Wondering If I Have This

[CassandraF]

Hi

I have been reading the forums for a while and feel like it's time to start contributing. However I won't be tested until Wednesday so I just want to ask in advance what you think about how these symptoms stack up.

I recently got sick and have just had one thing after another. The latest was bronchitis which turned into pleurisy (controlled with pain medication). Immediately after that got better I started having nausea in my stomach and pain on the right side. Not terrible, but a gnawing ache. The nausea has since gotten much worse and now flares up after I eat. My stool ranges between loose to downright watery. I have seen small specks of what I would call cream colored floating in little greasy pools. On the other end of the spectrum I have also had very very dark diarrhea, though still again with what seems like a greasy film floating on top. I noticed that Wednesday night I ate a gluten free meal from a restaurant and felt great all night. The next morning I had a bowl of cereal and was in agony for hours. The only other symptom besides the recent stomach stuff is that I've had recurring angular cheilitis for a long time.

I am having an ultrasound & blood test on Wednesday but I'd appreciate your thoughts. I never thought I'd say these words, but personally I'm hoping it's bacterial overgrowth!

[CassandraF]

Just a few more things I want to add from reading on here a bit further:

I also have a constant post-nasal drip and cracked, dry lips

When I ate that gluten free meal at the restaurant, I also ate ice cream. So I'm leaning toward it not being a dairy intolerance...?

[Roda]

Your symptoms could be caused by gluten. Hopefully your blood tests included the whole panel. Blood tests include: IgA/IgG tTG, IgA/IgG DPG, IgA/IgG gliadin antibodies and a total IgA. You also could choose to have an EGD done with duodenal biopsies(minimum 8) to look for celiac. They also look for other things too. Some people are comfortable going gluten free based on blood work only. Testing can have about 20-30% false negative rates.