Does It Sound Like I Have Celiac Disease?

[araskie]

My New Year's resolution is to figure this out. I am sick of being sick....

I am 26 years old and sick of feeling like this. Every night of this holiday break I have gone to bed sick. My stomach looked so bloated you would have sworn that I was 6 months pregnant. The only thing that makes me feel better is to lay on my hands and knees with my rear in the air. I then feel like the gas actually moves. I have had trouble with constipation my whole life. I am lactose intolerant and avoid all dairy. I find myself on a regular day not really eating. I think it is because I never feel well after. I went to the GI doctor and he told me I had IBS. He didn't even look at my food journal or anything. I begged him to run a celiac panel and it came back saying that I have abnormal levels of IGA and IGG protein. They never told me what that ment or took it any further. After having my son, they said that they found something in my blood and were going to run some tests. Again, they never contacted me or told me what it was. I will stop eating Gluten if that is what it is. I just want to know. Maybe it is something that I need to be aware of for my son as well. It is hard at family events to eat anything. I just want an answer. A couple of other things that might have relevance from what I have read:

I have always had very heavy periods.

I have had food poisoning many times

I just had a baby and seemed pretty good eating different things during that time.

I get sick drinking any type of beer and used to have alcohol effect me right away

Many members of my family have gone through early menopause (like starting in their early 30's including my mom)

Constipation has also been a family issue along with depression

In high school I had chronic sinus infections along with mono

I am taking a pro-biotic and I feel like it has made things a little better.

*I am considering just going to the Mayo clinic and finally figuring this out. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[mushroom]

Welcome to the forum. Your symptoms do sound suspicious for celiac disease, as you yourself suspect. You need to get a copy of all test results from your GI so you can see for yourself what they say. If you would post them here on the board, with the reference ranges your lab uses, there are people on here who are expert in interpreting these results. Sometimes the doctors themselves do not understand the significance of the results. You should as a matter of habit always get copies of all your lab results, and always follow up when the doctor does not report results to you. Things get overlooked in doctors' offices.

[Looking for answers]

I used to have all of your symptoms, and remember spending many nights in my life trying to find a position to relieve the pain in my stomach. I never got a conclusive Celiac diagnosis (went gluten-free before testing), but I completely eliminated gluten and have adhered to the diet ever since. I can't tell you what a difference it made it my life. My periods are now much lighter and I don't have cramping (my family also has a history of early menopause and hysterectomies). Keep up with the probiotics if you aren't eating cultured foods, and a digestive enzymes can provide much relief as well.

[araskie]

I used to have all of your symptoms, and remember spending many nights in my life trying to find a position to relieve the pain in my stomach. I never got a conclusive Celiac diagnosis (went gluten-free before testing), but I completely eliminated gluten and have adhered to the diet ever since. I can't tell you what a difference it made it my life. My periods are now much lighter and I don't have cramping (my family also has a history of early menopause and hysterectomies). Keep up with the probiotics if you aren't eating cultured foods, and a digestive enzymes can provide much relief as well.

Thanks for taking the time to write back! I have been on everyone of my friends and families bathroom floors. It is nice to find others that understand. At this point I don't even tell anyone when I am sick because it is more often than not. Do you have a certain probiotic you recommend? Is digestive enzymes a pill as well?

[runningcrazy]

My New Year's resolution is to figure this out. I am sick of being sick....

I am 26 years old and sick of feeling like this. Every night of this holiday break I have gone to bed sick. My stomach looked so bloated you would have sworn that I was 6 months pregnant. The only thing that makes me feel better is to lay on my hands and knees with my rear in the air. I then feel like the gas actually moves. I have had trouble with constipation my whole life. I am lactose intolerant and avoid all dairy. I find myself on a regular day not really eating. I think it is because I never feel well after. I went to the GI doctor and he told me I had IBS. He didn't even look at my food journal or anything. I begged him to run a celiac panel and it came back saying that I have abnormal levels of IGA and IGG protein. They never told me what that ment or took it any further. After having my son, they said that they found something in my blood and were going to run some tests. Again, they never contacted me or told me what it was. I will stop eating Gluten if that is what it is. I just want to know. Maybe it is something that I need to be aware of for my son as well. It is hard at family events to eat anything. I just want an answer. A couple of other things that might have relevance from what I have read:

I have always had very heavy periods.

I have had food poisoning many times

I just had a baby and seemed pretty good eating different things during that time.

I get sick drinking any type of beer and used to have alcohol effect me right away

Many members of my family have gone through early menopause (like starting in their early 30's including my mom)

Constipation has also been a family issue along with depression

In high school I had chronic sinus infections along with mono

I am taking a pro-biotic and I feel like it has made things a little better.

*I am considering just going to the Mayo clinic and finally figuring this out. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Hi,

Yes I think it sounds like you may have celiac or atleast some form of gluten intolerance. I had many of your symptoms(constipated SOOO badly, my doctor had me taking 6 different laxatives a day with no effect), bloating, not wanting to eat, etc. Yet I had the celiac panel ran 3 times. Each time it came back NEGaTIVE! Well gluten was the only thing we could think of so we cut it out anyway. since then, EVERY symptom ive had has gone away. i also used to get headaches every single day but havent had one in a very very long time.

good luck and hope you feel better:)