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Health Issues Of A Celiac

ElizFost

By ElizFost
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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ElizFost Newbie
ElizFost
Posted

Hi. I've discovered I am gluten, lactose and fructose intolerant. At the same time my mom is struggling with serious IBS issues to the point where she is no longer able to eat. I have counseled her on her diet as she has the same symptoms and issues as I have. She is slowly improving but not fast enough. What kind of doctor should she go to? She is on medicaid so her choices may be limited but what type of doctor should she look for. She struggles to eat, her gums are sore, cuts and boils are not healing but getting infected and her tooth is loose for no reason. Would really like counsel from someone into the natural health medicine. Thanks.

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Hi. It sounds like she needs testing for nutritional deficiencies. A normal doctor can do that.

Her loose teeth, sore gums, and slow healing could be symptoms of vitamin C deficiency. Vitamin C is completely safe to supplement so you can get some at the drugstore right away and see if it helps. Most people with celiac need B-vitamins, vitamin D, and sometimes iron too. A lot of us have thyroid trouble and that can also cause slow healing. Again a normal Dr. can check her thyroid.

Has she tried some Ensure if she's having trouble eating? It's gluten and lactose free and a lot of older people who don't care to eat much find drinking some Ensure helps them get enough calories and protein.

sfamor Rookie
sfamor
Posted

A gastroenterologist should be able to help and will be covered by Medicaid. She may need a referral from her primary care doctor first, but shouldn't be hard to get with the symptoms she's having.

plumbago Experienced
plumbago
Posted

I second Skylark's recommendations. Ensure is great for when I am too hurried or nervous (if there is a crisis) to eat solid food. Highly recommend it. After a while, you learn to like it!

Also, yes, a gastroenterologist is who you would see but only after getting the tests done by the primary care physician. Look up the differences between endoscopy and colonoscopy. Those getting tested for celiac disease usually get the endoscopy. But again, PCP is first.

Good luck.

Takala Enthusiast
Takala
Posted

If her "issue" is truly gluten intolerance, then actually adhering strictly to a gluten free diet is the best physician.

Hear me out.

If she is already off of gluten mostly for a significant period of time, then when the Primary Care P. tests her, the blood tests will come back negative. The PCP will then announce that Mom Dearest cannot possibly have Celiac or Gluten Intolerance, and won't refer to a Gastro.

The Gastro doc will look at it the same way. Gastro docs are not going to tell you anything other than "eat a gluten free diet" IF you are formally diagnosed celiac by a positive biopsy.

The PCP can test her for thyroid and diabetes. (sores not healing is a red flag. ) With the thyroid, you must demand that they test for the ANTIBODIES in addition to the TSH levels, as with autoimmune thyroid disease the hormone levels can go up/down - up/down, swinging back and forth, and the test can say "normal range" while somebody still has the disease.

She would be better off going to a decent dentist and getting the gum disease under control. This means a cleaning/scaling, then at home, daily flossing/toothpicking and rinsing with mouthwash and then water (alcohol solutions dry the mouth out, so a water rinse should finish the routine) in addition to brushing.

If she is struggling to eat, you can pick up a decent blender for not a lot of money, and have her put fruits and vegetables in that, along with some other liquids like fruit juice or nut milks, a little coconut milk, (or even cooked rice and water) blend it up, and drink a good serving of those a day. You can google hundreds of recipes for this on the internet.

As others have already suggested, a gluten free multivitamin and mineral supplementation is essential. Vitamins B complex is very important, as are Vitamins D (found in a lot of Calcium supplements along with magnesium).

You may have to go thru her kitchen and make sure to purge/change out any thing that still has gluten (read the labels) as she may be regularly cross contaminating herself, also, check to see the old teflon is tossed, the toaster is not full of old gluten crumbs or it has to be replaced , a new cutting board, colander, etc. A trip to the dollar store may be necessary. Make sure also all medications are gluten free.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

She would be better off going to a decent dentist and getting the gum disease under control. This means a cleaning/scaling, then at home, daily flossing/toothpicking and rinsing with mouthwash and then water (alcohol solutions dry the mouth out, so a water rinse should finish the routine) in addition to brushing.

I think she might have scurvy, Takala, though I'm not a doctor and cannot diagnose. I'm pretty sure it affects the mouth and gums first.

A dentist is certainly a good idea as well and so many other good suggestions in your post.

ElizFost Newbie
ElizFost
Posted
  • Author

Thanks, friends. My mom is taking vitamin C and drinking fresh Orange juice and she said she is feeling much better. Enzymes are helping her as well to be able to eat some things.

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

That's great! I'm glad to hear she is feeling a little better.

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    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable.  The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body.  So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days.  Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test.  But even that test has been questioned as to accuracy.  It is expensive and takes time to do.   Because of the discrepancies with thiamine tests and urgency with correcting thiamine deficiency, the World Health Organization recommends giving thiamine for several weeks and looking for health improvement.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Many doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition and deficiency symptoms, and may not be familiar with how often they occur in Celiac disease.  B12 and Vitamin D can be stored for as long as a year in the liver, so not having deficiencies in these two vitamins is not a good indicator of the status of the other seven water soluble B vitamins.  It is possible to have deficiency symptoms BEFORE there's changes in the blood levels.   Ask your doctor about Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine that is better absorbed than Thiamine Mononitrate.  Thiamine Mononitrate is used in many vitamins because it is shelf-stable, a form of thiamine that won't break down sitting around on a store shelf.  This form is difficult for the body to turn into a usable form.  Only thirty percent is absorbed in the intestine, and less is actually used.   Thiamine interacts with all of the other B vitamins, so they should all be supplemented together.  Magnesium is needed to make life sustaining enzymes with thiamine, so a magnesium supplement should be added if magnesium levels are low.   Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There's no harm in trying.
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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      Anti-endomysial Antibody (EMA) Testing

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      That is interesting, and it's the first time I heard about the umbilical cord beings used for that test. Thanks for sharing!
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