My Mother Case

[eazyeazy]

Hello,

As I have already written in my previous posts my gastroscopy returned 2nd Marsh gut degradation - while the blood work for celiac antibodies was negative. My mother (~55 years old) has pretty much the same symptoms as I have like anxiety, depression, fatigue, stomach pain etc. However my mother case is much more severe since for a couple of past years she was having serious anemia (low iron, bad blood results) and other things. Recently lab tests showed that she has blood in her stool. Doctor send her to hospital for additional tests here are the results:

1) gastroscopy: 3B Marsh gut degradation

2) colonoscopy: severe inflammation of large intestine

3) blood work for celiac was negative

Is this all caused by celiac disease? How I can help my mother?

I have been on gluten free diet for almost 2 months now and I can't say I see any difference. I actually really envy the people who know at the beginning that diet is helping them. Maybe there are other potential causes here or I'm missing something?

Thanks for the hints!

[domesticactivist]

It sounds like there is something going on besides celiac disease, to me. Did they run a celiac panel to see if that is part of her problem?

That said, I don't see how gluten could *help* the situation.

You say being gluten-free has not caused a difference for you - I wonder if you are truly gluten-free? I have a guide on my blog for being 100% gluten-free. Just being "gluten-lite" doesn't cut it.

It might be that something like the GAPS diet could help. It reduces inflammation in the body and helps restore a healthy gut flora balance. Our family noticed that just being gluten-free was not enough for us. We have found much more healing with the GAPS diet. (Story on my website, linked from my profile.)

I also have a resources for learning more about GAPS. The links are in the original post, from the blog linked from my profile, since they are not allowed here.

[ravenwoodglass]

There may be other things going on also but with the Marsh 3 that does mean she is celiac even though the blood tests were negative. The inflammation could be caused by the celiac or something else in addition to the celiac could be going on but being gluten free is not going to effect the outcome of testing for anything other than celiac.

Both of you need to be very strict with the diet and take precautions to prevent CC. It may also be helpful to drop dairy for a bit until you are feeling better. It can take a while to heal and going with whole unprocessed foods at the start will help speed the healing along. Do make sure that you have taken all the steps needed to keep you safe in your own kitchen and if possible avoid eating out until you are healed a bit and then do make sure that the places you do eat out have a gluten free menu.

[eazyeazy]

Hey,

Thanks for the hints. I'm not really sure if this inflammation of large intestine can be related to celiac anyhow?

This CC stuff and cleaning the kitchen looks really hard for me - especially if I can't really see the gluten particles with my own eyes. I need to figure something out in this matter

[ravenwoodglass]

Hey,

Thanks for the hints. I'm not really sure if this inflammation of large intestine can be related to celiac anyhow?

This CC stuff and cleaning the kitchen looks really hard for me - especially if I can't really see the gluten particles with my own eyes. I need to figure something out in this matter

If it is related to the celiac the inflammation will resolve after a bit on the diet. If it doesn't the diet will not effect testing for anything other than celiac. With the biopsy results the diet is needed. It does seem hard at first but with the kitchen the big things are getting a new toaster, replacing scratched nonstick cookware, strainers and wooden cutting boards and utensils. If your household is going to be mixed simply wipe down surfaces and prepare gluten-free foods on a cutting board or a plate for sandwiches etc. You also need new condiments, nut butters etc that are only for the use of the gluten-free folks in the house.

You will get the hang of it but it does seem like a lot at first. If you have any more questions do feel free to ask them and read as much here as you can.