New Here. Have Symptoms, Past Diagnoses, And Questions

[Lucia2010]

Hi! I just found this forum tonight, and found the information on this site to be very useful. I was wondering if it sounds like I should ask my doctor about celiac. I have a friend who told me to look it up, and I have had a crazy medical history, but I thought if someone on here could help me figure out what kind of thing to address my doctor about, I will be very grateful.

At birth, I was seriously allergic to dairy milk.

At approximately age 5, I was able to drink milk again, with seemingly no issues.

Around age 7, I started getting terrible UTIs & had to start wearing glasses (contacts mandatory the next year - per my doc)

At age 10, I started vomiting like I had the flu, and was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia.

At 14, I was diagnosed with acid reflux, and somehow gained almost 100 pounds.

At 15, I started vomiting like I had the flu again, but would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and unable to move because of pain in my stomach.

As I turned 16, the doctors removed my gall bladder.

At 19, I was hospitalized because I spiked a fever of 104 after not being able to have a bowel movement for nearly a month.

Around the same age, I started having pains in my stomach again that felt similar to the pain I had prior to having my gall bladder removed, but they seemed to come and go.

At 21, I underwent an emergency colon/upper gi scope, after having not had a bowel movement for 6 weeks.

At 22, I had "fake enamel" put on my teeth because my enamel came off, and I had more than 30 cavities.

At 23, I had to have my esophogas dilated for the second time because I was choking on my food.

Also at 23, I started having minimal, but constant feminine bleeding, which lasted more than 4 months, and had to be corrected with harsh hormone pills. Before this, I had only menstrated 2-4 times a year for almost ten years.

At 24, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism & later had a miscarriage.

At 25 I had to have my esophogas dilated again because I was once again, choking on my food. (that makes 3 times)

I have had problems with pains, especially on my left side, which my doctor seems to have no understanding of, and she says that the only thing there is my intestines and my kidney, and she thinks both are fine. Within the last year, I have began to develop migraines, anxiety, and these weird dry patches of skin all over. The dermatologist prescribed me special shampoo, but I have to get a new prescription every two weeks, and I am only allowed to use unscented, un"soap" soaps in bar form, no body washes, dyed, perfumed, etc. skin products. My hair is falling out. I feel bloated all the time. My stomach makes some weird noises, but always seems to have air, in fact, I have these strange air bubbles that come up my esophogas sometimes at night and make strange noises.

I feel like my body is full of sludge. I feel tired and grumpy and fat all of the time, and I have for a few years. I'm having a terrible time losing weight, and I have tried to cut back on bread products and other items containing gluten, but it's almost like I crave them, because I get really irritable if I have hadn't had a product of this sort for a few days. I have strange, tiny red dots all over my skin, especially on my arms, and sometimes I feel like my arms go numb, especially the left one, but my doctor seems to think it is nerve damage because I used to sleep on my left side. (And yes, I have had an EKG or whatever they call it within the last few months)

None of this makes sense to me. I hope it makes sense to someone. Even if I am not in the right place, I would appreciate it if someone in the world could point me in the right direction. I'm getting very frustrated, and I'm so tired of feeling tired and achy and sludgy all the time.

[mushroom]

Hi, and welcome to the board.

I think, with your symptoms, that you are in exactly the right place, and you are obviously dealing with doctors who do not know the symptoms of celiac disease. You have most of them, from neurological symptoms to possible dermatitis herpetiformis, to gut damage, hair falling out, hypothryroidism, craving gluten (it is like an opioid to the body), problems with tooth enamel, UTI's, vision problems, menstrual irregularity, gall bladder removal (very common on this forum), acid reflux.

Get thee to a doctor (preferably one who knows something about celiac disease - call your local celiac society for a recommendation) and have a full celiac panel of blood tests run ASAP. There is no reason for you to suffer any longer. Do not stop eating gluten for now because it is important to keep it in your system for testing.

[Skylark]

Yes, keep your diet the same for a bit longer and get tested for celiac!

[Lucia2010]

When I make an appointment with my doctor, is there a certain specialist I should see, or should I see my gastroenterologist? I really appreciate your help!

[mushroom]

This is what I posted before: "Get thee to a doctor (preferably one who knows something about celiac disease - call your local celiac society for a recommendation)" It is very important to find a doctor who knows something about celiac disease and gluten, and they are not easy to find. If the Celiac Society can't help you they might refer you to a local support group who would have information on the doctors in your area. There are too many doctors who will just pin the IBS tag on you and send you out the door with a scrip. The doc could be a GP or a gastroenterologist or an internist - just so long as they know the subject matter.

Good luck