Are These Symptoms?

[anbeard]

ok I don't officially have a diagnosis of celiac's but was told what I'm experiencing could be it:

I have two rashes, well one is more like a place that frequently itches but shows no topical signs, ie redness, flaky skin, etc. it is on my hand and the real rash is on my inner thigh just above the knee. itches like crazy!!!

I am lactose intolerant, have problems with beef (don't know how to explain, pain in chest? kind of?). I feel boated and gaseous after breads or beer. this makes me think celiac's, but from my reading I see weightloss and malnutrition is a part of the disease. buuuuut, I'm overweight and don't necessarily feel malnourished... so... is it still possible to have it without weightloss and malnutrition?

I plan on going to Dr soon, but don't want to seem like a paranoid hypochondriac or something...

thanks!

[Dixiebell]

If you want testing make sure you keep eating gluten foods. Quite a few people I have seen on here are not underweight. My bloodwork was negative but I feel so much better not eating gluten. I am overweight and been fighting it for years. Make sure you get your vitamin levels checked and then you can see if you are absorbing nutrients or not. I went gluten-free because of my son having stomach problems, unexplained rashes and blisters, behavior issues and he would complain of tingling in his legs and my family history with so many stomach, gall bladder, cancer, heart failure, short stature, depression, thyriod, allergies and I am sure I am forgetting something. I also had severe fatigue and would suffer sometimes where my stomach would wake me and I would be in horrible bad pain and I would sit on the pot and couldn't go. This has not happened again. The last time I saw my Dr. she said I needed to see a mental healthcare specialist. You might want to call the Dr. office and see if they know about celiac first. Arm youself with as much info as you can. If your testing comes back negative try gluten-free and see if it helps you.

[anbeard]

ok thanks for the tip on keeping eating gluten if I want a test. I'm assuming that the test results will give a false neg or something? I guess it sounds like its worth a shot at testing... ill post my results (may be a while!)

[Skylark]

ok thanks for the tip on keeping eating gluten if I want a test. I'm assuming that the test results will give a false neg or something? I guess it sounds like its worth a shot at testing... ill post my results (may be a while!)

If you're celiac, all the antibodies go away on the gluten-free diet. So yes, you'll get a false negative.

[GlutenFreeManna]

Yes, you can have celiac or gluten intolerance even if you are overweight. Have the doctor check your thyroid levels even if you don't have symptoms of thyroid disease yet. The weight gain alone could be a symptom and many people that have celiac also have hypothyroidism. You may have to push harder to get a test if your doctor is not really familiar with celiac. Try to find a doctor that knows about it if you can. And as stated above, stay on gluten until all your testing is done. Then give the diet a strict trial period even if the tests come back negative. Since the tests are not 100% accurate you could still be sensitive to gluten and test negative.

[GlutenFreeManna]

BTW, if you think the rash is DH, you can go to a dermatologist and have them biopsy the skin next to the rash. If it comes back positive for DH then you have celiac.