Self Diagnosis

[Curlyqueen]

Like many of the post/people on this forum I'm in a pre diagnosis phase where I'm trying to make sense of symptoms that makes little sense. Anyway I finally saw a GI and through genetic testing I found it was negative for Celiac or how I would like to think of it as very unlikely that I have celiac. No one else in my family has it so I have started to consider that my digestive issues could be an ulcer caused by too much asprin(I was taking it for my migraines) but I feel a lot better eating gluten free and I haven't found that certain foods like spicy foods disagree with me. However on two occasions coffee did not agree with me and it was from home. Also I can't tolerate alcohol. I have always had some difficulty with alcohol but last year I had three sips of a beer and immediately felt super drunk and sick. Couldn't walk straight, felt really hot, nausated and just plain awful. Thats when I realized I might have a digestive issue and thats what eventually lead me to celiac. But this could also happen if I had an ulcer. So I'm going back and forth between possible ulcer( or ulcers) and gluten sensitivity.

Regardless of the outcome I've decided that eating gluten free is probably going to be something I do for the rest of my life. I was wondering for those who are self diagnosed how did you decide that you didn't need a medical diagnosis? Did you ever wonder that it could be something else?

[Jestgar]

If it's something else, eating gluten-free won't stop it. If you don't need a letter from a doctor for something (school, work, military), then you don't need a medical diagnosis. You can choose to eat anything you want without a doctor's permission.

[Curlyqueen]

  On 12/31/2011 at 7:11 PM, Jestgar said:

If it's something else, eating gluten-free won't stop it. If you don't need a letter from a doctor for something (school, work, military), then you don't need a medical diagnosis. You can choose to eat anything you want without a doctor's permission.

Eating gluten free cuts out wheat which if its a wheat allergy then of course one is going to feel better gluten free. In my case I'm still considering that it could be a specific allergy to wheat. I guess for myself personally I'm finding that maybe its safer to rule out everything else it could be like Chron's or IBS before settling on a Gluten intolerance (that just started out of the blue). Thanks for your response gave me something to think about.

[Metoo]

  On 1/2/2012 at 11:44 PM, Curlyqueen said:

Eating gluten free cuts out wheat which if its a wheat allergy then of course one is going to feel better gluten free. In my case I'm still considering that it could be a specific allergy to wheat. I guess for myself personally I'm finding that maybe its safer to rule out everything else it could be like Chron's or IBS before settling on a Gluten intolerance (that just started out of the blue). Thanks for your response gave me something to think about.

As my allergist pointed out a wheat allergy is so rare, and often you find out early in life not later.

I would definitly go gluten free if there is any doubt, but you have to sustain it for a while to be able to tell.

I tried 2 years ago and felt no difference, part of my problem was I was still eating gluten-free oats (a problem for me)...and I needed to eat ONLY things that specifically said gluten-free. This time I went gluten-free a lot more carefully and after the first week someone pointed out the oats and it was definitly part of the problem.

[Skylark]

I wasn't getting any help from doctors and celiac wasn't a "hot topic" back when I figured out my inability to eat gluten. I was diagnosed with IBS and gastritis and told to avoid coffee. If only they had said wheat... Your doctor can rule out Crohn's while you're on the gluten-free diet. Alternatively you can go back on gluten and see if your symptoms return. If they come back full force you know you figured it out.