Could This Be My Problem?

[Guest maybird85]

Hi all! New to the forum and just had a few questions. I was wondering if any of these symptoms sound like celiac to you guys. In the past several years I have felt sick almost everyday. My main complaint has been nausea, diarhea, constipation, bloating and fatigue. I also have ezcema and bad allergies. I have always felt over tired from doing absolutely nothing. I was also diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 6 and a lot of these symptoms were always attributed to the meds that I was on. However, after swtiching to meds which do not have these as common side effects three years ago i am still feeling like this. I feel that the doctors never knew what it was so they always attributed it to the fact that I was on meds. However, after all these years I don't think it is that anymore. I am feeling very frustrated and these symptoms are really starting to hold me back from certain things. I finally went to my doctor two weeks ago and he did some blood tests for anemia and such and they all came back perfectly normal and he also sent me for an ultra-sound of my liver and gall bladder, also normal. I am going t o a GI on Tuesday and hopefully he will have some more answers for me. I was just wondering what you thought. Thanks so much!

[KaitiUSA]

Yep it does sound like celiac symptoms. My main complaint was nausea and I had plenty of other ones too. Definitely get tested. Many doctors are not knowledgable about celiac and give out bad info. Doctors are just one reason of why it is so underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed. I was told by doctor after doctor that it was all in my head...don't buy it. You know when something is wrong.

You need to get the complete panel which includes the following:

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

Total Serum IgA

[Guest maybird85]

thanks so much! hopefully all will go well next tuesday!

[nettiebeads]

Hi all!  New to the forum and just had a few questions.  I was wondering if any of these symptoms sound like celiac to you guys.  In the past several years I have felt sick almost everyday.  My main complaint has been nausea, diarhea, constipation, bloating and fatigue.  I also have ezcema and bad allergies.  I have always felt over tired from doing absolutely nothing.  I was also diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 6 and a lot of these symptoms were always attributed to the meds that I was on.  However, after swtiching to meds which do not have these as common side effects three years ago i am still feeling like this.  I feel that the doctors never knew what it was so they always attributed it to the fact that I was on meds.  However, after all these years I don't think it is that anymore.  I am feeling very frustrated and these symptoms are really starting to hold me back from certain things.  I finally went to my doctor two weeks ago and he did some blood tests for anemia and such and they all came back perfectly normal and he also sent me for an ultra-sound of my liver and gall bladder, also normal.  I am going t o a GI on Tuesday and hopefully he will have some more answers for me.  I was just wondering what you thought.  Thanks so much!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh yeah, sounds so familiar, especially the fatigue. You know the kind, not tired from lack of sleep, but the total exhaustion from just sitting at the computer. Not to get too personal, but is the diahrrea pale, watery and foamy? If so, that's because of the mucas that the body is producing to rid itself of the contaminate (gluten for those with celiac disease). Have you tried going gluten-free?

[Guest maybird85]

yes the diahrrea is like that and i have not tried going gluten-free yet. i have really only recently started researching this stuff. but if my doctor is unwilling to do medical testing, which unfortunetly in my experience they often are, i plan on trying to go gluten-free to see if there is any improvement. i have never requested celiac testing but in the past when i have requested testing for other conditions they would rather just fight with you and tell you that you are crazy then try to find out what the problem is. i am going to go and try to keep my emotions in check and make my best case to him. my new GP (who i love, but is just at a loss with me right now) highly recommended him, so i hope all will go well. the past 10 years have been very tough for me for several reason and a big factor has been my health. i am 20 and in college and i just want to be able to go out and have fun and not lay around and feel tired all the time. all i want is for them to find what is wrong and i know something is wrong, i am not crazy. people always look at me and my mom funny when we say we hope they find something wrong with me, but it is just from being frustrated for all these years. i am sure all of you have felt this frustration at some point. i just want a definitive diagnosis for something so i know what can be done and what i have to live with. we'll see.

[Carriefaith]

My main complaint has been nausea, diarhea, constipation, bloating and fatigue. I also have ezcema and bad allergies. I have always felt over tired from doing absolutely nothing.

Your symtoms are very typical of celiac disease and I have had most of them at one point or another.

i have never requested celiac testing but in the past when i have requested testing for other conditions they would rather just fight with you and tell you that you are crazy then try to find out what the problem is.

I would tell your doctor every single symtom that you have and say them in such a way that he/she will think of celiac disease first, before you mention it (This is my strategy and it usually works). For example, I would really emphasize the diarrehea and the way it looks. If the diarrehea floats and is really smelly than it means that you are not absorbing fat and that should send a warning sign to your doctor.

i plan on trying to go gluten-free to see if there is any improvement.

If you go gluten free you may get false negative results on any celiac tests. You need to be consuming gluten in order to get accurate tests.

[jknnej]

Yes, yes, and yes it sounds like celiac disease. But of course there are a lot of other ailments out there, too. Just don't go gluten free until after you have a bisopy, if your blood work warrants that. It will skew the results of the test. Good luck!