Is There A Chance I Have Celiac's?

[Comet]

Hi,

My name is Cydney, and I just came across this board today after doing a search of Celiac's. I am 16 years old & am from Long Island, New York.

The last few months I've constantly have had stomachaches and a lot of reactions to food I normally wouldn't. Like, after eating my sandwhich at school, I would have horrible cramps and stomchaches. When I eat a bagel for breakfast, a few hours later I will feel terrible. Lately, it just seems like regardless of what I eat, will come out shortly after. Aside from these symptoms, some irritableness, and constantly being tired (But that could also have to do with having a 16-year old's schedule), there's not much else to say. I don't have the skin thing that I've seen that is a possible symptom for Celiac's.

Is there a possibility I could have Celiac's? Or what? I don't get why I can't keep any food inside of me. I haven't lost any weight, maybe I've even gained a few pounds (we had a terrible winter, LOL), and I am about average weight to begin with.

I hope someone can help me.

Thanks in advance!

-Cydney-

[Comet]

Hi,

My name is Cydney, and I just came across this board today after doing a search of Celiac's. I am 16 years old & am from Long Island, New York.

The last few months I've constantly have had stomachaches and a lot of reactions to food I normally wouldn't. Like, after eating my sandwhich at school, I would have horrible cramps and stomchaches. When I eat a bagel for breakfast, a few hours later I will feel terrible. Lately, it just seems like regardless of what I eat, will come out shortly after. And my tummy always makes these miserable, and sometimes embarrasing, noises. Aside from these symptoms, some irritableness, and constantly being tired (But that could also have to do with having a 16-year old's schedule), there's not much else to say. I don't have the skin thing that I've seen that is a possible symptom for Celiac's.

Is there a possibility I could have Celiac's? Or what? I don't get why I can't keep any food inside of me. I haven't lost any weight, maybe I've even gained a few pounds (we had a terrible winter, LOL), and I am about average weight to begin with.

I hope someone can help me.

Thanks in advance!

-Cydney-

[Guest jhmom]

Hi Cydney! Welcome!!!

I am not a doctor I can only tell you that your symptoms were very similiar to mine before I was diagnosed with Celiac. I suffered for over a year with abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, (but not all Celiac's loss weight) and a general unhealthy feeling.

You need to be seen by a doctor and get tested through blood-work to check for Celiac's. If you do not care about a doctors diagnosis then you could also try a gluten-free diet for a couple of weeks/months to see if you improve. Personally I could tell a difference within a couple of days.

Hang in there and read all you can on this website, it is very informative. Here are some links that were helpful to me:

gluten-free Product List

Safe and Forbidden Food and Ingredient List

celiac disease Symptoms

Open Original Shared Link

Take Care

[Comet]

I tried posting this a few days ago, but it never came up --

I am 16 years old & I have been having a lot of stomach "issues." As of late, it seems as if regardless of what I eat, it will come out a short time later, and will cause a lot of discomfort throughout the day. Last week, I had a lot of BMs when I got home from school, (though less in the last two days), but I still have had stomachaches & abdominal pains. Two days ago, though, after I ate lunch (a sandwich & peanut butter cookies), I had an immense pain, and felt very nauseous, and I felt light-headed & over-heated. Gas has been an issue, too, and when I'm in school, obviously I can't let it out whenever I want (LOL!)... Am I over-analyzing a stomach virus? Or could this be Celiac's??? I don't have any other non-gastrointestinal symptoms, like the skin, stuff (though my skin is so dry & rough, though I haven't heard of that as a symptom and I acknowledge that it could be due to the weather).

I'd appreciate if anyone could let me know if this could be Celiac's?

Thank you very much in advance!

Feel free to e-mail me.

--Comet

[Comet]

I tried posting this a few days ago, but it never came up --

I am 16 years old & I have been having a lot of stomach "issues." As of late, it seems as if regardless of what I eat, it will come out a short time later, and will cause a lot of discomfort throughout the day. Last week, I had a lot of BMs when I got home from school, (though less in the last two days), but I still have had stomachaches & abdominal pains. Two days ago, though, after I ate lunch (a sandwich & peanut butter cookies), I had an immense pain, and felt very nauseous, and I felt light-headed & over-heated. Gas has been an issue, too, and when I'm in school, obviously I can't let it out whenever I want (LOL!)... Am I over-analyzing a stomach virus? Or could this be Celiac's??? I don't have any other non-gastrointestinal symptoms, like the skin, stuff (though my skin is so dry & rough, though I haven't heard of that as a symptom and I acknowledge that it could be due to the weather).

I'd appreciate if anyone could let me know if this could be Celiac's?

Thank you very much in advance!

Feel free to e-mail me.

--Comet

[Comet]

Why is my topic the only one not "pinned"? I'd really like SOMEONE to see this post...

[Wish]

Hi Cydney,

You definitely have a lot of the classic Celiac disease symptoms. The lack of the skin problems (dermititis herpetiformis) does not necessarily mean anything. I didn't have the dermititis herpetiformis either, and my tests came back positive. There are many different ways Celiac disease can present itself, so it's really difficult to tell if you have Celiac disease based on symptoms alone.

What you should definitely do is go to your doctor and ask to be tested. Generally, testing first involves getting bloodwork done. If the bloodwork comes back suggestive of Celiac disease, the doctor will typically do an endoscopy to take samples from your small intestine so that the diagnosis can be confirmed (Celiac disease causes abnormalities such as flattened villi that can only be seen if tissue samples are taken). The endoscopy isn't the most pleasant procedure in the world, but it certainly isn't the worst either and the temporary discomfort is definitely better than years of pain due to untreated Celiac disease.

I wouldn't recommend trying to put yourself on a gluten free diet before you see a doctor because if you go for a long enough time without eating gluten, your bloodwork will come back negative and you will never get the official Celiac disease diagnosis. Some people argue that you don't need the official diagnosis as long as following the gluten free diet makes you feel better. It's true that feeling energetic and healthy is a key priority. However, if you have the official diagnosis, it tends to make gluten-free life easier. For example, I was only able to convince my university to allow me to keep a rice cooker in my dorm room by providing them with medical documentation of my Celiac disease diagnosis. There are a number of other situations where a doctor's verification of your medical needs is very helpful, and if you just put yourself on a gluten free diet without trying to get a diagnosis first, you're going to have a more difficult time trying to maintain a gluten free lifestyle. So basically my point is that you should tell your doctor about your symptoms and explain that you want to be tested for Celiac disease. Be prepared to speak up for yourself if the doctor seems unwilling to listen to you about this...there are a lot of good doctors out there, but there are also some bad ones that are not very informed about Celiac disease and do not like having patients suggest diagoses to them. There is nothing wrong with insisting that the doctor at least do the initial bloodwork...that part of the testing is pretty simple and routine, so if one doctor is not willing to order the bloodwork, I would recommend finding another one that will.

I have a bit more to say, but I gotta run to class right now. If you have any questions, though, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

~wish

[Guest Doct.Giggles]

Hey

I think you should really get checked. You could get checked by a simple blood draw. Just talk it over with your doctor. I got digonosed by me complaining all of the time my stomach hurts. So ask. Share the results. And check out my topics. Feel free to e-mail.

-Tiffany

[tarnalberry]

It could be, but none of us can tell you for sure. You might want to consider asking for a full celiac panel to be done on a blood sample as a place to start.