Convinced I Have Celiac

[streethawk]

Hi As the title says im convinced I have celiac or gluten intorlance. I have had chronic diarrhoea for the past 15 years, in the summer my hay fever is unbearable, my stomach is bloated all the time, any form of alcohol like beer gives me panic attacks in the morning and the hangover lasts for three days, low energy, I am very sickly looking I have a very ill looking skin pallor and chronic dark circles, pale tongue which has a white coating if I eat any carbs, horizontal ridges in my finger nails, I have always been this way I am so fed up with people saying are you ok had a late night ect.

But worst of all is the neurological problems deep dark depressions, social anxiety, compulsive addictions, mood swings, anger all the time the list is endless

I have been on a low carb diet gluten free and dairy free for a month and went through the worst type of withdrawals suicidal depression and flu like symptoms I even lost my voice. After coming out from it I felt different many of my life long issues had abated my diarrhoea has gone, bloating gone, I feel the depression is behind me for the time being, energy returned. addictions abaited But still have many, many, many issues.

I

[Phayah]

I know how you feel about the psych meds. I've been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD/anxiety. The SSRIs are terrible! They make me want to sleep all day and I get extremely apathetic. After 5 or 6 years of trying various pills I had to just give up on SSRIs.

I haven't been diagnosed but I think it's possible my mother and I have Celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity. I've been doing a lot of research, due to my obsessive nature (lol) and it seems a lot of people continue to improve. It looks like everyone is so different in their response to gluten free. Some are 100% in a day (super lucky) and others take longer.

I've also seen people recommend eliminating casein (dairy), soy, legumes, and probably some other stuff. You could try taking out potential sensitivities and see if you improve.

You should try to see a doc if you can though. Perhaps they could check for deficiencies or refer you to a specialist?

[mushroom]

Welcome, streethawk. Good for you for taking the bull by the horns, and for fighting through the withdrawal and coming out the other side into a brighter world. Yes, there is definitely hope for you, although it may take some patience along the way. But with your fighting spirit I am sure you can manage that.

The first thing you need (I KNOW!!!) is unfortunately to go back to your doctor and get some blood work done. Gluten intolerances creates an inability to absort nutrients from our foods and you are probably deficient in many - your pallor probably means that you are anemic which is very common - either iron deficiency anemia or pernicious anemia from lack of B12 and folate. Other common deficiences are Vitamins A, D, E, K, calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc. And, you should have your thryroid checked, not just TSH but also free T3 and free T4. This should reveal a lot to your doctor about the state of your health and they are not things done on a routine blood panel. The dark circles should disappear once you get onto a supplement program for the things you are deficient in.

It is very important to get your vitamin D checked because a deficiency in this can lead to osteopenia or even osteoporosis, so if yours is very low it would be worth considering a DEXA scan for bone density.

Good luck in your new gluten free life, and here's to health.

[Mari]

It's wonderful that you have come through the withdrawal and are finally feeling the good effects of the gluten-free diet. There was a lot of comment about a year ago when a scientific paper reported that gluten and casein both contain addictive opoids and some people were having as much trouble with the withdrawal as you had. The other posters have given you some good advice and you can look forward to feeling better.

[streethawk]

I'm not sure all these tests are available on the NHS, that's the problem is easy to throw a pill at everything!!

[mushroom]

Okay, it sounds like Britain. Do you have a good primary care physician from whom you can wangle the necessary testing. If you have to settle for less, the most important ones are D, B12, ferritin, and TSH. You cn start, without testing, taking a methylcobalamine sublingual B12 lozenge, as it is really, really hard to OD on B12. Take a good B vitamin complex in addition, find some D3 in capsule form and you can take up to 5000 iu / day of this without any problems - you don't get enough sun in Britain anyway , but the ferritin you do have to have tested, also the TSH. Do what you can and be as informed as you can and as convincing as you can. Google the on-line information about nutritional deficiencies for gluten intolerants and present copies of these to your doctor and let him ignore them at his peril

[streethawk]

I have ordered some B12 sub. I have to wait two weeks to see a GP and then I'm not sure how long it will be to get any testing. Should I be taking the B12 or others supplements? Or should I wait until testing.

[mushroom]

Yes, by all means go ahead with the B12; it is going to take a while to get that up to speed. The D3 is also important and hard to get up to a normal level so don't let the testing stop you -- it would be great if you could do it with over the counter supplements; I had to take massive prescription doses to get where I needed to be. Good luck on your GP appt. Be forceful and tell him/her this is what you neeed to be healthy.

[Di2011]

I am officially *undiagnosed* but if anyone else had seen my GP/PCP/Docs body/facial expressions on my visits, and it "counted", then I would be officially Celiac/DH. My DH was (slowly healing) so severe that she knew as soon as I told/showed her, what it was and couldn't otherwise be. Despite the "no-biopsy" "unofficial" diagnosis the gluten-free is doing me the world of good. (( I can't afford testing))

I feel good. Good like I haven't felt ever. Maybe I'm a lucky or unusual case.

I don't think I will eat a slice of bread for a truely "official" diagnosis let alone doing it 2-3 times a day for 3 months, as is recommended.

I'm not diagnosed celiac but don't think I have a strictly "gluten intolerance". For me gluten ((((no-gluten))) has a major, life changing effect on my daily being. I know it now (months / years later) so a lack of medical "neg celiac but gluten problem, is bad but not gluten allergy" means I go gluten free to avoid my 5 (minimum, usually 7 or 8) months of crap spring/summer.

Tell us openly why you think you are celiac/gluten intolerant. We are pretty immune to any open and honest digestive, skin disorder, etc things that we put up with...

[Di2011]

I am officially *undiagnosed*

I have had bad*bad "hayfever" for years ( in remission this year being gluten-free ).

All I can say as a complete non-professional, new to this all, person - try gluten-free.

If it doesn't work for you after a couple of months ( 2 month min) then gluten may not be your problem.

If you think Gluten is your problem .. try it gluten-free

All worth trying and gluten is a first one to try

[streethawk]

Did your anemia clear up? Did you have dark circles? Is your life different now?, really needed some inspiration.

[streethawk]

Huh? I am gluten free as I said in my first post also I have given all the reasons why I am convinced I am celiac gluten intorlant. Much of these have abaited after a month gluten and dairy free however I an pallor than ever and my dark circles are worse than ever.

[ravenwoodglass]

A month gluten free is not long and it does take a while to heal. Hang in there. Go ahead and start taking the supplements just let your doctor know what you are taking. The pallor and dark circles could be from anemia so it is good that you are getting that checked.

Do tell the doctor the progress you have made on the diet and know that you should continue to feel better as time goes on. You have been sick for a while and we unfortunately don't heal overnight. I hope you are feeling even better soon.