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The Struggles


greenman

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greenman Rookie

Today as I write this I feel that weird depression that comes on after being glutenized. The way it happens for me is I get the return of intense diarrea, stomach cramping, etc. and then my joints and back flair up. It is such a process to recover from a mistaken gluten run in. This time it came from activa yogurt by the company dannon. Long story short I found out the hard way that they use gluten in their "natural flavoring." My wife called the company to check after my symptoms started. One of the many problems has been that the process of finding out that I'm celiac was so complex and confusing that I seem to go to this place a lot where I feel like maybe I'm not celiac, maybe there is just something possibly mental or IBS like. Its unfair to do this to myself, but I will never forget having a GI specialist tell me to go ahead and eat all the gluten I wanted because of the results of the endoscopy. That night I celebrated by having a slice of pizza, but the next week I paid the cost by being out of work, on the toilet and with a back flair up. I now know that it would have been wise for him to ask me more about the circumstances leading up to the procedure. You see after my back surgery i was put on a large amount of pharmaceuticals and eventually as I felt they were harming more than helping, I stopped taking all of them. This sudden disruption kicked my body into cleansing mode and the toilet and I became glued to each other for about two weeks. After learning how to manage my pain in more natural and healthy ways there was still this left over digestive problem. By the time I finally went to a GI specialist I had been hardly eating anything let alone gluten. I had lost up to 40 pounds by that time and was sent to him because though my bloodwork came back as negative for celiac it seemed close enough and with enough irregularities to warrant a colonoscopy and endoscopy procedure. For the veterans out there you are probably thinking to yourselves why didn't they have me eat gluten or make sure it was in my diet before they did these tests, especially when multiple physicians kept coming to the same conclusion that it looks like celiac. All of that said, I wanted to share with others these moments of self doubt and how unhelpful they are. My body knew what it needed (that's why when I was having the digestive troubles I had no cravings for anything really with gluten in it), but I gave a lot of my power to the "white coat." I would never propose that our egos or our own storylines not be checked or that we not listen to professionals, but I think it is good to remember that this is new, and a lot of the seemingly expert sounding advice from some docs is really insecurity masked. I say some docs because my primary physician gets it and I have read the research and advice of others that do too. What I have learned as a celiac is the importance of being fully involved in my everyday health and not leaning it all on the professionals. I think this rings true in politics,religion and many other areas as well. This site has helped me get through some dark times this past year and I write this just to return the favor after reading so many others. It can be real difficult. I'm still learning, but learning in so many ways. it is amazing how digestion can hold the symbols and metaphors for a lot in life.....


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    • Wheatwacked
      Hello @Midwesteaglesfan and welcome. A result greater than 10 U/mL is considered positive. Some labs use 15 as the cutoff, but 34 is in the positive.  The endoscopy and biopsy is looking for damage to your small intestine.  I don't don't think 5 days is enough to repair the damage. This comment is effectly your answer, regardless of your biopsy results.  The endoscopy has been the Gold Standard diagnostic, and most healthcare providers won't diagnose celiac disease until your intestinal lining Marsh Score reaches stage 3. You don't really want to wait for the damage to get worse, especially since only five days mostly gluten free gave you relief.  Yes, migranes is one of the 200 symptoms that may be caused by Celiac Disease. Malabsorption Syndrome is often comorbid with celiac disease.  The western diet is deficient in many vitamins and minerals.  That's why gluten processed foods are fortified.  Gluten free processed foods are not; Vitamin D deficiency is a virtual given.  40 to 60% of the industrial population is deficient in vitamin D, Damage to the intestinal lining from celiac disease can decrease the number of vitamin D receptors.  So now you get no vitamin D from the sun (skin cancer scare) the major source of vitamin D, plus absorbtion from food is poor because of intestinal damage.   Low iodine intake is getting more of a concern because the major source of iodine used to be bread (dough conditioner with iodine was stopped in the US in the 1970s), dairy (lactose intolerance from eating quick pickles with vinegar instead of fermented pickles which supply lactase excreting lactobacillus to improve Lactose intolerance. Commercial Dairies have wheat, barley and rye added to the cow feed. Some say they are sensitive to milk protein, but it is the gluten added to supplement the cow feed to increase milk production that becomes part of the milk protein causing the problem.  And people use less iodized salt.  In the US intake of iodine dropped 50% from 1970 to 1984. Switch to Grass fed only milk and consider supplementing Liquid Iodine drops to your diet.  The omega 6 to omega 3 ratio of commercial milk is 5:1; Organic milk is 3:1 and grass fed milk is 1:1. The typical western diet is around 14:1, optimum for humans is 1:1.  Wheat flour is 22:1 omega 6:3.  Choose vegetables lower in omega 6, it is inflammatory. Eat fermented foods and switch to Grass fed only milk.  Some say they are sensitive to milk protein, but it is the gluten added to supplement the cow feed to increase milk production that becomes part of the milk protein.   
    • Midwesteaglesfan
      At 41 years old I have been fighting fatigue and joint pain for a couple months.  My family doctor kept saying nothing was wrong but I was insistent that I just didn’t feel right.  Finally after running several blood labs, one came back showing inflammation in my body and I was referred to a rheumatologist.  He was extremely thorough and sat with me and my family for a good hour asking questions and listening. He ordered X-rays of all my joints and more bloodwork.  He suspected some sort of reactive inflammatory arthritis.  My TTG (Tissue Transglutaminase) came back at 34. he told me to try going gluten free and out me on Salfasalzin to help the join inflammation.  Over the next couple days going gluten free and doing a lot of research and talking to people with celiacs,  we found that I should have an upper endoscopy for insurance purposes in the future.  I reached back out to my rheumatologist and expressed this concern and he got back to me stating I was correct and resume regular gluten diet and stop the medication until after that scope.     They were able to schedule me in for 2 days later.  I had been gluten free, or as close to it as I could be for about 5 days.  I know I ate some brats with it but wanted to use them up.  My symptoms had gotten slightly better in those 5 days.  I felt less fatigue and joint pain was slightly better(it had gotten really bad) so for these last 2 days I’ve gone crazy with wheat bread, pasta and such.  I’m hoping those 5 days didn’t screw this endoscopy up.  I can’t imagine after a life of gluten, my intestines healed in 5 days and after eating gluten again for these couple days,  my stomach hurts, joint pain is coming back up so I know the inflammation is there.   Hinesight after this diagnosis, I have had chronic migraines since my late teens.  Has that been a lingering symptom of celiacs all these years?  I’ve never really had the stomach issues, for me it came in heavy these last couple months as the fatigue, just always feeling tired and exhausted.  And the joint pain.     So getting in the car for the 2 hour drive to the hospital for this scope now.     Wish me luck!
    • marlene333
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    • Mari
      jmartes, Thank you for sharing  more information with us. Most of us Celiacs whose problems do not clear up with in a few years have to decide what to do next. We can keep seeing DR.s and hope that we will get some  medication or advice that will improve our health. Or we can go looking for other ways to improve our health. Usually Celiac Disease is not a killer disease, it is a disabling disease as  you have found out. You have time to find some ways to help you recover. Stay on your gluten-free diet and be more careful in avoiding cross contamination . KnittyKitty  and others here can give you advice about avoiding some foods that can give you the gluten auto immune reaction and advice about vitamins and supplement that help celiacs. You may need to take higher doses of Vit. B12  and D3.  About 20 years before a Dr. suggested I might have Celiac disease I had health problems that all other Dr said they could not identify or treat. I was very opposed to alternative providers and treatments. So many people were getting help from a local healer I decided to try that out. It was a little helpful but then, because I had a good education in medical laboraties she gave me a book  to read and what did I think. With great skeptism I started reading and before I was half way through it I began using the methods outlined in the book. Using those herbs and supplements I went from hardly able to work to being able to work almost fulltime. I still use that program. But because I had undiagnosed celiac disease by 10 years later some  of my problems returned and I started to loose weight.    So how does a person find a program that will benefit them? Among the programs you can find online there are many that are snake oil scams and some that will be beneficial. by asking around, as I did. Is there an ND in your area? Do they reccomend that person? If you would like to read about the program I use go to www.drclark.net   
    • Scott Adams
      It's unfortunate that they won't work with you on this, but in the end sometimes we have to take charge of our own health--which is exactly what happened to me. I did finally get the tests done, but only after years of going down various rabbit holes and suffering. Just quitting gluten may be the best path for you at this point.
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