Did You Experience These Symptoms Before Diagnosis?

[Mox25]

Hi everyone,

I have read through the forum and think it's wonderful how helpful everyone is. I have a couple of questions for those of you who have been diagnosed. I want to know if my symptoms are consistent with Celiacs. Clearly, I am here bc I am having GI symptoms and match Celiacs, but with the broad range of symptoms that could be anyone. I am currently waiting on blood test results. I have a couple of symptoms that I am not sure match what others had before diagnosis and would love to know if any Celiacs experienced the following:

1) Sudden onset. I would not describe myself as someone who has had a "sensitive" stomach in the past. My symptoms just appeared and won't go away but it is not something I have struggled with my whole life. (I should add I am 26).

2)Mucus and blood in stool (ew). The thing is, the stool is normally formed but covered with mucus and a very SMALL amount of blood. This is true for every bm for > 1 month

3 )In ability to lose weight which has NEVER been a problem until the last six months (maybe I am just getting older)

4)I can't correlate my bloating, C, or general GI symptoms with any particular food. Maybe this because I eat a very healthy balanced diet so I am consuming dairy, grains, vegs, and fruit daily. But if I have Celiacs should I be able to somehow time my issues with the intake of gluten (ie 1 hour after I eat it I feel sick?)

Again, I am just wondering if anyone diagnosed with Celiac's had these symptoms before diagnosis.

Thanks so much!!! Any advice is greatly appreciated and I think it's wonderful to have a forum to help people deal with these struggles...

[xxkristin]

My symptoms popped up out of nowhere. One day, I just started get really bloated whenever I ate something. And like with you, for me, it doesn't seem to be only gluten that causes the bloating - it sometimes happens when I eat food that I know doesn't have gluten in it, or would assume doesn't, as it's labeled gluten free. I don't know if this is normal, and whether this is just because I have gluten in my system which is making me bloat pretty much everytime I eat. I'm a little confused about this. Also, I actually gained weight in the past few months, which I'm also confused about because apparently you lose weight when you're celiac, as your body isn't absorbing nutrients, so I'm a little confused about how I could have gained weight.

Hopefully that helps a bit.

[mushroom]

Sudden onset: Most people who are predisposed to develop celiac have a triggering event - physical or emotional stress, injury, illness, childbirth a long list here.

Mucous and blood in stool: Mucous very common, blood less common but not rare.

Inability to lose weight: Common. So-called classic is weight loss, but weight gain and inability to lose is just as common (body feels starved of nutrients and stores anything it can find)

Inability to correlate bloating with foods: Time from consumption to symptoms varies with each individual and often each individual food; varies from as little as 30 minutes to as much as 3-4 days.

Perhaps you are beginning to realize how come celiac/gluten intolerance is so hard to diagnose

[Mox25]

My symptoms popped up out of nowhere. One day, I just started get really bloated whenever I ate something. And like with you, for me, it doesn't seem to be only gluten that causes the bloating - it sometimes happens when I eat food that I know doesn't have gluten in it, or would assume doesn't, as it's labeled gluten free. I don't know if this is normal, and whether this is just because I have gluten in my system which is making me bloat pretty much everytime I eat. I'm a little confused about this. Also, I actually gained weight in the past few months, which I'm also confused about because apparently you lose weight when you're celiac, as your body isn't absorbing nutrients, so I'm a little confused about how I could have gained weight.

Hopefully that helps a bit.

Thanks for your response xxkristin. Sounds like we are in the same boat. Are diagnosed or in the process?

[Mox25]

Thanks for your responses. You are right. This is very difficult disease to fully understand. To clarify about one of my questions, I am trying to figure out if a symptom is mucus IN the stool vs mucus ON the stool. I'm not even sure if there is a difference. But all the info I have read says mucus in stool is a symptom. However, I would assume this means some sort of loose type stool. My symptom is a normally formed stool coated with mucus. Sorry for TMI but I even discussed this with Docs and they dont seem to know what I am talking about. Does anyone have a comment on this topic?

[mushroom]

Stools coated with mucous was my experience. At least they slid out easily (Sorry, TMI)

[eatmeat4good]

And the small amount of blood was one of my son's symptoms...this was happening long before he developed the diarrhea. Eventually it became diarrhea. I think you are getting your answer before your symptoms get worse. I wish I had figured that out for him. He was concerned about it, but it was just a little amount and the Dr.'s weren't concerned about it either...actually said that can happen to people sometimes. But now I think- not unless they are getting sick from gluten.

To clarify though, my son was not officially diagnosed. However the blood in stools no longer happens, nor does the diarrhea. He is 4 months gluten free.

Just wanted you to know the mucous and the blood are consistent with Celiac/Gluten Intolerance in my opinion.