Celiac Or Something Else?

[pinkpandapants]

Hello! I recently have been looking into the possibility of having Celiac disease, and stumbled upon this forum. After lurking for a bit, I thought I'd share my symptoms and see what other people think.

I was originally just looking into food intolerance in general, because a LOT of foods disagree with me. I've toyed with the idea that I may be intolerant to foods (esp. dairy) for a while now, but I've always been afraid to look into Celiac disease because I love my bread, crackers and pasta and didn't want to give them up! I always thought that it was something else making me sick when I ate wheat with other foods - but now I'm not so sure. Once I started researching, everything started falling into place. Anyway, here are my symptoms:

*Various pooping problems

-Diarrhea: 1-2 semi-liquid stools in the morning at least 4-5 times a week, for at least the past year or so!

-If not liquidy stools, then very soft and difficult to wipe away

-Occasional constipation - usually small, thin poops that are difficult to get out, and sometimes they're kind of pale

-Very rarely do I have a normal bowel movement!!

*Acid reflux

*Stomachaches

*Intestinal cramping/discomfort (feels like something clenching my lower intestine)

*Lots of burping/gas/bloating

*Thyroid disease

[Bubba's Mom]

Hello! I recently have been looking into the possibility of having Celiac disease, and stumbled upon this forum. After lurking for a bit, I thought I'd share my symptoms and see what other people think.

I was originally just looking into food intolerance in general, because a LOT of foods disagree with me. I've toyed with the idea that I may be intolerant to foods (esp. dairy) for a while now, but I've always been afraid to look into Celiac disease because I love my bread, crackers and pasta and didn't want to give them up! I always thought that it was something else making me sick when I ate wheat with other foods - but now I'm not so sure. Once I started researching, everything started falling into place. Anyway, here are my symptoms:

*Various pooping problems

-Diarrhea: 1-2 semi-liquid stools in the morning at least 4-5 times a week, for at least the past year or so!

-If not liquidy stools, then very soft and difficult to wipe away

-Occasional constipation - usually small, thin poops that are difficult to get out, and sometimes they're kind of pale

-Very rarely do I have a normal bowel movement!!

*Acid reflux

*Stomachaches

*Intestinal cramping/discomfort (feels like something clenching my lower intestine)

*Lots of burping/gas/bloating

*Thyroid disease

[Skylark]

Yes, insist on celiac testing. Your symptoms are pretty typical.

[mommida]

Start working with a gastroenterologist. You have symptoms for Celiac, but also another short list of disorders too. If you are Celiac, there is another short list of possible disorders that are higher odds for a Celiac too. Some of these need to be diagnosed by an endoscopy with biopsy. (This would be a good idea to see what damage GERD has done or if it could be Eosinophilic Esophagitus.)

[pinkpandapants]

So I went to my new doctor today, and she was awesome! She ordered just one Celiac test for me, the tTG-IgA. Is that one generally pretty accurate? I'm still new to all of this Celiac terminology, haha. My doctor also referred me to an allergist (because I have a whole lot of other food problems going on) and said that we'd figure out what to do gluten-wise after I get my tTG-IgA results back. I think she said that whether it was conclusive or not, she'd refer me to a gastroenterologist. So I'm very hopeful at the moment that my problems are on the way to being solved!

[Skylark]

No, having only one celiac test is not accurate at all and TTG-IgA is lacking in sensitivity. It only picks up maybe 80% of people with celiac disease. Most of the research articles I've read lately suggest DGP-IgG along with the TTG-IgA. If you're positive on either you are very likely celiac.