Considering Testing

[nicole0392]

I have been dealing with stomach issues for 15 years. I have had every test imaginable done and have received no answers as to why I am sick every single day. With the love and support of my wonderful fiancee who doesn't want to see me sick daily he has spent hours on the internet trying to come up with answers. We are considering celiac disease. I eat a lot of gluten everyday and i am not getting any better. My only problem with this disease is that I do have random days where i feel ok and still eat gluten. is that common? also do I have to get tested or can i just go gluten free? my symptoms are bloating, stomach pain, loss of appetite, headaches, light headed feeling, nausea, vomiting, constipation and sometimes diarrhea, gas, FATIGUE. any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Dixiebell]

Welcome!

All those sympotms could be celiac symptoms.

No, you don't have to do testing, but it might be to your benefit to so. It is just a simple blood test. At the very least I think you should get your vitamin levels checked and your thyroid.

If you do decide to go gluten free, make sure you get all your testing done first.

[Skylark]

Random days when you feel what you currently think is OK are common. Many celiacs feel so much better off gluten that they realize their OK days were actually still sort of sick. Yes, celiac could easily explain your symptoms.

Do get tested. It's good to know whether you are celiac, or just one of the millions of people who gets sick from gluten. The first stage is just blood tests and can ordered by your GP. You can make the decision about whether to go on with an endoscopy with your doctor's help depending on what the tests show.

[nicole0392]

Thank you for the replies. I think I will get my blood drawn. Although this is not an easy task for me because i have small veins that move around. In the past month i have had blood drawn 5 times. do they run specific blood tests for celiac disease? also i had an endoscopy done about a year ago. do they have to specifically look for something or would they have seen the signs with that test? I am so ready to start feeling better. I never have an energy and the constant headaches and stomach pains are getting old but I am terrified to give up my bread, pasta and candy. I tried gluten free bread once and it was terrible. how do you guys do it? should i have my son tested as well?

[mushroom]

Yes, there are several different blood tests that they run looking for antibodies. They would not find these unless they were specifically looking. Much the same is the case of endoscopic biopsies. Sometimes the celiac damage is visible to the naked eye, but it is usually detected by microscopic examination of the biopsy samples. Normally five or six samples are taken because the damage is not uniform throughout the small intestine and is easily missed.

You do not have to give up bread, pasta and candy when you give up gluten, nor cookies and cake. There is some very tasty gluten free pasta around, Udi's makes very good bread, and there are lots of gluten free candies. Now admittedly some gluten free products are nasty (there is a thread running on the forum on our least favorites) but there are many very fine gluten free processed products out there, and a zillion recipes on the internet for making your own delicious treats.

If I were you I would definitely ask them to try and find one of your elusive veins and get the testing done. It may be negative, and it may even be a false negative , but if it is positive you KNOW.

[nicole0392]

any tips on what to look for when reading labels? i am scared i will eat "hidden gluten." also how long was it before you noticed a difference?

[mushroom]

Here is a link to a previous thread on detecting hidden gluten:

If you eliminate lactose as well as gluten initially, you should see a difference almost right away, fewer GI symptoms - bloating, cramping, diarrhea, etc.