Introduction

[tctwhite]

Hi everyone!! Ive been lurking for a few weeks now and decided time to dive in the discussion. I am a 31 yr old stay at home mom of 2. Im not diagnosed yet but have had my biopsy done. My Dr. bypassed the blood work and went straight for the biopsy. I don't think I could handle another "you are perfectly healthy on paper" results in blood work! I won't find out anything until next Friday. Ive been diagnose with Fibro, CFS, depression, anxiety, chronic headaches.....pretty much everything that is associated with celiac. Even if my biopsy comes back negative for celiac, Im still going to try the gluten free way of life and see what happens. I am tired of living on medication and ALWAYS feeling like crap. I have a younger family (kids are 9 and 11) and I want to be able to enjoy them growing up. Both my husband and I firmly believe that celiac is the cause of my issues. About a month ago, I landed in the ER with severe abdominal pain thinking it was my appendix. Nope, not that. They told me that I had colitis. And ever since I have a serious eating problem......I can't. Just about everything makes me sick. Even the blandest thing like chicken and rice sends me to the bathroom. Ive had stomach issues for as long as I can remember. But when I was 25 and my gallbladder was removed, things cleared up for the most part until this last episode that sent me to the hospital. When the Dr did my endoscopy, he told my husband that everything was severely inflamed and that I have really bad gastroenteritis. And this is after 4 antibiotics and a month? All that Ive read says this stuff clears up pretty quick with antibiotics and time. Anybody else have anything like this before they were diasnosed?

Anyway, I just wanted to give a little background on me and let you know where I am in my journey. I went to the grocery stores today and came home feeling scared to death. Kroger has a nice little tag they put under their gluten free stuff so it catches your eye. But other than that, wow. Do you recommend the book that celias market website? I don't want to spend 30 bucks (with shipping) on a book that won't help me.

[RonSchon]

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to a better life.

Yes, if you are living the symptoms, the prospects of gluten being the cause are very high.

I noticed a marked improvement in the way I felt after about 5 days.

Somewhere in my 2nd week I started feeling incredibly good.

But then my poisonings have started recurring, so I'm learning the hard way how disciplined my body is going to make me be in order to maintain the incredible good feeling.

I guess it means I'm super sensitive, and even things that are within the guidelines but still have trace gluten will poison me.

It is hard to be perfect in your eating habits, but with me - even being perfect isn't good enough because even "gluten free" processed products get me.

This has forced me into a paleo/primal type of diet. I can have GREAT food, I just have to plan for it.

You might research that a little bit, as you may also find yourself sensitive to processed gluten-free food.

I'll enjoy reading your progress. You are lucky to have a spouse helping be part of the solution.

[sa1937]

Welcome tct! I think a lot of people are told there's nothing wrong with them and then start this journey themselves. And since the endoscopy is done and your doctor doesn't plan to do the celiac blood panel, there's no reason not to go gluten-free right away.

When my GI did my endoscopy/biopsies, I also had gastritis, which is just another name for inflammation. It's pretty common. Did you also bring home your pretty colored pictures after you had the procedure? Let us know how your follow-up appt. goes and be sure to pick up a copy of the results for your files. The biopsies are sent to a pathologist for interpretation as many times damage is only visible under a microscope.

I never bought the gluten-free grocery shopping book from Cecelia's Marketplace but I think others have found it helpful especially when they're new. There are also some phone apps available. I learned a lot by reading this forum, Googling products and reading labels. It's pretty confusing at first but gets much easier with time. It might also be easier to start by eating mostly whole foods (meat, fish, fruits, veggies, etc.) as there's no label reading for them. Some of us also had to avoid dairy products for awhile. You might want to avoid a lot of the gluten-free prepared foods for now as it makes it a lot easier.

You might also want to check out our Newbie Info 101 as some of these things come up time and time again.

[GottaSki]

Welcome!

I am one of many that like you could not stand to hear one more - tests are normal, you are perfectly healthy on paper. I am also another Celiac with Fibromyalgia.

I first took my symptoms to my doctors at 19 years old -- all symptoms got worse each decade until I could no longer function. Over the years doctors blamed stress, depression, women's hormonal issues, overwork, being a mother, etc. I was finally diagnosed at 43 - my celiac blood test was the 50th blood test for a multitude of miscellaneous (some very rare) conditions. Even then, I was cautioned that I was barely positive and it was highly unlikely that Celiac Disease could cause my symptoms. Endo revealed nearly total villous atrophy and all biopsies confirmed Celiac Disease.

Others have mentioned - as long as you do not want to have blood tests and your endoscopy has been performed, you are free to begin gluten free. It can be extremely frustrating at first as there is a very big learning curve - but I found the frustration of changing diet far less than being dismissed by doctors for 25 years! The possibility of gaining health by changing diet rather than by taking a multitude of medications is remarkable.

Hang in there - you have found a great place to find answers to all questions with regard to Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance.

[tctwhite]

Ive spent hours and hours reading on here. This place is a treasure trove of information. Its great to know that Im not alone. I think Im going to place an order for some food through the gluten free mall to get me started until I learn more about reading labels and learning where things are in our grocery stores. We aren't in a large city so we don't have stores/markets dedicated to organic and gluten free. Ive heard Publix has a good selection, but when I went in today to just browse, I didn't see much if anything. I am very excited about the possibility of actually feeling some (if not alot) better. I know that this lifestyle change is going to be tough, but Im nothing if not dedicated. And my husband always tells me that my willpower is unlike any other he's ever seen. Im so very lucky to have him behind me cheering me on. I am a bit sad because Im going to be high maintenence in the food department.

[beachbirdie]

Hi everyone!! Ive been lurking for a few weeks now and decided time to dive in the discussion.

When the Dr did my endoscopy, he told my husband that everything was severely inflamed and that I have really bad gastroenteritis. And this is after 4 antibiotics and a month? All that Ive read says this stuff clears up pretty quick with antibiotics and time. Anybody else have anything like this before they were diasnosed?

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

First, if you do enough reading here, you will not need to spend a bunch of money on a book. There is such a wealth of information here, from experienced foodies, you will be able to "catch on" to this new way of life. It's overwhelming at first, but it gets easier as you do it!

Others have given you great suggestions, I want to comment on the antibiotics. You've taken a bucket load of anti-b meds, and that is hard on your intestines. Have you tried any probiotics to restore the population of "good" bugs? I would look for a product that is dairy free, and one without prebiotics (FOS, inulin are some keywords). Start with very small doses, too much at once can be upsetting to your system even though probiotics do good things for us.

Until the inflammation heals you might want to eat a very limited diet. I know it is hard to be patient, but healing the gut takes a good amount of time.

[GottaSki]

Not to worry, with time you will learn to shop gluten-free at any grocery store. During the early days of the learning curve remember that Meat, Vegies, Fruit, Dairy (if you can tolerate) are all naturally gluten-free. Think perimeter of most grocery stores.

If you have some favorite foods, search this forum to find out if they are gluten-free - if not, you are sure to find a great replacement for the item.