Celiac?

[CandaceD]

Hello....

I guess I am just rather anxious and would like the opinion of others...

To start off - I had the Celiac Blood Test done and my IgA, IgG and my Tissue Transglutaminase IgA came back negative....

My FERRITIN (IRON) was pretty low at 8 (range is 10-291 ug/L)

Roughly two months ago I started getting realllly smelly flatulence followed by visually noticable abdominal bloating, constipation and restlessness (If felt like I was awake most of the night).

I've never had a problem with any of this before. I eat a VERY healthy diet and go to the gym 5/6 times a week. I thought maybe I was eating two much fiber and cut back my bran/flax breakfast and vegetable/fruit intake.

Didnt help. My family was getting prettty grossed out to say the least with how bad my gas smelt. It is/was soooooooooo embarassing.

I went to the walk in clinic and they suggested milk of magnesia... well we know what that does. It releave the bloating for a few days.

My parents went on vacation, I was in a rush so I made a tuna caserole and frozen lasanga for my sisters (which I ate for dinner two nights in a row - *Note - I rarely eat any form of white flour pasta/bread etc)... I swelled up like a balloon... My Parents came home, saw how sick I was and made me a doctors apt. We then started self diagnosing. My Aunt and Grandmother (on my moms side) both are Celiac. I started consuming wheat like a mad women knowing I was going to ask my doctor for a blood test. I was horribly dizzy, bloated, constipated,awful cramps, my brain was a complete fog, it felt like my lungs were heavy/tired???

I know I stress out wayy to quickly, I sufffer from axiety and irritablity all the time. I have psoriasis on my elbows, I had hypoglocemic as a kid...

Its two months before I can see a G.I.

I've been gluten free since Saturday and lactose free for 2 days (today is day 5)and my bowels have started moving, my head is much clearer, I still have gas and bad cramps...

SHOULD I TRY A GLUTEN FREE DIET OR WAIT TO SEE A G.I AT THE END OF APRIL????

Its soooooooooo expensive eating gluten free... What if I just have IBS

ANY Suggestions would be soooooooooo appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[mommida]

You have to eat gluten to go through testing.

[Roda]

If you are wanting any testing, blood work, biopsy or both you need to be on a full gluten diet. I personally believe it is better to stay on gluten and get the testing out of the way first. If you go off gluten now and want to testing later you would have to go on a gluten challenge for appx. 3 months consuming 3-4 slices of bread or equivilent/day. For some people the challenge is just to bad for them and they can't continue or it isn't enough time to give postitive test results. This happened with my youngest son who had positive blood work. We took him off gluten without the biopsy and tried later to put him back on. He couldn't tolerate it. He still has a celiac diagnosis without it because of his symptoms, positive bloodwork, improvements seen on a gluten free diet, return of symptoms back on gluten and my celiac diagnosis. Even if you have testing done and it is negative(a lot of false negatives) at least you had it done before gluten free(the best chance for accurate testing) and go from there. Of course since you correlate your symptoms with gluten consumption, it is worth a trial of gluten free even if you test negative. Since you have a family history, your chances of having it to go up considerably.

Call the GI's office and ask to be put on a waiting list. What a lot of doctor's offices will do is call you if there is a cancellation and you could get seen earlier.

If you decide to go here are a list of the tests you need to have done.

1. total IgA

2. IgA/IgG tTg(tissue transglutaminase antibody)

3. IgA/IgG DGP(deamidated gliadin peptide) This is the newest test

4. IgA/IgG AGA(antigliadin antibody)

Also don't settle for a diagnosis of IBS. A lot of folks on here were diagnosed with IBS for years just to find out they had celiac. It is often referred on here as "I Be Stumped" because, IMHO, it is just a catch all crap diagnosis for when the doctors don't know what is wrong. Of course the bowel is irritated, but why?? IBS diagnosis doesn't give you the "WHY."

[CandaceD]

Thanks for your comments! I'm going to continue with my gluten/lactose free diet for a couple weeks. I'm already seeing a difference in my bloating/cramps and general disposition... Gas is still active.... Today I am cutting out peanut butter, apples and pears. In 2 weeks i'll start adding things back in, starting with gluten. I won't be seeing the G.I until the end of April... I know I want to be actively consuming gluten products when I go see him and ask for a biopsy... Which I'm sure won't be for a few weeks after that.