Not Diagnosed Yet...

[ElizabethAnne11]

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!

[mushroom]

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.