Praying For Celiac

[4llenew]

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[RoseTapper]

I'm VERY glad to learn that you're going to go on a gluten-free diet, because your symptoms sound like the same ones that many of us on this forum suffer from. I don't have all of your symptoms, but I have had most of them--and more. The fact that you're in the military worries me, though. Did you know that people with celiac can't serve in the military? If you wish to remain in the military, you might keep this under your hat. However, you're correct in that it will be difficult to maintain a gluten-free diet while on duty. If possible, eat as many natural foods as possible--fruits, vegetables, nuts, and meat. Also, even if you test negative for celiac, you would probably do best to continue with a gluten-free diet long enough to see if gluten is giving you trouble. Many people with celiac also can't tolerate soy or dairy. Luckily, I can tolerate dairy, but I've never been able to tolerate soy--or oats.

Regarding your memory, recent studies have shown that celiac can be considered a neurological disease in that it causes lowered blood flow to the frontal lobes. It also can cause plaques to form throughout the brain. Many children and adults with celiac suffer from memory problems, ADHD, epilepsy, depression, and other neurological disorders. Reading comprehension, for example, can be difficult for many of us.

You don't sound like a hypochondriac to me--you sound like someone who deserves answers. However, I fervently believe that you've found yours. I would be surprised if you DIDN'T have celiac. Good luck!

[Dixiebell]

Welcome. My son would also have the 'embarassing symptom' but not as extreme as yours. His ped sent him for an x-ray and they saw that he was extremely constipated. He would still 'go' everyday, so that never crossed my mind. His GI doc said that there can be a blockage and some of the fecal matter will go around the blockage and can cause leakage. He took Miralax for several weeks and got that cleared up.

I hope you get the answers you are looking for. Gluten free has helped my son and myself so much over the past few months I hope it will help you too. Oh, Thank You for your service to our country!

[kitgordon]

I also had the "embarrassing symptom" before going gluten-free. It disappeared within a week and hasn't returned. It does sound very much like you have celiac. I don't know how much the military means to you, or much about their rules, but a medical discharge might be in the best interests of your health. I wish you the best of luck; also I am not sure how accurate a home test is? I know you need to be eating gluten regularly before being tested for most tests to be accurate.

[4llenew]

Well thank you all for the responses and inspiration to go along with the gluten free diet. RoseTapper you give me a lot of hope that this will be resolved eventually. It would be so nice to turn all of these symptoms around and to be able to explain everything with one word. I hope to remain in the military. I am in the navy so sea duty is usually required, but my rate would allow me to be assigned to shore duty permanently if it was celiacs. If I am diagnosed as celiacs and they decide to let me go I wouldn't mind too much. There are plenty of opportunities awaiting.

Dixiebell and Kitgordon, until now I've never found someone else with the embarassing symptom that has found the cause. There is a forum where hundreds of people have said they have this, but nobody can figure out why. It's really awful to hear of so many people with this issue but unable to fix it. Trying to explain it to the doctors is awful especially when they have no answer for you, and you have no way to prove to them you are in fact not nuts. These symptoms have all come one at a time over the years and finally I believe I have enough symptoms to narrow it down. I've been 100% sure of too many different causes to keep count so I still remain completely skeptical that celiacs is the cause, but I still have a lot of hope that it is. It does fit at least.

[RoseTapper]

I thought I'd pop back in to mention that after you go gluten free, it can take quite a while before the diarrhea goes away. You're young, so maybe your intestinal lining will heal more quickly than mine did, but it took 18 months before I finally felt "normal" in that regard. However, I did see some real improvements within 5-6 months. The reason why you may be experiencing some leakage is that you may not be digesting your fat (due to celiac). Do you recall when a company tried to sell some new potato chips some years ago that would prevent people from absorbing the fat by passing it out in people's stool? Well, you might be too young to remember. Anyway, people got freaked out when it was reported that the chips would cause "anal leakage" from the undigested fat. Also, the reason why celiacs' stools float is because they contain undigested fat. Okay, this is a bit of a gross discussion....but you started it!

Also, I forgot to mention to you that it's good to take L-Glutamine when you're trying to heal your gut. Many people have had good results (worked for me!), and I wish I'd known about it when I first went gluten free. You can find it at health food stores, GNC, and some supermarkets.

Again, I wish you good luck!

[4llenew]

Well that makes a lot of sense. I had my blood drawn yesterday. I looked on these forums to see what tests everyone was doing and brought the doc a list, and he ordered all of them! Thanks for the tip on the glutamine.

This doctor is much more helpful than the last, and it doesn't take a month to get an appointment with him. That's one reason I haven't been diagnosed in so long. This doctor since he's actually a PA I can get an appointment the next day pretty much. But he believes it's just IBS caused by stress and wants to prescribe me antidepressants. I asked him, "Isn't IBS caused by an underlying condition?", and he said, "nope, it's a condition itself".

There's a pretty big fork in the road for me. I either go to Diego garcia or most likely get discharged from the navy. Either way I can see a lot of positives. All I can do is wait.

[RoseTapper]

Keep us posted on your test results. I also don't agree that IBS is a condition--I truly believe it is just a symptom. It's the most common misdiagnosis of celiac. My daughter was diagnosed with IBS of the small intestine when she was 15. Ridiculous! Now, of course, we know she had celiac, but the gastroenterologist never even suggested testing her.

I'm very interested in knowing how your tests come out....

[4llenew]

The results came back in today and they were negative. I guess it's just an intolerance to lactose, milk protein, and soy. And the rest of it must have been caused by stress. I'm happy though that I'm healthy. Now it's off to my tropical island for a year .

[ravenwoodglass]

The results came back in today and they were negative. I guess it's just an intolerance to lactose, milk protein, and soy. And the rest of it must have been caused by stress. I'm happy though that I'm healthy. Now it's off to my tropical island for a year .

False negatives are not uncommon in celiac testing. If you continue to have problems and choose to keep eating gluten do get retested occasionaly. If at all possible you need to do a trial of the gluten free diet.