Are My Symptoms Likely Celiac?

[rflynn]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site. 18 yr old female

I've been having medical problems since last January. Initially i had a viral infection. i was very sick for 2 months and was put on Prednisone and started to feel better. I felt better for about a month and went back to my normal, busy and energetic lifestyle. All of a sudden, I relapsed and have been feeling awful ever since. I am wondering if I developed Celiac after the stresses of my bad viral infection.

My symptoms are:

-FATIGUE!

-muscle soreness/body aches

-sharp, constant pain in lower left pelvis and intermittent pain/burning sensation throughout midsection esp. under left ribs

-breathlessness with exertion

-hair loss (maybe due to stress)

-nausea with some meals

-sharp left sided chest pain

-diarrhea that is light tan/occasional green foul smelling stools

-always have to wake up early because of urge to go

-huge appetite despite eating a lot!

-gas

I have ruled out pulmonary and Cardiac issues and am now working with a GI doc. my bloodwork was negative for celiac but my aunt has is, which makes is relatively likely that I may have developed it. I have never been able to gain weight and have always been nauseas with some meals, I am wondering if I have had it all along and then it got a lot more severe. I have not had an endoscopy or colonoscopy yet, the doc said she doesn't think I have colitis-but the location of my lower left pelvic pain has me worried, is this pain location common among celiacs? I am going to a homeopathic doctor after thanksgiving and am desperate for a diagnosis, any advice/personal experience is greatly appreciated!!!

[GottaSki]

Not sure about the lower pelvic pain -- maybe someone else can answer.

Did/Could you have nutrients checked? Iron, Ferretin, B12, D, K, Iron and Copper are good to check.

Try gene testing for DQ2 or DQ8 -- if you carry the gene you CAN develop celiac - doesn't mean you will. If you don't carry the genes it would rule out celiac.

You could go completely gluten free to see if your symptoms improve. It's not easy, but may be the quickest answer for you.

Good Luck!

[glutenfreejenny]

I also would recommend going gluten free for a few weeks-and see if that helps. If you have celiac you will know. I knew after a day of giving up gluten. Good luck. Also, I have all those symptoms. I also get lower pelvix pain--so I think that could be the gluten. Is it kinda like cramps? That's what mine is like. Really bad stomach camps.

[rflynn]

thanks for the responses! I'm going to a clinic right after thanksgiving that includes a cleansing diet so I'll have no gluten/dairy for 2 weeks. Also they check the whole spectrum of vitamin/mineral deficiencies that I may have. Hopefully that will supply the answer for me...Celiac seems to cover most of my symptoms..we'll see!

[rflynn]

Hello everyone, more experienced opinions are welcome! every one helps!

[GFinDC]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site. 18 yr old female

I've been having medical problems since last January. Initially i had a viral infection. i was very sick for 2 months and was put on Prednisone and started to feel better. I felt better for about a month and went back to my normal, busy and energetic lifestyle. All of a sudden, I relapsed and have been feeling awful ever since. I am wondering if I developed Celiac after the stresses of my bad viral infection.

My symptoms are:

-FATIGUE!

-muscle soreness/body aches

-sharp, constant pain in lower left pelvis and intermittent pain/burning sensation throughout midsection esp. under left ribs

-breathlessness with exertion

-hair loss (maybe due to stress)

-nausea with some meals

-sharp left sided chest pain

-diarrhea that is light tan/occasional green foul smelling stools

-always have to wake up early because of urge to go

-huge appetite despite eating a lot!

-gas

I have ruled out pulmonary and Cardiac issues and am now working with a GI doc. my bloodwork was negative for celiac but my aunt has is, which makes is relatively likely that I may have developed it. I have never been able to gain weight and have always been nauseas with some meals, I am wondering if I have had it all along and then it got a lot more severe. I have not had an endoscopy or colonoscopy yet, the doc said she doesn't think I have colitis-but the location of my lower left pelvic pain has me worried, is this pain location common among celiacs? I am going to a homeopathic doctor after thanksgiving and am desperate for a diagnosis, any advice/personal experience is greatly appreciated!!!

Hi,

I am a little confused about why they put you prednisone for a viral infection? Prednisone is an immune system inhibitor, so it seems like they wouldn't use that for a virus. They do use it for Crohn's sometimes, and other autoimmune diesases. I think you said your aunt has celiac right? That would mean the genes are presnt in at least some of the family. You could ask your doctor to do the celiac antibody panel tests. They just take a blood sample and send it off for analysis. The antibodies only show up if you are eating gluten though, so if you have stopped eating it the tests are no good.

The other test they could do is an endoscopy of the upper small intestine where the GI takes some biopsy samples of the intestine lining. They can check those samples to see if there is damage to the villi of the intestinal lining.

One thing to watch out for is the tests are not 100% reliable. Sometimes the tests are negative for celiac but the person still has it. So, if you do the tests and they are negative, it still doesn't hurt anything to try the diet for a month or two and see if you feel better. The diet is a healthy diet for most anyone to follow. Probably healthier than most of the general population follows for that matter. Trying the diet may be the best test really.

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Take a look see at Kimball's biology pages and check out the digestion system picture. The intestine kind of goes back and forth and round about in your innards. So if the innards are inflamed and sore there could be pain just about anywhere down there I reckon. I had a persistent pain on the left side right under my ribcage for years before going gluten-free. Then various other pains that seemed to find a home and in other digs around the pelvis at times. Also a lot of generalized all over pain in the abdomen for that matter.

Back on the prednisone, if your symptoms were relieved by it then that would seem to indicate autoimmune condition was going on. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition, so it may have been celiac your were experiencing. Just guessing in the wind of course. What did the doctor who put you on prednisone say it was for?

[rflynn]

I was placed on the prednisone because of a misdiagnosis. A pulomonologist told me that I had a severe allergic reaction to dustmites and that my lungs were severely inflamed. I was so relieved for a diagnosis that i readilly took the steroids without researching them. (Big mistake!) I felt better initially in the first week or so but eventually my symptoms plateaued and it became clear that the steroids were making me worse and not better. I think they helped to alleviate the symptoms whatever was really going on for a little bit (I still don't know what it was) but couldn't help long term because they weren't treating the cause. I think I may have been cured of my viral infection and then because of the physical and mental stress may have developed celiac

[GFinDC]

I was placed on the prednisone because of a misdiagnosis. A pulomonologist told me that I had a severe allergic reaction to dustmites and that my lungs were severely inflamed. I was so relieved for a diagnosis that i readilly took the steroids without researching them. (Big mistake!) I felt better initially in the first week or so but eventually my symptoms plateaued and it became clear that the steroids were making me worse and not better. I think they helped to alleviate the symptoms whatever was really going on for a little bit (I still don't know what it was) but couldn't help long term because they weren't treating the cause. I think I may have been cured of my viral infection and then because of the physical and mental stress may have developed celiac

OK, I totally missed that you had the blood tests already. There are 4 or 5 different antibodies they can test. If you can get your test results and the reference ranges for each test and post them here, someone smarter than me will probably be able to tell you what they mean.

They do say that celiac is sometimes triggered by stress. I think they say that because about 30% of the population has the genes but only 1% get celiac. They don't know why that is really, so it is "triggered" by something. Some people have symptoms as children and others don't show symptoms until much later.

It does sound like you have some kind of digestive issue going on. Celiac would be good news as it is a condition you can control by changing your diet. It is a diet that takes some learning but you can hang around here and we can help. There are lots of threads about getting started and testing here.

Are you thinking of doing the endoscopy then? Or trying the diet for a couple months? Some people want the doctor to say yes this test proves celiac and that makes it easier for them to stick to the diet. Others just start the diet and don't look back. With pronounced symptoms and clear recovery on the gluten-free diet, it is easy to figure you shouldn't eat gluten.

[rflynn]

yeah I was tested for the antibodies and my test was negative. I do have the genes though..my doctor said I have an average level of risk of developing the disease. In my research though I've found that a lot of people had a negative blood test and still had gluten sensetivity. When I was younger I got nauseas when I ate a lot of meals and always needed tons of sleep to feel rested. And sometimes for months at a time I just felt tired. I never really looked into it more because my symptoms were never so severe that it derailed my life completely. The opposite is the case now, I deferred a year from college because I am sooo tired all the time. I need to get better before I go in the fall!!! To be honest I am hoping that I always had a sensetivity and then I became hypersensetive last year. I had an endoscopy/colonoscopy scheduled for this wednesday but my doc canceled it because she said I have an inflamed clood vessel in my abdomen and that it will bleed like crazy if biopsied. She said I need an MRI or a CT scan first. the only problem with that is that I had already scheduled to go to a clinic in washington right after thanksgiving for 2 weeks. the clinic specializes in diagnosing and treating food sensitivities so even though I would have liked to have the endoscopy before going I think that if I have celiac I will find out at the clinic anyway by stool testing/ elimination diet ect. even if it is not gluten it seems to me that I'm having an adverse reaction to something that I eat ALL the time. and like I already mentioned my aunt has celiac so you would think that I'm pretty susceptible

[Susy13]

I will be very interested to hear if you do indeed have celiac. I have had many of those symptoms and they worry me a lot but yet they're not so severe that I feel I should be checked. (such as the chest pain, it's scary!)

I recently had a blood test however that indicates I may have celiac, and it would be amazing if all this would clear up.

Good luck!

[rflynn]

I will post any updates...I'm convinced it's Celiac..let's just say my thanksgiving meal didn't sit well

[rflynn]

Hello everyone! I have been MIA for the past month and a half as i try to get accustomed to my gluten free diet! I Am infact very intolerant to gluten according to iga/igg antibody testing. I knew it. I did not get an endoscopy so I can non state whether or not I have celiac but regardless I have to stay far far away from gluten. I was in for a surprise though...I am also very allergic to egg and moderately allergic to corn and dairy so I have my work cut out for me...but so do the majority of the people on this site! My digestion is MUCH better now...my fatigue and soreness haven't lessened yet...my thyroid and adrenals are still recovering but I am finally on the path to recovery. Hope all is well with everyone!

[CSU Grad]

I was placed on the prednisone because of a misdiagnosis. A pulomonologist told me that I had a severe allergic reaction to dustmites and that my lungs were severely inflamed. I was so relieved for a diagnosis that i readilly took the steroids without researching them. (Big mistake!) I felt better initially in the first week or so but eventually my symptoms plateaued and it became clear that the steroids were making me worse and not better. I think they helped to alleviate the symptoms whatever was really going on for a little bit (I still don't know what it was) but couldn't help long term because they weren't treating the cause. I think I may have been cured of my viral infection and then because of the physical and mental stress may have developed celiac

Stress does not "cause" celiac disease. You must be genetically predisposed to the disease. True, it can come and go, but is not "caused" by these issues you experienced. However, your body has a strange way of reacting to things, and when you are sick for a long time, defenses that used to work, may no longer work until you are back to your "normal" health.

However, if you have celiac disease, you have it forever, and your body may always react very negatively now to wheat, or you may find that some small amounts are okay, after your whole system has finally settled.

There is no real need for the biopsy test for you, I would say. Your serology antibody tests were "very" positive, as you say, so if you really want more information, I'd go with the DNA test...it's not invasive. (just a simple cheek swab, like putting a Q-Tip in your mouth.)