Waiting For Results

[mummy2girls]

Hello, I'm completely new to this as I hadn't even considered coeliac disease as a cause for my symptoms. My doctor thinks I might have it so am waiting for more blood tests to confirm. Just thought I might find out what people in the know think.

I'm 30 with 2 children, generally fit and healthy. For the last 2 years I have been suffering with headaches, acne, hair thinning, tiredness, bloating, severe stomach cramps, awful wind, and on/off constipation/diarrhea. I thought I had IBS and just couldn't handle spicy or sugary foods anymore, but over the last few months my tiredness has become worse. I'm exhausted. I had blood tests last week which showed I am severely anaemic, close to the point of a blood transfusion. Completely baffled as I take a multivitamin every day and my diet includes lots of meat and green veg. My Dr has put me on iron tablets and wants to test for coeliacs. Do you think my symptoms sound like coeliacs?

The things that make me wonder if its something else are, I haven't lost weight, if anything I've been steadily gaining and really struggle to lose any.

I don't seem to react too badly to rice or pasta, the things that set me off worse are sweets, alcohol, bread, some crisps and cakes and oddly, sugar free red bull.

Take this evening for example, I had cottage pie for dinner and felt fine. 2 hours later I ate a packet of crisps, a handfull of gummy sweets and a can of sugar free red bull. I am now sitting here in agony, I can feel popping in my gut and I am so bloated.

My Dr told me to eat as I normaly would until I have the next blood test, is this right?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Cara in Boston]

Your symptoms certainly could be celiac. Also, it is sometimes hard to pinpoint trigger foods since the reaction can happen hours or days after you eat something. For me, the most significant clue was that I never had ANY problems until after my second child was born. After that it was one weird symptom after another (headaches, GI issues, joint pain, dizzy spells, etc.) that the doctor could never explain. It never occurred to me that they were related or that they were caused by food. I just thought I was getting old and falling apart. Over 5 years I had seen 4 different types of doctors and found nothing. Pregnancy or other stress on the body can trigger Celiac disease to start.

It was not until my son was tested and found to be positive that I started to learn about celiac disease and put the pieces together.

Be aware that your blood test might come back negative and you could STILL have an issue with gluten. After you are done with the medical tests I would suggest you try the gluten-free diet for 3 or 4 weeks to see if you feel better. DO NOT experiment with the diet (cutting or reducing gluten) at all until after you are done testing.

Cara