Could My Symptoms Be Celiac?

[vampire-panda]

Hello everyone. I'm new here and completely new to the entire concept of Celiac and gluten-free. I had heard of people having a "wheat allergy" (which is actually different? I think?) and I had recently seem some items in the store say "gluten-free" but I had no idea of what it all meant. Anyway I have a lot of loose BMs and fatigue and my husband, who seems to know a little about everything, was like "You should get checked for Celiac." and I was like "Huh?" So we talked to my doctor and she said to try to eliminate gluten for a while and see what happens. Of course, that's a lot easier said than done once you realize how many things it's in! But I'm trying as of today, and I'm overwhelmed. But, I wanted to know what you guys thinks of my symptoms. Do you think it really could be Celiac?

As a child I never seemed to understand "hungry" I would just start going "Momma my tummy hurts!!" and to this day when I am hungry I first start to feel a sort of sleepy headache coming on and I start to feel weak, then the bottom totally drops out and I go from normal to starving in minutes. I ate well as a baby and never really had stomach issues until my preteens. I had very little appetite as a toddler, but I guess that's normal for a busybody kid like I was. I had a lot of strep infections and ear infections (I've heard you can catch stuff a lot if you have Celiac?) and began to develop signs of OCD, which I still have and am on meds for. I also had a lot of anxiety issues and still do. I get extremely nervous talking on the phone or going to parties and stuff.

Stomach issues began in my preteens, usually with getting extremely nervous and sick feeling before school. I hit puberty at 11 and had extremely heavy cycles which finally got almost normal but quickly turned irregular but less heavy. I have had hormonal issues ever sinse, with completely random irregular periods. I did manage to get pregnant right after coming off birth control because you are more fertile then but I believe the second time will be more difficult. I have recently began to bleed almost constantly if I am not taking the active b/c pills. The day I even miss ONE I begin to have a period and it won't stop. As a teen I would have extremely cramping stomach when I had a BM and my stools were (sorry for TMI) large and hard.

Currently I have loose orangey stools 5 or 6 times a day, usually with very little pain. I am very tired all the time and have never had much energy, even as a child. I am overweight now but was slender as a child yet could never seem to run like other kids. I have a large abdomen which has always been really annoying. It makes it very hard to find clothes that fit. I can wear as small as 18/20 in stretch waist jeans but can barely be comfortable in a 26/28 zip up style due to my abdomen. I have a very large chest and almost no rear end and am very disproportinate with slender arms and legs.

One of the most annoying things I have going on is the hot flashes. I feel hot even when others don't, and if I take a shower hotter than lukewarm I start feeling so hot that I feel sick as soon as I try to get dressed. Sometimes I have to just schedule my showers so that I don't have to rush around too much because I usually have to sit on the bed and cool off before I can get dressed. I feel like I am in menopause and I'm only 24. I'm always tired, overly hot if I'm doing something and sometimes cold if I'm not, grumpy, depressed, anxious, sick to my stomach, bloated, hungry (I'm always hungry and have to eat till I feel like I'm gonna explode to feel satisfied), miserable. Oh and ever since I had my baby last November it has been worse. During pregnancy I developed a weird rash that keeps coming back and I wonder if it's DH. It comes and goes and is really itchy and bright red. Also, I am now concerned that my son may have Celiac too because he has an extremely touchy stomach and nothing the doctors have done has helped. He is nearly 10 months and still spits up all the time. Anyway, I appreciate any feedback. Sorry this was so long..

[Skylark]

Hello. Yes, you could be celiac. You have a lot of symptoms of it.

Did your doctor run a celiac panel? Please keep eating gluten until you can get properly tested. The tests do not work on people who are on the gluten-free diet and it's better to know if you're really celiac. If your doctor will not run a celiac panel, you need to find one who will.

[cassP]

DITTO. stay on the gluten & tell your doc u want a complete celiac blood panel. no reason to just be guessing- its just a blood test- your results could give you all the answers you need!

[vampire-panda]

wow ok thanks guys!!

[gfquestion]

Hello everyone. I'm new here and completely new to the entire concept of Celiac and gluten-free. I had heard of people having a "wheat allergy" (which is actually different? I think?) and I had recently seem some items in the store say "gluten-free" but I had no idea of what it all meant. Anyway I have a lot of loose BMs and fatigue and my husband, who seems to know a little about everything, was like "You should get checked for Celiac." and I was like "Huh?" So we talked to my doctor and she said to try to eliminate gluten for a while and see what happens. Of course, that's a lot easier said than done once you realize how many things it's in! But I'm trying as of today, and I'm overwhelmed. But, I wanted to know what you guys thinks of my symptoms. Do you think it really could be Celiac?

As a child I never seemed to understand "hungry" I would just start going "Momma my tummy hurts!!" and to this day when I am hungry I first start to feel a sort of sleepy headache coming on and I start to feel weak, then the bottom totally drops out and I go from normal to starving in minutes. I ate well as a baby and never really had stomach issues until my preteens. I had very little appetite as a toddler, but I guess that's normal for a busybody kid like I was. I had a lot of strep infections and ear infections (I've heard you can catch stuff a lot if you have Celiac?) and began to develop signs of OCD, which I still have and am on meds for. I also had a lot of anxiety issues and still do. I get extremely nervous talking on the phone or going to parties and stuff.

Stomach issues began in my preteens, usually with getting extremely nervous and sick feeling before school. I hit puberty at 11 and had extremely heavy cycles which finally got almost normal but quickly turned irregular but less heavy. I have had hormonal issues ever sinse, with completely random irregular periods. I did manage to get pregnant right after coming off birth control because you are more fertile then but I believe the second time will be more difficult. I have recently began to bleed almost constantly if I am not taking the active b/c pills. The day I even miss ONE I begin to have a period and it won't stop. As a teen I would have extremely cramping stomach when I had a BM and my stools were (sorry for TMI) large and hard.

Currently I have loose orangey stools 5 or 6 times a day, usually with very little pain. I am very tired all the time and have never had much energy, even as a child. I am overweight now but was slender as a child yet could never seem to run like other kids. I have a large abdomen which has always been really annoying. It makes it very hard to find clothes that fit. I can wear as small as 18/20 in stretch waist jeans but can barely be comfortable in a 26/28 zip up style due to my abdomen. I have a very large chest and almost no rear end and am very disproportinate with slender arms and legs.

One of the most annoying things I have going on is the hot flashes. I feel hot even when others don't, and if I take a shower hotter than lukewarm I start feeling so hot that I feel sick as soon as I try to get dressed. Sometimes I have to just schedule my showers so that I don't have to rush around too much because I usually have to sit on the bed and cool off before I can get dressed. I feel like I am in menopause and I'm only 24. I'm always tired, overly hot if I'm doing something and sometimes cold if I'm not, grumpy, depressed, anxious, sick to my stomach, bloated, hungry (I'm always hungry and have to eat till I feel like I'm gonna explode to feel satisfied), miserable. Oh and ever since I had my baby last November it has been worse. During pregnancy I developed a weird rash that keeps coming back and I wonder if it's DH. It comes and goes and is really itchy and bright red. Also, I am now concerned that my son may have Celiac too because he has an extremely touchy stomach and nothing the doctors have done has helped. He is nearly 10 months and still spits up all the time. Anyway, I appreciate any feedback. Sorry this was so long..

Vampire Panda,

I almost feel like I was meant to read this. I was just searching "feel weak like starving" to see other people's stories and hopefully gain hope from those who are feeling better. And I found this which was actually written recently and is SO similar to me! I have also not been diagnosed celiac yet. I have had odd things going on and finally heard about the gluten thing last year. Like you, my Dr recommended removing gluten to see how i felt. I did and I felt so much better after only a month. I told my Dr that I was feeling better and wondered if I have Celiac Disease. They did a blood test that came back negative, so I went back to gluten and back to having the bad symptoms. I found out later that me being off gluten made the blood test invalid. So, like the others said, stay eating gluten and get tested first. Still, the blood test is not 100% so you may do the genetic test or endoscopy.

So that you don't feel alone, I am 23, have very irregular periods---it's actually been 3 years since my last one, I am hungry all the time, I can't even sleep more than 4 hours without waking up from hunger even if I had been eating all day, straight up to going to bed. From this constant face-stuffing, I also look pregnant, against unproportionate smaller arms and legs. I have those hot flashes where I am just hot and grumpy. One thing I get that I hadn't heard much of, is the loose orange stools. Sometimes it just comes out like bright orange water! So gross and really worries me. I am scheduled for an endoscopy myself soon, although my dr keeps pushing back my apt, which is very aggravating because I am trying to stay on gluten until then but it just keeps me hungry and non stop eating with little sleep. I hope all works out well for you, and I am curious of what the drs tell you compared to what mine say.