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Niebr

By Niebr
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Niebr Collaborator
Niebr
Posted

Alright, Ive been on this forum for a very short time, but in this time, I have seen many people here with multiple medical problems.

I am a very inquisitive person, yet due to my paranoid hypercondriact behavior + mind set. I am not sure if i want the answer to what I'm asking. (more or less scared of what may be to come)

Is it common to develop such a string of medical complications after becoming a Celiac, even if you eat properly?

Again I know I am making my own post redundant by saying I am not sure if I want to know, yet if you all feel like it is information I should know then its better now than later I assume.

Thank you. ^.^

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GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

Yes and No. There are many diseases that are commonly associated with celiac. When and whether or not you develop these other diseases however will depend on many factors. People that go undiagnosed (and therefore are still consuming gluten) for a longer period of time have greater risk of developing cancer (although it is rare) and other autoimmune diseases. Genreally speaking if you get diagnosed early enough and stay strictly gluten-free your risk of developing cancer goes back down to the same risk-level of the general population. I'm not sure about the other autoimmune diseases because I think some of those you may develop just based on your genetics. If you have one autoimmune disease you are more likely to develop another. So some people may even get diagnosed with other auto-immune disease BEFORE finding out they have celiac disease and some people may get diagnosed with something else just after the celiac diagnosis. It's not really that either one causes the other (at least i don't think here are causal studies out there, someone please correct me if I'm wrong because I would love to read about that), it may just be that they are strongly associated and drs are better able to diagnose a second one once you've been diagnosed with the first one. My current dr, for example, was not at all surprised that I suspected celiac because I have hypothyroidism and hashimotos in my family history. I'm hoping that by being gluten free and soy free my chances of developing hypothyroidism decrease, but I can't do much about the fact that I am already borderline and my mom and grandmother have it.

Niebr Collaborator
Niebr
Posted
  • Author

Alright well that is helpful, i have read about developing cancers if you do not stay gluten free, but i started losing weight at an alarming rate i knew something was wrong, the longest tiem i was eating gluten between not knowing and final diagnosis was . . . . maybe a month, if that ?

I am not sure what all I may actually have because no one in my mothers side is a Celiac, so i believe it was my my father who was possibly unknowingly celiac, (find medical records maybe?) ill have to look into it,

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

Alright well that is helpful, i have read about developing cancers if you do not stay gluten free, but i started losing weight at an alarming rate i knew something was wrong, the longest tiem i was eating gluten between not knowing and final diagnosis was . . . . maybe a month, if that ?

I am not sure what all I may actually have because no one in my mothers side is a Celiac, so i believe it was my my father who was possibly unknowingly celiac, (find medical records maybe?) ill have to look into it,

Do you have a dr that is very knowledgeable about celiac? Your bigger concern right now is making sure you are absorbing all the vitamins you take in. You may want to ask your dr to test your vitamin and mineral levels--some common ones that we run low on are: Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Iron, and calcium. If you have not been very sick for very long however you could be normal range on all of these and may not need anything. Some people really just have the celiac and nothing else. So don't freak out that you may suddenly have all these other disease. You could have gotten the genes for celiac from either parent or BOTH parents. About 30% of the population has the two most common celiac genes, but only about 1% of the population develops active celiac disease. Even if your mom has not been sick, she should be tested. Your, mom, dad and any siblings should know about your diagnosis so they can ask their dr for a blood test. And when you tell them it would be a good time to ask them about their medical history so you can know what your need to watch out for.

K8ling Enthusiast
K8ling
Posted

I've been gluten-free for a year and I haven't developed any other problems. Everything has gotten much better for me.

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

I am not sure what all I may actually have because no one in my mothers side is a Celiac, so i believe it was my my father who was possibly unknowingly celiac, (find medical records maybe?) ill have to look into it,

In the US, about 30% of the population have the genes commonly associated with celiac disease, but only about 1% of the population actually develop celiac disease.

sb2178 Enthusiast
sb2178
Posted

I also vaguely think that people who have more complicated health problems are more likely to hang out here longer. (I don't have them, but an avid interest in nutrition & health.) They definitely have learned more, and may be more likely to reply. I think a fair number of people join, figure it out, struggle, get used to life, and then only pop on every now and then. Call it an educated guess, and maybe a couple of long-time users could comment too.

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mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I would agree that the newly diagnosed come on here, pick up a bunch of tips and support, get better, heal and go away. Those with problems linger. You will note that we have over 41,000 members; of those at any one time probably only about 2-300 are very active. Some of us stay around to help others out or to learn more from new posters. So I don't think you are looking at large numbers of people who remain incredibly sick.

GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

I think it is more common that people have many years of mis-diagnoses before celiac is identified. In those years their bodies are being damamged over and over, continually while they are not gluten-free. So that takes a tole and may lead to development of other diseases, including auto-imune disease. If you do a search on "celiac related condition" or "celiac associated condition", you can find lists of diseases that are more common in celiacs. There has to be a reason those disease are more common, but I don't think there is any proof what the cause is. IMHO a lot of it is immune system whackiness brought on by constant gluten exposure, but that is just my opinion.

Judy3 Contributor
Judy3
Posted

I think it is more common that people have many years of mis-diagnoses before celiac is identified. In those years their bodies are being damamged over and over, continually while they are not gluten-free. So that takes a tole and may lead to development of other diseases, including auto-imune disease. If you do a search on "celiac related condition" or "celiac associated condition", you can find lists of diseases that are more common in celiacs. There has to be a reason those disease are more common, but I don't think there is any proof what the cause is. IMHO a lot of it is immune system whackiness brought on by constant gluten exposure, but that is just my opinion.

Agreed!!! From what I've read in my research, my opinion is the same as yours :)

viviendoparajesus Apprentice
viviendoparajesus
Posted

A lot of health problems run in my family, but I was the first one to find out about the gluten intolerance. It seems to me that the unaddressed gluten intolerance made my family more susceptible to health problems. I went undiagnosed with gluten intolerance for many years and instead amassed a variety of other diagnoses. When I went off gluten, many of my health problems resolved. I think the previous posters brought up good points that newly diagnosed people and people who are still struggling are likely to reach out on forums such as this. I think there is also some validity to untreated celiac's causing or increasing the likelihood of other health problems since it keeps the immune system busy on gluten as opposed to real threats and it wears out the body with its constant attack on gluten and decreased ability to absorb the nutrients that are needed for health. I think some other health problems are associated with it because there is still a lot that is not known - effects of other allergies, dairy intolerance, role of soy, cross reactivity, safety of other grains. In addition, there are challenges of cross contamination and not even knowing all the little ridiculous sources of contamination. That would be great if you can find answers in your family medical history, but it could have gone undiagnosed. Even today celiac's is often misdiagnosed or not realized for years and it seems even less likely to have been recognized in previous generations. While we can guess a family member had celiac's it is hard to tell for sure, since many symptoms are similar for a variety of diseases. Some people have obvious digestive symptoms, but others have the damage without the obvious symptoms. Best wishes for good health and finding the answers you are looking for!

Niebr Collaborator
Niebr
Posted
  • Author

Well that is great to find out, cause i realized last night, i notcvied alot of gluten-free members had many other illnesses and i honestly was halfway to a panic attack thinking that i could be next due to it all, sadly i dont think i am able to find out more about it because my father i believe is the celiac, he mentioned something once about being lactose, yet he always drank living beer, so i dont know. i know my mom doesnt have it. she drinks constantly, and eats things ontaining gluten, and i see nothing of what she has, i was eating gluten items maybe 2-4 months prior to getting sick, and then being diagnosed, cause i kept hammering the hospitals and Drs offices while i had the medical insurance, and they finally diagnosed me within 2-4 months of it all starting, so i would say im going to be ok ?

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

There are no guarantees, but I would say you are one lucky dude for being diagnosed so early :D

ETA: My RA and psoriasis were the reason I went gluten free; they were not things that followed on after. I am probably one of the oldest here on the board so it took me a long while to get there. And my other food intolerances developed because I had such a leaky gut from gluten damage.

I would say your prognosis is good :D

lynnelise Apprentice
lynnelise
Posted

I agree with the other posters. No reason to panic. I think a lot of us were sick for so long and undiagnosed that constant gluten exposure caused other issues to set in. With you being diagnosed so soon I think you'll be just fine! I feel you though because I've always been panicky about my health too!

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      By Wheatwacked · Posted

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    • Riley.
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