I had to abstain from.

At the end of the season I finally caved in to my cravings and over indulged at a large gathering. It happened during the time I had to stop the gluten-free diet to be tested to GI. The onset of arthritis and other autoimmune symptoms was so fast and severe, I thought I would die. Within days I returned to my gluten-free diet.

It has been 3 months since that incident, and I am grateful to abstain from gluten products. Now, I view gluten products like toxic chemicals

All the arthritis and autoimmune symptoms are gone. I'm in remission, and carefully monitoring my diet again.

Hope you feel well soon.

Ugh, I know what you mean. I always can guess when I've accidently cc'd myself (I generally don't get GI symptoms anymore). I get so moody - crying one moment and the next ready to tear someone limb from limb. I also get creepy crawlies under my skin which makes it hard to rest - the traveling itch you just can't scratch!

I was (I thought) in remission as well (about 3 months), but I suspect now something more is going on with my immune system after all. I've started my autoimmune suppressants and within hours, immediate relief! I'm hoping this is it and not some fluke coincidence. My joints are sore today, but not quite so bad and I actually managed to read a book last night and hold it for a few hours straight. Normally this would have killed my wrists and fingers (and head)! I even have a bit of color back today. I'm crossing my fingers...

[Karrin]

Sorry you are having so many issues. Some things to check for...have you had your ferritin levels checked? Celiac can cause all sorts of malabsorbtion issues and my ferritin levels were really low and it was causing all sorts of weird issues. Especially fatigue and it can cause hair loss.

Your ferritin levels should be around 70 even though the normal range goes all way down to 20. Mine was at 7 and at that level I really felt bad. I was not anemic either, all my other bloods were good so you need to check for ferritn and not just the normal stuff.

You should be on a good gluten free vitamin. (I take the Gluten Free version of Bio-35.)

You also need to really be on a good dose of probiotics I have tried several and I have found PB8 to be the best but you might have to try a few until you find one your body likes. I'm also adding in Culturelle as well. Probiotics can make a huge difference.

I also had H Pylori pretty bad and that was messing up my digestive track even more.

My doctor told me that something like 70 percent of the immune system resides in the gut and if you don't heal your gut you get all sorts of other symptoms and problems.

It can take a long time for things to heal up but you can do things (like probiotics) to help speed it up. I take 4 capsules of PB8 daily and it has really helped. I also completely cut out soda from my diet and it has helped as well.

You could also try digestive enzymes as well to help the food digest better.

There is also a good possibility that you may have some type of intestinal yeast overgrowth like candida. You could try adding in Candex for a few weeks to see if that helps. Yeast overgrowth can cause all kinds of weird symptoms and problems and getting rid of it is just part of healing your gut. If you have been on any antibiotics in the past it wipes out both good and bad bacteria.

Hope that helps.

I've never heard of checking for ferratin. I'll have to look into that. As for the rest I'm doing great today. I'll keep everyone's suggestions in mind though if the medicine I'm on doesn't do the trick.