Geez, Another Possiblity!

[wrench]

Hi everyone. I've been reading around on here a lot, and everyone seems really nice. Please excuse the wall of text - I don't want to leave anything vital out. A summary is at the bottom.

I'm a nineteeen year old male. I don't smoke. I'm a vegetarian, though more the carby-pasta type than the salad-y type.

Two months ago I fainted on the way out of one of my classes. I drove myself to the ER (was feeling fine ten minutes after). They did a brain CT, cbc, EKG, urinalysis, et cetera et cetera...everything came back normal. Fine. I attributed it to standing up too fast.

The next day, I was rubbing my neck and found a BB sized bump on the side of the back of my neck. I googled swollen lymph nodes and had a gay old time terrifying myself with lymphoma, leukemia and cancers ad nauseum. I decided I'd let it ride unless I got any more symptoms.

Three weeks later I felt another one, not too far from the first and about three times as big. I had a cow and went to the ER at three in the morning, convinced I was dying. The doctor laughed it off with me but did another CBC anyway (she said lymphoma would show up - I know now it won't, but I think she was trying to comfort me). Great.

Two weeks later I found two swollen nodes in my groin, one about as big as the end of my thumb. I was reeling with anxiety and met with my regular doctor. He found two more on the other side of my neck, some big ones on both sides under my jaw and a very scary big one deep under my ear. He said they were all "pretty cheap" and, since I wasn't having night sweats or chills or a fever, told me to wait to see what they do. He saw how anxious I was, though, and ordered a chest X-Ray and an absolute smorgasbord of blood tests. Syphillis, HIV, Mono, Rubella, Toxoplasmosis, Dengue fever, cooties..._nothing_ came back positive. The chest X-Ray was clear. The blood tests also showed that I was not anemic and had healthy iron, B12 and folate stores.

Everyone thought I should be relieved, but there's nothing scarier than having symptoms with no explanation.

I took his advice and waited a couple more weeks. I realized that the back pain I'd had for a while might be a symptom, so I kept an eye on it. Then I found some weird red spots on my arms and chest. Petechiae? Further CBCs showed a normal platelet count, slightly low WBC, slightly low RBC and pretty high monocytes (14). The doctor said everything was fine. If only I could be that optimistic. She put me on some antibiotics (bactrim) for two weeks and said she'd refer me to a surgeon for a biopsy. Three weeks later, the surgeon felt my nodes and tittered a little, saying that they didn't feel pathological and "there are lots of delicate parts to your neck - if I were to biopsy any of these, I run the risk of damaging something...which is bad for both of us." He said he would order a CT to see what they looked like. I was worried about the radiation, so I asked for an MRI instead. He agreed.

Here's the reason I'm here:

Before I left, he asked if I was having any strange bowel movements or stomach pain. I said I had been having some weird pinching and cramping pains throughout my abdomen, but my BMs were fine. Problem is, they aren't, and I didn't really notice this until after I left his office. I've got some really malodorous diarrhea (if you can call it that...it's more like broken down feces that flow easily) and have been pretty gassy over the last few weeks.

Now, I know that celiac disease can manifest as back pain, piecey diarrhea, and bloating. It's the lymphadenapothy that has me bug eyed...before I was worried that, worse case scenario, I'd miss starting college in the fall due to Hodgkin's treatments, now I'm worried that I've had undiagnosed Celiac and have contracted NHL. Pffftt, I wish there was a blood test for hypochondria.

Summary:

19 year old male.

• 
  
  
• Persistent Adenopathy for two and a half months in neck and groin. Both sides. None of them hurt when I touch them, but they sometimes ache. They're all movable, and while some are very firm, I'm hesitant to say hard.
  
• Back pain, stiff when standing and acute sharp pain when sitting in some positions.
  
• Mild, pinching and cramping stomach pains that come and go but are definitely tangible.
  
• Half-diarrhea. Like it's broken up.
  
• Malodorous flatulence.
  

Is it possible I have Celiac disease? I've heard of some rare cases where swollen glands manifest along with other symptoms and then shrink as you stay away from gluten, but everything else I read says that lymphadenapothy with possible celiac disease is very grim.

Thanks for reading (and replying),

- Nick

First edit:

Woops, forgot to mention that I have mild psoriasis on my forearms and above my left eye. Only my left eye.

[RideAllWays]

I don't think you are being a hypochrondriac! Lumps all over the body are not something to take lightly. I haven't ever heard of this symptom with celiac disease, but it seems that every day I hear of new ailments related to Celiac, and the stomach pains and diarrhea fit right in. If you want accurate testing DO NOT go gluten-free until after you have been tested, or you cannot have an accurate diagnosis. Good luck, I hope you feel better soon!

[wrench]

Thanks...I want to be cautious and not wait a long time with these symptoms, but that's what they keep telling me to do. I'm glad to know that I'm not just worrying over nothing.

[ravenwoodglass]

First take a deep breath. Yes swollen glands can be part of the inflammation process with celiac although it isn't a symptom most people speak of. I had swollen glands literally for years and I am still here and healthier gluten free than ever in my life. Your glands can swell for all kinds of reasons and you doctors have investigated them so relax about that.

I would advise you to get testing for celiac, blood tests are usually done first followed by and endo and biopsy if those are positive, although if your symptoms are strong at times doctors will biopsy even if tests are negative. You also should have a stool specimen checked just in case you have an issue that shows up that way. After you have had the celiac tests you can try the diet and see if it helps. Do keep eating gluten until testing is done.

You also sound very anxious and your 'research' into all the things that might be wrong is not helping that. Most 19 year olds don't know and use correctly all the medical terminolgy that you are using. You are obviously very smart but I think you may be overresearching right now and that can be counterproductive. Anxiety can also be a symptom of gluten intolerance or celiac but for most it gets alot better gluten free if that is what they need to be.

Try and relax and get the celiac screening done then try the diet. I know it's hard when we don't feel well but if you can do some things to take your mind off the health issues your having it would be a good idea. Go out with friends, excercise, read or watch a funny movie etc. Anything that helps you relax.

I hope you get some answers and are feeling better soon.

[wrench]

Thanks for the reply. Reading that other people have coped and posting my own symptoms helps me get it off my chest. Plus, I can see that people far worse off than I am are still kicking. I'm keeping calm until the MRI results are in.

[GFinDC]

Hi,

I have a cyst on the front of my throat, on the thyroid actually. When it first appeared rather suddenly it sure got my attention. Once I had a biopsy and they determined that it is just a fluid filled cyst I felt a lot better about it. I've had this cyst for 3 years or so now and am still around. The doctor did do a treatment on it to reduce the size by injecting it with alcohol.

Now, don't be offended by this one, I know you are not a woofie. I had a dog that developed bumps under her skin. The doctors biopsied one of her bumps and it turned out to be fat deposits. They told me that is something that just happens with dogs sometimes and it is no problem. She was fine.

So, welcome and enjoy the free random stories!

[nora-n]

another possibility could be lyme disease, I read on,lymenet or another lyme forum that some have that. (lump on neck)

And, many many lyme patients develop gluten intolerance, which is as bad as celiac except for that the blood tests are weakly positive and the biopsy negative. It usually resolves with successful treatment for lyme.

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks for the reply. Reading that other people have coped and posting my own symptoms helps me get it off my chest. Plus, I can see that people far worse off than I am are still kicking. I'm keeping calm until the MRI results are in.

Good, I also found it helpful to see that so many others had also suffered as I did and recovered. Hopefully the MRI results will be good ones. Keep us posted on how your doing and I hope you have some answers soon.