Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Not Diagnosed Yet...

ElizabethAnne11

Recommended Posts

ElizabethAnne11 Newbie
ElizabethAnne11
Posted

Hi everyone! I found this forum via "The Gluten-Free Diet" (Elisabeth Hasselbeck), which I picked up last week.

So I haven't been diagnosed yet with Celiac, although I have a feeling that's what I've had for the past 12 years. While in college In 98' I got very ill for the first time. After having a colonoscopy and upper GI, I was diagnosed as having ulcerative colitis. Since my original diagnosis, I've had three flairs and after taking meds the major symptoms disappeared. I was told by doctors that my colitis is "very mild" and why I don't need medication on a regular basis. However, I've always had cramping, gas, bloating, loose stools and/or diarrhea, and felt like I had an "acid stomach", and pain for days if I ate something that disagreed with me. And when I've gotten sick from eating something, it's exhausted me.

Since reading Elisabeth Hasselbeck's book, I've cut down on gluten and am amazed at how much better I feel! I thought the symptoms I was experiencing were simply because I had a sensitive stomach. I'm already feeling more clear-headed, healthier, and energetic! So I'm now thinking that I was misdiagnosed as having colitis and should have been diagnosed as having Celiac.

Since I'm new here, I have a few questions for the members:

1. I've started cutting out gluten and am feeling so much better. But to get tested for Celiac, don't I have to eat gluten?

2. Tonight I ate a few bites of my son's cake and felt absolutely awful afterwards. Can I have gotten more sensitive to gluten since cutting a majority of it out of my diet?

3. I was never diagnosed with having a lactose intolerance, however I gave up milk because it's been one "food" I simply cannot tolerate. Is anyone else here lactose intolerant?

Any feedback would be appreciated! Looking forward to learning from everyone! :)

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

Welcome to the board!

The quick answer to your questions is yes, yes, and yes.

Actually, it is generally recommended that if you have ulcerative colitis that you eat a gluten free diet. See Open Original Shared Link

However, it is possible to have both ulcerative colitis and celiac disease, or it is possible that you have only celiac/gluten intolerance. That is where the testing comes in. If you want testing, you should resume eating gluten and have your doctor order a celiac blood panel. If any of these tests is positive an endoscopy with biopsies is normally recommended. Now the tests could come up negative, both blood and biopsy, and you could still be gluten intolerant, just not fitting the criteria for celiac disease. If you want to be tested it is recommended that you do it before going gluten free, because as you found out, if you do without it for any length of time and then resume eating it you often react much more strongly than before. And the lactose intolerance comes about because celiac disease damages the part of your small intestine that produces the enzyme which digests lactose, and it is not until your gut heals that you will be able to tolerate it again.

Feel free to fire away with any additional questions that you have.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,381
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    AHD
    Newest Member
    AHD
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • lauramac
      COVID19 and getting glutened

      By lauramac · Posted

      I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease abput 10 years ago. When I was initially diagnosed my only "symptom" was persistently low iron (that occasionally dipped into anemia). After diagnosis,  over time, I started to develop symptoms when exposed to gluten--they have been overall relatively minor, but have increased over time (and yes, I realize my guts are likely being wrecked regardless of the symptoms) on the rare occasions I've been exposed to gluten. I had COVID19 last week (now testing negative) and was glutened last night (never trust anything labeled gluten-free in a mixed environment). I had my traditional symptoms (sharp gas pains, burping, nausea, stomach ache) but they were accompanied by new, more intense symptoms (muscle cramps all over my body--feet, calves, biceps, neck, shoulders, jaw, abdomen, I'm still sore today and cold sweats). I spent about 6 hours writhing before I felt well enough to get up.  I have been told by my allergist that COVID19 can cause your immune system to hyper react. I'm wondering if that's what happened here.   Has anyone else had experience getting glutened post COVID19? Relatively shortly after recovering from COVID19? Was it a more extreme reaction or same? I can't seem to find any articles on this, so I thought I'd ask the community.  Thank you!
    • Rogol72
      Draft gluten-free ciders… can they be trusted ?

      By Rogol72 · Posted

      A friend of mine is in the bar trade most of his life and has never heard of lines being mixed for different type of beers and ciders. Better to stick with cans.
    • Rejoicephd
      Draft gluten-free ciders… can they be trusted ?

      By Rejoicephd · Posted

      Thanks very much for confirming my suspicion @Scott Adams! That helps a lot because I'm really trying to track down and get rid of these sources of cross-contact and so I'm going to just rule out the draft ciders and hope that helps. Also @Rogol72 its nice to hear you haven't had a problem on that side of the pond - draft cider lines being used for cider only certainly sounds like the right way to do it, but I think that must not always be practiced over here! 
    • Zuma888
      Gluten challenge and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

      By Zuma888 · Posted

      I didn't ask a doctor about this actually. I did ask several doctors a long time ago and they told me gluten has nothing to do with hashimoto's. One of them told me to do a gluten challenge to test for celiac, but at the time I was in graduate school so couldn't afford to be even more ill than I was. If you have the symptoms, I really don't advise you to do a gluten challenge. It messed me up mentally and physically for months. At the same time, I benefitted from doing the challenge in the sense that it convinced me that all my symptoms were truly from gluten - even stuff like insomnia! So now I am terrified to eat gluten, whereas before I would have a little once in a while and not notice anything dramatic. 
    • Winnie-Ther-Pooh
      Gluten challenge and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

      By Winnie-Ther-Pooh · Posted

      I am in a similar situation where I can't feasibly do a gluten challenge but have all the symptoms and I have 2 celiac genes. I'm curious if your doctor advised you to eat as if you had a diagnosis or if they were more dismissive about it. 
×
×
  • Create New...