Could It Be Celiac D. Or Gluten Causing So Many Health Issues?

[HubbiesLuv]

My Husband has been suffering from what seems a multitude of health issues for the past 10 years. Symptoms as follows:

Allergies - he has drainage all the time, everyday, he goes through tissues like crazy.

He has had an allergy test in the past approx. 9 years ago, test revealed many environmental allergies, but no food allergy was tested.

* has itching under his chin/neck area from time to time.

* complains that he feels like his throat is swelled, making it hard to breath.

He does have an inhaler and has taken singulair but they do not seem to help that much.

* He keeps a reddish complexion in his neck and face most days.

* He gets dry flaky skin year round, mostly in eye brows, hairline,mustache, and chin areas. He was diagnosed with dermatitis.

Stomach issues - For the past 6 years his stomach has became worse and worse. He has been diagnosed with acid reflux.

*burning in stomach, chest, arms, and sometimes in his back. He has taken a multitude of different meds for reflux and nothing seems to fully relieve his pain, and eventually will not help at all, so docs try other meds.

*2 years ago he lost 35 lbs in a matter of a few weeks and now he looks bloated, stomach hard at times and he says he always feels pushed out, and can only eat small amounts of food.

*Last year he had a endoscopy and colonoscopy done ... diagnosis.. small erosion in lower esophagus and gastritis (gastroentologist #2) Oh yeah ..

Gastro #1 diagnosed mild reflux take prilosec.

Gastro #3 we are on now,he would order some test to be done, but we do not have health insurance and the test are expensive and IF they do not reveal anything it would just be a waste of our money.... so he is just pretty much winging it. And IMO his expensive may not be the same as our expensive, let us be the judge of that and make payment arrangements if needed. We would rather make payments on "the expensive tests" and see if we could not pencil off a few "could be" conditions than to keep hubby in the health stage that he is in right now.

*Hubby says he can remember complaining often to his mom as a child that his stomach felt hot. ?

* Going potty #2 .. he describes as "cake mix" or passing a log (Sorry) and he does have rectal bleeding from time to time. Sometimes small amount, other times a lot.

Other issues -

*High blood pressure (currently taking two different meds for)

* He has had an ongoing problem with his prostrate and passing odd clumps occasionally in urine. He complains with pain in his pelvic area and soreness in between his legs.

He did see a urologist about 9 years ago and he told hubs he had a bacterial infection (because his test did not indicate anything so doc "figured" it was bact. infection because nothing was showing up in urinalysis) and so hubs was on strong antibiotics for 8 weeks .....still has problems.

Huds has had blood test after prostrate test and they can not seem to find anything wrong.

* complains with upper (just below right rib area) and lower/pelvic area pain

* Diagnosed 10 years ago with hypothyroidism, one hormone high and the other low.He took meds for a couple of years and finally went to see an herbologist, who gave him vitamins, minerals, and a tincture. He felt little better and has had normal thyroid test for the past 8 years with no synthyroid. He also had goiters, so docs said that is were his breathing problems were occurring. He has had no goiters since the herboligist and still has breathing issues from time to time.

Our chiropractor sent hubs to have some blood test and it revealed that he was very deficient in vitamin D, so hubs took large dosage of vit. D for awhile .... nothing.

Our previous Primary Doc. thinks that my hubby is a hypochondriac and has suggested antidepressants. Hubby told her "he is not depressed or overly worrying, I'm sick and something ain't right". So since we have no insurance we can go to any specialist with out a referral, unless the doctor requires one from primary, or we have been told that "we do not see patients with no insurance". Which is fine cause if that is how the doc feels about no insurance patients we do not want to see him anyway. Every doctor we have ever been to requires payment at the time of appointment or the cost of test before any are ran. But hey each to their own and God Bless America.

So anywho I was recently talking to a distant relative of mine and explaining all the symptoms that my hubs has and she said it sounded like he has an intolerance to gluten. She and her daughter were diagnosed with the intolerance years ago and after a gluten free diet around 6 months she finally felt normal ... good, because she said she has never felt so good, so it must be normal.

My hubby and I can totally relate to those of you that go to see their docs with so many problems and the doc looks at you like a moron.

Does any of this sound familiar to gluten intolerance or celiacs disease in your experiences.

Thanks for reading.

[ravenwoodglass]

He could be celiac or gluten intolerant. Have they ever done a blood test for celiac? That would be the first thing I would ask the doctor to do. Another option would be for him to do a strict trial of the diet but if he goes gluten free and then later decides he wants celiac testing he would need to challenge gluten for a couple of months before testing. If he needs to be gluten free that challenge after healing can be rough.

[mushroom]

I second what ravenwoodglass said. His symptoms sound suspiciously like gluten intolerance, and it is easy to find out - just stop eating it. But that does pose a predicament if you feel like you need a definitive diagnosis, because if you are not eating gluten you are not producing the antibodies that the blood tests measure, and it takes a while to build them back up again, with lots of gluten. And the gluten is oftentimes more painful after you have been gluten free for a while. So test now, or just go gluten free, I would say. I never had a test for celiac disease.

[HubbiesLuv]

Thanks for the response. My DH has been feeling really terrible lately and his stomach has been burning and hurting all the time. Usually his pain is up and down through out the day but lately it has been constant. He stopped eating gluten as of Monday because at this point he said he is willing to try any diet if he thinks it may help. Yesterday when I returned home from work DH told me the burning had subsided some but his stomach still felt achy, kind of sore. We were pleased to have found many foods that he likes that is naturally gluten free. He has to go back to his gastroentologist in a few days ... I have an erie feeling that it will be a worthless visit as usual. But I will remain optimistic .. just for the heck of it.

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks for the response. My DH has been feeling really terrible lately and his stomach has been burning and hurting all the time. Usually his pain is up and down through out the day but lately it has been constant. He stopped eating gluten as of Monday because at this point he said he is willing to try any diet if he thinks it may help. Yesterday when I returned home from work DH told me the burning had subsided some but his stomach still felt achy, kind of sore. We were pleased to have found many foods that he likes that is naturally gluten free. He has to go back to his gastroentologist in a few days ... I have an erie feeling that it will be a worthless visit as usual. But I will remain optimistic .. just for the heck of it.

It can take a bit of time to heal but I am glad he is feeling a bit better. If he can take liquid Pepto Bismal that may help the pain. Be careful with antiacid tablet OTC products as not all are gluten free. Many are but check first.

[Skylark]

Thanks for the response. My DH has been feeling really terrible lately and his stomach has been burning and hurting all the time. Usually his pain is up and down through out the day but lately it has been constant. He stopped eating gluten as of Monday because at this point he said he is willing to try any diet if he thinks it may help. Yesterday when I returned home from work DH told me the burning had subsided some but his stomach still felt achy, kind of sore. We were pleased to have found many foods that he likes that is naturally gluten free. He has to go back to his gastroentologist in a few days ... I have an erie feeling that it will be a worthless visit as usual. But I will remain optimistic .. just for the heck of it.

It takes people anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months to really start to feel better. It depends on how bad the inflammation and damage is. I hope gluten-free helps him!